The growing use of social media among Internet users produces a vast and new source of user generated ecological data, such as textual posts and images, which can be collected for research purposes. ...The increasing convergence between social and computer sciences has led researchers to develop automated methods to extract and analyze these digital footprints to predict personality traits. These social media-based predictions can then be used for a variety of purposes, including tailoring online services to improve user experience, enhance recommender systems, and as a possible screening and implementation tool for public health. In this paper, we conduct a series of meta-analyses to determine the predictive power of digital footprints collected from social media over Big 5 personality traits. Further, we investigate the impact of different types of digital footprints on prediction accuracy. Results of analyses show that the predictive power of digital footprints over personality traits is in line with the standard “correlational upper-limit” for behavior to predict personality, with correlations ranging from 0.29 (Agreeableness) to 0.40 (Extraversion). Overall, our findings indicate that accuracy of predictions is consistent across Big 5 traits, and that accuracy improves when analyses include demographics and multiple types of digital footprints.
•This is a meta-analysis on the use of social media data to predict Big 5 traits.•We investigate use of different digital footprints including text and pictures.•Accuracy of prediction is consistent across Big 5 traits.•Use of multiple types of digital footprints increases prediction accuracy.
Italy is a country highly vulnerable to floods and landslides. The present study aims to investigate disaster preparedness and perception of flood risk in a group of people living in an alpine valley ...in the north of Italy. Four hundred seven adult residents in nine communities exposed to hydrogeological risk were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire. Participants were asked about the adoption of a set of protective behaviors that can prevent negative consequences of floods. Perception of flood risk was assessed by means of a one-dimensional scale that was developed and validated by the authors. Items included in this scale asked participants to estimate likelihood of occurrence of different flood consequences and to express feelings of worry associated to them. Socio-demographic and experiential information on respondents were also collected. Overall, results showed that most of respondents were fairly well prepared to deal with a future flood disaster. Correlational and regression analyses indicated that disaster preparedness was positively associated with risk perception. In accordance with literature, there was not a significant relation between likelihood judgments and adoption of protective behaviors, while feelings of worry were associated with disaster preparedness. Authors interpret their results in relation to the socio-environmental characteristics of the studied communities. Theoretical, empirical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.
Because of the high prevalence of smartphone use in early adolescence, communication between classroom peers increasingly occurs via online chat groups. Recent studies indicate that online classmate ...groups are places in which different forms of peer exclusion can occur, including being banned from participating in the groups, not being invited to join them, or being shunned by online peers. In order to avoid being offended by peers, students may even decide to self-exclude from participating in the groups. Peer exclusion represents a significant source of suffering for early adolescents, with long-lasting consequences on their well-being. In this study, we investigated the relationship between exclusion from WhatsApp classmate groups and emotional symptoms among early adolescents. Additionally, the fear of missing out (FoMO) was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between peer exclusion and emotional distress. The sample consisted of 398 middle schoolers (age: M = 12.54 years; SD = 0.96) residing in Italy. We found that positive relationships existed between peer exclusion, emotional symptoms, and FoMO. Findings supported the role of FoMO as a mediator in the link between peer exclusion and emotional symptoms. Results are discussed in light of the implications for the assessment of the quality of student-student interactions.
One of the many drastic changes caused by Covid-19 was the quick implementation of distance learning which represented a great technological challenge to many teachers and students. In fact, Italy ...ranks 24th amongst the 27-EU member countries in digital competitiveness which testifies to the significant delays and gaps in basic digital skills amongst the population. Based on the difficulties encountered in organizing distance learning, we assumed that teachers' perceived stress increased. Given that transversal skills can be associated with this relationship, we hypothesized that among these skills, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between the difficulties in organizing distance learning and perceived stress. Since we targeted teachers from Italy and other European countries, we also hypothesized that this mediator effect would be different for both samples. Our sample was composed of a total of 366 primary/middle school teachers of which 86% female. After doing a mediation analyses with Process, Hayes' Model 4, we confirmed H1 but not H2: resulting in a partial mediation effect of self-efficacy for each individual group of teachers. Since difficulties of distance learning can affect the perception of stress, we believe that the promotion of transversal skills, such as self-efficacy, can better equip teachers when facing stressful situations.
