Social Influences on Terrestrial and Satellite Mobile-TV Adoption in Korea: Affiliation,Positive Self-Image,and Perceived Popularity

Mobile TV is a representative product of media convergence. In South Korea, the diffusion of mobile TV has been in high gear, which provides an exemplary case study of mobile-TV adoption. The study examines the relation between the social influence, adopters' individual factors, and the adoption of the 2 different forms of mobile TV: terrestrial and satellite. Factor analysis identified 3 dimensions of social influences, defined respectively as “affiliation,” “positive self-display,” and “perceived popularity.” Results suggest that these 3 social influences differ in degree in relation to the adopters' demographic characteristics and innovativeness. Adoption of terrestrial or satellite mobile TV was predicted by social influence and, in particular, driven by the motivation to maintain a positive self-image. Because of the implications this may have on media management, the article calls for future research on the social construction of new media technology use to assess how individuals become susceptible to social influences and how social influences affect the diffusion of the technology.     

The Effects of Frustration on the Figural Creative Thinking of Fifth Grade Students

In this study 24 fifth graders, 12 males and 12 females, were individually tested twice, once under frustrating conditions and once under non-frustrating conditions, in order to determine whether their creative expression would be affected by frustration. The frustrating condition consisted of being prematurely halted from completing a familiar task with the opportunity of receiving a reward upon its completion. The non-frustrating condition allowed the subject to finish the task and be rewarded. Changes in fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Figural Forms A and B, were investigated. On all components except originality, nonsignificantly higher scores were found under the frustrating conditions. Females scored higher than males on all four components. The only statistically significant interaction effect found was the sex X treatment interaction for elaboration.     

Construction of difference and diversity within policy and practice in England

Policy and practice responses to diversity and difference in pupil populations continue to challenge education systems around the world. This paper considers how teachers’ understandings of diversity and difference and their pedagogical responses at the local level are influenced by, and can be reconciled with, policy at the general level with its impulse for categorisation, normalcy and ‘ableness’. Two frameworks around orientations to diversity and types of pedagogic need are combined in order to examine this tension and develop possible responses. This is illustrated through the example of special educational needs as a type of difference. The paper argues that for critical, ethical and socially just pedagogies, policy needs to support teachers in acknowledging and troubling difference at the classroom level.     

A Structural Equation Modeling of the Factors Affecting an Age-friendly Workplace

There has been a growing trend recently to examine the various factors affecting an age-friendly workplace. Through structural equation modelling (SEM), this study purports to test a model that shows the interaction between and among declining memories, wisdom, age discrimination, and an age-friendly workplace in Filipino elderly in a government setting. Two hundred elderly from a large government bank in the Philippines participated in this study. Data were obtained through a self-completion questionnaire and a one-on-one interview. Surprisingly, results revealed that declining memory has no significant effect on wisdom. However, wisdom has a positive impact on age discrimination as does age-discrimination on an age-friendly workplace. The authors discuss the implications of these results and highlight directions for future research.     

Making More of Faculty Culture: An Experiment in Building Intellectual Community

With the increase in academic specialty,scholars and leaders have sought new ways tostrengthen intellectual community. Their strategiesinclude experimenting with organisational structuresto bring about desired change. This qualitative casestudy examines the influences of such a structure. The Luce Seminars was a programme designed to supportsustained faculty conversation across disciplines atEmory University, a research university located in theUnited States. The analysis found that key functional and symbolic aspects of the program contributed to intenseparticipant involvement, resulting in broadened anddeepened intellectual discourse, enhanced disciplinaryorientation, and expanded possibilities for teachingand research. The authors conclude that structuredfaculty conversation across disciplines strengtheneddimensions of faculty culture related to interactionand scholarship at the university and suggest somebroad areas for future research.     

Reviews,Letters and Listings

The Internet: A Writer's Guide by Jane Dorner. London: A. & C. Black, 2000. Pp. x + 196, Hardback, £9.99. ISBN 0‐7136‐5192‐X     

Relational Maintenance and Social Support in the Aftermath of Sudden and Expected Death

Bereavement is a state of grieving after the loss of a loved one. Past research has suggested that bereavement is particularly challenging, both physically and emotionally, in the aftermath of unexpected death. Here, we examine bereavement in which death occurred suddenly, compared to a chronic condition where death was expected, in terms of perceived social support and relational maintenance with the deceased in the form of imagined interactions and social media interactions. Results indicated that individuals experiencing sudden death bereavement were more likely to engage in both postmortem relational maintenance techniques and perceived less social support than individuals in the expected death bereavement group. Results are discussed in terms of previous findings.