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The authors investigate the relationship between instant messenger (IM) use and work performance, mediated by interruptions and two key indicators of the stress associated with technology use: overload and complexity.

The authors validate this research model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with data collected through a survey of 416 working professionals.

The data reveal that while IM use contributes minimally to work interruptions and to a greater extent to technological complexity, these two constructs fully mediate the direct influence of IM use at work on technology overload, and meanwhile significantly and directly contribute to work performance.

This research provides theoretical insights into the deployment of IM and its actual impacts in the workplace. To improve the generalisation of the findings, the authors call for more IM-related research in other countries, with more native theories and various methodologies in this domain.

The level of stress generated through IM use is moderate, considering IM is not a significant contributor to work interruptions. Thus, despite the potential negative effects of IM communication, the positive effects of using IM at work prevail. As a result, the technology can be promoted as long as employees, their managers and the organisation as a whole are well prepared. Employees can transfer skills and behaviour from the personal setting to their work environment and thus may find an intrinsic motivation to make better use of the IM technology at work.

The authors argue that this research model is novel for its perspective on evaluating the actual impacts of IM use at work instead of the reasons of using it. The authors conceptualise the process to explain how IM contributes to interruptions and other technostress indicators in the working context, and the impact on performance. Contrary to some prior research, the authors find that overall IM applications do not have a negative impact on work performance, and instead may enhance it.

This article discusses the reasons and discourses adopted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (Hong Kong SAR Government), with Mr Tung Chee Hwa as the Chief Executive, in preparing young people to become more mature and responsible. In the Hong Kong context this means they should be willing to fulfil community obligations and opt for consultation rather than confrontation should individual or community rights be sought. Confucianism, named after Confucius (551‐479 BCE), has been and still is a vast and complicated system of philosophies, morals, rituals, and ideas, which for well over 2,000 years has informed and inspired the thinking and practice of countless people in Chinese societies and Asian countries in all important areas, including the economy and the polity (Tu, 1998a; Berthrong & Berthrong, 2000; Yao, 2002). Put simply, the goal of Confucian life is to create a peaceful world, with its ethical emphasis placed on the cultivation of the self and the promotion of harmonious and respectful relations with other people in different spheres of human activities.

While digital technologies have led to many important social and cultural advances worldwide, they also facilitate the perpetration of violence, abuse and harassment, known as technology-facilitated violence and abuse (TFVA). TFVA includes a spectrum of behaviors perpetrated online, offline, and through a range of technologies, including artificial intelligence, livestreaming, GPS tracking, and social media. This chapter provides an overview of TFVA, including a brief snapshot of existing quantitative and qualitative research relating to various forms of TFVA. It then discusses the aims and contributions of this book as a whole, before outlining five overarching themes arising from the contributions. The chapter concludes by mapping out the structure of the book.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how digital media technologies can enhance offender rehabilitation in correctional institutions.

A qualitative approach was adopted for this study involving young prisoners who had been incarcerated for at least six months. In total, 16 participants who fulfilled the criteria of listening to at least 30 of the podcasts were eventually selected for face-to-face interview.

This study focuses on how the radio podcast impacted the rehabilitation process of the 16 young inmates. From data collected through the interviews, three major themes emerged from the study, namely, reflective thinking, increased motivation to change and structured routines. The participants highlighted how these factors are essential in moving them towards successful rehabilitation upon their release.

A convenient sample was used as there was a lack of a more diverse sample to better represent the prison population in Singapore. The number of participants who took part in the study were limited and only young inmates. Thus, the outcome of the research may not be directly applicable to the general prison population. Another issue is that media has short-lived effects and does not encourage persistent learning, it would be prudent to explore other options that can complement the radio podcasts.

The study indicated that the use of digital media technology can effectively aid the rehabilitation of offenders in Singapore. It enhanced work efficiency since fewer resources were required as inmates can have podcast access within their cells. The content of the podcasts complements the overall framework of rehabilitation for young inmates when they are serving their sentences in the institutions.

