The role of personality traits in participation in an Online Cancer Community
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2022-0242 |
| Published date | 25 July 2022 |
| Date | 25 July 2022 |
| Pages | 318-341 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
| Author | Basma Badreddine,Yvette Blount,Michael Quilter |
The role of personality traits
in participation in an Online
Cancer Community
Basma Badreddine
Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics, Macquarie University,
Sydney, Australia
Yvette Blount
Department of Management, Deakin Business School, Melbourne,
Australia, and
Michael Quilter
Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics, Macquarie University,
Sydney, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study was to investigate how personality traits influence participative
behaviour in an Online Cancer Community (OCC).
Design/methodology/approach –Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 users of
one of the largest OCCs in Australia –Cancer Council Online Community in New South Wales (NSW).
Findings –The results showed that extraversion, emotional stability and agreeableness traits influence
posting behaviour, whereas the conscientiousness trait influences lurking behaviour. The openness trait did
not affect either posters or lurkers’online behaviour.
Research limitations/implications –The research highlights the pivotal role of personality traits in users’
decisions to post or lurk using a multi-theory perspective that combined the social exchange theory and the
Five-Factor Model. Future studies should explore personality traits that can benefit from online participation in
an OCC to transition only lurkers who may benefit from posting.
Practical implications –Insights from the study inform OCC practitioners and moderators when designing
the OCC platform. Except for the openness trait, lurkers and posters exhibited different attitudes, which
indicates that integrating these findings in the OCC design can facilitate adopting strategies to elicit more
participation by OCC users.
Originality/value –This is the first study that explored the role of personality traits in users’decisions to
participate in an OCC.
Keywords Online Cancer Community, Social exchange theory, Five-Factor Model, Posters, Lurkers,
Personality traits
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
An Online Cancer Community (OCC) is one type of online health community with user-
generated content that facilitates connections amongst users with common interests seeking
emotional and informational support (Han et al., 2019). People affected by cancer include
people diagnosed with cancer, cancer survivors and carers (Hubbard et al., 2007). Cancer-
affected people use OCCs to share their experiences, receive emotional support, connect with
health professionals, obtain practical tips and answers to medical questions, provide
empathy and health information to others, and read the content published by others (Yang
AJIM
75,2
318
The authors would like to thank Annette Beattie, Kate Fenerty and Rhiannon Davies from the Cancer
Council NSW of Australia for the continued support and guidance throughout the project process. The
authors would also like to thank all the interview participants for sharing the valuable experiences.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2050-3806.htm
Received 5 May 2022
Revised 21 May 2022
9 June 2022
Accepted 3 July 2022
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 75 No. 2, 2023
pp. 318-341
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-05-2022-0242
et al., 2019;Yli-Uotila, 2017). Previous studies found that participation in OCCs can improve a
cancer-affected person’s mental and psychological well-being (Erfani et al., 2016). Therefore,
ensuring that the OCC is inclusive and well-designed is essential toencourage participation so
that the OCC contributes to cancer-affected people’s wellbeing.
The levels of onlineengagement are influenced by features of theonline community (Wise
et al.,2006) and factors relating to users’psychological well-being, attitudes (Batenburg and
Das, 2015)and personalities (Lampropouloset al., 2022;Orchard et al.,2014). Although previous
studies have examined the impact of the big five personality traits on online participation in
different contextssuch as online brand communities (OBCs), social media and onlinepolitical
communities(Gazit and Aharony,2018;Islam et al.,2017;Quintelier and Theocharis,2013), little
is known about the role of the big fivepersonality traits in users’decisionsto post in an OCC.
In the context of health-related OCs, users’intentions to seek online healthinformation are
strongly influenced by their attitudes (Shamlou et al.,2022). Access to up-to-date health
information canpromote changes in health behaviourand inform treatment decisions(Kreps,
2017). Obtaining adequate and relevant informational and emotional support through online
health forums increases users’levels of engagement (Wang et al.,2021) and improves their
qualityof life (Choi et al., 2014). Smedleyet al. (2015) found that73.8% of the posted messagesin
a health OC had psychosocial factors including emotional support messages conveying
sympathy, encouragement, physical affection and prayers. Health OC consumers possessing
similar experiential information empower other members by disclosing their personal
experiencesand creating interpersonalties due to their shared identity(Fan et al., 2014;Naveh
and Bronstein, 2019). Mojdeh et al. (2018) showed that the context of the OC impacts users’
intrinsic motivation to participate in discussions on the forum. Therefore, this study aims at
exploring the rolepersonality traits play in users’posting behaviour in an OCC.
2. Research objectives
Lurkingbehaviour threatens the successof OCs that require timelyinteractions and up-to-date
information(Ma linen, 2015;van Mierlo, 2014). Thelack of participation by lurkers may mean
that the knowledge shared in the OC may not represent the average knowledge of all OC
members(Nielsen, 2006). Therefore, the processof identifyingexhibited attitudesby lurkers can
provide insights into how to encourage more users to participate in discussions to ensure a
viable OC. Thisis important because the usefulness of an OC is contingentupon incorporating
up-to-date and diverse input relating to the experience of the broader community (Malinen,
2015). Moreover, members of an OCC are vulnerable and need timely, relevant and current
informationto feel supported and improve their quality of life(Qiu et al., 2011). Therefore, the
long-term viability of the OCC needs a way of minimising lurkingbehaviour and encouraging
participation to ensure it meetsthe needs of all users.
Previous studies have examined the impact of the big five personality traits on online
participation in different online contexts such as OBCs, social media and online political
communities (Gazit and Aharony, 2018;Islam et al., 2017;Quintelier and Theocharis, 2013).
However, the literature yielded mixed views on the impact of personality traits on online
participation. For example, Quintelier and Theocharis (2013) found that users with high levels
of neuroticism were less likely to engage in discussions in online political communities,
whereas Bronstein et al. (2016) did not find any correlation between neuroticism and online
behaviour within online social communities. This indicates that the impact of personality
traits on online participation can vary depending on the context of the OC. Therefore, this
study aims at understanding the role personality traits play in users’decisions to post or not
to post in an OCC to address the overarching research question:
RQ. How do personality traits influence users’decisions to post in an online cancer
community?
Participation in
an online
cancer
community
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