Relationship between horizontal collectivism and social network influence among college students: mediating effect of self-monitoring and moderating effect of self-efficacy

Background

The aim of the present study was to investigate the intrinsic relationship between cultural values and social network index among college students. In addition, the present study explored the mediating role of self-monitoring in the relationship between horizontal collectivism cultural values and social network index, as well as the moderating role of self-efficacy, to provide a theoretical approach based on the intrinsic mechanism for college students to establish a good social network.

Methods

A simple random cluster sampling method was used to investigate 376 college students with cultural values scale, self-monitoring scale, self-efficacy scale, and social network index scale, structural equation model was constructed using M-plus and SPSS.

Results

The result indicated that individual horizontal collectivist cultural values positively predict social network index (β = 0.477). Self-monitoring plays an intermediary role between cultural values and social network index, and self-efficacy plays a moderating role between self-monitoring and social network index.

Conclusion

The level of an individual's social network activity is affected by the cultural values of horizontal collectivism and self-monitoring. Improving individual self-monitoring ability and self-efficacy can effectively improve the interpersonal relationships of college students.

Self-monitoring and former best friends: individual differences in friendship dissolution

Across two investigations, we explored self-monitoring differences in the causes of relationship dissolution with best friends and if such differences are best captured by a univariate model or bivariate model of self-monitoring. Causes of friendship dissolution often mirror the reasons for friendship formation. Accordingly, we hypothesized that high self-monitors would report a change in shared activities as the reason for dissolving a relationship with a best friend, whereas low self-monitors would report a change in personal compatibility as the reason for dissolving a relationship with a best friend. In both studies, participants focused on a former best friend and indicated which of two causes (Study 1: loss of shared activities vs. loss of shared attitudes and values; Study 2: change in life circumstances vs. change in broad dispositions) was more influential in ending that friendship. They also completed the Self-Monitoring Scale; scores were used to create indices of self-monitoring in its univariate and bivariate (acquisitive vs. protective) forms. In both studies, protective self-monitoring was more consistently related to reasons for friendship dissolution, such that (a) high self-monitoring was associated with a loss of shared interests and (b) low self-monitoring was associated with a loss of personal compatibility as the bases for friendship dissolution. Effects were independent of potential third variables. Implications (e.g., nuanced assessment of self-monitoring), limitations (e.g., absence of longitudinal designs), and future directions (e.g., examining actor-partner effects) are discussed.

Relationship Formation and Change in Ego Networks: A Regulatory Focus Framework

Drawing on regulatory focus and brokerage literatures, we develop new theory that explains individuals’ motivation to form and change their relationships in organizational networks. Specifically, we examine how promotion and prevention regulatory foci influence such relational processes as tie formation, maintenance, dissolution, and reconstitution. We further explore the relationship between motivational orientations of regulatory foci and relational orientations to brokerage (i.e., tertius iungens/gaudens) and develop a typology that outlines four major ego-level configurations. Each of the four configurations, labeled dutiful coordinators, aspirational arbitrators, versatile brokers, and indifferent egos, offers distinct predictions on network change and structuring. Overall, our theory contributes to organization theory by elaborating on the important role of ego motivation and strategy in organizational networks, and in so doing, advances research that focuses on individual agency in social networks and complements structuralist approaches to understanding social network dynamics.

A Confirmation Bias View on Social Media Induced Polarisation During Covid-19

Social media has played a pivotal role in polarising views on politics, climate change, and more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic. Social media induced polarisation (SMIP) poses serious challenges to society as it could enable 'digital wildfires' that can wreak havoc worldwide. While the effects of SMIP have been extensively studied, there is limited understanding of the interplay between two key components of this phenomenon: confirmation bias (reinforcing one's attitudes and beliefs) and echo chambers (i.e., hear their own voice). This paper addresses this knowledge deficit by exploring how manifestations of confirmation bias contributed to the development of 'echo chambers' at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis of data collected from 35 participants involved in supply chain information processing forms the basis of a conceptual model of SMIP and four key cross-cutting propositions emerging from the data that have implications for research and practice.

