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Articles, blogs, policy papers and books

Rekar Abdulhamed, Lauri Hietajärvi, Natalia Skogberg, Reija Klemetti, Kirsti Lonka
18.10.2024

Sense of belongingness, discrimination, and mental health: Associations and buffering effects of sense of belonging on mental health among Finnish native and immigrant-origin youth

A sense of belonging is crucial for mental health and well-being, but immigrants may find achieving a sense of belonging elusive. This study examined the relationship between sense of belonging and mental health among Finnish native, and first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents (N = 61 540) in Finland. Moreover, we estimated whether sense of belonging buffered the negative effect of experienced discrimination on mental health.

Rekar Abdulhamed & Kirsti Lonka
05.10.2024

Acculturation Orientations Among Immigrant-Origin Youth: How is Acculturation Associated with Self-Esteem, Sense of Belonging, and Discrimination?

Springer Link

We developed a six-item Compact Acculturation Scale (CAS) based on common items on comprehensive acculturation scales and examined it with two designs using data from the Finnish Annual Youth Future Report Survey of 2023 (N = 744 immigrant-origin youth, IOY). This study shows that CAS is a reliable and robust instrument that can serve us in investigating acculturation both by variable- and person-oriented approaches.

Rekar Abdulhamed, Marguerite Beattie
01.10.2024

The link between teacher–student relations and sense of school belonging is not equal for all: The moderating role of immigrant status

Wiley Online Library

Teachers’ support and positive teacher–student bonds are key factors in promoting a sense of school belonging (SB) among adolescents. Previous research shows that immigrant-origin adolescents (IOA’s) report lower SB than their non-immigrant peers do. This study examines if positive teacher–student bonds are equally beneficial for the SB of immigrant-origin and non-immigrant adolescents. Using PISA 2022 data, the moderating role of immigrant status in this relationship was assessed in European countries by multi-level models (NStudents = 151,211, NSchools = 21,629, NCountries = 19). Country-level analyses revealed that IOA’s benefited less from positive teacher–student relations in 6 out of 19 countries. In Sweden, Belgium, and Portugal this moderation effect was conditional on the moderating role of school diversity promotion.

Kortesalmi, M., Autio, M., Ranta, M., & Sekki, S
27.09.2024

Stepping Up—Leaning Back: Young Adults Constructing Financial Agency in the Verge of Financial Independence

Sage Journals, YOUNG Editorial Group

This study investigated young adults’ financial agency-building. In youth, agency-building entails becoming aware of capabilities possessed and structural conditions. Despite the agentic viewpoint being well-established in youth research, agency in financial issues is understudied. We conducted semi-structured interviews for 18 independently living young adults from Finland aged between 21 and 26 years. Our study suggests that parents’ financial socialization not only increases children’s financial capabilities but functions as a mirror surface for young adults, thus supporting financial agency-building. Complementing the theorization of financial socialization, this study presents the young adults’ perspective on financial agency-building.

Kortesalmi, M. M., Autio, M., & Ranta, M.
06.06.2024

Am I Entitled to Help? Building Confidence Through Financial Inclusion

Journal of Financial Therapy, 15(1), 26-42.

Financial inclusion has focused primarily on the accessibility of financial social services. However, it is important to note that individual financial practices not only require the opportunity to access financial structures, but also confidence in their accessibility to engage in and utilize such services. Individuals facing difficult life situations often encounter challenges in financial activities due to limited resources and a need for more skills.

Srivastava, Sonali
14.05.2024

Advertising ethics and children and young people as consumers in digital environments

Children are a significant consumer group and active users of digital platforms. This dissertation aims to explore concerns related to advertising ethics in relation to children as consumers in digital environments and how children navigate contemporary digital commercial environments. To examine macro-level ethical concerns that advertisements (re)produce societal stereotypes, girls’ portrayals in fifteen contemporary fast fashion advertisements available on the public Facebook pages of Nordic fast fashion companies H&M, Lindex, Kappahl, and Gina Tricot were analysed by using visual discourse analysis. Advertisements addressing buyers of teenage girls’ clothing in Finland, available from January 2019 to June 2020, were examined. Moreover, to examine ethical concerns regarding the privacy invasiveness of contemporary advertising formats, eight (N = 38) focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to explore children’s perspectives on online profiling and targeted advertisements and their privacy negotiation practices in the digital commercial context.

Milla Kruskopf, Rekar Abdulhamed, Mette Ranta, Heidi Lammassaari, Kirsti Lonka
23.04.2024

Future teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching practical and algorithmic ICT competencies – Does background matter?

Future teachers need to be confidently equipped to teach 21st century ICT skills. We investigated teaching self-efficacy (TSE) in ICT competencies among teacher students. We confirmed distinct ICT competencies among two cohorts from teacher training programs, and algorithmic. Regression analyses indicated TSE-biases regarding younger age, male gender, and a background in natural sciences, with significant interactions between age, gender, and having learned such ICT-skills already in school. The findings point to a need for tailored strategies in teacher education to mitigate TSE disparities.

