Effects of internal and external corporate social responsibility on employee job satisfaction during a pandemic: A medical device industry perspective.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed human lifestyles and contributed to the creation of a new normal in the business environment. This study examines the direct and indirect impacts of internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on employee job satisfaction through organisational identification, conditional on employee age. A total of 236 valid responses were received from eight multinational medical device manufacturers in Malaysia. Partial least squares and PROCESS algorithms were employed to assess the hypothesised interactions between the predictors and criterion variables. The empirical results showed that internal CSR (i.e., CSR to employee) could significantly drive a greater sense of belonging and work satisfaction. Surprisingly, however, external CSR (i.e., CSR to community) negatively affects job fulfilment in the medical devices industry during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the findings also showed that ongoing CSR activities in the community could build organisational identification and subsequently improve job satisfaction. Conversely, CSR to environment did not statistically influence job satisfaction, either directly or indirectly. The mediating effects of organisational identification were not associated with employee age. This study provides a practical framework for effective CSR strategies amid the pandemic that can help organisations align with social responsibility, enhance their reputation, and contribute to society.

Doing well by doing good: why is investing in university social responsibility a good business for higher education institutions cross culturally?

PurposeThis paper aims to corroborate the importance of university social responsibility (USR) for universities and to establish a rationale for their investment in a strategically implement socially responsible initiatives and programmes and gain returns from such investments. This purpose can be achieved by examining a complex conceptual model connecting USR with many desired student-related outcomes that leverage the university's competitiveness, long sustainability and contribution to the triple bottom line – "people, planet, and profit”.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a cross-country comparative study using quantitative techniques. Their analysis was guided by a holistic conceptual model constructed and experimentally evaluated using obtained primary data. The robustness of the suggested model was evaluated using structural equation modelling with partial least squares.FindingsThe findings validate the hypothesized associations and indicate that adopting USR initiatives increases student satisfaction and alumni loyalty through student-university identification, perceived university image, and service quality. In addition, the cross-country analysis finds no variation in the strength of the connections owing to cultural variations, except for the association between service quality and institution image.Practical implicationsIncorporating USR at the centre of university's strategy not only complements its teaching and research goals but also answers the requirements and expectations of stakeholders, increases competitiveness and assures sustainable performance.Originality/valueThis cross-cultural USR study uses a mix of methods to show that, even though USR is important, until now, its importance has been overlooked.

Need dissatisfaction and its consequences on support for anti-pandemic behaviors in China: The mediation of attribution and local government satisfaction, and the moderation of social class.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the global economy, resulting in a substantial increase in inequality. There is a need to understand need dissatisfaction in this context, its group differences, and its consequences on support for anti-pandemic behaviors. Methods: Using data from a survey round of the Chinese Social Mentality Survey from 21 April to 26 May 2022, 6,022 participants aged between 18 and 70 years (M = 32.27; SD = 8.74; men = 46.76%) from 29 provinces of Mainland China were included in the study. Results: 1) Need dissatisfaction was negatively related with support for anti-pandemic behaviors and was completely mediated by attribution and local government satisfaction. 2) Internal/external attribution acted as a double-edged sword: they were negatively/positively related with support for anti-pandemic behaviors, while they became positively/negatively related with support for anti-pandemic behaviors via the mediation of local government satisfaction. 3) People who were unemployed and in the subjectively middle class reported higher need dissatisfaction and less support for anti-pandemic behaviors compared to their counterparts. 4) Social class moderated the relationship between need dissatisfaction and internal attribution: when needs were dissatisfied, participants with higher income and subjective social class tended to attribute more internally. Discussion: This study contributes to the attribution theory and social identity theory in the context of major global public health events and provides practical implications for promoting behavioral compliance in the context of COVID-19. In particular, facilitating a positive interaction between the public and local governments may be helpful to create a shared identity and, ultimately, prevent and control the pandemic together.

Cross-cultural analysis of a new indicator which measures the degree of Islamophobia social awareness

There is ample evidence documenting the problem of Islamophobia (discrimination and racism against the Muslim community). However, the extent to which the European population is aware of this injustice has not exhaustively been assessed. The aim of this research was to measure in a valid and reliable way the degree of social awareness of Islamophobia in four European countries: Spain, France, United Kingdom and Germany. The sample consisted of 1846 volunteers from these countries. All of them answered a structured protocol on social awareness called Degree of Islamophobia Recognition (DIR). Several cross-cultural analyses based on the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) technique, the ordinal alpha coefficient and the Greatest Lower Bound (GLB) were applied to analyze the dimensionality of the DIR and its reliability. Six sex-differentiated popu-lation scales were made based on derived typical scores (TS). The results revealed that the DIR consisted of two cultural dimensions: perceived vulnerability and connection. Both dimensions explained between 51% and 61% of the variance in all countries. Reliability coefficients were acceptable in all cases (>0.7). We propose that public policies combat Islamophobia considering these dimensions and taking into consideration the thresholds of the derived PTs to identify in which regions or social groups these intervention policies are needed.

