Effect of Best Possible Self Intervention on Situational Motivation and Commitment in Academic Context

Toward a Better Understanding of Language Learning Motivation in a Study Abroad Context: An Investigation Among Chinese English as a Foreign Language Learners

Motivation has been recognized as a vital component in successfully learning a second or foreign language. However, research on language learners’ motivation in a study abroad context requires more attention in an era in which international mobility is becoming a new normal. This study investigated 217 Chinese overseas university students’ L2 motivation during their one-year postgraduate study in the United Kingdom. by examining a range of motivational variables in relation to their motivated English language learning behaviors. Integrating results from both questionnaires and interviews from nine participating students, the study revealed that international posture showed the strongest positive power, followed by the ideal L2 self, in explaining the learners’ willingness to communicate, frequency of communication, and intended learning effort. Additionally, instrumentality and parental encouragement exerted prominent promotional influence in shaping their intended learning effort. However, the ought-to L2 self-displayed a significant negative impact on their L2 learning in this study abroad context, and the role of attitudes toward L2 speakers/community and culture was not evident in this case. The findings shed light on a more comprehensive understanding of L2 motivation in a study abroad context, and offer insightful implications for English as a Foreign Language education in cultivating language learners’ motivation to prepare for study abroad.

The Role of User Behaviour in Improving Cyber Security Management

Information security has for long time been a field of study in computer science, software engineering, and information communications technology. The term 'information security' has recently been replaced with the more generic term cybersecurity. The goal of this paper is to show that, in addition to computer science studies, behavioural sciences focused on user behaviour can provide key techniques to help increase cyber security and mitigate the impact of attackers' social engineering and cognitive hacking methods (i.e., spreading false information). Accordingly, in this paper, we identify current research on psychological traits and individual differences among computer system users that explain vulnerabilities to cyber security attacks and crimes. Our review shows that computer system users possess different cognitive capabilities which determine their ability to counter information security threats. We identify gaps in the existing research and provide possible psychological methods to help computer system users comply with security policies and thus increase network and information security.

Are Job Demands Necessary in the Influence of a Transformational Leader? The Moderating Effect of Role Conflict

(1) Background: The objective of this manuscript is to propose the necessity of job demands to ensure the positive influence of policies in stimulating employees’ engagement and performance. If the policies related to the intellectual stimulation of employees implemented by team leaders are to have positive effects on employee performance, they must induce emotional engagement in the employees. Furthermore, to achieve this positive influence on emotions, the organization must offer an environment that challenges the employees in the organization. Here, we analyze a moderate mediation model to examine the moderating, positive effect of role conflict on the intellectual engagement and performance of employees. (2) Methods: This study involved 705 employees of a multinational private company based in Spain. (3) Results: We confirm the positive moderating effect of role conflict between the intellectual stimulation of employees and intellectual engagement, and the mediating effect of intellectual engagement between leadership behavior and employee performance. (4) Conclusions: Organizational leader stimulation practices necessitate an environment of moderate job demands in order to improve the intellectual engagement of employees, thereby increasing their performance. The implications of the findings in terms of theory, research and practice are discussed.

The MAPS model of self-regulation: Integrating metacognition, agency, and possible selves

Self-regulation, a social-cognitive process at the intersection of metacognition, motivation, and behavior, encompasses how people conceptualize, strive for, and accomplish their goals. Self-regulation is critical for behavioral change regardless of the context. Research indicates that self-regulation is learned. Integral to successful self-regulation of behavior are: (a) an articulated concept of one's possible selves, (b) metacognitive knowledge and effective strategies, and (c) a sense of one's own agency. We present the theoretical linkages, research evidence, and applied utility for these three components in promoting self-regulation of behavior, specifically in the domain of learning. We propose the MAPS model to account for the pathways of influence that lead to behavioral change. This model illustrates the dynamic and feed-forward processes that derive from the interactions among possible selves, metacognition, and agency to provide the context for developing self-regulated and effective learning that promotes student success, the transfer of knowledge, and the foundation for life-long learning.