Nissinen, T., Upadyaya, K., Lonka, K., Toyama, H., & Salmela-Aro, K.
17.04.2024

School principals’ job crafting profiles and their differences during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, 1093-4537.

The purpose of this study was to explore school principals’ job crafting profiles during the prolonged COVID-19 crisis in 2021, and investigate profile differences regarding principals’ own perceived servant leadership, stress and work meaningfulness.

Jussi Nyrhinen, Anu Sirola, Tiina Koskelainen, Juha Munnukka, Terhi-Anna Wilska
01.03.2024

Online antecedents for young consumers’ impulse buying behavior

Computers in Human Behavior,  Volume 153, April 2024,

Acting on a sudden urge to purchase something without a prior intention or plan to do so and without considering its long-term effects is regarded as impulse buying behavior. The convenience and automatization of online and mobile shopping have made impulsive purchases increasingly easier.

Nuckols, J., Wilska, T., Sirola, A.
14.02.2024

A year after COVID-19 in three countries : The impact of the war in Ukraine and economic crisis on everyday life and wellbeing in Finland, Sweden, and the UK

YFI julkaisuja.19. Jyväskylän yliopisto.

This research report explores the perceived impact of current global crises—including the aftermath of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, energy crisis, and inflation—on citizens aged 18 to 75 in Finland (n=1000), Sweden (n=1000), and the UK (n=1000). With data from June 2023, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global crises are delved into from various aspects, such as respondents’ perspectives on the effects of these crises on wellbeing, finances, consumption, and online behaviours.

Angela Sorgente, Bünyamin Atay, Marc Aubrey, Shikha Bhatia, Carla Crespo, Gabriela Fonseca, Oya Yerin Güneri, Žan Lep, David Lessard, Oana Negru-Subtirica, Alda Portugal, Mette Ranta, Ana Paula Relvas, Nidhi Singh, Ulrike Sirsch, Maja Zupančič & Margherita Lanz
01.02.2024

One (Financial Well-Being) Model Fits All? Testing the Multidimensional Subjective Financial Well-Being Scale Across Nine Countries

Journal of Happiness Studies 25, 13 (2024).

A multidimensional model of emerging adults’ subjective financial well-being was proposed (Sorgente and Lanz, Int Journal of Behavioral Development, 43(5), 466–478 2019). The authors also developed a 5-factor scale (the Multidimensional Subjective Financial Well-being Scale, MSFWBS) intending to measure this construct in the European context.

Nuckols, J. A., Sirola, A., Ylilahti, M., & Wilska, T. A.
16.01.2024

Life course challenges in crises: transition from higher education to work during COVID-19 in Finland and Sweden

Journal of Education and Work, 1-16.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the daily continuity of young people by causing financial insecurity, remote work/studies, loss of work, loneliness, stress, and unpredictability of the future. This study explores the experiences of pandemic-time graduates from Finland and Sweden in the transition from higher education to work.

Anu Sirola, Jussi Nyrhinen, Julia Nuckols, Terhi-Anna Wilska
30.12.2023

Loot box purchasing and indebtedness: The role of psychosocial factors and problem gambling

Addictive Behaviors Reports

Loot boxes are increasingly common random-reward monetization mechanisms in digital games. They are popular among gamblers and pose various risks due to their gambling-like nature, but little is known about psychosocial vulnerabilities and financial consequences of purchasing them. This article examined psychosocial associations with self-reported increase in loot box purchasing and indebtedness among past-year gamblers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maksniemi, E.
08.12.2023

Adolescents’ socio-digital engagement, sleep, and academic well-being

University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences. Doctoral dissertation (Article based). Supervisors: Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro, Professor Kirsti Lonka and Doctor Elina Ketonen.

This thesis examined adolescents’ socio-digital engagement across the years of adolescence. The overall aim of this dissertation was to investigate the complex interplay between adolescent’s socio-digital engagement and academic well-being while considering the role of sleep, a research area that has received less attention.

Tuominen, Jesse
01.12.2023

Young consumers on social media

Social media plays an ever-increasing role in young consumers’ lives, who are active users of social media. In this study, young consumers are referred to as consumers aged 15–35. Young consumers are constantly exposed to consumption-related content on social media. For instance, a variety of products and services are constantly advertised on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Sonali Srivastava,Terhi-Anna Wilska & Jussi Nyrhinen
04.10.2023

Awareness of digital commercial profiling among adolescents in Finland and their perspectives on online targeted advertisements

This study explores adolescents’ awareness of the sources that inform online profiling and their perspectives on online targeted advertisements. It employs thematic analysis to analyse eight focus group discussions (N = 38) with adolescents (13–16 years) in Finland’s capital region. The findings raise concerns about the opacity of online commercial data-gathering practices. Therefore, we urge corporations to demystify their data collection processes.

