Between individualisation and tradition: transforming religious authority on German and Polish Christian online discussion forums

The aim of this paper is to connect the debates on individualisation and mediatisation of religion and transformations of religious authority online on theoretical and empirical basis. The classical and contemporary concepts of individualisation of religion, rooted in the secularisation debate, will be connected with Campbell’s [2007. “Who’s Got the Power? Religious Authority and the Internet.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (3): 1043–1062] concept of four layers of religious authority online. The empirical material consists of a joint analysis of German Christian and Polish Catholic Internet forums. In a transnational comparison, the findings show similar tendencies of individualisation and emerging communities of choice, as well as a lasting significance of textual religious authorities, although different levels of authority are negotiated and emphasised to a varying extent. However, in both cases critique of the Church and religion usually emerges offline, and is then expressed online. While the forums do not have a subversive potential, they facilitate adopting a more independent, informed, and reflexive approach to religion.     

Negotiating multiple perspectives: a discussion of instructors’ practice within an English-language service course

At the University of the West Indies, large courses often require the involvement of multiple persons in their delivery. Within the English Language Foundation Unit, several of the courses offered cater to over 500 students in any given semester. The large number of students necessitates multiple practitioners providing instructions as part of the same course offering. While stylistics may vary, there is the need for course instruction and content to depict uniformity. Practitioners’ conceptualization of a specific topic will inform the instruction received by students. In instances where practitioners do not conceptualize content in a like manner, students within the same course may receive varied instruction, thus affecting student output and overall evaluation. The paper looks specifically at a service course offered at the University of the West Indies and the practices of the multiple persons involved in the teaching of the course. It provides an overview of practitioners’ discussion of their conceptualization of content areas within the courses and assesses the extent to which there are variations and/or similarities. It also discusses how these impact teaching and learning. The research seeks to derive an actionable direction for collaboration and further discussions within large service courses with the aim of improving teaching and learning.     

Perceived impact of online written feedback on students’ writing and learning: a reflection

In this reflective study, I perceive the impact of my own written feedback on students’ academic writing skills in particular and on learning in general. Anchored on Schon’s reflection-on-action (ROA) framework, my reflection arose from a content analysis of my written feedback on 80 student drafts and 44 feedback responses. I found that my written feedback is of two types: focus on form and focus on meaning. Coding the feedback led to an identification of six feedback functions: instructive/using imperatives (18.36%); suggestive (15.31%); asking questions/probing (23.98%); stating a personal opinion (6.12%); corrective (29.59%); and affirming/negating (6.63%). The categorisation of feedback according to these functions was influenced by Wolsey’s feedback functions (2008) which was adapted by Alvarez, Espasa and Guasch. Results revealed that I employ corrective feedback, probing questions and instructive feedback more frequently than suggestive feedback, personal statement or affirmation/negation. I also found that my feedback on form (59%) is higher than my feedback on meaning (41%). I explain the relationship of these findings by identifying some confounding factors that enabled me to interrogate my assumptions, along with a discussion of their implications.     

Antecedents of trust in the sharing economy: A systematic review

Users and potential users of the sharing economy need to place a considerable amount of trust in both the person and the platform with which they are dealing. The consequences of transaction partners’ opportunism may be severe, for example damage to goods or endangered personal safety. Trust is, therefore, a key factor in overcoming uncertainty and mitigating risk. However, there is no thorough overview of how trust is developed in this context. To understand how the trust of users in the sharing economy is influenced, we performed a systematic literature review. After screening, 45 articles were included in a qualitative synthesis in which the results were grouped according to a well‐established trust typology. The results show various antecedents of trust in the sharing economy (e.g. reputation, trust in the platform, and interaction experience) related to multiple entities (i.e. seller, buyer, platform, interpersonal, and transaction). Trust in this economy is often reduced to the use of reputation systems alone. However, our study suggests that trust is much more complex than that and extends beyond reputation. Furthermore, our review clearly shows that research on trust in the sharing economy is still scarce and thus more research is needed to understand how trust is established in this context. Our review is the first that brings together antecedents of trust in online peer‐to‐peer transactions and integrates these findings within an existing framework. Additionally, the study suggests directions for future research in order to advance the understanding of trust in the sharing economy.     

