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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2004.03.007 Byline: Juan Herrero (a), Julio Meneses (b) Keywords: Computer; Internet; Web-based questionnaires; Perceived stress; Depression Abstract: This study reports results from a format comparison between Web-based and pencil and paper questionnaires measuring two well-validated measures of psychological distress among 530 frequent Internet users studying at an on-line University (Open University of Catalonia, UOC). A four-item version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and a seven-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD) were randomly administered in Web-based and pencil and paper format. Internal consistency analyses showed that these two brief versions were reliable for on-line assessment. Also, no differences in Cronbach [alpha]s were found between formats. Exploratory as well as multigroup factor analysis techniques showed that factor structures were invariant across formats. Overall, results revealed that respondents did not bias their responses in the Web-based condition. As these findings suggest, when familiarity with technology is high among respondents and sample procedures are followed to maximize control for potential participants, Web-based and paper and pencil formats are virtually equivalent, as in the two brief measures of psychological distress used in this study. Author Affiliation: (a) Facultad de Psicologia, University of Oviedo, Despacho 211, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003 Oviedo, Spain (b) Estudis de Psicologia i Ciencies de l'EducaciA[sup.2], Avinguda Tibidabo 39-43, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08035 Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: This study compared the measurement invariance of paper-and-pencil (PP) and web-based (WB) administration formats through a humor survey. Participants were 401 undergraduate students divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D), and each group completed one of the four testing conditions (group A: PP→PP, group B: PP→WB, group C: WB→PP, and group D: WB→WB). The WB and PP versions of the revised Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (Wang, Cheng, Liu, & Ho, 2011), which measure humor production, attitudes toward humor, and humor coping, were administered to the participants. The results indicated that both of the PP and WB survey formats were practically invariant. No significant differences across administration situations were found for humor production or humor coping. Interestingly, the mean score of the WB format was significantly higher than that of PP format on attitudes toward humor. The findings suggest that researchers should carefully examine the measurement invariance and the effect of characteristics of the construct on measurement results when using a WB-format instrument. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research is lacking on the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer-administered surveys in older adult samples. In addition, few comparability studies have used best practices for examining equivalence. The current study investigated quantitative (means), qualitative (internal consistency and intercorrelations), and auxiliary (missing items, completion time, and comfort) equivalence for completing self-report surveys in paper-and-pencil or computerized conditions in an older adult sample. One hundred and eight older adults ages 60 and over were randomly assigned to a paper-and-pencil or computer condition and completed questionnaires assessing personality, social desirability, and computer self-efficacy. Results generally showed qualitative equivalence, with some notable differences for quantitative and auxiliary equivalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-mode questionnaires are increasingly used in research. Psychological measures, developed for paper-and-pencil (paper) administration require measurement equivalence testing when administered in an alternative mode. Here, Icelandic translations of the NEO-FFI personality measure and Adult Reading History Questionnaire (ARHQ) were tested for equivalence of measurement and data quality between paper and web mode. Perceived sensitivity of data and preference for survey mode were also assessed. One hundred adults were recruited to answer both modes in a randomized, crossover design. Eighty-eight participants completed both administrations with an average of 63.8 days ( SD = 2.2) between them. Within-subjects comparisons of means between modes demonstrated measurement equivalence for both measures. However, differing invalidity coefficients by mode observed by multi-trait multi method (MTMM) analysis suggested systematic effects not captured by traditional psychometric evaluation. Of note was a greater tendency for acquiescence responding to the NEO-FFI observed in web mode. Neither personality traits nor ARHQ reading difficulty scores were associated with preference for survey mode. However, 36% of participants who considered their personality data moderately to highly sensitive scored higher in neuroticism and lower in agreeableness compared to those rating their personality data of low sensitivity. While the Icelandic NEO-FFI and ARHQ have demonstrated measurement equivalence in paper and web mode, mode equivalence of psychometric measures may require ongoing evaluation as perceptions of web privacy continue to evolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparison between a paper-and-pencil and a web-based version of the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment is presented. The equivalence of Internet and paper-and-pencil formats for all three Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment levels and a predictable learning effect across the first and second testings are demonstrated.

One of the three survey methods, namely, paper mail-in, Internet survey and automated touch-tone telephone response system was used to compare responses to personally sensitive questions. Results of the survey method are presented.

This study investigated whether submitting re´sume´s in electronic versus paper form affects attributes associated with job applicants. One hundred participants reviewed a re´sume´, either in paper or electronic form, of a journalist applying for a vacant position at a newspaper. Participants also reviewed a job description for that position either specifying the need for Internet research experience (technical reference group) or not (non-technical reference group). The participants then rated the applicant on seven attributes (intelligence, technical skills, interpersonal skills, leadership ability, motivation, resourcefulness, and overall qualifications). Analyses revealed the paper re´sume´ applicant was perceived as more friendly while the electronic re´sume´ applicant was viewed as more intelligent, technologically advanced, and possessing better overall qualifications. In addition, the applicant in the non-technical reference group was perceived as more intelligent, more technologically advanced, and possessing better overall qualifications compared with the applicant in the technical reference group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With more than 4 billion websites on the World Wide Web, it has become essential for companies, especially those who operate worldwide, to make their websites as appealing as possible for their customer base. This paper intended to provide some insight for companies who want to offer their products online to German and Taiwanese customers. A total of 703 valid responses from participants of both countries were collected in this study. The experimental result revealed significant effect of color and price on the customers' responses. The results also indicated that not only does color have a significant main effect on arousal, but that warm and cool colors influence Taiwanese and German participants to different degrees. Additionally, price resulted in a significantly high level of Perceived Usefulness and Pleasure. This paper can provide great insight to companies who wish to sell their products in one or both of these markets, which admittedly differ greatly from each other, by appropriate interface design of web pages. • Online consumers show different responses toward different website interface design. • Consumers from different country show difference preferences of website background color. • Websites offering lower priced product are preferred by online consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This Paper studied the mutual influence between uncertain environment, enterprise dynamic innovation capabilities and innovation strategies and established a theoretical framework based on uncertain environment, enterprise dynamic innovation capabilities and innovation strategies. This framework will be used to analyze the support of an enterprise's dynamic innovation capabilities for its innovation strategies behaviors under the transition period of uncertain environment. Based on the theoretical framework, an in-depth study was conducted on the case of Qihoo 