Terhi S. Nissinen, Katja Upadyaya, Heidi Lammassaari & Kirsti Lonka
25.09.2023

How Do Job Crafting Profiles Manifest Employees’ Work Engagement, Workaholism, and Epistemic Approach?

Vocations and Learning.

The present study identifies job crafting profiles of public sector employees and how they differ in terms of employees’ work engagement, workaholism, and approach to learning. Participants represent various occupations from educational field, technical field, and administrative field. Using latent profile analysis, three job crafting profiles could be identified: Passive crafters (25%), Average crafters (57%), and Active crafters (18%). Passive crafters reported the lowest values in all approach-oriented job crafting strategies and the highest value in avoidance-oriented job crafting.

Niina Halonen, Pirjo Ståhle, Kalle Juuti, Sami Paavola & Kirsti Lonka
07.09.2023

Catalyst for co-construction: the role of AI-directed speech recognition technology in the self-organization of knowledge

Frontiers in education, 8.

The purpose of this study was to analyze knowledge co-construction as a self-organization process and the role of technology as its catalyst. Novel AI-directed speech recognition technology and the artifacts it generates were deployed to scaffold the knowledge co-construction process in two groups of pre-service teachers in a science education context. Throughout the lesson, the focus of the learning tasks was on pedagogical content knowledge and students’ preconceptions.

Sonali Srivastava, Terhi-Anna Wilska, and Jussi Nyrhinen
26.06.2023

Children as social actors negotiating their privacy in the digital commercial context

Sage Journals

This study advances research on children’s negotiation of online commercial privacy by identifying an act of digital agency by children that may serve their current needs but can also impact children negatively. Secondly, it identifies certain factors children consider while evaluating the trustworthiness of apps and websites before disclosing information online. Eight focus group discussions with children (13–16 years) in Finland’s capital region are analysed using thematic analysis.

 

 

Ann T. Skinner, Carmen Kealy, Mette Ranta, Aprile D. Benner, Ersilia Menesini, Ingrid Schoon
26.06.2023

Intra- and interpersonal factors and adolescent wellbeing during COVID-19 in three countries

Social and Personality Psychology Compass

COVID-19 has altered adolescents’ opportunities for developing and strengthening interpersonal skills and proficiencies. Using data from adolescents in Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom, we examined the relation between internalizing symptoms assessed pre-pandemic or when pandemic-related restrictions were lifted (Time 1) and associated internalizing symptoms during a subsequent restrictive pandemic period (Time 2).

 

Nyrhinen, J., Lonka, K., Sirola, A., Ranta, M., & Wilska, T.-A.
22.06.2023

Young adults’ online shopping addiction: The role of self-regulation and smartphone use

International Journal of Consumer Studies, 1–14.

Online shopping addiction can be defined as an Internet-based behavioural addiction which may lead to economic problems. Even though shopping is increasingly common through mobile devices, the effects of smartphone use on online shopping addiction are underexamined.

Tuominen, J., Rantala, E., Reinikainen, H., & Wilska, T.-A
31.05.2023

Modern-day socialization agents: The connection between social media influencers, materialism, and purchase intentions of Finnish young people

The Journal of Social Media in Society, 12(1), 21–48.

This paper investigates how following social media influencers is associated with Finnish adolescents’ materialistic attitudes and purchase intentions. Although the interlinkages between social media, materialism, and purchase intentions have been presented in previous studies, little is known about how following social media influencers is connected to their followers’ materialistic values and purchase intentions.

Jabeen, F., Kaur, P., Tandon, A., Sithipolvanichgul, J., Srivastava, S., & Dhir, A
30.04.2023

Social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media fatigue: The role of narcissism, comparison and disclosure

Journal of Business Research 159, 113693.

The pervasiveness of social media platforms (SMP) has resulted in users experiencing feelings associated with the phenomena of fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media fatigue. However, little is known about how these phenomena relate to and influence the psychological state of SMP users.

Tiina Koskelainen, Panu Kalmi, Eusebio Scornavacca & Tero Vartiainen
09.02.2023

Financial literacy in the digital age – A research agenda

The Journal of Consumer Affairs.

Digital innovations are transforming financial services and resulting changes in consumer behavior and personal money management. Diffusion of pervasive digital technologies offers individuals quick and easy access to various digital services bringing opportunities and challenges into their personal money management. The study aimed to explore how digitalization affects individuals’ financial literacy and financial capability. As a result, we identified three main themes in the intersection of finance and digitalization: Fintech, Financial behavior in digital environments, and Behavioral interventions.

