-Gleaves, A. (2015) 'An exploration of students' lived experiences of using smartphones in diverse learning contexts using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. ', Computers and education., Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.compedu.2014.11.001 Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Computers and Education. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A denitive version was subsequently published in Computers and Education, 82, March 2015, 10.1016/j.compedu.2014 Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. This study describes young people's experiences of using smartphones, by exploring what it means to acquire, possess, and create a purpose for these personal mobile devices within the complex and fluid contexts of formal and informal learning. Applying the principles and practices of hermeneutic phenomenology, this study's methods comprised the use of interviews and written reflective exercises. 12 youths ranging from 16-19 years old participated in 3 rounds of semi-structured interviews over a period of 6 months. The findings reveal that participants' smartphone appropriation is associated with self-identity and management of their image as it is perceived by salient others, including peers and teachers. Furthermore, the participants' smartphone use is dependent upon their perception of learning-value and subject to influences concerning the status of knowledge, from their peers, parents and the community at large. The findings would suggest that the significance that young people attach to this form of mobile device use and the transferability of such behaviours and uses across spaces, time and dimensions in learning contexts is critically a function of particular smartphone adoption at a cultural rather than pedagogic level. Further research including rich qualitative studies is suggested to better theorize the phenomenon of smartphone use in learning contexts through engaging with cultural and social perspectives.

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Given that shyness has been consistently linked to Internet addiction in youth, an examination into the mediating effect of a desire to avoid loneliness on the shyness-Internet addiction link could offer potential insights into a possible explanatory mechanism as well as directions for Internet addiction prevention and intervention in young adulthood. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of loneliness avoidance in the relationship between shyness and Internet addiction among 286 youth Internet users. Shyness was significantly and positively correlated with loneliness avoidance and Internet addiction. In addition, loneliness avoidance was significantly and positively correlated with Internet addiction. Most importantly, loneliness avoidance may predispose shy youth to become addicted to the Internet. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings for youth wellness are addressed in this study.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a global health emergency and lock-down measures to curb the uncontrolled transmission chain. Vaccination is an effective measure against COVID-19 infections. In Malaysia amidst the national immunisation programme (NIP) which started in February 2021, there were rising concerns regarding the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and refusal, and therefore, vaccine uptake among Malaysians. Although there are many quantitative studies on COVID-19 vaccination, the subjective experience of individuals was understudied. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of Malaysians regarding vaccine hesitancy and refusal, and facilitating factors that could enhance vaccine acceptance and uptake. Methods This qualitative study employed the hermeneutic phenomenological study design. Purposive sampling strategies were used to recruit Malaysians that had direct experiences with friends, family members and their community who were hesitating or refusing to accept the COVID-19 vaccines. A semi-structured interview guide was developed based on the expert knowledge of the investigators and existing literature on the topic. A series of focus group interviews (FGIs) was conducted online facilitated by a multidisciplinary team of experts. The group interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed. Results Fifty-nine participants took part in seven FGIs. We found that “incongruence” was the overall thematic meaning that connected all the 3 main themes. These themes comprise firstly, the incongruence between the aims and implementation of the National Immunization Program which highlighted the gap between realities and needs on the ground. Secondly, the incongruence between Trust and Mistrust revealed a trust deficit in the government, COVID-19 news, and younger people’s preference to follow the examples of local vaccination “heroes”. Thirdly, the incongruence in communication showed the populace’s mixed views regarding official media and local social media. Conclusions This study provided rich details on the complex picture of the COVID-19 immunization program in Malaysia and its impact on vaccine hesitancy and refusal. The inter-related and incongruent factors explained the operational difficulty and complexity of the NIP and the design of an effective health communication campaign. Identified gaps such as logistical implementation and communication strategies should be noted by policymakers in implementing mitigation plans.

A phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experiences of celebrity worshipers in Malaysia in order to identify the factors motivating celebrity worship, the meanings and impact gained from the worship experience. A purposive sample of 15 adolescents who identified themselves as celebrity worshipers, were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed that 3 major factors influenced participants to become celebrity worshipers: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence. Also, the themes that emerged that described participants' perceived impact of celebrity worship included emotional impact, development of strong self-determination and cultural awareness, and the enhancement of personal and social relationships. Generally, adolescents did not think there was a negative impact of their worship experiences. The study has revealed insights into how celebrities play an important role by inspiring young generation in positive ways.Keywords: Adolescent, Celebrity worship, Factors, Impacts, Qualitative Current Psychology, 2016 pp. 1-10. ACCEPTED: CELEBRITY WORSHIP 2 INTRODUCTIONA 'celebrity' is defined as a person whose popularity and fame makes him/her recognized by the masses, especially in the fields of entertainment or sports ("Celebrity," 2014). The concept of 'celebrity' can be seen as an 'ever-changing performative practice' involving 'ongoing maintenance of a fan base, performed intimacy, authenticity and access, and construction of a consumable persona ' (Marwick & Boyd, 2011, pp.140). Celebrities develop and manage their fan bases through deliberate self-presentation using a variety of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. From a psycho-sociological perspective, celebrities are usually presented as role models and it is a normal part of life development for people to model themselves on their favorite celebrities as part of the process of identity exploration (Ferris, 2007; Greene & Adams-Price, 1990). However, when a person's obsession with a celebrity becomes the center focus of his or her life, dysfunction may ensue. Consequently, some people will form delusional one-sided relationships with their chosen celebrities, leading to virtual obsessions with these celebrities.(Maltby, Houran & McCutcheon, 2003). This obsession is called celebrity worship.It can be argued that the phenomenon of celebrity worship exists along a continuum, with one end of the range devoted to passionate fans who follow their idols avidly to the other end of the spectrum bordering on the psychopathological (Sansone & Sansone, 2014). In a 300 sample study of celebrity worship in Malaysia, it was found that 56 % of the Malaysians surveyed were generally interested to follow the news of the celebrities ("The risks," 2011). Of these, 20% of participants designated themselves as fans who followed their idols' latest news, collected their idols' merchandise and actively involved themselves in their idols' events.Studies by McCutcheon and her colleagues present celebri...

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The success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to achieve herd immunity depends on the proportion of the population inoculated. COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy is a barrier to reaching a sufficient number of people to achieve herd immunity. This study aims to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and to identify the reasons contributing to vaccine hesitancy using the Theory of Planned Behavior. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between May 2021 to June 2021. Using exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling, participants were recruited via social media and telecommunication platforms. We used a questionnaire that obtained information on participant socio-demographics, vaccine hesitancy, pseudoscientific practices, conspiracy beliefs, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, main reasons for not intending to get the COVID-19 vaccine; influential leaders, gatekeepers and anti-or pro-vaccination lobbies; and global vaccine hesitancy. A total of 354 responses (mean age = 32.5 years old ±13.6; 70.3% females) were included for analysis. The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 11.6%. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was significantly and positively associated with those who agreed with influential leaders, gatekeepers, and anti- or pro-vaccination lobbies (adjusted B coefficient = 1.355, p = 0.014), having a “wait and see” attitude to see if the COVID-19 vaccine is safe (adjusted B coefficient = 0. 822, p <0.001), perceiving that the vaccine will give them COVID-19 (adjusted B coefficient = 0.660, p <0.002), planned to use masks/others precautions instead (adjusted B coefficient = 0.345, p = 0.038) and having higher scores in conspiracy beliefs (adjusted B coefficient = 0.128, p <0.001). Concern about the costs associated with the vaccine (adjusted B coefficient = -0.518, p <0.001), subjective norms (adjusted B coefficient = -0.341, p <0.001), and perceived behavioural control (adjusted B coefficient = -0.202, p = 0.004) were negatively associated with vaccine hesitancy. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Malaysia is low. Several factors were identified as being associated with vaccine hesitancy. Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy would be useful in tailoring specific interventions involving positive messages by influential leaders, which address vaccine misinformation and the wait-and-see attitude which may delay the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.

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