European Journal of Behavioral Sciences

The Influence of Communication Applications on the Formation and Sustainability of Intercultural Friendships

Tsz Ching Jasmine LAM — 2023-03-09

The use of new social media is common across the world regardless of gender, age group, race, and ethnicity. It plays a significant role in fostering the interconnectedness and development of intercultural relationships as it is not constrained by geographical barriers and is able to promote instant communication between groups or individuals. Communication applications (e.g., WhatsApp) are crucial in enhancing intimacy among individuals residing in different regions. In reflection of the university context, domestic students usually maintain contact with the exchange or international students through digital platforms as they might not have many opportunities for face-to-face interactions upon the completion of the sojourn periods. Therefore, there is discussion on whether social networks and communication applications could help to form and maintain intercultural friendships, and how the relationships might change throughout different stages from the short term to the long run. With the support of prior empirical research, this literature review paper will discuss how communication applications could promote the formation and sustainability of intercultural friendships among college peers in the light of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the functional model of friendship networks, Social Exchange Theory, and the Contact Hypothesis. It is found that communication applications are significant in forming intercultural relationships as it serves as a way of virtual connection which satisfies the love and belonging needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy and communication with host nationals give better functions on academic and professional aspirations. Yet, the sustainability of relationships depends more on how people weigh the rewards and costs, and the way they utilize the devices to maintain contact over time, hence resulting in the net worth and outcome of a relationship.

The Influence of Social Class on Risk Behaviors Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Family Violence

Yuechen Lu — 2023-03-09

In recent years, various kinds of risk behaviors among urban and rural adolescents have increasingly aroused public concern. To explore the influence mechanism of social class and family violence on risk behaviors and the mediating effect in this process, this study selected 216 students from universities in Beijing and Hebei for a questionnaire survey based on the principle of convenient sampling. The results of regression analyses and mediating effect analysis revealed that participants' subjective social class significantly predicted risk behaviors and family violence. Correlations between variables were verified, and family violence played a partial mediating role between social class and risk behaviors. Our findings echoed previous studies on the relationships between social class, risk behaviors, and family violence in pairs. Furthermore, this study innovatively proposed and constructed a mediating model of the relationship among the three variables through statistical analysis, which offered evidence support for subsequent researches in the field of educational psychology and also provided space for further studies related to family factors.

When Do We Act under Non-Coercive Circumstances

Mustafa Emre Çağlar — 2023-03-09

This study proposes two models that predict when an individual will take action after he focuses on achieving a goal. Models designed for an environment that does not force the decision maker to act at a given moment, and divided this environment into two subsets that ‘do not allow’ or ‘allow’ analytical reasoning. Study I simulated the former situation and identified the following factors to predict the moment of action: The value assigned by the decision maker to the target (V), the individual's introversion or extraversion level (IE) and the individual's neuroticism level (N). Three classes (time-interval) were defined for both studies that sequentially diverge from the moment when the focus began, with the help of a reference group. Decision Tree I utilized the Random Committee Algorithm and achieved to assign 37,2% of the 424 subjects correctly to one of these classes, while the natural success rate is 33%. Study II simulated the latter situation. Decision Tree II utilized the Random Forest Algorithm and achieved to assign 44,5% of the 430 subjects correctly, with the help of the factors; (V), heuristic versus analytic decision-making disposition (HRA), decision-making extensity (E), general intelligence level (IQ), and self-confidence level (SC). Finally, an independent chapter discussed the optimum moment of action in Study II type situations with a Charnovian approach. The study has also illuminated how analytical capacity affects dwell time. Study I may contribute to crime prediction algorithms and Decision Tree II can be used in a range from financial investments to internet applications.

The Experience of Loneliness with Regard to Gender and Type of Study among University Students

Sabina Salkic — 2023-03-09

Loneliness is usually defined as an unpleasant and emotionally disturbing subjective experience that occurs as response to the discrepancy between desired and achieved levels of social contact. The experience of loneliness is unpleasant and painful experience, followed by feelings of rejection from the people that we care, with simultaneous desire that they accept us and to be part of their lives. The main aim of this study was to examine the differences in loneliness with regard to gender, that is, to determine whether young men and women experience different levels of loneliness and also to determine whether there is a difference in the level of loneliness between students of social sciences and students of technical sciences. The study was conducted on a sample of 200 students (82 males and 118 females) of various departments of the final year of Social Sciences and Technical Sciences at the University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegowina. The study applied the following instruments: The short version of UCLA loneliness scale and examination of gender and studies based on rounding on the questionnaire. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the level of loneliness for men (Md=15.00, n=82) and women (Md=11.05, n=118), U = 3954, z = -2.203, p<.05, and that students of technical sciences (Md=14.05, n=100) show greater loneliness compared to students of social sciences (Md=11.05, n=100), U = 4223, z = -1.903, p<=.05. Based on the results obtained in this research, it can be concluded that male students show a greater tendency towards loneliness compared to female students.Students of technical sciences show greater loneliness compared to students of social sciences.