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On the role of personality in attitudes toward AI: Do AI’s freedom of choice and social proof matter?
Get PDFPersonal factors have been examined in recent literature for their impact on attitudes toward AI, often treating AI as a single, uniform concept and using samples from one cultural group. To address this, we differentiate between two modalities of AI operation: freedom of choice, referring to users’ ability or inability to choose alternatives to AI, and social proof, reflecting whether AI has been widely used and accepted by others. We also include samples from two distinct populations, Arab and UK. This study investigates the influence of the Big Five personality traits, Need for Cognition (NFC), and Locus of Control (LOC) on attitudes toward AI across four combinations of these modalities. A total of 639 participants (316 UK, 323 Arab) completed a survey containing scenarios, validated scales and bespoke, face-validated questions. Using hierarchical multivariate multiple regression (MMR), we analyzed how these personal factors predict two key dimensions of AI attitudes: acceptance (perceived personal and social benefits) and fear (ethical concerns and risks). Agreeableness consistently predicted more favorable attitudes across both cultures, while neuroticism was linked to greater fear. Internal LOC and higher NFC were associated with greater acceptance, highlighting the role of perceived control and cognitive engagement. Cultural differences emerged, with conscientiousness being more influential in the Arab sample and openness in the UK. Overall, personality traits had a weaker impact than expected, aligning with previous research treating AI as a single concept. The modality of operation showed limited effect. This study adds to AI acceptance literature by emphasizing psychological and cultural variability in public attitudes
The rise and fall of BeReal: Values of and motivations for (dis)engagement with authenticity-promoting social media
Get PDFSocial media has long facilitated self-presentation, but the tension between authenticity and performativity remains. BeReal, launched in 2020, promised a more ‘authentic’ experience by requiring users to share unedited, real-time images. This study examines the platform’s perceived value, its initial appeal, and subsequent decline in user engagement. Through a large-scale qualitative survey (N=333), we present motivations for (dis)engagement, revealing a trajectory of enthusiasm, scepticism, and eventual disinterest. Participants valued BeReal for fostering social connection and serving as a digital memory archive. However, growing cynicism about authenticity—along with increasing performative behaviours and feature creep—diminished its appeal. Applying Ng’s (2020) post-adoption model we map users’ transition from adoption to discontinuance, situating BeReal’s decline within broader trends of social media fatigue. Our findings contribute to debates on ethical social media design, performative authenticity and user disengagement, providing insight into the ephemeral nature of digital platforms
The Relationship Between Dissociated Measures of Inhibition and Hypnotic and Placebo Analgesia Effects.
No full textOBJECTIVE: The aim of the present research was to assess the relationship between the executive function of inhibition and hypnotic and placebo analgesia. METHODS: In a fully within-subjects experiment, 54 participants performed the Cold Pressor Task under 3 randomized conditions: (1) hypnotic analgesia; (2) placebo analgesia; and (3) a control condition. Pain threshold and pain tolerance were used as measures of pain perception in each condition. Analgesia was calculated by subtracting the control conditions from the 2 critical conditions (hypnosis and placebo). Following recent work indicating doubly-dissociated forms of inhibition, participants also completed: (1) the Stroop task; (2) the Hayling Sentence Completion Task (HSCT) and a matrix reasoning task, in a fixed order. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that both placebo analgesia (effect sizes rB >0.4) and hypnotic analgesia (effect sizes rB >0.7) suggestions were effective. The results also showed that HSCT performance predicted the magnitude of placebo pain threshold ( t(47) =3.448, p .5, BF 01 =3.483). The results for placebo ( t(47) =3.126, p =.003) and hypnotic ( t(47) =0.295, p >.7) pain tolerance and HSCT performance were insensitive (BF 10 >0.3.1; BF 10 <0.3). CONCLUSION: The results highlight the efficacy of suggestion on pain perception and show a relationship between performance on the HSCT and the magnitude of the placebo effect. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed
Second Homes and the (Re)production of Cornish Nationalism
No full textThe growth of second-home ownership and short-term holiday lettings has intensified housing inequality in regions with high tourism pressure, prompting localized opposition and raising questions about identity, belonging, and economic justice. This study investigates how attitudes toward second homes and tourism intersect with ethnic identity in Cornwall, one of the poorest regions in Western Europe, characterized by high levels of second-home ownership and long-standing economic marginalization. An online survey conducted in 2023 (n = 504) gathered responses to 13 attitudinal items, alongside demographic data on age, income, ethnicity/identity, and employment type. Exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation identified four underlying dimensions of opinion which explained 57.9% of the total variance, and Kruskal-Wallis tests assessed differences in factor scores across demographic groups. The analysis found that younger, lower-income, and Cornish-identifying respondents were more likely to express opposition to second-home ownership and short-term holiday lets, particularly in relation to issues about affordability, community cohesion, and local control. Older and more affluent British/English-identifying respondents expressed more positive views about tourism and second homes. Age and ethnicity had the strongest effect, indicating that attitudes are shaped by generational experiences of economic insecurity and by identity, signaling a broader, materially grounded form of regionalism embedded in wider structures of inequality and political exclusion
The impacts of Metaverse on tourist behaviour and marketing implications
Get PDFMetaverse is expected to deeply affect the travel and tourism industry and requires a dearth of empirical research. In this investigation, two exploratory qualitative research studies were conducted to fill this gap. The first research explored the potential impacts of Metaverse on the travel and tourism industry by interviewing tourism academics. Findings revealed that Metaverse could be used for marketing, CRM, and HRM by hospitality organisations, while it would be useful for marketing and sustainability of destinations. It could also influence tourist behaviour before, during, and after travel experiences. One of the notable findings was related to the close relationship between Gen Z and virtual events. The second research identified the motivations of Gen Z individuals to attend a concert organised in Metaverse. Accordingly, novelty-seeking, escape, fun and excitement, and socialisation were the most significant push factors to use Metaverse. Metaverse-specific characteristics, accessibility, and availability were the important pull factors to attend a Metaverse concert
Multi-region investigation of 'man' as default in attitudes.