Gintautas Silinskas, Arto K. Ahonen, Terhi-Anna Wilska
28.01.2023

School and family environments promote adolescents’ financial confidence: Indirect paths to financial literacy skills in Finnish PISA 2018

This study investigates the associations of adolescents’ financial socialization factors—financial education in school and families—with financial confidence. In addition, we examine how financial socialization factors indirectly relate to financial literacy skills through financial confidence and the role of demographic factors on financial socialization, financial confidence, and financial literacy scores. We used data on the 4 328 Finnish 15-year-olds participating in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Julia A. Nuckols, Gintautas Silinskas, Mette Ranta & Terhi-Anna Wilska
20.01.2023

Income and Career Concerns Among Emerging Adults From Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom During COVID-19

In this study, we examine the prevalence of income and career concerns among emerging adults in three different welfare states during COVID-19: Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. This study also delves into how factors such as one’s self-perceived financial situation, generalized mistrust, loneliness and socio-demographics are related to emerging adults’ income and career concerns. Results showed that individuals from the United Kingdom were more likely to experience increased income and career concerns than those in Finland and Sweden.

Anu Sirola, Jussi Nyrhinen & Terhi-Anna Wilska
09.01.2023

Psychosocial Perspective on Problem Gambling: The role of Social Relationships, Resilience, and COVID-19 Worry

Journal of Gambling Studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified several psychosocial risks and problem behaviors among vulnerable individuals. Given that gambling has high addictive potential, it is important to consider the underlying mechanisms of problem gambling. This study examined psychosocial factors associated with pandemic-time problem gambling.

Talvio, M., Makkonen, J., Hietajärvi, L., & Lonka, K.
30.12.2022

Benefits of a Social and Emotional Learning Program for Norwegian Teachers

Chapter in conference publication (A4)  In A. Güneyli, & F. Silman (Eds.), ICEEPSY 2022: Education and Educational Psychology, vol 3. European Proceedings of International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology (pp. 1-14). European Publisher.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is promoted by offering teachers’ SEL workshops worldwide. However, little is known about their short-term and long-term outcomes. We explored how teachers benefit from Lions Quest (Mitt Valg in Norwegian) training in the short and long term in Norway. The results indicated that the teachers felt to be more competent in teaching SEL after their Lions Quest (Mitt Valg) teacher training. This trend appeared to be continuing in the long run. In addition, findings showed that teachers were willing to implement LQ as part of their teaching.

Niina Sormanen, Eero Rantala, Markku Lonkila & Terhi-Anna Wilska
10.12.2022

News consumption repertoires among Finnish adolescents: Moderate digital traditionalists, minimalist social media stumblers, and frequent omnivores

Nordicom Review

Young people are perceived as heavy consumers of social media and less avid consumers of news. This study explores news consumption among Finnish adolescents through a representative survey of 15–19-year-olds. We seek to answer two research questions: What are the news repertoires of Finnish adolescents? And what factors predict different news repertoires?

Tuominen, J., Rantala, E., Tolvanen, A., Luoma-aho, V., & Wilska, T.-A.
03.11.2022

Young Consumers’ Boycotting Profiles in the UK and Finland: A Comparative Analysis

Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 1–22.

This study uses latent profile analysis to identify boycotting subgroups within Finland and the UK and to explore their potential differences across countries. These subgroups are based on how young British and Finnish consumers assess that reference groups and their personal experiences have influenced their boycotting decisions.

This study is based on comparative data obtained from the UK (n = 1,236) and Finland (n = 1,219). We identified four boycotting profiles: unlikely to be influenced, influenced by personal things, likely to be influenced, and moderately likely to be influenced. Our findings are especially relevant to consumer researchers, brands, and companies.

Edited By Panu Kalmi, Tommi Auvinen, Marko Järvenpää
30.09.2022

Responsible Finance and Digitalization Implications and Developments

1st Edition, Copyright 2023
ISBN 9780367700614
296 Pages 22 B/W Illustrations
Published by Routledge

Responsible Finance and Digitalization offers a topical overview of the changes that are taking place in the financial sector and how the financial sector itself can contribute to solving global challenges. It equips both students (at MBA and other levels) and practitioners with analytical tools to reflect on this change and to take appropriate action to ensure that their organization can successfully navigate it and create value.

Saara Vaahtoniemi
16.09.2022

Money, Merits and Gender : Essays on wage differentials

Workers in finance are paid about 20 percent higher wages than similar workers in other fields. This finance wage premium is larger for men than it is for women, and the gender difference in this premium becomes greater towards the top end of the wage distribution, indicative of a glass ceiling effect in finance.

