The Experts below are selected from a list of 4236 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Christopher James Claus - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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How demanding is social media: Understanding social media diets as a function of perceived costs and benefits - A Rational Actor perspective
Computers in Human Behavior, 2012Co-Authors: Nicholas David Bowman, David Westerman, Christopher James ClausAbstract:Using the Rational Actor perspective as a guiding frame, this exploratory study examined individuals' social media diet (i.e., amount, frequency, and duration of use) as a function of task load and expected goal attainment. Surveys were distributed (N=337) focusing on Twitter and Facebook usage for informational and relational purposes, respectfully. Increased task load - conceptualized as a cognitive cost - directly negatively influenced Twitter use but only indirectly influenced Facebook use as a function of perceived benefits. Across conditions, perceived self-efficacy was negatively associated with perceived task load and positively associated with goal attainment, and goal attainment was a significant correlate of increased social media usage. Interpreted, we see that a transparent technology such as Facebook has no cognitive costs associated with its use, while an opaque technology such as Twitter seems to have a salient cognitive cost element. Further, we found that older users of Facebook were more likely to judge the channel as more cognitively demanding and themselves as having lower self-efficacy in using it. Finally, results indicated that for both Facebook and Twitter, males perceived both channels as more cognitively demanding than females. Theoretical and practical explanations and applications for these findings are presented.
Karl Derouen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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understanding foreign policy decision making
2010Co-Authors: Alex Mintz, Karl DerouenAbstract:Part I. Introduction: 1. Why study foreign policy from a decision making perspective? Part II. The Decision Environment: 2. Types of decisions and levels of analysis in foreign policy decision making 3. Biases in decision making Part III. Models of Decision Making: 4. The Rational Actor model 5. Alternatives to the Rational Actor model Part IV. Determinants of Foreign Policy Decision Making: 6. Psychological fActors shaping foreign policy decisions 7. International, domestic and cultural fActors influencing foreign policy decision making Part V. Marketing Foreign Policy: 8. Marketing, framing and media effects in foreign policy decision making Part VI. Conclusion: 9. Conclusion: wrapping things up Appendix: an applied decision analysis exercise and simulation.
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Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making: The Rational Actor Model
Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making, 1Co-Authors: Alex Mintz, Karl DerouenAbstract:In this chapter, we look at models and approaches to FPDM that proceed from Rational Actor assumptions. We examine the expected utility model of war and some game-theoretic models such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, Chicken Game, and the Tit-for-Tat strategy. THE Rational Actor MODEL The Rational Actor model is a linchpin of FPDM. Paul MacDonald (2003, 551) contends that many see it “as the most plausible candidate for a universal theory of political and social behavior, whose simple and intuitively plausible assumptions hold the promise of unifying the diverse subfields of political science.” Whereas many scholars criticize the model, others strongly defend it. Before a model can be proposed based on its tenets or its underlying assumptions criticized, we must first understand it. A Rational approach extensively used in foreign policy analysis today, expected utility theory (EUT) sprang from the work of von Neumann and Morgenstern in the 1940s. The approach has its roots in microeconomics. The decision maker is assumed to be able to rank preferences “according to the degree of satisfaction of achieving these goals and objectives” (Sage 1990, 233). The Rational Actor is also expected to be able to identify alternatives and their consequences and to select from these alternatives in an effort to maximize satisfaction. In this setting, the Rational economic decision maker is expected to be able to access a set of objectives and goals.
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Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making: Alternatives to the Rational Actor Model
Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making, 1Co-Authors: Alex Mintz, Karl DerouenAbstract:In this chapter, we look at alternatives to the Rational Actor models (see Table 5.1). We focus on bounded Rationality and the cybernetic model, bureaucratic politics, organizational politics, and prospect theory. Next we take an in-depth look at a model that combines elements of the Rational and cognitive schools – poliheuristic theory. We then analyze the case study of the 1991 U.S. decision not to invade Iraq through six models of decision making. Finally, we discuss the Applied Decision Analysis (ADA) procedure. BOUNDED RationalITY AND THE CYBERNETIC MODEL The cognitive and Rational schools offer different understandings of decision making. Herbert Simon (1985) came up with interesting anthropological-like terms to distinguish Rational and cognitive decision makers. He coined the terms Homo economicus to refer to the former, and Homo psychologicus to refer to the latter. Simon distinguished cognitive models on the basis that they assume decision makers have limited information-processing capabilities. Instead of objectively searching all information for the best outcome, decision makers will select an alternative that is acceptable. This is the satisficing behavior described in Chapter 2. Whereas the Rational school focuses on the maximizing behavior and the comparison of costs and benefits, the cognitive school probes how humans make decisions and learn in a bounded Rational environment. Furthermore, the cognitive school takes into account that humans are selective in the information they use in decision making, use incomplete search processes, and are more likely to select a satisfActory rather than an optimal alternative (Simon 1985, 295).