The present study investigated the postdictive validity of self-report Big Five personality traits using over ten years of recording of online behaviors, namely Facebook Page Likes. We explored how ...personality traits correlate with interests and preferences expressed through Facebook Likes recorded up to ten years before the personality assessment and examined the consistency of these correlations over time. The recruited sample consisted of 601 adult Facebook users, predominantly young adults, with 73.70 % female and 26.30 % male participants. Facebook Page Likes data were analyzed using topic modeling techniques to extract meaningful indicators of individual difference in user interests. Findings revealed significant associations between personality traits and participants' interests as expressed using Likes over ten years of online activity. Conscientiousness showed consistent negative correlations with leisure and entertainment interests. Openness to Experience positively correlated with interests in artistic and cultural fields, including non-profit organizations, theaters, musicians, and entertainment and media. Extraversion demonstrated positive correlations with social entertainment, such as nightclubs and restaurants. Agreeableness and Emotional Stability did not show significant average associations. There was a negative correlation between the number of Likes and Conscientiousness, suggesting that individuals that are more conscientious express fewer Page Likes. Conversely, a positive correlation existed between Page Likes and Openness. Overall, correlations were small but mostly consistent over time, although correlations with the Openness trait suggested a stronger association with more recent interests. This research underscores the enduring influence of personality on online behaviors, including activity on social media.
The present study explored how sharing verbal status updates on Facebook and receiving Likes, as a form of positive social feedback, correlate with current and perceived changes in Quality of Life ...(QoL). Utilizing the Facebook Graph API, we collected a longitudinal dataset comprising status updates and Likes received by 1577 adult Facebook users over a 12-month period. Two monthly indicators were calculated: the percentage of verbal status updates and the average number of Likes per post. Participants were administered a survey to assess current and perceived changes in QoL. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the Auto-Regressive Latent Trajectory Model with Structured Residuals (ALT-SRs) were used to model longitudinal patterns emerging from the objective recordings of Facebook activity and explore their correlation with QoL measures. Findings indicated a positive correlation between the percentage of verbal status updated on Facebook and current QoL. Online positive social feedback, measured through received Likes, was associated with both current QoL and perceived improvements in QoL. Of note, perceived improvements in QoL correlated with an increase in received Likes over time. Results highlight the relevance of collecting and modeling longitudinal Facebook data for the investigation of the association between activity on social media and individual well-being.
More than three billion users are currently on one of Meta's online platforms with Facebook being still their most prominent social media service. It is well known that Facebook has designed a highly ...immersive social media service with the aim to prolong online time of its users, as this results in more digital footprints to be studied and monetized (
psychological targeting). In this context, it is debated if social media platforms can elicit addictive behaviors. In the present work, we demonstrate in
= 1,094 users that it is possible to predict from digital footprints of the Facebook users their self-reported addictive tendencies toward social media (
> 0.30) by applying machine-learning strategies. More specifically, we analyzed the predictive power of a set of models based on different sets of features extracted from digital traces, namely posting activity, language use, and page Likes. To maximize the predictive power of the models, we used an ensemble of linear and non-linear prediction algorithms. This work showed also sufficient accuracy rates (AUC above 0.70) in distinguishing between disordered and non-disordered social media users. In sum, individual differences in tendencies toward "social networks use disorder" can be inferred from digital traces left on the social media platform Facebook. Please note that the present work is limited by its cross-sectional design.