360's micro-innovation based on "free and secure" products. According to analysis of specific Qihoo 360 "micro-innovation", we understood that dynamic innovation capabilities are the support maintaining an enterprise's competitiveness. Furthermore, it was found that Qihoo 360 became the leading figure in the internet security industry by providing an "iteration process" of all products on a "non-payment" and "security" basis. This Paper contributed to the further enrichment of the connotations of dynamic innovation capabilities and analysis of the mechanism of micro-innovation strategy, and the dynamic supporting mechanism of enterprise dynamic innovation capabilities on its micro-innovation strategy is studied under the background of uncertainty environment. It provides theoretical support and practical guidance for Internet enterprises to carry out innovation activities in an uncertain environment. Highlights • Environmental change influence adjustment to an enterprise's innovation strategy. • Dynamic innovation capabilities support adjusting to innovation strategy. • Internet business can maintain its competitiveness via micro-innovation strategies. • Enterprise's innovation strategy behaviors influence the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper we explore the interrelationship between the sociotechnical-pedagogical culture of e-learning, the emerging disciplines of Web science, Social Sensing and that of Cognitive Computation–as an emerging paradigm of computation. We comment in particular on the importance of this relation for the development of learning-analytics discourse. Moreover, we present an initial relational framework between these disciplines and suggest how these relations can be exploited to solve problems in each area. This paper argues for (a) the particular importance of the abstract class of 'learning machines' for Web science, (b) understanding cognitive computation as a necessary practical framework for the increasingly dominating, situated informal learning context, and (c) the potential benefit of Web science frameworks for investigating both, contemporary research questions in e-learning and the development of theories for informal ubiquitous learning. Finally, we argue that exploring links between these disciplines is necessary for improving practical research, for the purpose of developing learning-analytics methodology for evaluating the growing types of modern e-learning contexts such as the informal situated learning context. Highlights • Web Science, Cognitive Computing, E-learning and Social Sensing are connected. • Informal situated-learning is becoming the most prevalent form of e-learning. • Situated learning argued to be significant form of social machine (from Web Science). • Progress in learning-analytics depends on exploiting relations with these disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web personalization has been widely adopted in the mobile shopping context to improve shopping experience and consumer loyalty. Timing is a crucial issue of the implementation of web personalization, a topic not yet adequately investigated in the extant literature. Web personalization could classify into two forms, namely Before-search Web Personalization (BSWP) and After-search Web Personalization (ASWP), in the mobile shopping context. Besides, motivations are the critical factors in mobile shopping, and seldom research has studied the effects of motivation on consumer's use of web personalization in the mobile shopping context. To advance understanding of the timing issue of web personalization, this paper employs the Uses and Gratifications method to investigate how mobile shopping motivations influence consumers' use of BSWP and ASWP, respectively. Furthermore, this paper also investigates the role of an important personal disposition (i.e. need for cognition). Empirical results indicate that shopping motivations could have significant effects on web personalization use; furthermore, BSWP use and ASWP use are predicted by different shopping motivations. Besides, need for cognition is found to positively moderate some effects of mobile shopping motivations on web personalization use. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the study of offline prosocial behavior has a long tradition, much less information is available about how these behaviors manifest and change in the digital environment, and little is known about their background. This paper evaluates differences by age and gender in a variety of attitudes and beliefs during adolescence and studies their influence on the online prosocial behavior emitted and received. A cross-sectional study was performed with 1299 participants aged between 14 and 20 from the Region of Madrid (Spain). The Spanish adaptation of the Online Prosocial Behavior Scale and a selection of items from various studies on attitudes and beliefs regarding altruism, direct and indirect reciprocity, social responsibility, and the perception of the subjective norm were administered. The results suggest that female adolescents maintain higher altruism, social responsibility, and indirect reciprocity than males, and that the older age group (18–20 years old) has higher scores in altruism, social responsibility, and direct reciprocity. Together with altruism, the subjective norm, social responsibility, and indirect reciprocity positively influence the online prosocial behavior emitted by adolescents. Indirect reciprocity, the subjective norm and altruism also influence the feeling of receiving online prosocial behaviors from others. Knowing the extent to which adolescents hold prosocial beliefs and which of these beliefs may favor prosocial online behaviors can be beneficial when promoting such beliefs and fostering more positive online conduct, as well as lessening cyberbullying, online hate and any other manifestation of aggressive behavior online. • Social networks constitute a space for the socialization of prosocial behavior in adolescence. • Beliefs about altruism, social responsibility, and indirect reciprocity favor the emission of online prosocial behavior. • Beliefs about altruism and indirect reciprocity favor greater perception of receiving prosocial behaviors online. • The prosocial subjective norm favors both the emission and reception of online prosocial behaviors. • Direct reciprocity does not seem to influence the emission and reception of online prosocial behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining knowledge from research on prosocial behavior, online communication, and (online) social support, this paper examines (1) how online communication shapes the provision of online support and (2) how the provision of online support is related to wellbeing. The focus lies on the underrepresented perspective of those acting prosocially by providing support. To answer these research questions, a qualitative (n = 22) and quantitative study (n = 470) have been conducted. The results of both studies suggest that providing online social support is positively related to people's wellbeing by satisfying basic psychological needs. This relation was partially mediated by beneficence and moderated by autonomous motivation and positive feedback. The qualitative results underline the specific conditions of online communication for providing support. It connects people with shared concerns and enables the autonomous building of anonymous support communities. Moreover, asynchronous communication with reduced cues transmitted may foster positive feedback that strengthens the self-image of those acting prosocially. • This paper focuses on the perspective of those providing support online. • A qualitative and a quantitative study are combined. • Providing online support may be positively related to people's wellbeing. • Mediators and moderators of the relation are examined. • Specific conditions of online communication for providing support are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper to outline the E-voting system readiness and design in Jordan, the researcher’s illustrate the guideline for developing and designing E-voting system in Jordan election. Moreover the paper used TAM model to test the Acceptance of the proposed system from voter’s perspective and the readiness of the system to be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respondents of online surveys may exhibit some answering behaviors, which lead to inconsistent survey results between online surveys and traditional paper surveys. Extant research has not yet devoted sufficient effort to the mechanisms of different answering behaviors on the inconsistent results, especially in cross-cultural survey contexts. For this reason, this study examines how shirking behavior (i.e., a form of disengaged behavior that the respondents expend insufficient mental effort on the questionnaire) and socially desirable responding result in incomparable responses between online surveys and paper surveys. We especially investigate how the cultural constructs of individualism and collectivism relate to shirking and social desirability. Our results reveal two different pathways leading to inconsistent results across