Personality and Reputation: A Complex Relationship in Virtual Environments

Reviewing Stranger on the Internet: The Role of Identifiability through “Reputation” in Online Decision Making

The stranger on the Internet effect has been studied in relation to self-disclosure. Nonetheless, quantitative evidence about how people mentally represent and perceive strangers online is still missing. Given the dynamic development of web technologies, quantifying how much strangers can be considered suitable for pro-social acts such as self-disclosure appears fundamental for a whole series of phenomena ranging from privacy protection to fake news spreading. Using a modified and online version of the Ultimatum Game (UG), we quantified the mental representation of the stranger on the Internet effect and tested if people modify their behaviors according to the interactors’ identifiability (i.e., reputation). A total of 444 adolescents took part in a 2 × 2 design experiment where reputation was set active or not for the two traditional UG tasks. We discovered that, when matched with strangers, people donate the same amount of money as if the other has a good reputation. Moreover, reputation significantly affected the donation size, the acceptance rate and the feedback decision making as well.

How Reputation Systems Change the Psychological Antecedents of Fairness in Virtual Environments

Reputational systems promote pro-social behaviors, also in virtual environments, therefore their study contributes to the knowledge of social interactions. Literature findings emphasize the power of reputation in fostering fairness in many circumstances, even when its influence is not directly oriented towards specific individuals. The present study contributes to the investigation of the psychological antecedents of fairness, introducing (or not) reputation in the social dilemma framework. Although reputational systems usually influence fairness dynamics, there are also socio-psychological characteristics that can play a role, affecting the adhesion to the norm online. To investigate their effects, we employed a virtual bargaining game that could include a reputational system depending on the experimental condition. Results show that the participant’s fairness could be significantly influenced by socio-psychological and demographic characteristics, as well as personality traits. Reputation seems to decrease fairness in those individuals who report high levels of Neuroticism and Openness. At the same time, high values of Self-Efficacy appear to be more likely associated with unfair behaviors when reputation is off the bargaining. Finally, Age and Sense of Community emerge as fairness promoters regardless of the experimental condition.

Families and Social Media Use: The Role of Parents' Perceptions about Social Media Impact on Family Systems in the Relationship between Family Collective Efficacy and Open Communication

Communication through social media characterizes modern lifestyles and relationships, including family interactions. The present study aims at deepening the role that parents’ perceptions about social media effects on family systems can exert within their family functioning, specifically referring to the relationship between collective family efficacy and open communications within family systems with adolescents. A questionnaire to detect the openness of family communications, the collective family efficacy and the perceptions about the impacts of social media on family systems was administered to 227 Italian parents who had one or more teenage children, and who use Facebook and WhatsApp to communicate with them. From the results, these perceptions emerge as a mediator in the relationship between the collective family efficacy and the openness of communications, suggesting that it is not only the actual impact of social media on family systems that matters but also parents’ perceptions about it and how much they feel able to manage their and their children’s social media use without damaging their family relationships. Thus, the need to foster parents’ positive perceptions about social media’s potential impact on their family relationships emerges. A strategy could be the promotion of knowledge on how to functionally use social media.

Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Mediates the Connectedness to Nature Effect on Well-Being at Work

Researchers are being called upon to find and explore viable solutions to protect the environment and promote health in the new digital era of the 21st century, since the rapid changes transpiring within our technological societies may be detrimental to workers but also offer opportunities for growth. The concept of connectedness to nature, on the one hand, is a proxy for important environmentally protective and responsible behaviors; on the other, it has been studied in relation to people’s well-being. To promote health, it is crucial to act from a primary prevention perspective, which is focused on finding variables that can be increased through specific training. In this framework, intrapreneurial self-capital (ISC) appears to be related both to people’s connectedness to nature and their well-being. This study analyzes exploratively the relationship between connectedness to nature, ISC, and well-being at work, since these variables have never been studied together. A mediation model is tested to assess whether ISC could mediate the relationship between connectedness to nature and workers’ well-being. The mediation analysis highlights that ISC, as a core of preventive resources, potentially sustains the effect of feeling connected to nature on well-being at work. Thus, interventions aimed at increasing and acquiring preventive resources, such as ISC, could be beneficial in protecting the environment and in promoting health among workers.

A Model of Perception of Privacy, Trust, and Self-Disclosure on Online Social Networks

Online Social Networks are used widely, raising new issues in terms of privacy, trust, and self-disclosure. For a better understanding of these issues for Facebook users, a model was built that includes privacy value, privacy risk, trust, privacy control, privacy concerns, and self-disclosure. A total of 602 respondents participated in an online survey, and structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the model. The findings indicate significant relationships between the constructs in this study. The model from our study contributes new knowledge to privacy issues, trust and self-disclosure on Online Social Networks for other researchers or developers of online social networks.

Intrapreneurial Self-Capital and Connectedness to Nature within Organizations

Research exists regarding personality traits in relation to connectedness with nature. However, it is not possible to increase personality through training. As an alternative, intrapreneurial self-capital (ISC) could be a promising core of resources for enhancing the sustainable development of behaviors and practices. Using a sample of 198 workers, this study exploratively analyzed the relationship between the extraversion personality trait, ISC, and connectedness to nature. A mediation model was employed to assess the effects of extraversion on connectedness to nature (outcome variable) through ISC (conceived as an intervening mediator variable). The mediation analysis highlighted that ISC potentially promotes workers’ connectedness to nature within organizations. Thus, implementing dedicated interventions to increase ISC could encourage sustainable development by enhancing workers’ levels of connectedness to nature.

The Interaction Effect of Type of Message X YouTuber’s Media Metrics on Customers’ Responses and the Moderation of Conformity Intention

This is a study of the way in which YouTubers’ media metrics influence the effect of their one-sided messages (1SMs) and two-sided messages (2SMs), providing theoretical explanations based on the elaboration likelihood model. Its main objective is the proposition and testing of: (i) the interaction effect between type of message and media metrics of the YouTuber on customers’ responses, and (ii) the moderation of individuals’ conformity intention for the interaction effect between type of message and media metrics on customers’ responses. The results of an experiment showed that high YouTubers’ media metrics have more effect for 1SMs and less effect for 2SMs. Additionally, conformity intention moderates the effect of the interaction type of message X media metrics. A high level of conformity intention neutralizes the interaction effect between YouTubers’ media metrics and message sidedness. This study makes a theoretical contribution to research into online content and information use, providing explanations of how media metrics of a vlog influence the effect of two types of messages.