More descriptive norms, fewer diversions. Boosting Chinese researcher performance through social media
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-11-2017-0240 |
| Published date | 18 March 2019 |
| Date | 18 March 2019 |
| Pages | 72-87 |
| Author | Wenzhi Zheng,Yenchun Jim Wu,Yue Lv |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information user studies,Metadata,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
More descriptive norms,
fewer diversions
Boosting Chinese researcher performance
through social media
Wenzhi Zheng
Business School, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China
Yenchun Jim Wu
Graduate Institute of Global Business and Strategy,
National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, and
Yue Lv
Business School, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between researchers’social media (SM)
behavior and their academic performance.
Design/methodology/approach –A sample of 362 researchers was recruited from the colleges of
management of 52 Chinese universities. A factor analysis of eight indices retrieved from the 362 data items
was conducted. A total of 24 Chinese researchers were interviewed and given a robust test.
Findings –The results indicate that Chinese general social media (GSM) is insufficient to support academic
research and it is difficult for scholars to enhance the visibility of their academic performance using GSM
platforms, which can actually induce addiction. University resources, management systems, and working
environment affect how scholars apply SM.
Research limitations/implications –The authors examined the researchers’SM behavior by giving them
a questionnaire and interview; however, this approach proved inadequate. The academic performance of
researchers is affected by numerous factors, but the authors only considered SM behavior.
Practical implications –It is suggested that universities apply academic social media (ASM) indicators to
measure researchers’contributions so that they self-regulate their SM usage attitudes. Also, universities
should also promote ASM platforms.
Originality/value –This study analyzed scholars’GSM usage and academic performance, and the
moderating effect of university level on the relationship between need for competence and relatedness and
need for autonomy. This comprehensive analysis contributes to the scholarly SM usage literature.
Keywords China, Social media, Self-determination theory, Academic performance, Bibliographies, Social norm
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
With the rapid development of social media (SM), increasingly more scholars are using
academic social media (ASM) to enhance their academic performance. However, Chinese SM
platforms differ from those in other countries (Hoffmann et al., 2015; Erdt et al., 2016;
Yu et al., 2016; Jeng et al., 2017). First, its general social media (GSM) platforms are
independent. China has developed its own GSM platforms, such as renren.com, WeChat, and
micro-blogging sites as substitutes for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace
(Li and Chen, 2014; Huang et al., 2015; Zheng et al., 2016). Second, many Chinese scholars are
unfamiliar with ASMs such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and Mendeley because of
language barriers and differences in reading habits. For example, China accounts for the
lowest proportion of publications on ResearchGate (less than 4 percent) when considering
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 37 No. 1, 2019
pp. 72-87
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-11-2017-0240
Received 27 July 2017
Revised 25 November 2017
3 April 2018
Accepted 6 April 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
This research was supported by Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province
University (NCETFJ).
72
LHT
37,1
Web of Science publications from 2013 (Thelwall and Kousha, 2015). Generally, GSM is
intended to promote social and individual life goals, whereas ASM is for academic purposes.
Yet although Chinese scholars may obtain relevant information and communicate through
the science.com academic blog, xmuchong.com, and dxy.cn, more generally, most scholars
use GSM to replace some functions of ASM, such as the WeChat group for academic
communication (Hao et al., 2015; Li et al., 2015a; Pun, 2015).
It is questionable whether Chinese scholars’GSM usage enhances their academic
performance. It offers not only the possibility of promotion but also the shock that
innovative technological developments cause to human society.SM is a “double-edged
sword”for education, because although hit can promote learning, it can also lead to
addiction and poor time management (Lau, 2017). It is challenging to understand the extent
to which SM has permeated universities and their faculty (Kosinski et al., 2015).
As individuals, university faculty may find SM addictive and time-wasting. However, they
should also consider external social norms from Chinese culture such as power distance,
collectivism, risk aversion, and long-term orientation (Zhang and Hummert, 2001;
Gelfand and Harrington, 2015). Injunctive or descriptive social norms may influence
researchers’motivations and behavior (Li et al., 2015b).
The present study explored these phenomenon the basis of self-determination theory
(SDT), focusing on the following three issues: first, whether addictive behavior or other
adverse consequences arise from Chinese scholars’GSM use, after their core needs have
been met; second, how universities should respond to the addictive behavior, given different
individual resources; and third, how Chinese GSM functions, and whether researchers can
improve their academic performance through GSM. We analyzed the relationship between
researcher behavior and academic performance under the influence of external
environmental factors.
Literature review and hypothesis
Literature review and research model
Previous studies have indicated that SM platforms have become a type of learning environment
that can help individuals grow (Lin and Wang, 2013; Wang et al., 2013; Legaree, 2015). In
the learning literature, new terms such as “social media learning”and “digital scholarship”have
been introduced (Claros and Cobos, 2013; Pretto and Curró, 2017). According to SDT, people
pursue the satisfaction of fundamental psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and
relatedness while engaging in various activities (Ryan and Deci, 2000). On SM platforms,
when students or educators enjoy independent communication, browsing, quick access to
information, sharing resources, and collaboration, they have higher autonomous motivation and
meta-cognition, perceived usefulness, playfulness, and ease of use, and they experience higher
satisfaction of their psychological needs; this ultimately leads to improved education
performance (Søreb et al., 2009; Koh et al., 2010; Legaree, 2015). Researchers have shown that
students and educators with high perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness
achieve better learning outcomes. Therefore, schools should create working environments
that enable SM platforms to be utilized effectively and enhance the performance of both
educators and students.
Previous research has also shown that schools have different strategies and attitudes
toward SM, and that teachers from different disciplines differ in their views on the function
and relevant norms of SM ( Jeng et al., 2015; Jeng et al., 2017). Thus, external social norms
influence teachers’SM attitude as well as their working efficiency and performance
(Meishar-Tal and Pieterse, 2017; Wu et al., 2017). However, other studies have reported that
SM has adverse effects on learning outcomes, because while SM can improve learning
efficiency, italso promotes nonacademic behaviors (i.e. it acts as a diversion). If SM is usedto
fulfill socialand nonacademic needs only, academicperformance suffers (Ravizzaet al., 2014) .
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