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While research on privacy concerns is rich in understanding and depth, there is still not a clear understanding of why people express having privacy concerns, but do not behave consistently with their concern. We propose that this misalignment derives from a diverse set of privacy boundaries, depending on the user. This research builds on prior Communication Privacy Management Theory research to further define individual privacy boundaries. Beyond that, we evaluate the relationship between the privacy boundaries people set, and their ability to protect themselves.

A survey was conducted to assess how private individuals find twenty items. Along with measuring the sensitivity of information, we collected responses on the Online Privacy Information Literacy test to measure differences in sensitivity based on privacy knowledge. 285 participant’s responses were evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and K-means clustering.

We identify five different groups of privacy indicators. Our findings also suggest that users have limited understanding of how to keep data private, even if they have high privacy concerns.

We contribute to theory by offering guidance on how to better apply theoretical understanding, based on our results. More explicitly, we offer analysis that suggests boundary conditions might be absent from current theoretical understanding. Practically, we offer guidance for understanding privacy differences, which is important to understanding how to implement privacy protection laws.

This study aims to examine the relationship between institutional logics and specifications quality, and how this relationship is mediated by the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour.

This study draws on insights from institutional logics theory, and legitimacy and stewardship behaviour literature. We conducted an extended literature review to gain a comprehensive understanding of “institutional logics” and their manifestations in organizational contexts, utilizing the 2000–2024 data collected from the EBSCO, Scopus and Web of Science databases, complemented with Google Scholar. We gather that institutional logics manifest in several forms, and that while some organizations may thrive on a single logic, in certain contexts institutional logics can manifest in combinations – “multiple logics or hybrids”. Based on this understanding, we developed testable research hypotheses, predicting the influences of institutional logics – professional logic, efficient service logic and delivery (market) logic, on legitimacy, stewardship behaviour and specifications quality. We then carried out an empirical study, adopting a quantitative cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire to test the hypothesized relationships. The empirical data were obtained from 162 procuring and disposing entities in Uganda and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The study findings reveal that institutional logics exert a strong positive effect on the legitimacy of the procurement process and on stewardship behaviour, which, in turn, both positively influence specifications quality.

The study findings have implications for theory and practice. The study findings provide useful insights that support the conceptual and theoretical development of institutional logics theory and applications in procurement literature. In addition, the study findings enhance procurement managers’ understanding of the mechanisms through which institutional logics can foster specifications quality. However, considering the fact that the study was conducted in a single country context, and focused on the public sector only, the findings of the study might not be generalizable globally.

This study contributes to established knowledge about quality management and procurement by examining the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour of those involved in procurement processes as mechanisms through which procuring entities are able to use institutional logics to enhance specifications quality. In addition, the study highlights areas for future research that may be explored to increase understanding of the value of institutional logics in ensuring specifications quality, and the link between specifications quality and the general performance of procuring entities.

The present study aimed to examine the mediation role of loneliness in the relationship between perceived social support and depressive symptoms among university students in Portugal. The study also investigated the moderation role of age on the mediation model.

Survey data sample consisted of 755 participants (aged 18–55 years) attending university in Lisbon, Portugal, from February through May 2023. Participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale. The SPSS Program with PROCESS macro (Model 4 and Model 8) was used to test the hypotheses regarding the mediation and the moderated mediation effects.

The bootstrap result for indirect effect loneliness (β = −0.083, p < 0.0001) was significant, indicating that loneliness mediated the relationship between perceived social support and depressive symptoms. Moreover, the interaction term (perceived social support x age) had a significant positive effect on the direct negative association between perceived social support and depressive symptoms (B = 0.0312; p < 0.05), showing that age moderated the direct relationship between the aforementioned variables. Importantly, the results showed that age moderated the indirect association (via loneliness) between perceived social support and depressive symptoms.

This research advances our understanding of loneliness among university students of different age ranges while providing empirical data on the effect of loneliness in the relation of social support and depressive symptoms. Moreover, the study delves on possible strategies to combat the expression of loneliness and further depressive symptoms.