different survey modes. Respondents from collectivistic cultures are more likely to shirking in online surveys. Consequently, they are more likely to provide varying responses than respondents from individualistic cultures. Collectivists are more likely to engage in impression management in paper surveys than in online surveys, while individualists have a greater tendency to provide inflated assessments of their skills and abilities in both survey modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyberloafing has reported to increasingly become a serious threat to organizational performance and efficiency. It is expected that cyberloafing remain at the locus of management concern since organizational reliance upon internet use at work is evermore increasing and will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Motivations of cyberloafing have hitherto been explored from a diversity of perspectives of which deviant behavior has remained to be one of the most cited terrains. This paper builds upon earlier studies and models explicating the motivations of cyberloafing – the cyberloafing antecedents – and verifies one of the most developed, recent and renowned theoretical frameworks of cyberloafing in an Iranian copper refinery firm. The findings of this research adds further theoretical credibility by identifying that behavioral attitudes upon cyberloafing , subjective norms and ability to hide cyberloafing are among the main antecedents of cyberlaofing. This paper adds further theoretical support to the theory of planned behavior and adds additional understanding from an under-researched setting to this nascent management realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online reviews are of great importance in supporting the purchasing decision making of online consumers. With the prospering of e-commerce, increasingly fraudulent reviews are appearing on e-commerce platforms to mislead consumers, and an increasing number of consumers are worrying about being deceived in online shopping. However, little research effort has been invested in studying the impact of review credibility perception caused by online review fraud on product sales. To fill this research gap, this paper conducts empirical research on the moderating effect of consumers' credibility perception of online reviews. Here, review credibility perception, or consumers' credibility perception of online reviews, refers to the credibility or trust that consumers have in the reviews they are reading. Building on dual-process theory, this paper develops two hypotheses to understand why and how review credibility perception influence consumer decision-making behaviors. The empirical studies in this paper demonstrate that consumers' credibility perception of online reviews moderate the effect of review sentiment on product sales. This work also found that consumers' credibility perception of online reviews have a heterogeneous effect on product sales. The effect shifts the relationship between review sentiment and product sales from an inverted U-shape relationship to a monotonous positive relationship with the improvement of consumers' credibility perception of online reviews. This study has great managerial implications for platforms and vendors to improve online review management. • Effect of fraudulent reviews on product sales is explored. • How review fraud influences consumers' decision making is interpreted. • Moderating effect of review credibility perception is verified. • Review credibility perception has a heterogeneous effect on product sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online crowdfunding has become an important venue for innovating entrepreneurs, enabling them to bypass traditional funding sources and directly pitch to the masses. And yet, most crowdfunding campaigns fail to reach their funding goals. In this paper, I examined the role of language in crowdfunding success by investigating a widely used, but understudied, linguistic feature: proximal language. I conducted two studies that combined behavioral and experimental evidence to investigate how and why proximal language is persuasive. Using behavior data from a sample of 459 online crowdfunding campaigns on a technological innovation, Study 1 found that campaigns using more proximal language, such as collective-referencing we-pronouns, audience-orienting you-pronouns, and concrete words, were more likely to succeed. By contrast, campaigns using more distant terms, such as self-referencing I-pronouns, were less likely to succeed. Building upon these results, Study 2 reported a multi-message, mixed-design experiment (N = 177) to examine the causal mechanism underlying the suasory effects of proximal language. The results showed that proximal (vs. distant) language reduced psychological distance, which enhanced perceived message quality and eventually led to stronger financing intentions. Implications for persuasion and entrepreneurial practice are discussed. • The paper examines the effects of proximal language on crowdfunding outcomes. • Proximal language increases campaign performance by up to 69%. • Proximal language affects campaign success through psychological distance. • Subtle linguistic choices are consequential for crowdfunding success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between social engagement and motivation to share knowledge in a hybrid college class using a web infused curriculum. Online social engagement, operationalized through concepts such as connectivity, social presence and social space has been an important topic of research in web based education for more than a decade. An important sub-text of this research is that online social engagement supports higher levels of collaboration. Students who feel comfortable with and connected to their online learning community are much more likely to be active participants in that community, working together to develop and build knowledge systems. Much of this research refers to the more social/participatory based educational theories of John Dewey and L.S. Vygotsky. There is though a second component of collaboration that helps drive community building in this theoretical frameworks; motivation to engage in a shared, relevant, goal oriented activity. While most theories on social engagement assume natural relationships between online social engagement and motivation to participate in a community, this relationship is not often discussed and examined very often. This paper specifically compares the relationship between classroom connectedness and motivation to share knowledge between students in a hybrid, web infused class and a more traditionally oriented class with a small web component. Analysis did find a highly significant relationship between connectedness and motivation to share knowledge in the hybrid class but not in the traditional class, suggesting an important relationship, but one based at least partially in targeted experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, online applications and working platforms, instant messengers and online social networks have become progressively mainstream with the introduction of easily accessible internet and commercially available technological devices. One of the results of the explosion of these online applications and working platforms is the emergence of more and more multitasking activity, that people are doing several types of tasks on computers or mobile devices simultaneously. In this paper, we present an intensive study on a dataset which contains over 15 million computer operation log records from 3000 random selected subjects. The dataset gives us an opportunity to look into people real-world task-switching behavior of computer usage in a very large scale. We explore the characteristics and the “star” structure of people’s general task-switching and multitasking behaviors on a group level. Our experiments show the existence of Power-law distributions in subjects’ task-switching activities, which suggests that most of the task-switching events in the dataset are around to a very small number of some “hub” computer-based tasks. Those top “hub” tasks include online chatting, browsing internet, document editing and online shopping. At last, the paper explored the interplay between subjects’ age attribute and their active level during task-switching activities in a quantitative way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the phenomenon of online self-disclosure. Two qualitative data analyses of YouTube videos were conducted. The studies revealed emerging forms of self-disclosure online, which are not necessarily bound to conditions of visual anonymity. This finding puts previous research results into question, which stress the strong correlation between self-disclosure and visual anonymity. The results of both qualitative studies showed that people also tend to disclose information in (visually) non-anonymous settings. The paper concludes by presenting a revised model of online self-disclosure and describing enhancing factors for self-disclosing behaviour on the internet based on the latest research results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For