Nicholas David Bowman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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How demanding is social media: Understanding social media diets as a function of perceived costs and benefits - A Rational Actor perspective
Computers in Human Behavior, 2012Co-Authors: Nicholas David Bowman, David Westerman, Christopher James ClausAbstract:Using the Rational Actor perspective as a guiding frame, this exploratory study examined individuals' social media diet (i.e., amount, frequency, and duration of use) as a function of task load and expected goal attainment. Surveys were distributed (N=337) focusing on Twitter and Facebook usage for informational and relational purposes, respectfully. Increased task load - conceptualized as a cognitive cost - directly negatively influenced Twitter use but only indirectly influenced Facebook use as a function of perceived benefits. Across conditions, perceived self-efficacy was negatively associated with perceived task load and positively associated with goal attainment, and goal attainment was a significant correlate of increased social media usage. Interpreted, we see that a transparent technology such as Facebook has no cognitive costs associated with its use, while an opaque technology such as Twitter seems to have a salient cognitive cost element. Further, we found that older users of Facebook were more likely to judge the channel as more cognitively demanding and themselves as having lower self-efficacy in using it. Finally, results indicated that for both Facebook and Twitter, males perceived both channels as more cognitively demanding than females. Theoretical and practical explanations and applications for these findings are presented.
Kristen Hill Maher - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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psychology and Rational Actor theory
Political Psychology, 1995Co-Authors: Kristen Renwick Monroe, Kristen Hill MaherAbstract:Does Rational Actor theory accurately capture our underlying political psychology? What can Rational Actor theorists gain from increased dialogue with psychologists? These were the central issues that concerned me as I chose to focus this special issue on the economic assumptions concerning human psychology, assumptions that form the foundation of neoclassical economics and which have been transmitted to the rest of social science through the theory of Rational action. I asked each contributor to respond to three questions: What is your understanding of these assumptions? How valid do you believe these assumptions are? And what important areas and questions do these assumptions leave unexplained? My purpose in so structuring the discussion was to move debate away from the confrontational tone in which economic theory is too often attacked or defended; instead, we should ask about the conditions under which the theory is most useful and about when the theory will be most limited. As anticipated, there is tremendous variation in the responses I received to these questions. I hope the disagreement and the ensuing dialogue advance our understanding of the strengths and the limitations of the economic approach as applied to politics. In this introductory essay, let me open discussion by outlining what I believe are the basic assumptions underlying Rational Actor theory. This should provide a common reference for the later articles. (To simplify discussion, I shall use Rational Actor, Rational choice, and economic theory interchangeably, although subtle distinctions among them do exist. See Monroe, 1991.) I then present my own analysis of the theory's underlying strengths and weaknesses. Essentially, I will argue that the intellectual brilliance of Rational Actor theory as a universal
Hilde Tobi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Societal response to nanotechnology: converging technologies–converging societal response research?
Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 2011Co-Authors: Amber Ronteltap, Arnout R. H. Fischer, Hilde TobiAbstract:Nanotechnology is an emerging technology particularly vulnerable to societal unrest, which may hinder its further development. With the increasing convergence of several technological domains in the field of nanotechnology, so too could convergence of social science methods help to anticipate societal response. This paper systematically reviews the current state of convergence in societal response research by first sketching the predominant approaches to previous new technologies, followed by an analysis of current research into societal response to nanotechnology. A set of 107 papers on previous new technologies shows that Rational Actor models have played an important role in the study of societal response to technology, in particular in the field of information technology and the geographic region of Asia. Biotechnology and nuclear power have, in contrast, more often been investigated through risk perception and other affective determinants, particularly in Europe and the USA. A set of 42 papers on societal response to nanotechnology shows similarities to research in biotechnology, as it also builds on affective variables such as risk perception. Although there is a tendency to extend the Rational models with affective variables, convergence in social science approaches to response to new technologies still has a long way to go. The challenge for researchers of societal response to technologies is to converge to some shared principles by taking up the best parts from the Rational Actor models dominant in information technology, whilst integrating non-Rational constructs from biotechnology research. The introduction of nanotechnology gives a unique opportunity to do so.