Right-Wing Populism, Social Identity Theory, and Resistance to Public Health Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Many western democracies experienced significant resistance to public health measures designed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although there were complex reasons for this resistance, right-wing populist forces seem to have played a significant role in fueling it. Studies show a strong correlation between right-wing populist support and resistance to COVID-19-mitigating measures including vaccination, and those who supported these populist movements were more likely to suffer and die from the virus. The question thus arises: why do people support these movements which openly undermine their own health interests? This paper addresses this question from a social-psychological perspective. Specifically, it draws on social identity theory to explain the considerable success of right-wing populism's radical anti-health agenda and to offer some suggestions about how this negative influence may be countered.

Collective Action of the 'Fandom Girls' in Fighting the Epidemic - - Based on the perspective of social identity theory

The collective action of the 'Fandom Girls' to collect supplies in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in 2020 demonstrated strong organizational executive skills, changing the public's prejudice and stereotype. Based on the perspective of social identity theory, this paper uses case study and text analysis to explore the identity construction of this collective action. The author finds that 'Fandom Girls' identify with their country, idols, norms, and communities, which function as the motivation of their collective action. The identity mechanism is developed from internal and external identities, which are expressed as self-categorization and evolution through questioning. The social identity theory is validated in this collective action, but it also shows new characteristics. Understanding the group's identity motivations and mechanisms can help to utilize the group's power better. © 2021 IEEE.

Travel-Related Influencer Content on Instagram: How Social Media Fuels Wanderlust and How to Mitigate the Effect

Tremendous efforts will be required in the coming decades to limit the harmful effects of climate change. This includes travel behavior, which not only has a significant impact on climate but also affects the perceived justice and trust necessary to manage the transition to net zero successfully. Technologies such as social media can promote behavioral change;unfortunately, also for the negative. Drawing on social comparison theory, social identity theory, and the theory of planned behavior, this study uses a PLS-SEM model to investigate if and under which circumstances exposure to travel-related content posted by professional influencers affects their followers’ travel intentions. It extends previous studies by explicitly focusing on influencers that use Instagram to make a living and considers the effect of pro-environmental attitudes. On the one hand, it shows that influencers are not only responsible for their travel behavior. Their content stimulates their audiences’ wanderlust through benign envy. On the other hand, the study suggests that reinforcing pro-environmental attitudes can help mitigate the negative climate effects of imitating influencer travel behavior.

"We Will Appreciate Each Other More After This": Teachers' Construction of Collective and Personal Identities During Lockdown.

In March 2020, schools in England were closed to all but vulnerable children and the children of key workers, as part of a national effort to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Many teachers were required to work from home as remote learning was implemented. Teaching is primarily a relational profession, and previous literature acknowledges that supportive relationships with peers help to maintain teachers' resilience and commitment during challenging periods. This paper reports on findings from a small-scale study conducted in England during the first national lockdown beginning in March 2020, which explored the impact of the requirement to teach remotely on teachers' identity and peer relationships. A discourse analysis, informed by the aims and practices of discursive psychology, was conducted in order to explore the association between constructions of peer support and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that teachers who presented their professional self-identity as collective rather than personal appeared to have a more positive perspective on the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. These findings, which have implications for policymakers and school leaders, contribute to the growing field of research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education by showing the strong association between teachers' constructions of identity and their capacity to respond positively to the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The experience of disgust by nursing and midwifery students: An interpretative phenomenological approach study.

Although disgust is recognized as a common and prominent emotion in healthcare, little is known about how healthcare professionals understand, experience and conceptualize disgust. The aim of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how nursing and midwifery students experience, understand and cope with disgust in their clinical work. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Six participants (all women: two nursing students, four midwifery students) from a university in the South of England were interviewed. Four superordinate themes with eight subthemes were identified. Overall, findings suggest that participants experience both moral and physical disgust; however, they find it difficult to talk about and use other terms to describe their experience. Findings are discussed through the lens of social identity theory, to understand the relevance of professional identity and how this might further maintain the disgust taboo. The strategies participants have developed in order to cope with disgust are explored and understood within the current healthcare climate. Future research should focus on ways of addressing the experience of disgust by healthcare professionals in order to improve the quality of care provided, especially in the climate of the COVID-19 crisis.