personalizing E-learning, several different strategies and characteristics can be used and considered by teachers and course authors/designers. In order to make appropriate decisions on how to best implement personalized E-learning, this paper focuses on the question: How to foresee personalization strategies that are appropriate for particular courses? To answer this question, we present an approach for recommending personalization strategies based on the learning objects included in the course as well as on how well they support particular combinations of learners’ characteristics. In particular, the paper presents generalized metrics which support teachers for analyzing and comparing personalization strategies, as well as deciding which one should be applied for personalizing each course. The approach was validated through experiments in order to test its feasibility and success when applied to a large number of learning objects and learners’ characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online communities are increasingly playing a major role in the internet market. They have become an integrated part of internet users’ interests and achievements. Understanding the factors which encourage individuals to participate in such communities, will serve as the principal guideline for the founders in assisting them to obtain requisite approvals to develop their business goals, plans and procedures. This paper uses a mixed methodology in order to identify the strongest motivational paths toward online community participation. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach has been applied in order to illustrate users’ lived experience and extract the motivations from deep semi-structured interviews with interdisciplinary experts in the fields of psychology, consumer behavior, Information technology and e-commerce. In this paper, the application of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs), as an innovative approach in modeling consumer motivations for online community participation has been discussed. Although motivations have been widely studied over the past few years, no one has focused on the causal relations between them. This study gives a comprehensive understanding of causal relations – to determine whether changes in one variable result in changes in another – and their strengths as well as strongest paths toward online community participation which helps decision-makers reach the desirable level of user’s participation in online communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unemployment is an unfortunate reality, whose overcoming often depends on social support, among other factors. Online social media, such as social network sites and communities, may offer an additional source of such support for unemployed people. This paper posits that online social support plays an important role in unemployed people’s ability to cope with unemployment and search for new employment. The paper develops and tests a structural equation model of the influence of online-mediated, enabling and caring social support on job search self-efficacy, which may foster the job search behaviour of unemployed persons. In addition, we control for gender, age, user experience, and attitude towards the Internet. Based on 1322 telephone interviews with unemployed individuals in Germany, we find that online social support drives job search behaviour. Our results show that social support derived from new information and communication technology counteracts the adverse effect of being unemployed to a certain degree. Enabling support and caring support experienced through social media both lead to higher job search self-efficacy, which, in turn, fosters job search behaviour. Furthermore, our model shows that these relationships differ by gender, age, user experience, and attitude towards the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital world, and the Internet in particular, have a significant impact on almost all aspects of our lives. The realm of psychotherapy is an area in which the influence of the Internet is growing rapidly. This paper suggests a model for comprehensive online therapy online with a therapist at its center. We start by explaining the main components of both traditional therapy and online therapy. We discuss the principal criticisms leveled against online therapy and assess the efficacy of various responses. The paper moves on to explain the advantages of online therapy, focusing on the unique aspects of this approach. The paper proposes that online therapy should exploit other online resources, including online techniques for information gathering. This is true both in the therapeutic session and outside of it. In addition, the paper suggests that therapists incorporate online role play, online CBT and intervention techniques using the smartphone. All of these tools are suggested as important components in a process of comprehensive therapy run by a therapist working online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new technology-facilitated types of crime following the advent of the Internet necessitated the re-examination of the utility of traditional theories such as lifestyle-routine activity theory to explain crimes that occur in the new and unique environment of cyberspace. The objective of this study was to investigate whether victims' lifestyles and routine activities can help explain the risk of victimization from direct, indirect and mixed types of cyber abuse. To achieve this objective, the data from a large nationwide (US) crowd-sourced sample (N = 1463) of adult members of an online labour portal Mechanical Turk was collected using an online survey platform Qualtrics and then analyzed using Bayesian Profile Regression to identify clusters of lifestyles and routine activities of victims associated with victimization from different types of cyber abuse. Our analyses were able to distinguish between victims and non-victims as well as between victims of different sub-classifications of cyber abuse. Specifically, we have identified five population subgroups based on their lifestyles and routine activities in terms of the associated risk of personal victimization from different types of cyber abuse. This paper discusses the differences in lifestyles and routine activities between the identified groups. Our findings generally support the empirical utility of lifestyle-routine activity theory to explain cyber abuse victimization; as with other traditional types of crime (e.g. robbery or assault), victims' lifestyles and routine activities play a significant role in their risk of various types of cyber abuse victimization. • Lifestyle-routine activity theory appears useful for understanding different types of cyber abuse victimization. • Non-victims tend to be less involved in risky activities. • Proximity to offenders measured as online gaming is most consistently associated with cyber abuse. • Direct abuse is associated with less involvement in risky activities compared with indirect cyber abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper furthers our understanding of customer brand engagement through augmented reality (AR) features on retailers' mobile applications. Due to the ubiquitous smartphone device, augmented reality has emerged as a new technology available to retailers to engage with customers. While AR in consumer markets is in its infancy, some innovative retailers have implemented AR technology within their mobile application. Through a web-based survey of 441 consumers, the research establishes the variables influencing brand engagement through retailers' mobile apps and the consequent outcomes of AR related brand engagement. The research introduces a new set of augmented reality attributes, namely, AR novelty, AR interactivity and AR vividness and establishes their influence on technology acceptance attributes of perceived ease of use, usefulness, enjoyment and subjective norms. Positive perceptions of the AR attributes and technology acceptance attributes positively influence brand engagement through the retailer's AR mobile application. The findings also indicate that AR enabled brand engagement results in increased satisfaction with the app experience and future brand usage intent. The research provides retailers important practical implications on the use of AR technology. • New Augmented Reality attributes are introduced. • AR attributes influence technology acceptance attributes. • AR and Technology attributes influence AR Brand engagement. • AR brand engagement positively influences brand usage intention. • AR brand engagement positively influences satisfaction with the experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 or social web applications such as online discussion forums, blogs and Wikipedia have improved knowledge sharing by providing an environment in which users can generate and find their favorite content in, a flexible way. With the passage of time, online discussion forums accumulate a huge amount of content and this can introduce issues of content quality and user credibility. A poor-quality answer in a discussion forum indicates the presence of unprofessional