 

Mette Ranta
25.07.2022

Young people’s financial capability Taking care of your finances is taking care of yourself

University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, July 2022

What are financial literacy and financial capability?
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased personal concern over finances
Financial literacy may differ significantly among youth
How to promote youth financial capability and resilience?
Towards a new era in terms of financial literacy – and financial capability

Ketonen, E. E., Salonen, R., Lonka, K., & Salmela-Aro, K.
22.07.2022

Can you feel the excitement? Physiological correlates of students’ self-reported emotions

(2022). British Journal of Educational Psychology, [12534]. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12534 ​

This study explored the physiological correlates of students’ self-reported emotions in ecologically valid settings by combining biosignal data (on physical and cardiac activity) and experience sampling method (ESM) data.

Mette Ranta, Milla Kruskopf, Marilla Kortesalmi, Panu Kalmi and Kirsti Lonka
04.07.2022

Entrepreneurship as a Neglected Pitfall in Future Finnish Teachers’ Readiness to Teach 21st Century Competencies and Financial Literacy: Expectancies, Values, and Capability

The aim of this study was to examine entrepreneurship in the context of future Finnish teachers’ readiness to teach 21st century (broad-based) competencies. Teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching entrepreneurial skills and financial matters is vital for their pupils to actively participate and flourish in future society. The study utilized survey data of future teachers’ expectancy-values in teaching seven broad-based competencies of the current national curriculum and their financial literacy.

Anu Sirola, Julia Nuckols, Jussi Nyrhinen & Terhi-Anna Wilska
10.06.2022

The use of the Dark Web as a COVID-19 information source: A three-country study

Technology in Society, Volume 70, August 2022, 102012

Highlights:

  • The Dark Web is known to contain risky COVID-19 information and forged certificates.
  • COVID-19 skepticism is related to Dark Web use as an information source.
  • Loneliness and high engagement in online activities are related to Dark Web use as an information source.
  • The unregulated nature of the Dark Web makes it a risky alternative to official COVID-19 information.
  • The Dark Web poses various risks particularly for vulnerable individuals.

Guo, J., Tang, X., Marsh, H. W., Parker, P., Basarkod, G., Sahdra, B., Ranta, M., & Salmela-Aro, K.
06.06.2022

The Roles of Social–Emotional Skills in Students’ Academic and Life Success: A Multi-Informant and Multicohort Perspective

(2022, June 6). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication.

Social–emotional skills have been shown to be beneficial for many important life outcomes for students. However, previous studies on the topic have suffered from many issues. To address these limitations, this study used a multi-informant and multicohort perspective to study the association between 15 social–emotional skills and 20 educational, social, psychological health, and physical health outcomes.

Matti Mäntymäki, A.K.M. Najmul Islam, Ofir Turel & Amandeep Dhir
30.05.2022

Coping with pandemics using social network sites: A psychological detachment perspective to COVID-19 stressors

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Highlights

  • We examine psychological detachment from the COVID-19 pandemic through SNS (social network sites) use.
  • We place perceived isolation and work-family conflict as COVID-specific stressors.
  • Work-family conflict drives psychological detachment through SNS use.
  • Perceived isolation does not drive psychological detachment through SNS use.

 

Wikman, P., Moisala, M., Ylinen, A., Lindblom, J., Leikas, S., Salmela-Aro, K., Lonka, K., Güroğlu, B., & Alho, K.
30.05.2022

Brain Responses to Peer Feedback in Social Media Are Modulated by Valence in Late Adolescence

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 16, [790478]. Peer-reviewed scientific article (A1)

Previous studies have examined the neural correlates of receiving negative feedback from peers during virtual social interaction in young people. However, there is a lack of studies applying platforms adolescents use in daily life. In the present study, 92 late-adolescent participants performed a task that involved receiving positive and negative feedback to their opinions from peers in a Facebook-like platform, while brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

 

 

Esteban Guerrero & Panu Kalmi
17.05.2022

Gamification Strategies: A Characterization Using Formal Argumentation Theory

SN Computer Science

Gamified software applications are omnipresent in everyday life. The idea of using game design elements in non-game contexts to engage and motivate tasks has rapidly gained traction in the human–computer interaction and the psychology fields, but scarcely in the artificial intelligence (AI) research area.

Sonali Srivastava, Terhi-Anna Wilska & Johanna Sjöberg
28.04.2022

Girls’ portrayals in fast fashion advertisements

Consumption Markets & Culture

This study analyses the visual construction of girls and notions surrounding young femininities articulated by 15 contemporary advertisements of Nordic fast fashion companies, available on their public Facebook pages in Finland. A visual discourse analysis identifies some blatantly stereotypical and a few complex visual constructions of girls as heterosexual, caring, innocent, sexy posers, active self-presenters and self-surveyors, carefree and environmental activists.

