No abstract

Efficiency in public service delivery is critical in enhancing and improving the quality of citizens’ lives. Conversely, inefficient public service delivery has profound adverse effects on the quality of citizens’ lives. In the theory of public services efficiency, direct citizens’ surveys are a useful tool for measuring efficiency in public services. Our core consideration is the impact on human life, which is viewed as a function of the efficiency of public services delivered. We rely on the Ghana Living Standards Survey data to show that analytic leverage can be gained in gauging public perceptions of public services delivery using a perception index through the application of a comparative analytic design. Our results show that differences exist in the perceptions of efficiency and inefficiency among essential and auxiliary services, and such differences have also been found to mirror the spatio-economic attributes of citizens. We argue that public services can positively affect lives through a combination of policy measures spanning increased fight against corruption, improved funding, enhanced monitoring, and increased institutional capacity for improved expansion in physical presence, quality, and the visibility of public services.

No abstract

Research is divided on the effects of violent video games (VVGs). Some scholars claimed that VVG promotes aggression, reduces empathy, increases self-injury, and externalization, whereas others claim that a minimal or, in some cases, no traits as reported by the former is associated with playing VVGs. This study provides evidence to support claims that VVG is associated with aggressive behavior among young adults. However, the study focused more importantly on the moderating effects of adverse environmental factors on this relationship from a cross-cultural perspective. A total of 3,219 young adults between 18 and 35 years sampled from colleges and game centers in Ghana and China provided support for this study. We adopted a parallel moderatedmediation regression analysis and found that increased exposure to VVG is associated with reduced empathy concerns, aggression-related thoughts, and increased aggressive behavior. Although controlling for gender, setting, and location, the results pointed to the magnifying effects of the adverse environments in explaining the association between VVG and aggressive behavior. This study thus provides strong support for the frequently debated adverse effects of playing VVG among young adults with a particular reference to environmental factors and will hence aid in communicating a more representative viewpoint on the effects of VVG.

Leadership style impacts on the manner and frequency of feedback transmission. However, communication challenges between superiors and subordinates originate from cultural differences, which undermine the usefulness of feedback. The study tested leadership style’s effect on self-efficacy through a moderated mediation approach, examined through the lens of the cross-cultural adaptation theory. Path analysis conducted on data from 281 foreign teachers in Chengdu, China, revealed that there is a positive effect of Chinese supervisors’ leadership styles on foreign teacher’s self-efficacy. Leadership style similarly has an influence on the nature of feedback. And the nature of feedback in turn mediates leadership style and self-efficacy. We establish in particular that transactional and transformational leadership styles, through the nature of feedback, influence self-efficacy of foreign teachers. Moreover, the association between the nature of feedback and self-efficacy is moderated by the perceived value of feedback. Employees’ perceptions are also found to be crucial in determining the value of feedback. It is thus imperative for supervisors and managers working with foreigners as subordinates to figure out when and how to provide valuable feedback. We conclude with suggested areas for further research.

We tested the effect of feedback on the self-efficacy of 317 people from other countries who were teaching English in China, to establish the influence of their perceived value of feedback on the relationship between feedback seeking and receiving and self-efficacy. We used hierarchical regression to analyze the data and found that participants' perceived value of feedback seeking had a significant positive moderating effect on their feedback seeking and self-efficacy. In addition, value perceptions played a critical role in determining behavior through feedback. A practical implication of these results is that managers and employees should cultivate a positive feedbackseeking and receiving attitude to enhance self-regulation.

The study aimed to establish the link between teacher training and “nativeness” on teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching English as a second language. By applying a teacher’s sense of efficacy scale, we measured the self-efficacy of a total of 281 foreign teachers in Chengdu, China. We adopted MANOVA and tested the influence of “nativeness” and teachers’ training on teachers’ self-efficacy. Our analysis shows that while being a native speaker does not necessarily influence a teacher’s self-efficacy, trained teachers have higher self-efficacy than untrained teachers. Thus, the current study lends credence to the view that language proficiency should not be allied with being a language teacher. Instead, educational administrators and policymakers should focus on language teachers’ professional development rather than emphasizing the native/non-native teachers’ distinction.

No abstract