ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore whether problematic smartphone use (PSU) aligns with behavioural addiction by evaluating two key criteria: (1) higher withdrawal anxiety induced by smartphone separation and (2) impaired inhibitory control with neurobiological manifestations. A mixed-method approach compared PSU individuals (mean age = 21) and non-PSU (mean age = 20.33). Withdrawal anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and inhibitory control was assessed with a modified Go/NoGo task enhanced by Event-Related Potentials. Participants (N = 30) were categorised based on the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version. The PSU individuals reported greater anxiety when separated from their smartphones, but the anxiety response was transient, peaking briefly before decreasing upon reunion. In terms of inhibitory control, PSU individuals showed significantly reduced NoGo-P3 amplitudes in response to smartphone-related cues, indicating impaired inhibitory control. However, no differences were observed in the NoGo-N2 phase. The PSU individuals exhibited signs of behavioural addiction, such as withdrawal anxiety and impaired inhibitory control, but these findings are insufficient to definitively categorise PSU as a behavioural addiction. Further research is needed to explore the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underlying problematic smartphone use and its potential classification as an addiction.

ABSTRACT With rapid advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles (AVs) have developed substantially, yet consumer adoption remains constrained by psychological barriers. Against this backdrop, this study examines the factors shaping consumers’ willingness to adopt AVs, with particular emphasis on trust. Drawing on a UTAUT2-informed perspective on technology adoption and extending it with trust, we develop and test a framework for explaining consumers’ willingness to adopt AVs in the context of Level 3 AVs. Evidence from a field experiment conducted in China (N = 400) shows that trust serves as a critical mechanism through which consumers’ perceptions translate into willingness to adopt AVs. Specifically, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived enjoyment, and anthropomorphism are all positively associated with trust. The findings further show that perceived privacy risk weakens all of these positive effects on trust except the effect of anthropomorphism. By clarifying the mediating role of trust and identifying perceived privacy risk as an important boundary condition, this study advances research on AV technology acceptance. It also offers practical insights for firms and designers seeking to strengthen consumer trust through better system performance, more intuitive user experiences, and clearer privacy protections.

ABSTRACT Problematic smartphone use among adolescents has become a global issue. Phubbing (i.e. using or being distracted by a mobile phone while in the presence of others) is a prevalent and worrying phenomenon in family life. Using an approach based on the Compensatory Internet Use Theory, this research examined the links between parental phubbing and adolescents’ smartphone addiction symptoms and the potential mediating role of anti-mattering. The convenience sample comprised 159 Romanian participants aged 13–18 (M = 16.55; SD = 1.26; 28.5% male). Results suggested that adolescents reported similar levels of phubbing when referring to either their mothers or fathers, with no significant differences. Parental phubbing positively predicted the adolescents’ feeling of not mattering. Further, anti-mattering positively predicted adolescents’ smartphone addiction, mediating the relation between parental phubbing and smartphone addiction symptoms. These results are discussed in terms of their practical implications for parent–adolescent relationships and prevention and intervention programs related to smartphone addictions.

ABSTRACT Gamified group applications are increasingly used in educational settings. This makes the reliable and valid assessment of the gamified group experience (GGEx) essential. Although a comprehensive scale of gameful experience has been developed, it neglects the characteristic of group work and its length limits its applicability in time-constrained settings. From a feasibility perspective, it is important to have a short scale that accurately reflects the playful aspect when dealing with everyday situations, such as time pressure during a game or classroom restrictions. Thus, the present study aims to validate a short GGEx scale that can be easily applied and adapted to particular gamified group applications. The Gameful Group Experience Questionnaire (GGEx-Quest) is a newly developed scale based on existing scales, related literature, and three independent studies. Methods applied include an expert survey, step-by-step scale reduction, exploratory analysis, confirmatory analysis, bivariate analysis, and structural equation modeling. Ultimately, the GGEx-Quest was proven to be a reliable, valid, and useful instrument for researchers and practitioners. By using this scale, the evaluation of gamified group applications can gain comparability and informative value. This study contributes to the field by providing a better understanding of gameful experience, informing the design of future games.

ABSTRACT Third-person perception (TPP) has been observed across various media contexts. However, little is known about how TPP manifests across different deepfake harm types and age groups. This study investigates TPP of deepfake harms, and the role of prior encounters with dubious content as a moderator. We conducted a survey with three age groups: students from Generation Z, working adults, and seniors, to examine their perceived susceptibility to physical, emotional, relational, financial and societal deepfake harms. Further, we explored how prior encounters with dubious content moderates the magnitude of TPP. TPP exists across all age groups and harm types, but the magnitude of this bias differs. Seniors showed the largest self–other gap, particularly for emotional harms, while societal harms were perceived more equally across groups. More prior encounters with dubious content tended to reduce TPP for physical and financial harms, but interestingly, working adults displayed the opposite trend, with exposure increasing their TPP. These results extend the body of knowledge in TPP research by demonstrating how age, harm type, and prior encounters with dubious content shape perceptions of susceptibility. Practically, the findings highlight the need for tailored media literacy efforts, especially for seniors who may underestimate their susceptibility.