Lammassaari, H., Hietajärvi, L., Salmela-Aro, K., Hakkarainen, K., & Lonka, K.
25.04.2022

Exploring the relations among teachers’ epistemic theories, work engagement, burnout and the contemporary challenges of the teacher profession

Frontiers in Psychology 13:861437

Current educational reforms concerning curricula and digitalization challenge educators to meet new demands for learning and schooling. What is common for current educational reforms is that they tend to emphasize competencies that are not related to the traditional subject-matters and reflect a stance which presents learning as a naturally reflective and collaborative act.

Maksniemi, E., Hietajärvi, L., Ketonen, E. E., Lonka, K., Puukko, K. T., & Salmela-Aro, K.
22.04.2022

Intraindividual associations between active social media use, exhaustion, and bedtime vary according to age—A longitudinal study across adolescence

Journal of Adolescence 94(3): 401-414.

The majority of adolescents engage with others online, and using social media is one of their top activities. However, there is little longitudinal evidence addressing whether active social media use is associated with study-related emotional exhaustion or delayed bedtime at the individual level of development during adolescence.

Nissinen, T., Maksniemi, E., Rothmann, I. & Lonka, K.
31.03.2022

Balancing work life: Job crafting, work engagement, and workaholism in the Finnish public sector

Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 817008. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.817008

The aim of this study was to investigate how job crafting, work engagement, and workaholism were related in public sector organizations. The participants (N = 213) were civil servants from three Finnish public organizations, representing different professions, such as school personnel, secretaries, directors, parking attendants, and ICT specialists.

This study highlighted the relevance of employees learning to balance their job resources and demands.

Engberg, E., Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., Lahti, J. M., Lonka, K., Salmela-Aro, K., & Viljakainen, H.
31.03.2022

The longitudinal associations between mental health indicators and digital media use and physical activity during adolescence: A latent class approach. Mental health and physical activity.

Highlights
• We conducted a 4-year follow-up study in adolescents.
• We assessed mental health indicators at 11 years of age.
• We assessed physical activity and different types of digital media use at 15 years of age.
• We identified four behavior profiles of digital media use and physical activity.
• Physical activity and related self-esteem were the strongest predictors for later behavior profiles.

Abdulhamed, R., Lonka, K., Hietajärvi, L., Ikonen, R., & Klemetti, R.
31.03.2022

Anxiety and depression symptoms and their association with discrimination and a lack of social support among first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents

International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 87, 193. [0147-1767].

The focus in the present study is on how experienced discrimination, being able to discuss personal matters with parents, and having someone to discuss personal worries with relate to symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety among first- and second-generation immigrant-background adolescents (aged 14–15) living in Finland.

It was alarming that 42 per cent of the first-generation immigrant group reported that they could not discuss their personal worries with anyone, and more than one-fifth of these youth hardly ever talked about personal matters with their parents.

 

Jesse Tuominen, Eero Rantala, Hanna Reinikainen, Vilma Luoma-aho & Terhi-Anna Wilska
26.01.2022

The brighter side of materialism: Managing impressions on social media for higher social capital

University of Jyväskylä

This study examines how young people’s materialistic values connect with status-seeking impression management on social media, and subsequently to social capital, within the same model. Eight hundred Finnish participants aged 15–19 participated in our structured phone survey.

 

Niina Sormanen, Hanna Reinikainen & Terhi-Anna Wilska
04.01.2022

Strategies of Eliciting Young People’s Affective and Quick Participation in a Youth Magazine’s Instagram Community

Traditional media have merged with social media and pursue to produce engaging content and form relationships with online audiences.

The study produces valuable, detailed information regarding young people’s online participation preferences and the potential of traditional media in engaging with online youth audiences.

 

Silinskas, G., Ahonen, A. & Wilska, T-A
18.11.2021

Financial literacy among Finnish adolescents in PISA 2018: the role of financial learning and dispositional factors

The aim or the present study was to examine the relative importance of financial education in school and families and dispositional factors (competitiveness, work mastery, meta-cognition) in predicting financial literacy among Finnish adolescents. The data on the 4328 Finnish 15-year-olds was drawn from the PISA 2018 assessment.

Large-scale Assessments in Education  9, Article 24  (open access)

Kortesalmi, M., Autio, M., & Ranta, M.
15.11.2021

Evolving financial capability of vulnerable consumers in day-to-day practices

2021 AFCPE Symposium Proceedings (Ed. A. Betz-Hamilton), 131-143.

Vulnerable consumers face many challenges in current financial environment. They have a higher risk of
financial hardships, limited resources, and a shortage of skills to avoid harsh financial circumstances. The
purpose of this study is to enlighten the characteristics of financial capability process and the sources of
self-efficacy information in vulnerable consumers’ day-to-day practices the financial coaching project
serves.