Enacted Identities of Immigrant-Origin Emerging Adult Women in Online Contexts: Capturing Multiple and Intersecting Identities Using Qualitative Strategies

Using a multiple intersecting identities enactment framework, and a qualitative methodology, this article examined the multiple and intersecting identities immigrant-origin emerging adult women enacted online and explored the meanings they ascribed to these identities (N = 14, M age ≈ 20; 57% = second-generation immigrant). Thematic analyses of 84 narratives revealed that the immigrant-origin emerging adult women enacted a range of identities online including: personal/individual, relational/social, gender, ethnic, civic, student, occupational, and athletic. Personal/individual and relational/social identities were enacted most frequently, and intersected most often. First-generation and second-generation immigrant women were somewhat similar in the rate with which they enacted their identities online. Results showed that second-generation immigrant women enacted their personal/individual, ethnic, and civic identities as well as their intersecting identities online most often. Findings have implications for theory and research about online enactment of multiple and intersecting identities among immigrant-origin youth.     

互联网使用对共情的影响

随着信息技术的发展,互联网已成为当今社会人际交往的新平台。网络环境和现实环境不同,它具有匿名、便捷和易控制等特点。共情在人际交往中扮演重要的角色,它是指对他人情感的感同身受。互联网环境下共情的研究逐渐受到学者的重视。现有研究表明,不同的互联网使用对共情产生不同的影响:在线暴力视频游戏会降低共情,而在线亲社会视频游戏则对共情产生积极影响;网络社区的使用为网络中人们表露共情提供了重要平台;过度网络使用会对共情产生负面影响。但现有研究比较零散,还存在一些不足。未来要结合多种研究方法进行更多的应用研究,同时加强理论建构。     

网络购物中的信任

信任是委托方基于积极期望自愿接受受托方行为的意向。网络购物中的信任可分为信任倾向、制度信任、信任信念(商家信任)和信任意向。个体经验、个性倾向和认知影响信任倾向; 网络安全机制建设和独立的第三方服务影响制度信任; 网站使用体验、商家信誉和商家规模影响信任信念; 信任倾向、制度信任、信任信念三者共同作用于信任意向, 进而影响信任行为。未来的研究应关注网络购物信任随时间的变化规律, 文化对网络购物信任的影响, 消极事件后信任重建等问题。     

An informal online learning community for student mental health at university: a preliminary investigation

As a potential solution to increasing demands on mental health services at universities, this project seeks to develop an informal online learning community for mental health support and education. Students' use of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), especially to access health information, provides a supporting rationale for this project. The design for this study is grounded in the pedagogical principles of informal learning and the practices for building successful online communities. The student online mental health community has been implemented at the authors' university (University of Dublin, Trinity College) for one academic term and the initial analysis of its usage is positive. Features that are being positively evaluated are the role of the reader participant, disinhibition that arises from anonymity, online provision acting as a gateway to further support, and online provision reaching an audience who ordinarily do not use face-to-face services. At the same time, difficulties specific to this type of community have surfaced, including technical issues, implications of anonymity and user safety.     

Sober social networks: The role of online support groups in recovery from alcohol addiction

In the context of addiction research, positive recovery outcomes are affected by the quality of people's social interactions and perhaps to an even greater extent, by the defining norms of the groups they identify with—that is, using versus recovery groups. Here, we examine the role of online supportive networks in the process of recovery from alcohol addiction. We analyse the relationship between negative and positive aspects of recovery capital (i.e., self‐stigma, and respectively, positive recovery identity and self‐efficacy) as they relate to well‐being outcomes among alcohol users in an online recovery support group. Based on a computerised linguistic analysis of the naturally occurring data extracted from an online recovery support group (i.e., 257 posts made by 237 group members), we found that self‐stigma negatively predicts self‐efficacy and well‐being, and social identification with a recovery identity mediates these relationships. Overall, these findings highlight that positive engagement with supportive recovery networks is central to an effective and sustainable recovery.     

Prime and prejudice: Brief stereotypical media representations can increase prejudicial attitudes and behaviour towards people with schizophrenia

Prejudice against people with mental illnesses remains a significant problem in the United Kingdom and in many other countries despite sustained efforts by governments and charities. This is particularly so for people with schizophrenia, who are seen as dangerous and unpredictable. The present study investigated the effect of brief, casual, stereotypical representations on prejudice and behavioural intentions towards people with schizophrenia. Participants viewed Halloween costumes in an online environment under the guise of product research. In the experimental condition, they were exposed to a “Psycho Ward” Halloween outfit identical to one sold online by a leading supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. Participants in the control condition saw a neutral “pumpkin” Halloween costume. Exposure to the Psycho Ward outfit resulted in more negative behavioural intentions towards people with schizophrenia, mediated by increased prejudice. These findings confirm and extend earlier research that implicates adverse media stereotypes in the persistence of prejudice against people with mental illness. More research is warranted on the relative effects of different influences on community attitudes to mental illness.