ABSTRACT The rapid proliferation of courier delivery applications (apps) has transformed consumer–business interactions, yet few studies have examined the fairness of privacy policies in these apps. Based on justice theory, this study develops a content analysis framework by integrating the latent Dirichlet allocation, analytic hierarchy process, and Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm to examine the content and structure of justice (i.e. procedural, interactional, and distributive justice) of the privacy policies of 29 top Chinese courier apps. The results show that: (1) the overall fairness of privacy policies in the courier-app industry is relatively low with a mean score of 68.29% and wide variation from 38.85% to 87.62%; (2) a notable structural gap emerges between existing industry privacy policies and the justice framework, particularly with respect to distributive justice. While procedural justice and interactional justice are comparatively well covered, information accessibility and the protection of sensitive data under distribution justice remains insufficiently; (3) comparisons across app categories indicate that postal, e-commerce, and comprehensive service apps generally exhibit higher levels of fairness than urban on-demand delivery and express courier apps. This study provides methodology and policy references for courier companies to formulate fair privacy policies and the government to enhance app privacy supervision.

ABSTRACT To leverage the growing use of smart wearable technologies, many industries have introduced technology-based services (TBSs) that promise mutual value for providers and consumers. These services rely on real-time data sharing, algorithmic personalisation, and ongoing consumer engagement, making them inherently value-laden and emotionally charged. However, traditional technology adoption models fail to account for the interpretive and emotional complexities that arise when consumers evaluate whether a service provider’s values align with their own. Drawing on congruity theory and employing a mixed-methods research design, we developed and tested a value congruence adoption model in the context of pay-as-you-live (PAYL) insurance, an emergent form of TBS. The literature and qualitative phase identified three core value propositions, including privacy, monetary rewards, and social influence, important for adoption decisions, each triggering distinct emotional responses. Quantitative field experiment demonstrated that perceived value congruence with the TBS provider elicits positive emotions (e.g., pride, comfort, belonging) that significantly increase adoption intentions. However, value incongruence evokes negative emotions (e.g., discomfort, regret, isolation), deterring adoption. These findings extend congruity theory by framing value congruence as an emotionally mediated construct, providing insights for TBS providers in the health and insurance sectors who seek to enhance consumer engagement through value-aligned service design.

ABSTRACT Measuring how UK paramedics respond to pathological ECG patterns for patients who present with a recent transient loss of consciousness (TLoC) is relevant to both National Health Service (NHS) auditors and healthcare educators (see NICE Clinical Guideline 109 (CG109)). We piloted an online multiple-choice test with 20 ECG patterns (and a median duration to complete of 1215 s) to assess ECG interpretations in the context of TLoC. In a sub-cohort of 207 UK year 2 and 3 paramedic students who fulfilled our inclusion criteria, we found that year 3 students (versus year 2) performed better at identifying the ECG patterns, but not at dichotomous decisions to refer onward or not. As expected, year 3 students were somewhat more confident than year 2 students that their ECG interpretations were correct. In a subset of questions showing proarrhythmic ECG patterns, both year 3 and year 2 students performed disappointingly. Thus, this pilot study with student participants buttresses the use of this test and method to do a larger audit of professionals in this field, and it suggests that there may be a mismatch between the professional guidelines and current educational practices, which should be harmonized.

ABSTRACT This study examined the effectiveness of avatars in digital role-playing scenarios to enhance students’ social perspective-taking and collaborative learning. Limited empirical research compared avatar-based digital and face-to-face role-playing on social perspective-taking and collaborative learning, leaving uncertainty about whether digital role-play can be comparable to traditional methods for supporting meaningful social interaction and collaborative learning outcomes. The research compared students’ perceptions in two settings: digital role-playing with avatars (experimental group) versus traditional face-to-face role-playing (control group). A total of 408 students from two public schools participated in this quasi-experimental study. Data were analysed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings indicated that students who engaged in digital role-playing with avatars reported significantly higher levels of social perspective-taking and collaborative learning compared to those involved in traditional role-playing activities. The SEM analysis further emphasised a significant, positive relationship between collaborative learning and social perspective-taking, suggesting that the use of avatars in role-playing can strengthen students’ ability to empathise with others while supporting collaborative processes. This study provides evidence that avatar-mediated environments support social perspective-taking and collaborative learning, helping guide evidence-based design and adoption of digital role-playing in education.

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming workplaces and shaping how employees perceive and interact with technology. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Organisational Culture Theory, this study examines how psychosocial predictors, promotion focus, positive reinterpretation and technostress influence workers' perceived usefulness of AI and their intention to use it. It also tests whether an adaptable organisational culture strengthens the relationship between perceived usefulness and intention to use AI. Data were collected from 422 Portuguese respondents and analysed using partial least squares. Results show that both promotion focus and positive reinterpretation positively affect perceived usefulness and the intention to use AI at work. Technostress negatively affects perceived usefulness but does not significantly impact intention to use AI. Perceived usefulness mediates the effects of psychosocial predictors on intention: the indirect effects are positive for promotion focus and positive reinterpretation and negative for technostress. Moreover, a highly adaptable organisational culture amplifies the positive link between perceived usefulness and employees' intention to adopt AI. The study extends TAM by incorporating psychosocial antecedents and provides empirical support for the moderating role of cultural adaptability, offering insights for fostering responsible and sustainable AI adoption across diverse organisational contexts.