Heidi Lammassaari, Lauri Hietajärvi, Kirsti Lonka, Sufen Chen & Chin-Chung Tsai
11.11.2021

Teachers’ epistemic beliefs and reported practices in two cultural contexts

Teachers’ epistemic beliefs may have consequences for their pedagogical work. We used previously developed scales to assess epistemic beliefs that teachers hold about learning, knowledge and knowing, and how they report putting such ideas into practice. The scales consisted of self-reported Likert-type statements considering collaborative knowledge building, valuing metacognition, certainty of knowledge, and a surface approach to learning.

Talvio, M., & Lonka, K. (Eds.)
30.09.2021

International Approaches to Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: A Framework for Developing Teaching Strategy

Routledge, Taylor & Francis. ISBN (painettu) 9780367553319, (elektroninen) 9781003093053.

This book explores the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools to foster supportive environments and good relationships. It presents research from nine different countries with discussion of how teachers, student teachers and policymakers can ensure successful SEL at school.

The book stresses the importance of social and emotional learning to allow students to become more autonomous and active in their own learning and presents very innovative ways of learning and teaching the skills.

Talvio, M., Hietajärvi, L., & Lintunen, T.
30.09.2021

The challenge of sustained behavioral change – the development of teachers social and emotional learning (SEL) during and after a Lions Quest workshop

In M. Talvio, & K. Lonka (Eds.), International Approaches to Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: A Framework for Developing Teaching Strategy (pp. 207-219). Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

Many teachers seek their ways to the continuous teacher training to increase their pedagogical skills in SEL. But how sustained such benefits are in the long-term? This original empirical study aimed at investigating stability and change of teachers’ perceived competence, importance, and knowledge in SEL before, immediately after, and in six months follow-up of a Lions Quest (LQ) teachers’ SEL workshop.

Talvio, M., & Lonka, K.
30.09.2021

Introduction. The importance of social and emotional learning in the school context – international perspectives

In International Approaches to Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: A Framework for Developing Teaching Strategy. Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

Promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) is widely recommended in literature, because it promotes good relationships. It also helps to foster supportive and student-engaging instruction and to design learning environments accordingly. Through SEL students learn to become more autonomous and active in their own learning processes, which often leads them to improved academic performance (Zins, 2004). However, there are many challenges influencing the implementation of the social and emotional learning in the school context. It is important to understand various processes of the development of SEL and how it works in various cultural contexts.

Lonka, K., & Talvio, M.
30.09.2021

Epilogue: Towards an integrative view of social and emotional learning

In International Approaches to Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: A Framework for Developing Teaching Strategy. Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

The authors who contributed to the chapters in the present book volume expanded our horizons about the richness and variation in the ways of approaching the complex phenomenon of social and emotional learning (SEL) in the school context. They described in various ways, how readiness to teach SEL is essential in fostering human growth and flourishing in teachers, their students and in the whole community. In this last chapter, it is time to give an integrated perspective of the SEL theory and the challenges of the future.

Wilska, T., Sirola, A., Nuckols, J., Nyrhinen, J.
17.09.2021

A year of COVID-19 in three countries – A study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life, consumption and digital behaviour in Finland, Sweden, and Great Britain

A year of COVID-19 in three countries – A study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life, consumption and digital behaviour in Finland, Sweden, and Great Britain
(2021). A year of COVID-19 in three countries – A study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life, consumption and digital behaviour in Finland, Sweden, and Great Britain. YFI julkaisuja.9. Jyväskylän yliopisto.

Berg, Minna; Talvio, Markus; Hietajärvi, Lauri; Benitez, Isabel; Cavioni, Valeria; Conte, Elisabetta; Cuadrado, Francisco; Ferreira, Marco; Kosir, Matej; Martinsone, Baiba; Ornaghi, Veronica; Raudiene, Irena; Sukyte, Daiva; Talic, Sanela; Lonka, Kirsti
13.08.2021

The Development of Teachers’ and Their Students’ Social and Emotional Learning During the “Learning to Be Project”-Training Course in Five European Countries

The results indicated that there was a favorable development in the intervention group in some of the measured skills among students, but the effects were different for the two age groups. This study adds to both theoretical and practical development of continuing teacher training about SEL and its possible role in reducing problem behavior among the students.

Panu Kalmi, Gianluca Trotta, Andrius Kažukauskas
07.07.2021

Energy-related financial literacy and electricity consumption: Survey-based evidence from Finland

Gender has a strong association with energy-related financial literacy. Our results also indicate that households of respondents with higher levels of energy-related financial literacy tend to consume less electricity when we control for other factors such as dwelling and household characteristics. This implies that measures to promote energy-related financial literacy might guide consumers’ decisions toward energy efficiency and conservation.

Nannan Xi & Juho Hamari
26.05.2021

Shopping in virtual reality: A literature review and future agenda

Virtual reality (VR) refers to technologies for substituting the perceived reality. With the recent proliferation of consumer-grade head-mounted VR displays, several industries have started to wake up to the possible potential of virtual reality. One typical area in the early stages of the adoption of these technologies is marketing, and especially its sub-areas of retail and shopping.