Get PDFPrevious research has studied the extent to which men are the default members of social groups in terms of memory, categorization, and stereotyping, but not attitudes which is critical because of attitudes' relationship to behavior. Results from our survey (N > 5000) collected via a globally distributed laboratory network in over 40 regions demonstrated that attitudes toward Black people and politicians had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward the men rather than the women of the group. However, attitudes toward White people had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward White women than White men, whereas attitudes toward East Asian people, police officers, and criminals did not have a stronger relationship with attitudes toward either the men or women of each respective group. Regional agreement with traditional gender roles was explored as a potential moderator. These findings have implications for understanding the unique forms of prejudice women face around the world
Own- and other-race face learning in high and low variability.
Get PDFResearch suggests that faces learned in high variability conditions (pictures taken on different days, with different viewpoints and lighting) enhanced the learning of own-race identities compared to low variability conditions (pictures taken on the same day, with similar lighting). However, it remains unclear how this variability affects the learning of other-race faces, as they are recognized differently compared to own-race faces. Thus, this study aims to examine the effect of high and low variability exposure on both own-race and other-race face learning. Chinese Malaysian and White participants were exposed to own- and other-race identities under high and low variability conditions. Identity recognition was assessed using a name verification task (Experiment 1) and an old-new recognition paradigm (Experiment 2). Results revealed enhanced learning of own-race faces under high variability conditions compared to low variability across both experiments. However, improved learning of other-race faces was evident only in the old-new recognition paradigm, not in the name verification task. These findings suggest that high variability exposure benefits other-race face recognition but not the face-name association for other-race identities
Unveiling the emotional edge: how fans’ emotional attachment influences the relationships between fanship, fandom, subjective well-being, and attitudinal loyalty
No full textEmotions are hallmarks of more internalised and meaningful sport fan identities. Building on this premise, we use the social identity approach to explore how fans’ emotional attachment affects the relationships between fanship (i.e. personal identification with a team), fandom (i.e. social identification with fellow fans), subjective well-being (SWB), and attitudinal loyalty. We used structural equation modelling to analyse data from fans (N = 571) of two Italian Serie A association football teams. Results highlighted a positive association between fandom and SWB. SWB positively mediated the relationship between fandom and attitudinal loyalty. Moreover, emotional attachment negatively moderated the relationships between fanship and SWB, and between fandom and attitudinal loyalty. These results indicated that high identifiers feeling strong emotional attachment to the team displayed lower SWB and attitudinal loyalty toward the team. Practitioners and organisations may benefit from implementing initiatives and programs addressing the side effects of fans’ emotions
LUTE: A Hypertextual Mixed Reality Game Engine
Get PDFHypertext and games research have long been intertwined; both as understanding games as a form of hypertext, and also through identifying ludic interactions and patterns in hypermedia. While this research often seeks to understand theoretical and structural connections, in this paper we seek to go beyond these to build an explicitly hypertextual game engine. We target Mixed Reality (MR) and locative games for our engine as media that have been previously identified as well-suited to sculptural hypertext, and demonstrate the value of hypertextual patterns and structures as part of a game creation toolkit. In this paper we present LUTE ([Identifiable acronym specifics anonymized for peer review]), a technology framework built on top of the Unity 3D game engine for the creation of MR games and locative experiences. LUTE builds on the established state of the art in both MR games and Creativity Support Tools (CSTs) with a modular design that uses hypertextual structures to handle the flow of content nodes in the game, and a declarative order system to specify gameplay in those nodes