<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if getting personal information from a social media page, specifically Facebook, affects the final selection decision. This study aimed to examine the effect personal information, specifically race and sexual orientation, has on ratings of hirability and salary offers for male candidates. The study used the data of 105 Mechanical Turk participants who participated in a survey for a monetary incentive. It was hypothesized that homosexual candidates would receive lower hirability ratings and salary offers than heterosexual candidates. Additionally, it was hypothesized that African American candidates would receive lower hirability ratings and salary offers than Caucasian candidates. Finally, it was hypothesized that African American homosexual candidates would receive lower hirability ratings and salary offers than their counterparts. No significant main effects or interactions were found. Additional findings are discussed.</p><p>

<p> Mate Poaching is one strategy used for attracting a mate. Under principles of evolutionary theory, mating strategies are driven by inter-sexual selection and intra-sexual competition creating Sex specificity in the way strategies succeed or fail. The relatively recent emergence of the Internet raises questions about its interaction with evolutionary mechanisms that people use to attract a mate. The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not Mate Poaching exists within virtual Social Networking Sites (SNS), and whether or not poaching tactics used in a Face-to-Face Environment are still considered effective in a Virtual one. This study asked whether there was an association between the environment of Mate Poaching and the Sex of a poacher in three environments (Face-to-Face, Virtual, and Blended); the study also asks whether there is a significant interaction between the environment and Sex of a poacher on the Perceived Efficacy of three Mate Poaching tactics (Enhancing Physical Appearance, Demonstrating Resources, and Humor). The study consisted of a mixed design: Part one was a causal-comparative design answered with a modified Anonymous Romantic Attraction Survey (ARAS). Part two was an experimental design, randomly assigning participants to rate the Perceived Efficacy of 42 tactics from the Expanded Acts and Tactics from Schmitt and Buss (2001). The convenience sample (N=233) was drawn from adults 18 years or older who have had at least one romantic relationship in their lifetime, and were residents of the United States. The sample, consisting of 71 males and 162 females, was 84.1% heterosexual, and split evenly on marital status; ages ranged from 18 to 78, with a mean age of 40. Data were analyzed for part one with six chi-square tests of association, and part two with three two-way factorial ANOVAs. Part one found a significant association between Sex and Environment for &ldquo;Have you ever poached?&rdquo; in the Face-to-Face and Blended Environments. The Virtual Environment and all three (Face-to-Face, Virtual and Blended) Environments for &ldquo;Have you frequently poached?&rdquo; did not find a significant association with Sex. Part two found no significant interactions between Sex and environment on the Perceived Efficacy of the three tactics; there was a main effect of Sex on both Enhancing Physical Appearance and Demonstrating Resources, further confirming previous literature. There was no main effect of Sex or environment on the tactic of Humor, consistent with mixed results around this construct in the literature.</p>

<p> Collaborative helping via social networking conversation threads can pose serious challenges in emergency situations. Interfaces that support complex group interaction and sense-making can help. This research applies human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), and collaboration engineering in developing an interactive design, the Mega-Collaboration Tool (MCT). The goal is to reduce the cognitive load of a group&rsquo;s growing mental model, thus increasing the general public&rsquo;s ability to organize spontaneous collaborative helping. </p><p> The specific aims of this research include understanding the dynamics of mental model negotiation and determining whether MCT can assist the group&rsquo;s sense-making ability without increasing net cognitive load. </p><p> The proposed HCI theory is that interfaces supporting collaborative cognition motivate contribution and reduce information bias, thus increasing the information shared. These research questions are addressed: 1. Does MCT support better collaborative cognition? 2. Does increasing the size of the shared data repository increase the amount of information shared? 3. Does this happen because group members experience 1) a greater sense of strategic commitment to the knowledge structure, 2) increased intrinsic motivation to contribute, and 3) reduced resistance to sharing information? </p><p> These questions were affirmed to varying degrees, giving insight into the collaborative process. Greater content did not motive group members directly; instead, half of their motivation came from awareness of their contribution&rsquo;s relevance. Greater content and organization improved this awareness, and also encouraged sharing through increased enthusiasm and reduced bias. Increased commitment was a result of this process, rather than a cause. Also, MCT increased collaborative cognition but was significantly hampered by Internet performance. This challenge indicates MCT&rsquo;s system components should be redesigned to allow asynchronous interaction. These results should contribute to the development of MCT, other collaboration engineering applications, and HCI and information science theory.</p>