or unqualified users; therefore, a priority is to find experts or reputable users. Most of the existing expert-ranking approaches consider basic features, such as the total number of answers provided by a user, but ignore the quality and consistency of the user's answer. In this paper, expert-ranking techniques using g-index are proposed, and are applied to a StackOverflow forum dataset. Three techniques are proposed including Exp-PC, Rep-FS and Weighted Exp-PC. Exp-PC is an adaptation of g-index for ranking experts in StackOverflow forum. In Rep-FS, several features like voters reputation, vote ratio are proposed to measure users' expertise while Weighted Exp-PC computes user expertise by combining their Exp-PC and Rep-FS scores. We measure users' reputation and expertise according to both the quality of their answer and their consistency in providing quality answers. The experimental results of the proposed expert-ranking techniques, Exp-PC and Weighted Exp-PC in particular, validate that these methods identify genuine experts in a more effective way. • Proposal of Exp-PC and REP-FS techniques for ranking experts. • Exp-PC considers users consistency in providing quality answers. • Usage of large benchmark StackOverflow dataset for evaluation purposes. • Performance evaluation in terms of standard ranking performance measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making is a playful exploration of tools and materials to design personally meaningful artifacts, providing a particularly impactful entry point for traditionally underrepresented youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, it remains unclear how these constructionist explorations translate to eventual professional and educational STEM opportunities, especially for women. This paper tracks an exemplary case in a makerspace to theorize, describe, and analyze the behavioral patterns of young women as they engage in making and move toward expertise in STEM. Building on a material-based and constructionist notion of making, we use mediated discourse analysis to examine how recognition (materialized in artifacts as displaying, legitimizing, and circulating emergent STEM expertise) leads to transformational development over time. We introduce the notion of tinkering with development , which conceptualizes playful project design, spatial project placements, and emergent online project sharing as drivers of human developmental trajectories. Implications of this work include a set of design principles to support makerspaces and other constructionist learning environments to foster participation in STEM. Further, implications for constructionist theory and STEM gender representation are discussed. Image 1 • Recognition plays a vital role in STEM learning and pathway development. • Honoring women's STEM expertise can counteract their turning away from STEM. • Constructionism has underspecified how sharing can cultivate recognition. • Displaying, legitimizing, and circulating expertise can foster recognition. • Personally meaningful artifacts produce and display growing expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes conversation threads from a closed Facebook group for women in computing. The dataset contains more than 13,000 posts and spans five years during which time the group greatly expanded in membership. Drawing on research about online forums as well as the research on obstacles and supports for women in computing, the authors use qualitative analysis and take a feminist perspective to show the various ways in which the group provides a locus of oppositional discourse. This discourse highlights the systemic nature of exclusionary practices in the computing field at the secondary and post-secondary levels, providing a way for group members to see past individual circumstances and, thereby, find ways to oppose the cultures in which they live, study and work. Understanding how this oppositional discourse serves women, a group sorely underrepresented in the field of computing, can help identify promising levers for making the culture of computing more inclusive. • Qualitative analysis of big data shows how social support functions for marginalized persons in a virtual community. • An online women in computing group provides belonging and an oppositional discourse to counter sexism and exclusion. • Conversation analyses show social-emotional and practical support that develops and reinforces a counterpublic. • The counterpublic allows participants to challenge their exclusion and confirm their "right to be" in computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The platform market, where a platform serves as both market maker and regulator, has received increasing attention in recent years. Despite great success, the inherent uncertainty of the platform market has hindered its overall development. Previous papers have studied uncertainty by focusing on either sellers or products, ignoring a platform's significant effects. To fill this void, we propose and validate a new dimension of uncertainty in the platform market: platform uncertainty. To examine the systematic dimensions of uncertainty in the platform market and reveal its consequences and antecedents, we utilize the perspective of information asymmetry. Structural equation modeling is used to build a theoretical framework, and we then conduct a survey among 352 consumers of a leading commerce platform in China to collect our data. We use the partial least squares (PLS) method to validate our hypotheses. Our empirical analysis provides the results that follow: First, we confirm that platform uncertainty is not only distinct from seller uncertainty and product uncertainty but also impacts both of these aspects. Consumers' perceived platform uncertainty positively influences their perceived seller uncertainty and product uncertainty. Consequently, these three dimensions of uncertainty negatively influence consumers' purchase intention. We also find that platform uncertainty negatively and indirectly influences consumers' purchase intention by impacting seller uncertainty. We demonstrate that consumers' concerns about a platform's hidden characteristics and opportunistic behavior contribute to platform uncertainty. These two significant antecedents explain much of the variance in platform uncertainty. • Examine uncertainty in the platform market from the information asymmetry perspective. • Propose and validate platform uncertainty as a new dimension of uncertainty in the platform market. • Characterize the interdependence of three dimensions of uncertainty, i.e., platform uncertainty, seller uncertainty and product uncertainty. • Identify that the three dimensions of uncertainty negatively influence consumers' purchase intention. • Investigate two significant antecedents of platform uncertainty in the platform market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the influence of digital technologies on the consumer decision-making in retail sector with two online survey-based studies. Study 1 identifies unique attributes of six digital technologies, including two current (Internet and Mobile Platform) and four emerging (Artificial Intelligence, Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality) technologies. Study two focuses on older consumers to understand their decision-making process when shopping for products or services using new digital technologies. We extend the AISAS (Awareness, Interest, Search, Action, and Sharing) model to show that with digital technologies, consumer decision journey is no longer linear. For example, attention can lead directly to action, without going through the interest or search stages. Similarly, purchase can lead to sharing that may lead to loyalty and psychological engagement, and reinforce attention. We found no significant difference in these effects between older and younger consumers. Besides providing useful insights about consumer decision-making process with emerging digital technologies for future academic researchers, these results also give useful ideas to marketing practitioners interested in introducing these emerging technologies to deliver superior value to their customers. • Emerging digital technologies are changing consumer decision-making process. • We explore this phenomenon in retail shopping context using two online studies. • Study one identifies and categorizes unique attributes of digital technologies. • Study two confirms non-linear consumer decision-making with digital technologies. • No influence of consumers' age on their decision-making with digital technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on cyber-co-offending tends to focus on either the organizational structure of organized cybercrime or social learning processes among individuals. This paper provides a new perspective on co-offending by examining the extent to which individuals co-offend for different types of cybercrime compared to traditional crime. Additionally, differences in the type of co-offender (friends, family, or others) and relationships between IT-knowledge and cyber-co-offending are examined. This paper is based on individual self-report survey data from a