Established in 1967 by the National Service (Amendment) Bill, National Service (NS) makes it compulsory for most young Singaporean males to enlist in the armed forces, typically for a two-year period. NS comes at a critical juncture in most Singaporean mens’ adolescence, disrupting their lives and isolating them in a foreign environment just as they are beginning to form a firm sense of identity. Recruits are expected to go through grueling training and endure harsh scoldings to prove their worth as both soldiers and men. Through an interview with 14 individuals who have served or are serving NS, it is found that the hegemonic masculinity present in NS relies on norms of strength, leadership, and suppression of emotion. However, its impact on enlistees is inconsistent, and dependent on one’s vocation, personal encounters, and expectations prior to enlisting.

Entrepreneurship is a vital source of job creation and a key driver in promoting economic growth. The Malaysian government encourages higher educational institutions (HEIs) to develop more competitive and innovative graduates for the economy so that Malaysia achieves high-income nation status by 2025. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE) in the relationship between key psychological factors, that is, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), big-five (BF) personality traits, entrepreneurial motivation (EM) and educational factors (EFs) with entrepreneurial intention (EI) among Malaysian university students.

This study used a quantitative design based on a positivist approach. The adopted questionnaire was used as the survey instrument. The primary data were collected from a sample of 251 final-year students in the management field who were enrolled in research-intensive Malaysian universities. Data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using AMOS 24 software.

Findings confirmed that the BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, ATE and EFs were positively related to EI. Furthermore, ATE mediated the relationship between BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, EF, and EI among Malaysian university students.

This research provides critical insights into the key antecedents, for example, psychological and EFs, in explaining the EI of university students and future graduates. However, results can only be generalized to research-intensive Malaysian universities.

This study investigated the relationship between psychological factors, that is, BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN and EFs in predicting EI of Malaysian university students. ATE mediated the relationship between BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, EF and EI among these students.

In recent years, negative spokesperson incidents have raised significant concerns in academia and industry. While several studies have addressed celebrity endorser scandals, comprehensive analyses of current knowledge are lacking. Therefore, this study systematically reviewed the related literature to better understand trends and suggest future research directions for advancing this field.

This study employs the theory–context–characteristics–methodology (TCCM) framework to examine 76 articles on celebrity endorser scandals.

Utilizing the TCCM framework, this study presents a comprehensive research framework, revealing that (1) the celebrity endorser scandal effect primarily includes associative learning, attribution of responsibility, and moral reasoning; (2) entertainment celebrities and athletes have received significant research attention; (3) both individual- and relationship-level characteristics serve as crucial moderators, with focal brand and related brand being the primary outcome variables. Additionally, this study outlines enterprise response strategies, encompassing the reformation of existing spokesperson relationships and the establishment of future spokesperson connections; and (4) quantitative approaches dominate the field.

This study integrates and expands existing research on celebrity endorser scandals while proposing future research opportunities to advance the field.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the process of emotional work undertaken by Chinese Americans who independently visit their ancestral land without joining organized tours to define who they are and where they belong.

A qualitative approach was chosen, as few studies have investigated the experiences of individual roots tourists. Face-to-face, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 25 Chinese American roots tourists. To analyze the data, a cross-case approach was used.

The interview narratives revealed that the interviewees have mixed feelings about being identified as Americans while they also made negative remarks about being identified as local Chinese. The close interaction with the locals emphasized, rather than blurred, the differences in language, political loyalty and economic status between the diaspora and local residents. The results show that Chinese Americans draw a clear boundary between themselves as “we” and locals as “they”.

This study explores the experiences of roots tourists who visit their ancestral land without joining an organized tour. This is a focus that has been lacking in the literature because past studies of roots tourism, particularly among second- and later-generation of immigrants, have predominantly focused on the experiences of those who join group tours to visit their ancestral country. The findings showed that similar to organized roots tourists, independent roots tourists experienced intense “emotional labor” in negotiating and making sense of competing identities, indicating that the social boundaries between the diaspora and local residents are enmeshed in their daily lives. This finding adds important knowledge to the literature on the tourism experiences of the diaspora, a growing segment of visiting friends and relatives market.