Ana Stojanov

This study examined associations between perceived use of specific conflict styles and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in a nationally representative sample of Swiss participants. Specifically, this study investigated how conflict styles and conflict profiles related to anxiety, depression, and loneliness during the pandemic. Indirect fighting emerged as the most consistent predictor of the three negative mental health outcomes. The combination of high indirect fighting and high yielding was associated with anxiety, the combination of high indirect fighting and low collaborating with depression, and high indirect fighting alone with loneliness. Moreover, Direct Conflict Managers-individuals who reported high collaboration and low use of indirect conflict styles-tended to report lower levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness than those with other conflict profiles. Building on existing health and interpersonal communication scholarship, these findings highlight the potential psychological risks associated with indirect conflict behaviors during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest that collaborative approaches to conflict may be linked to better mental health outcomes.

Multiple instances of rebranding of corporations or sports teams, or changes of personal names suggest that imposed change of symbols that people identify with leads to resistance towards the symbol change. In this paper, we examine the predictive role of sacred values, identity fusion, identification and essentialism in explaining such resistance, in a unique political context of a national referendum to change Macedonia to North Macedonia. Participants (ethnic Macedonians, N = 301) took a survey measuring these variables, along with their voting intentions and behaviour, 1 week prior to a national referendum on the name change, and again several weeks later. The results indicated that while all variables predicted negative attitudes towards the name change, only considering the name a sacred value and, to a lesser extent, being identified with the country, uniquely predicted this outcome, and only sacred values uniquely predicted voting behaviour. A large proportion of the participants were fully fused with the name “Macedonia,” which may have limited its predictive value. A cross‐lagged analysis suggested a potential causal path from national identification to viewing the name as sacred, essentializing it and becoming fused with it. This study is the first to examine the psychological mechanisms that drive resistance to symbol change.

Academic misconduct by students is a serious issue that threatens the public trust in higher education institutions. In the current study, we examine whether SACCIA (Sufficient, Accurate, Clear, Contextualised and Interpersonally Adaptive) communication predicts lower academic misconduct via attitudes towards cheating and understanding what ‘counts’ as academic misconduct. Participants (N = 319) completed an online questionnaire in Qualtrics measuring SACCIA-adherent communication, academic misconduct, positive attitudes towards cheating and understanding what constitutes misconduct, along with control variables (Big 5 personality traits and Honesty-Humility). The results indicated that the effect of SACCIA communication on academic misconduct was exerted via attitudes, but not via understanding of what constitutes ‘academic misconduct’. The more SACCIA-conforming the communication was, the lower the positive attitudes towards cheating, and the lower the positive attitudes the less self-reported misconduct. The findings suggest that universities could facilitate negative attitudes towards cheating and subsequently lower misconduct if they communicate about academic integrity in a SACCIA-adherent manner.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been disruptive advancements in online learning and teaching in the last decade. We argue that discourses on the value and limitations of MOOCs have largely taken for granted that students are aware of the existence of MOOCs. In the current research, we examined students' awareness of MOOCs and explored digital competence as a potential predictor of such awareness, hypothesising that the effect may be exerted via social media application use. We deployed a questionnaire (Study 1: N = 152, Study 2: N = 158) to measure students' levels of digital competence, their use of social media applications, and their awareness of MOOCs. We also examined students' motivations for enrolling or not enrolling in MOOCs. The results supported our hypothesis that low digital competence is a predictor of low MOOC awareness, but the results from the mediation analysis were not conclusive. Keywords: digital competence, higher education, MOOC, MOOC awareness, motivation, self-efficacy, social media, social media use benefits, students Utilisation des médias sociaux et compétence numérique comme facteurs prédictifs de la familiarité des étudiants avec les MOOCs Résumé : Les cours en ligne ouverts et massifs (MOOC) ont constitué une avancée majeure dans l'apprentissage et l'enseignement en ligne au cours de la dernière décennie. Nous avançons l’idée que les discours sur la pertinence et les limites des MOOC ont largement pris pour acquis le fait que les étudiants étaient au courant de l'existence des MOOC. Dans la présente recherche, nous avons examiné la sensibilisation des étudiants aux MOOC et exploré la compétence numérique en tant que prédicteur potentiel de cette sensibilisation, en émettant l'hypothèse que l'effet peut être exercé par l'utilisation d'applications de médias sociaux. Nous avons diffusé un questionnaire (étude 1 N = 152, étude 2 N = 158) pour mesurer les niveaux de compétence numérique des étudiants, leur utilisation des applications de médias sociaux et leur connaissance des MOOC. Nous avons également examiné les motivations des étudiants pour s'inscrire ou non à des MOOC. Les résultats confirment notre hypothèse selon laquelle une faible compétence numérique est un facteur prédictif d'une faible connaissance des MOOC, mais les résultats de l'analyse de médiation ne sont pas concluants. Mots-clés : compétence numérique, enseignement supérieur, MOOC, connaissance des MOOC, motivation, auto-efficacité, médias sociaux, avantages de l'utilisation des médias sociaux, étudiants

The growing scientific interest in conspiracy beliefs calls for validated measures of conspiracy mentality, the tendency to believe any conspiracy theory. In this study, we validate a French and Italian version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale (CMS). French (N = 160) and Italian (N = 114) speaking residents of Switzerland filled out a questionnaire, including measures of the need for social validation, compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures, perceived severity of the pandemic, and functional literacy. The two-dimensionality of the scale (conspiracy theory ideation and skepticism) was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. As predicted, conspiracy theory ideation was negatively related to functional literacy and compliance with pandemic control measures, and positively related to social validation. Measurement invariance indicated metric, scalar, residual and strucutral equivalence across the two samples. We conclude that the French and Italian versions of the CMS lend a valid assessment of people’s general tendency to believe conspiracy theories.

The need for data-driven decision-making primarily motivates interest in analysing Big Data in higher education. Although there has been considerable research on the value of Big Data in higher education, its application to address critical issues within the sector is still limited. This systematic review, conducted in December 2021 and encompassing 75 papers, analysed the applications of Big Data and analytics in higher education. The focus was on their usage in supporting learning, teaching and administration as reported in papers indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science and IEEE Xplore. The key findings from the review revealed that Big Data and analytics are predominantly used to support learning and, to a lesser extent, guide teaching and informing administrative decision-making processes. The review also identified a set of studies focused on supporting student well-being. Further, we extend the use of Big Data in higher education to include the well-being of students and staff. This paper contributes to the growing debate on the practical use of Big Data and analytics to provide valuable insights for solving systemic challenges facing high education in the twenty-first century.