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In this paper, the author advocates recognizing, developing, and promoting “critical interactionism” as a legitimate and pragmatically useful scholarly project. The author argues that critical interactionism includes different interactionist traditions, critical approaches, methodological styles, and sensitizing concepts – as long as they tell us something about how power and inequality operate. I review two fundamental elements of this project that constitute its past and likely future: (1) theoretical interventions that excavate critical insights, diversify founders, integrate critical theories, and promote interactionism's usefulness for critical inquiry and (2) empirically grounded conceptual interventions that shed light on generic processes of inequality reproduction. Although the larger discipline of sociology continues to marginalize interactionism yet selectively adopt its principles, critical interactionism has the potential to break through what David Maines called the fault line of consciousness. The promise of critical interactionism is that it can simultaneously make interactionism more relevant to our discipline and make our discipline more relevant to the social world.

This chapter reflects on a media studies project exploring Sylvia Plath poetry on Tumblr. The project ultimately resulted in excess digital data, with no conventional publications or research outputs. Now writing 10 years after data collection, I take a storying approach to explore the original research concerns and the research process, thereby locating a reconfigured ‘research event’ that draws together various biographical, social, political and historical factors. I reflect on my evolving understanding of ‘research’, discussing early teaching experiences and postgraduate pathways that partly structured a particular relationship to research. This serves to bridge a discussion about the challenges of the initial process over a decade ago, including the uncomfortable pairing of inexperience among aspiring researchers and institutional pressures to publish. I then discuss the theoretical perspectives that inspire and, in retrospect, offer clarity for the project, given the amount of time passed since data collection and the synergistic relationship between the storying approach, poststructuralist thought and story-focused methodologies. I argue that Tumblr provides unique opportunities for identity negotiation, aesthetic appreciation, data extraction and commodification, which highlights both the creative agency of digital aesthetic curation and self-work, as well as the importance of algorithmic transparency. I also contend that engaging with excess data led to methodologically and theoretically useful insights, challenging assumptions about the temporality of usable data and the ever-changing relationship between art, technology and freedom.

Previous research found that when exercise partners provided social support to each other, both participants engaged in higher levels of activity (Gellert et al., 2011). These results suggest that there may be benefits to providing inclusive physical activity (PA) programming to individuals with autism; however, little research has explored specific strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of a behavioral intervention consisting of visual social stories and additional intervention components (i.e. prompting, checklists) to teach adolescents/young adults with autism and their workout partners without disabilities to provide social support to one another during partnered PA.

A multiple probe across dyads was used to explore the effects of the intervention on social support (i.e. verbal encouragement and feedback).

The results indicate the treatment was effective during the intervention phase. When partners and settings changed during generalization, results were maintained in all but one participant.

Areas for future research and implications for practice to support inclusive PA for autistics are discussed.

Despite the potential of virtual fitting rooms (VFRs) to enhance the consumer experience, their adoption is in the preliminary stages. Little is known about inherent reasons why consumers would adopt VFRs. As consumers' attributional processes can be influenced by their enduring chronic traits, this study aims to investigate the influence of chronic regulatory focus on consumers' VFR adoptions via consumers' perceptions of value provided by VFRs. Additionally, the mediating effects of perceived functional and experiential values were examined. Further, the moderating effect of prior VFR experience was tested to allow for variations in consumer experiences.

Data were collected via an online survey of 480 consumers who have at least heard of VFRs via convenience sampling. Established measures were utilized to develop the survey questionnaire. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling to test the main model with mediation effects as well as multi-group comparisons to test the moderating effect.

Empirical results revealed that respective chronic regulatory foci, as preconceived factors that drive consumers' differences in processing, exerted significant influences on consumers' perceptions of VFRs, which, in turn, positively influenced their adoption intention. Also, perceived values mediated the relationship between regulatory foci and consumers' adoption intention. Further, prior VFR experience moderated the relationship between regulatory focus and perceived value.