judicial sample of Dutch adult cyber-dependent offenders and traditional offenders. It includes information on 466 different crimes (51.50% cybercrime) self-reported by 164 individuals. Results indicate that cybercrime and traditional crime show similar patterns of co-offending. The majority of offenders prefer to commit their crimes alone, but some types of crime are more often committed with co-offenders than other types of crime. For cybercrime results suggest that limitations in an offender's IT-knowledge may be a reason to seek co-offenders with strong IT-skills. • Cybercrime and traditional crime show similar patterns of co-offending. • For all crimes offenders prefer to offend alone, but patterns differ between types. • Co-offending is more common for internet related cybercrime & traditional vandalism. • For all crimes co-offenders are mostly friends. • Differences in IT-knowledge may explain differences in co-offending for cybercrime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Internet financial reporting provides investors with several options regarding which type of financial disclosures to view and the format in which to view these. However, research suggests that these options may result in unintended cognitive effects leading to less optimal decision making. Accordingly, this study examines the individual and joint impact of presentation format and information content on nonprofessional investors’ decision making within the Internet financial reporting environment. Alternative presentation formats which vary in their navigational flexibility are studied to isolate the effects attributable to each format. Specifically, hyperlinked financial information is compared to paper-based financial information. The effects of information content differences are also examined by investigating whether an unaudited letter from a company’s management differentially affects hyperlink and paper users’ investment judgments. We conduct an experiment in which graduate business students, proxies for nonprofessional investors, make financial investment-related judgments and decisions. Our results show that hyperlink users used less effort on the investment task than users of paper-based information. Furthermore, the management letter influenced the paper-based users’ forward-looking judgments more so than the hyperlink users. The findings have implications for academic research, financial disclosure regulation and information systems design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) as an important component for understanding human problem solving in the 21st century. OSINT is in many ways the result of changing human–information relationships resulting from the emergence and growing dominance of the Internet and the World Wide Web in everyday life. This paper suggests that the Internet/Web changes the dynamic relationship between what Cattell and Horn have identified as the two general factors of human intelligence: crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence. The Internet/Web open up new possibilities for accessing information and transcending over-determined cultural intelligence in problem solving. This offers fluid intelligence, which often trails off in adulthood, a new vitality across the lifespan. But the diminishment of crystallized intelligence, and especially cultural intelligence, also presents a number of important problems in maintenance of cohesive, social cooperatives. The development of OSINT (using tools and ethos created by the Open Source movement of the last few decades) offers both a framework for reaching beyond the boundaries of traditional cultural intelligence and ways to create cooperative, open, problem solving communities. The Internet/Web will continue to create confusion and fear as we move deeper into this new age, but also presents extraordinary possibilities for augmenting human intellect if we can understand it and learn to harness its potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To stop cheating behaviors in the online game, game providers have taken various measures, especially the anti-cheating system (ACS), but cheating behaviors are still endless. From the perspective of information interaction, this paper aims to analyze how to effectively persuade gamers to give up cheating. In academic literature, ELM and signaling theory are mainly used for information interaction. Signaling theory provides a relatively concrete framework for information transmission, and ELM explains information processing in the receiver's perception. For maximizing their benefits, we propose a united persuasion model that signals (technical advantage, attitude of game providers, perceived risk, source credibility, and critical mass) and personal factors (self-efficacy, personal engagement, and positive cheating attitude) are regarded to affect gamer's intention to stop cheating. Based on data collected from 248 gamers who have held the intention to cheat once in China, the result reveals technical advantage cannot give significant influence on intention to stop cheating, which answers why current ACS cannot work as expected. Interestingly, intention to stop cheating is negatively influenced by the attitude of game provider, indicating coercive measures may cause a gamer's psychological reactance. Result also suggests personal factors significantly affect the intention to stop cheating. Our study helps game providers effectively persuade gamers to give up cheating, and also provides directions for future information interaction-related studies. • Anti-cheating technical advantage may not decrease cheating intention. • Attitude of game provider negatively affects intention to stop cheating. • Gamers prefer using simple information to decide whether to stop cheating or not. • Personal factors significantly influence the intention to stop cheating behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Amazon's MTurk platform has become a popular site for obtaining relatively inexpensive and convenient adult samples for use in behavioral research. Concerns have been raised about selection issues, because MTurk workers chose to participate in the platform and select the tasks they perform (of many offered to them). Prior studies have documented demographic and psychological differences with national samples. In this paper we studied evaluative subjective well-being (the Cantril Ladder) in an MTurk sample, a national Internet panel sample, and a national telephone survey conducted by Gallup-Sharecare. A surprising finding was that MTurk participants' Ladder scores were substantial lower than the other two samples. Analyses controlling for six demographic differences among the samples only slightly reduced the mean differences. However, patterns of demographic—well-being associations were similar within the samples. To corroborate these results, we conducted a secondary analysis on another three samples, one MTurk sample and two Internet panel samples. The same group differences in Ladder scores were observed. These findings add to the growing literature documenting the characteristics of MTurk samples and we discuss the implications for future research with such samples. Highlights • Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) samples are frequently used in behavioral research. • MTurk participants have lower subjective well-being (SWB) than other samples. • Selected demographic differences did not explain the lower SWB in MTurk sample. • Further studies are needed to understand lower SWB in MTurk samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Dark Triad of personality – Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy – has been shown to influence a variety of behaviours. Typically, high levels of these traits predict engaging in behaviour at the periphery of what is considered socially normative. Such individuals do not display clinical maladaptation however, and function relatively normally. The Dark Triad's influence extends to the online context, where it predicts questionable behaviour when using social media such as Facebook. For example it can affect the content of users' status updates, or what media they post. In this paper we examine a new concept known as Facebook surveillance. This details the deliberate examination of users' profiles in order to gather information for one's own advantage. We suggest this is distinct with the conventional viewing of ones "feed" (which has little intent), or the stalking of ex-romantic partners (which has a emotive component). We predicted that Machiavellianism and psychopathy would both predict Facebook surveillance, whereas narcissism would not. Furthermore, we postulated that the Machiavellianism-surveillance relationship would be mediated by endorsement of gossip, whereas for psychopathy it would be mediated by intolerance for uncertainty. 