School transitions require students to adapt to new challenges and situations and can increase the risk of externalizing and internalizing psychological symptoms. The teacher-student relationship ...seems to be a protective factor for the risk of developing psychological symptoms during school transitions. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the quality of the teacher-student relationship predicts the decrease of internalizing and externalizing symptoms during three school transitions, namely: from kindergarten to primary school (T1), from primary to middle school (T2), and from middle to high school (T3). We recruited 127 kindergarten students (mean age = 5.40, SD = 0.49), 113 fifth grade primary school students (mean age = 10.64, SD = 0.54), and 240 eighth grade students (mean age = 13.88, SD = 0.37) and their teachers (response rate = 95%). Data were collected from 2016 to 2018. Teachers filled out an anonymous survey, acting as informants for the students, reporting demographic details (age, gender), psychological symptoms, and quality of the teacher-student relationship. The data show that a positive teacher-student relationship quality tends to be associated with a reduction of psychological symptoms. A stable, low-conflict teacher-student relationship was confirmed as a protective factor from increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms during all normative school transitions. Furthermore, we see that an increase in teacher-student conflict during the transitions from primary to middle school, and from middle to high school is linked to an exacerbation in students' externalizing symptoms during the first year of attendance of the new school. Our study confirms the importance of the teacher-student relationship in reducing psychological symptoms associated with school transitions, in every type of transition, favoring an improved psychological adjustment to the new environment. A positive teacher-student relationship represents a protective factor for the development of students. Study limitations are discussed.
Bullying continues to be a social issue affecting millions of students of all ages worldwide. Research on bullying seems to be dominated by quantitative research approaches employed standardized ...categories and measures, ultimately limiting our knowledge about children’s own view on bullying. Our research follows another direction, aiming to explore the representation of bullying in a sample of Italian primary school children by using and comparing the functioning of two qualitative research instruments: interviews, and children’s drawings. In addition, aided by quantitative analyses, we aimed to investigate whether students’ involvement in different bullying roles (as bullies, victims, or defenders), as measured by self-assessment, correlated with different characteristics of the representation of bullying emerging from children’s drawings and interviews. We recruited a convenient sample of 640 primary school students (mean age = 9.44; SD = 0.67), 53.3% of whom were male. The results showed that all forms of bullying, i.e., physical, verbal, and social bullying, could be identified in interview and drawing data, although references to all types of bullying were more frequent in interview data. In terms of bullying criteria, the presence of a power imbalance between the bully and the victim was most frequently detected in both the interview data and the drawing data, while repetition was more easily detected in the interview data. The interview data showed that sadness was the most frequently reported victim emotions, followed by fear, anger, and lack of emotion. The drawing data showed a similar pattern, although victims were more frequently described as lacking emotions compared to the interview data. In both interview and drawing data, age and female gender were positively associated with references to verbal bullying, and negatively associated with references to physical bullying. Additionally, bully/victim children were more likely than uninvolved children to depict physical bullying in the drawings, while this association was not detected in interview data. In summary, our study shows that, compared with drawings, interviews tend to provide a more comprehensive view of children’s own representation of bullying, while drawing data tend to show stronger connections with children’s current personal experiences of bullying.
Background and aims. Personality is one of the most frequently investigated variables to shed light on the putatively addictive use of the smartphone. By investigating associations between ...personality and individual differences in addictive smartphone use, researchers aim to understand if some personality traits predispose technology users to develop addictive behaviors. Here, based on existing empirical literature, we aimed at determining the strength of associations between Big Five personality traits and smartphone use disorder (SmUD) by a meta-analytic approach. Method. For each Big Five personality trait, we performed a meta-analysis of correlations representing their association with SmUD. We also investigated possible publication bias and the moderating effects of age, gender, nationality, length of personality assessments, and time of publication. Results. We found n = 26 eligible studies. In line with both the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model and the framework on problematic mobile-phone use by Billieux, we observed a positive association between Neuroticism and SmUD (r = 0.25), while the association between Extraversion and SmUD was not significant. Partially in line with the aforementioned theoretical frameworks, Conscientiousness was negatively associated with SmUD (r = −0.16). Remaining traits showed smaller associations. No significant publication bias emerged. Moderator analyses showed that time of publication moderated the link between Conscientiousness and SmUD. Moreover, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness showed a heightened inverse association with SmUD among older samples. Conclusions. The present meta-analysis provides robust empirical evidence that Big Five personality traits can help to understand individual differences in SmUD, supporting the usefulness of their assessment when planning and targeting interventions aimed at at-risk individuals.
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