Date of Award
9-3-2019
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Prof. SIU Oi Ling
Second Advisor
Prof. LI Yau Wai Simon
Abstract
Social networking sites (SNSs) are becoming our focus of attention to fulfill our basic need to associate and communicate with other beings. During the last few years, there has been a drastic increase in SNSs users and statistics represent a huge number of people and even workers who log in to SNSs at least once during their office hours. Many studies have explored the SNSs use in students, but limited literature is available that studied employees’ use of SNSs during their working hours. The present study is divided into three phases: scale development, survey, and a quasi-experiment. The first phase was scale development, in which we focused on developing a scale to measure employees’ attitude towards use of social network sites specifically intention behind the use of SNSs. Focus groups were conducted to gather the information related to employee intention to use social network sites during office hours. Based on the focus group findings, themes were generated. A scale to measure the attitudes of employees’ toward use of SNSs, specifically intentions behind the use of SNSs, was developed from two countries: China and Pakistan. Psychometric properties of the scale were established by explanatory factor analysis. In the second phase, we conducted a survey study in China and Pakistan respectively. In the surveys, we investigate the relationship among personality traits, use of social network sites and how it affects the psychological well-being and employee’s job performance. The data was collected from employees in China (n=380) and Pakistan (n=450). SEM was used to analyze the data and the results revealed positive relations between employees’ use of social network sites and performance and also showed some differences between the two country samples. In the third phase, an experimental study was conducted, in which the main focus was to decrease self-interruptions caused by SNSs among employees during office hours. To conduct the experiment, a quasi-experimental design was used to mitigate the effect of interruptions by using a mindfulness intervention.
In the experiment, control and experimental groups were recruited. The results showed significant decreases in interruption and increases in mindfulness level in the experimental group.
Findings from the present research would add to existing literature and bridge the gap of knowledge by highlighting employees’ attitudes towards SNSs use, specifically intentions behind the use of SNSs, during office hours. This thesis has also provided recommendations to help employers enhance their employees’ job performance through policies and training that support overall well-being while managing SNS use at work.
Language
English
Copyright
The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Mehmood, H. (2019). Intentions behind the use of social network sites and its association with peronality, job performance and psychological well-being of employees in China and Pakistan: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (Doctor's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd/66/