259 participants took part in an online survey to measure these traits. Results supported our hypotheses, and suggested two forms of surveillance – Facebook tracking, which was more recreational, and Facebook investigating, which was more deliberate and targeted. Future studies are then discussed which may use more complex measures of narcissism, and gather behavioural and/or qualitative measures of surveillance. Highlights • The Dark Triad of personality is related to using Facebook as a surveillance tool. • Machiavellianism and psychopathy both predict spying on others. • Machiavellianism's effect is mediated by endorsement of gossip. • Psychopathy's effect is mediated by intolerance of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Social Q&A communities are becoming increasingly popular, but literature on users' continued participation is still relatively limited. Based on theory of planned behavior, this paper aims to answer two research questions: (1) what are the factors that motivate users to continuously participate in online social Q&A communities? (2) How do the factors differ across lurkers, askers and answerers? An online survey was performed on a Chinese social Q&A community. And motivational factors are selected from three perspectives: psychological, social and functional. Results indicate that commitment, shared language and shared vision have positive influence on both lurkers' and answerers' attitude towards continued participation. Concerning the functional dimension, hypotheses about influence of network externalities on users' perceived usefulness are partially supported. And about the psychological dimension, motivations differ greatly between lurkers and answerers. Highlights • Motivational factors affecting users' continued participation in social Q&A communities are studied. • Commitment, shared language and shared vision positively affect lurkers' and answerers' continued participation attitude. • Hypotheses about impacts of network externalities on users' perceived usefulness are partially supported. • Enjoyment in helping others is found to positively affect answerers' continued participation attitude, but not lurkers. • Knowledge demand is found to be a significant predictor of lurkers' continued participation attitude, but not answerers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Monitoring learners' satisfaction (LS) is a vital action for collecting precious information and design valuable online collaborative learning (CL) experiences. Today's CL platforms allow students for performing many online activities, thus generating a huge mass of data that can be processed to provide insights about the level of satisfaction on contents, services, community interactions, and effort. Big Data is a suitable paradigm for real-time processing of large data sets concerning the LS, in the final aim to provide valuable information that may improve the CL experience. Besides, the adoption of Big Data offers the opportunity to implement a non-intrusive and in-process evaluation strategy of online courses that complements the traditional and time-consuming ways to collect feedback (e.g. questionnaires or surveys). Although the application of Big Data in the CL domain is a recent explored research area with limited applications, it may have an important role in the future of online education. By adopting the design science research methodology, this article describes a novel method and approach to analyse individual students' contributions in online learning activities and assess the level of their satisfaction towards the course. A software artefact is also presented, which leverages Learning Analytics in a Big Data context, with the goal to provide in real-time valuable insights that people and systems can use to intervene properly in the program. The contribution of this paper can be of value for both researchers and practitioners: the former can be interested in the approach and method used for LS assessment; the latter can find of interest the system implemented and how it has been tested in a real online course. Highlights • Real-time monitoring of LS is crucial for CL processes. • Real time monitoring of LS may support course delivery and reduce early drop-outs. • Learning Analytics provide valuable insights about the level of LS. • Big Data may support learning managers to enhance decision making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore students' behavior and interaction patterns in different types of online quiz-based activities within learning management systems (LMS). Analyzing students' behavior in online learning activities and detecting specific patterns of interaction in LMS is a topic of great interest for the educational data mining (EDM) and learning analytics (LA) research communities. Previous studies have focused primarily on frequency analysis without addressing the temporal aspects of students' learning behavior. Therefore, we apply a process-oriented approach, investigating perspectives on using process mining methods in the context of online learning and assessment. To explore a broad range of possible student behavior patterns, we analyze students' interactions in several online quizzes from different courses and with different settings. Using process mining methods, we identify specific types of interaction sequences that shed new light on students' quiz-taking strategies in LMS. We believe that these findings bring important implications for researchers studying student behavior in online environments as well as practitioners using online quizzes for learning and assessment. Highlights • Process-centric approach to analyze student behavior in Moodle were employed. • Students' behavior and interaction patterns in quiz-based activities were studied. • Standard and non-standard behavior were identified using process mining. • Four different behavior patterns were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Engaging students in online discussions is challenging. This paper presents a mixed methods study using a gamification approach to promote student engagement in online discussions. A total of 70 students were enrolled in this study from an asynchronous online undergraduate level political science course. The study findings suggested that the gamification approach only had positive effects on the students' number of comments and performance in online discussions who were more aware of the gamification approach. However, it appears that the gamification approach failed in promoting students' sense of community. Additionally, students' responses to the interviews and open-ended questions revealed similar results, although more students in the gamified group indicated that the online discussions forced them to think hard. The limited influence of the gamification approach in the current study may be attributed to several factors that related to the facilitation of the gamification approach, the types of badges, and technical issues. Implications and suggestions for future research have been discussed. Highlights • The gamification approach positively, but limited, influenced student engagement. • Students who were more aware of the gamification approach commented more often. • Students who were more aware of the gamification approach performed better. • The gamification approach failed at promoting students' sense of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates how users' perception of online hotel reviews is related to trust across review polarity and hotel category. Users' perception of both titles and descriptions of reviews was examined. Data came from a 2 (review polarity: positive and negative) x 2 (hotel category: luxury and budget) between-participants experiment. Analysis was done using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach. Attractiveness of titles and credibility of descriptions were positively related to trust. Moreover, the relation between users' perception of reviews and their decision to trust differed significantly across review polarity and hotel category. Implications of the findings are highlighted. Highlights • Online hotel reviews were examined in terms of their titles and descriptions. • Perceived title attractiveness was positively related to trust in hotel reviews. • Perceived description credibility was positively related to trust in hotel reviews. • The link from perception to trust varied across review polarity and hotel category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to define information privacy objectives based on values of individuals. The study is informed by the value-focused thinking approach that helps generate objectives for strategic decision makers. We employ a sequential mixed method approach in four phases. Phase 1 uses Value Theory to define individual values for information privacy. Using value-focused thinking the values are then converted into objectives. The objectives are classified into means and fundamentals based on their relative importance. In Phases 2 and 3, drawing on 207 and 458 respondents, respectively; we quantitatively define a more parsimonious set of objectives. In Phase 4, using a new sample of 221 respondents, we apply a confirmatory factorial analysis to test the models hypothesized in previous phases. In the final synthesis, a five-factor model of means and fundamental objectives is presented. Collectively the means and fundamental objectives for information privacy present a measurement scale, which is useful for