The paper empirically tested the importance of chronic regulatory foci in understanding consumers' cognitive and affective attributional processes, explaining inherent psychological reasons why consumers would (not) adopt VFRs.

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of ten (10) product innovation employees in medical device firms’ sustainability initiatives, considering leadership, organizational and employee factors within the healthcare industry.

Phenomenology was chosen as it supports an in-depth analysis of the lived experience of several individuals, who are experiencing a similar phenomenon. This methodology permitted the researcher to “view experience and behavior as an integrated and inseparable relationship of the subject and object and of parts and whole.”

The intersection of employee, leader and organizational factors should be considered to further organizational citizenship behavior to the environment. Within each theme, cognitive dissonance is present. Understanding and acknowledging the choice required by the individual, leader and/or organization may impact overall environmental organizational citizenship behavior.

When implementing sustainable activities, three key areas should be evaluated: leaders, organizations and employees.

This study provides insight into employee experiences and sustainable activities.

This research adds to the literature on organizational citizenship behavior to the environment within medical device firms as it provides insight into how sustainability programs within firms could be approached. Healthcare’s climate impact contributes to emissions which are equivalent to having 75 million vehicles on the road, annually. In addition, this study provided an initial understanding of the lived experiences of employees within the medical device industry when themes are analyzed. The results may help organizations understand the experiences of employees to further advance their vision and mission, by understanding the phenomenon of how sustainability initiatives are perceived.

The purpose of this study is to explore a theoretical model using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology framework by adding Islamic compliance (IC) and security assurance to build antecedents of intention to use Islamic internet-only banks (IIOBs) in Muslim youth.

This study involved 262 Muslim youths from several Islamic communities in Indonesia. The analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Moreover, PLS techniques such as the variance accounted for (VAF) were used to verify the statistical analysis of findings.

The findings show that effort expectancy (EE) and online social influences (OSI) strongly correlate with the intention to use IIOBs. In addition, user reviews (online reviews) are proven to form a solid social influence and impact consumer decision-making. Finally, IC and security assurance are still critical factors in the IIOBs acceptance.

Practically, IIOB providers need to strengthen information about performance, accessibility, security and benefits when running service applications. Providers must show their strengths and advantages compared to the traditional banks in various service lines. Besides, providers are expected to be more careful regarding IC applications in their products and services.

This study considers the effects of OSI, EE, security and IC as the unique characteristics of Muslim youth in using the IIOBs. In particular, the significance of IC and OSIs provides a valid picture of the pathways of acceptance creation towards IIOBs.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing public servants’ anxiety and general public’s opposition toward the implementation of digital participatory platforms (DPPs) and municipal digital transformation (DX) in Japan. By addressing these factors, the research seeks to provide insights for policymakers to facilitate smoother transitions to digital governance and increase public acceptance and engagement.

The study uses surveys conducted with both general public and public servants. The surveys were designed based on previous research and collected data through Web-based questionnaires. General public’s data were collected from 366 valid responses over four days in July 2022, while public servants’ data were gathered from 197 valid responses over eight days. Statistical analysis was used to identify key factors influencing anxiety and opposition.

Public servants’ anxiety is influenced by self-perceived creativity, openness to innovation, international collaborations, work-life balance and gender equality reforms. The general public’s opposition stems from dissatisfaction with current digital tools, social media use and political engagement. Both groups could benefit from targeted training, improved usability and inclusive engagement strategies.

The findings suggest that targeted training to enhance public servants’ creativity and digital literacy, fostering an innovative organizational culture and promoting work-life balance can reduce anxiety about DPPs. For general public, improving the usability of digital tools, engaging them in the design process and leveraging social media for communication and feedback can increase acceptance of digital initiatives.

Understanding the concerns of both public servants and general public regarding DX can lead to more inclusive and effective governance. By addressing these concerns, policymakers can foster greater public trust and engagement, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness and transparency of municipal governance.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to resistance to DX in public governance. By examining both public servants’ and general public’ perspectives, it offers valuable insights for designing and implementing strategies to facilitate smoother transitions to digital participatory governance.