Identifying effective strategies for encouraging individuals to disclose their personal information on the Internet is important for marketers. In today's information-based economy, access to consumer data is imperative for organizations in conducting marketing activities. However, the extant privacy literature has found conflicting results regarding the effectiveness of safety cues (e.g., privacy policies) and rewards (e.g., discounts) for encouraging consumers to provide their personal information to Web sites (Andrade et al. 2002). There is also scant research on the implications of compensating consumers for their information, and its subsequent impact on privacy control expectations. This dissertation consists of two essays that examine how consumers respond to marketers' strategies for encouraging self-disclosure on the Internet, and how these strategies affect expectations for privacy control. Essay 1 employs regulatory focus theory for investigating the impact of consumers' goals (privacy protection vs. acquisition of benefits) on how they respond to marketers' online influence strategies and brand reputation. The use of safety cues, rewards, and brand reputation have been identified in the privacy literature as important factors that influence consumers' trust, privacy concern, and willingness to provide personal information (Milne and Culnan 2004). Essay 2 draws on theories of social exchange and social contracts for examining how the value and type of compensation received influences the degree to which consumers believe they own the information provided to marketers and their expectations for control over how their information is used. Although consumers frequently trade their personal information for benefits online, it has been suggested in the privacy literature that the point at which consumers own and control information about themselves and when that information becomes the property of marketers is unclear (Sheehan and Hoy 2000). This dissertation employs a mixed methods approach that includes a series of scenario-based experiments using survey panel data, and in-depth interviews. The results of essay 1 provide evidence of the importance of consumer goals in decisions to disclose personal information to marketers. Findings from essay 2 reveal that privacy exchanges may affect the degree to which consumers believe ownership and control over their information is shared with marketers.

<p> Addictive disorders are a public health crisis that affects our society by draining our workforce, health care, judicial, education, and law enforcement, resources. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to social influence&mdash;for better and for worse&mdash;and addiction. Through social media, today&rsquo;s youth experience a whole new way of communicating. Not enough is known about adolescent perceptions of addiction, and messages of addiction they are exposed to on social media. Social Learning Theory and the Learning Theory of Addiction provided the framework for understanding how adolescents are at risk for developing unhealthy practices that create numerous psychological, social and physical problems in adulthood. Concurrent, mixed-methods, were used to explore adolescent perceptions of addiction and Instagram hashtags related to addiction. A content analysis of Instagram hashtags related to addiction and interview data from 11 adolescents aged 16-18 from a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club in New Jersey was collected and analyzed. The sample for phase one of this study was comprised of 819,155 Instagram posts, hashtagged #addiction, #recovery, #alcohol, and #drugs, collected on 5 dates over a month. Phase 2, adolescent interviews, included open-ended and Addiction Belief Survey (ABS) questions. The study&rsquo;s findings led to the conclusion that the adolescents interviewed have uncertain, and at times prejudicial, understandings of addiction. They see social media as potentially helpful in the fight against addiction and feel protected from negative messages of addiction by a strong circle of friends and family. Addiction related posts on Instagram, though littered with unhealthy messages, reflect the belief that addiction is recoverable and avoidable through social support. Adolescent perceptions of addiction align with those expressed on Instagram in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Beliefs of addiction expressed by adolescents and on Instagram reflect recent findings in the scientific literature on the nature of addiction, stigma, social support, and wellness. Study recommendations include for school and government leadership to take a multi-pronged, community based, approach in supporting adolescents. Future research should focus on social media support for adolescents and adolescent social learning of addiction. Secondary school curricula and interventions that include social media should be created and improved using design-based research because it allows for evidence-based improvement.</p><p>