Private Self-Consciousness and Self-Monitoring on Instagram: The Mediating Effect of Internal Locus of Control and Self-Concept

Past studies examining the direct relationship between private self-consciousness and online self-presentation behavior have not met with much success. The aim of this study was to examine the direct relationship between private self-consciousness and self-monitoring as well as the indirect relationship between these two variables through the mediation of locus of control and self-concept among Instagram users. Besides investigating locus of control and self-concept independently, serial mediation of locus of control and self-concept in the relationship between private self-consciousness and self-monitoring was also examined. A sample of 309 university students was conveniently drawn from three private universities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Participants completed a survey that collected data on private self-consciousness, internal locus of control, self-concept, self-monitoring on Instagram and relevant demographic data. Results of this study showed that there is no direct relationship between private self-consciousness and self-monitoring on Instagram. Independently, locus of control was found to mediate the relationship between private self-consciousness and self-monitoring while self-concept did not. The serial-multiple mediation test supported the mediating role of locus of control and self-concept on this relationship. These indirect relationships contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanism through which private self-consciousness influences self-monitoring on Instagram.

Personality and emerging adults' friend selection on social networking sites: A social network analysis perspective

Personality affects how emerging adults select friends and how they are selected on social networking sites (SNSs). Big Five personality traits and frequency of contacts on SNSs were collected from 160 college freshmen (M = 18 years) under a round-robin design over 2 months. Using social network analyses, we examined how personality and dyadic similarity affect online friend selections among new acquaintances. Our results show that people with high extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness and low openness selected more friends, verifying both the social enhancement hypothesis and the social compensation hypothesis. People with low extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism and high openness were selected as online friends more often. Only openness dissimilarity had a salutary effect. We discuss the role of personality in social networking friend selection.

Social Networks, Role-Relationships, and Personality in Older Adulthood

OBJECTIVES

This article examines the implications of personality traits for social network connectedness in older adulthood, across different social relationships.

METHODS

This article uses data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), a nationally-representative, longitudinal survey of community-dwelling older Americans (N = 2,261). Network characteristics were predicted using Poisson and negative binomial regression (for network size) as well as multilevel identity-linked and ordinal-logit-linked regressions (for tie strength).

RESULTS

Extraversion and agreeableness were associated with tie strength, and extraversion was weakly associated with friend network size. Few trait-by-role-relationship interactions emerged, although more-neurotic persons were more likely to talk about their health with friends.

DISCUSSION

Personality traits impact the strength of social network ties in older adulthood. However, traits may have minimal impact on network size. The consequences of personality also appear to be largely consistent across different social relationships.

Brain Sensitivity to Exclusion is Associated with Core Network Closure

Humans are driven to pursue and preserve social relationships, and these motivations are reinforced through biological systems. In particular, individual differences in the tuning of biological systems that respond to social threats may motivate individuals to seek out differently structured social environments. Drawing on a sample of adolescent males who underwent fMRI brain imaging (n = 74) and contributed Facebook data, we examined whether biological responses to a common scenario - being excluded from an activity with peers - was associated with their social network structure. We find that neural responses during social exclusion in a priori hypothesized "social pain" regions of the brain (dACC, AI, subACC) are associated with the density and transitivity of core friendship networks. These findings suggest that neural reactivity to exclusion may be one factor that underlies network "safety". More broadly, the study shows the potential of linking social cognitive tendencies to social structural properties.

Cognitive Flexibility and Advice Network Centrality: The Moderating Role of Self-Monitoring

This study examined the role of individuals’ cognitive flexibility and self-monitoring in shaping their workplace advice network centrality. Drawing on advice network generation theory, we hypothesized a positive relationship between cognitive flexibility and advice network centrality, and a moderation effect of self-monitoring on this relationship. Then, we collected two time-points data from insurance salesmen to test the hypotheses. As predicted, cognitive flexibility was positively associated with advice network centrality. Furthermore, this positive relationship was only significant for low self-monitoring individuals, but not for high self-monitoring individuals. These findings indicated that individuals with high cognitive flexibility were more likely to have central positions in the advice network; however, this effect was attenuated as their self-monitoring increased.