researchers and marketers who wish to research how customer attitudes about how privacy influences Internet behavior. The objectives can also be useful for companies to design privacy for Internet Commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many organizations support online communities of practice (OCOPs) as part of their knowledge management strategies. Despite some prior investigation of the potential benefits of OCOPs, the effects of OCOPs on behaviors and performance outcomes are not well understood. Drawing on social capital theory and absorptive capacity literature, this paper addresses three research questions: (1) How does social capital influence exchange and combination behaviors in online communities of practice? (2) How do exchange and combination behaviors affect the performance of individuals and the OCOP? (3) How does absorptive capacity moderate the impact of exchange and combination behaviors on individual and OCOP performance? The empirical study is based on online survey data from 253 participants in OCOPs and qualitative analysis of online postings. The results indicate that cognitive and structural capital facilitate exchange and combination behaviors in OCOPs, but relational capital does not. Moreover, exchange and combination behaviors facilitate the performance of individuals as well as the OCOP, and a higher level of absorptive capacity enhances these effects. The findings are discussed in detail, along with their theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Information and communication technologies have introduced new and impressive tools for information sharing and building computer-mediated knowledge repositories in a global context. Clinicians and researchers pay particular attention to technology as a promising tool to empower patients through self-health care management skills and to improve health care communication with providers. This represents a significant step in modern medicine of computer-integrated patient self-health care. This paper aims to examine perceived informational and decisional benefits of computer-mediated health and medical information, more specifically of cancer web-sites, and presents the results of two separate statistical models of perceived benefits. Multivariate hierarchical regression analyses showed that the frequency and time spent visiting medical web-sites are significant predictors of perceived benefits of computer-mediated knowledge. The results also indicated that computer-mediated medical information empowers health consumers to make informed decisions for their health care. The discussion section of the paper contextualizes the findings within the current sociomedical trends of self-health care and partnership with health providers. It is important to understand the perceived benefits of using computer-mediated medical knowledge, so that information and communication technologies can be targeted to educate patients to make informed decisions and to develop patient self-health-care management competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Internet has become increasingly popular as a way to administer self-report questionnaires, especially in the field of Internet delivered psychological treatments. Collecting questionnaire data over the Internet has advantages, such as ease of administration, and automated scoring. However, psychometric properties cannot be assumed to be identical to the paper-and-pencil versions. The aim of this study was to test the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and Internet administered versions of self-report questionnaires used in social phobia research. We analyzed data from two trials in which samples were recruited in a similar manner. One sample (N =64) completed the paper-and-pencil version of questionnaires and the second sample (N =57) completed the same measures online. We included the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-self-assessment (LSAS-SR), the Social Interaction and Anxiety Scale (SIAS), and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) as measures of social anxiety. Also included were the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale-self-assessment (MADRS-S), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI). Results showed equivalent psychometric properties across administration formats. Cronbach’s α ranged between 0.77 and 0.94. There was an indication of a somewhat higher construct validity when participants filled out questionnaires using paper-and-pencil. We conclude that the LSAS-SR, SIAS, and SPS can be administered via the Internet with maintained psychometric properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The body of empirical research on Internet sexuality has grown steadily since 1993. The following paper provides an overview of the current state of research in this field in its full thematic breadth, addressing six areas of online sexuality: Pornography, sex shops, sex work, sex education, sex contacts, and sexual subcultures. Key research results are presented concerning Internet sexuality’s forms of manifestation, participant groups, opportunities, and risks. This paper shows that sexually related online activities have become routine in recent years for large segments of the population in the Western world. Internet sexuality also takes somewhat different forms based on the age, gender, and sexual orientation of the individual. Academic studies to date have focused overwhelmingly on the possible negative effects of Internet sexuality. By contrast, little research has been conducted on potential benefits. Consequently, a surprising number of gaps are evident in the scholarship on Internet sexuality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Internet gambling is a potential object of addictive behavior and consequently an important concern for public health. Epidemiological analyses of Internet gambling are necessary to determine the extent of public health threat. This paper reports the results of the first prospective epidemiological study of actual Internet poker gambling behavior. Participants were 3445 Internet gambling service subscribers who enrolled during February 2005. Data include two years of recorded poker outcomes (i.e., chips bought and sold) for each poker session played. Among our sample, we identified two subgroups of poker players. Approximately 95% of the sample bought a median of €12 worth of chips at each of two poker sessions per week during a median duration from first to last bet of six months. A smaller subgroup (i.e., 5%) of most involved poker players bought a median of €89 worth of chip at each of 10 sessions per week during a median duration from first to last bet of 18 months. In addition to level differences, we report the differences in patterns of behavior observed between these two subgroups. The analyses presented in this paper suggest that the majority of Internet poker players moderated their behavior based on their wins and losses. A minority of most involved players did not show such moderation. These results have important implications for both gambling-and addiction-related research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Internet is often perceived as yet another technological innovation that causes a further widening of the gap between rich and poor. However, one of the most interesting phenomena to come out of the Internet revolution is its utilization as a channel for social development. Volunteers working in task forces who were recruited through the net, work to improve the lives of many millions of people in need throughout the world. Some of these volunteers are ‘field workers’, working in physical proximity to those they are trying to help, while others may be sitting at home, using their computers to help needy populations many thousands of miles away. This paper studies this trend and advocates a model to explain the potential and promise of online volunteerism from the perspective of the volunteer. It is suggested that understanding the characteristics behind Internet volunteering from the perspective of the volunteer may enhance the positive potential of the Internet. The model focuses on the unique informative and communicative aspects of net volunteering. It does so by separating this phenomenon into three separate subdivisions: the personal, the interpersonal, and the group. The personal subdivision refers to the advantages of volunteering on an individual level. The interpersonal subdivision refers to advantages in terms of dyadic interaction, and the group subdivision refers to the advantages as a result of being part of a task group. This paper concentrates almost exclusively on the positive, rather than negative, aspects of the Internet and Internet volunteering. This is because of the need for brevity, but more importantly, because the positive aspects of the Internet have been widely ignored by scholars. This paper aims to focus on these and to turn the spotlight on a fascinating combination of the affirmative harnessing of the Internet to increase social justice, and human well-being through unpaid volunteer work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]