Thomas K. F. Chiu, Tzung-Jin Lin & Kirsti Lonka
28.04.2021

Motivating Online Learning: The Challenges of COVID-19 and Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted students’ opportunities to learn worldwide. Students and teachers have been forced to shift from traditional classrooms to emergency online / remote learning. They face key challenges in adapting practices away from a focus on face-to-face learning to an online learning environment mediated by various forms of technology. The pandemic reveals the urgent need to augment the educational system’s technological infrastructure, expand the teachers’ pedagogical expertise and the students’ learning repertoire.

Ranta, M., Grönlund, H., & Pessi , A. B.
08.04.2021

What is above everything? Conceptions of the sacred among Finnish youth.

Teoksessa E. Kuusisto, M. Ubani, P. Nokelainen, & A. Toom (toim.), Good Teachers for Tomorrow’s Schools: Purpose, Values, and Talents in Education (111-128). (Moral Development and Citizenship Education; Vuosikerta 16). Brill.

Individuals’ conceptions and understandings of the sacred illustrate the deepest levels of their identity and spiritualty. Our chapter presents the findings of our research based on representative data from Finnish youth.

G. Silinskas & M. Ranta3 & T.-A. Wilska
11.03.2021

Financial Behaviour Under Economic Strain in Different Age Groups: Predictors and Change Across 20 Years

The present study examined the multiple micro- and macro-level factors that affect individuals’ financial behaviour under economic strain. The following sociodemographic and economic factors that predict financial behaviour were analysed: age group, year of data gathering, and attitudes towards consumption (economical, deprived, and hedonistic). Journal of Consumer Policy.

Silinskas, G., Ranta, M., & Wilska, T-A
11.03.2021

Financial Behaviour Under Economic Strain in Different Age Groups: Predictors and Change Across 20 Years

Journal of Consumer Policy, 44, 235–257.

The present study examined the multiple micro- and macro-level factors that affect individuals’ financial behaviour under economic strain.
The analyses revealed four types of financial behaviour: cutting expenses, borrowing, increasing income, and gambling. Young adults aged 18–25 reported the lowest frequency of borrowing and gambling and the highest frequency of increasing income (together with young adults aged 26–35).

 

Milla Kruskopf, Elina E. Ketonen & Mikael Mattlin
09.02.2021

Playing out diplomacy: gamified realization of future skills and discipline-specific theory

Teaching and Learning. European Political Science volume 20, pages698–722 (2021)

Future horizons, shaped by unpredictable ecosystems and exponential automation, require discipline-specific as well as transdisciplinary skills to navigate. In the context of political science education, negotiation simulations, for example in the form of board games, can aid in developing both.

As a plausibility probe for wider investigations, we set out to research whether an International Relations course concept utilizing the classical board game Diplomacy with pedagogically altered rules and gaming conditions enhances students’ (n = 23) understanding of discipline-specific knowledge and future skills.

Arto K. Ahonen
24.11.2020

Finland: Success Through Equity—The Trajectories in PISA Performance

Springer

The Finnish education system has gone through an exciting developmental path from a follower into a role model. Also on the two-decade history of PISA studies, Finland’s performance has provided years of glory as of the world’s top-performing nation, but also a substantial decline. This chapter examines Finland’s educational outcomes in recent PISA-study and the trends across previous cycles. Boys’ more unsatisfactory performance and the increasing effect of students’ socio-economic background are clear predictors of the declining trend, but they can explain it only partly. Some of the other possible factors are discussed.

Kruskopf, M., Hakkarainen, K., Li, S., & Lonka, K.
12.11.2020

Lessons learned on student engagement from the nature of pervasive socio-digital interests and related network participation of adolescents

The rise of modern socio‐digital technologies has fundamentally changed the everyday environments in which young people communicate with each other and cultivate interests. To gain a more sophisticated understanding of this phenomenon, this study provides in‐depth, qualitative insights into adolescents’ experiences of their socio‐digital developmental ecologies.  Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.

 

Mette Ranta, Gintautas Silinskas and Terhi-Anna Wilska
05.11.2020

Young adults’ personal concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland: an issue for social concern

COVID-19 pandemic by investigating their personal concerns about mental well-being, career/studies and economic situation. The authors investigated how young adults’ (aged 18–29) personal concerns differ from older people’s concerns (aged 30–65) and which person- and context-related antecedents relate to personal concerns.

Lonka, K.
30.09.2020

Phenomenal learning from Finland

Edita publishing (2018). Translated in Chinese and Russian in 2021, and Spanish, Croatian, Korean, and Thai in 2020.

Finland’s PISA results have raised world-wide interest in Finnish schools and teacher education. What will happen next? Phenomenal Learning from Finland presents Finland’s path to 21st century competences and the exciting concept of phenomenon-based learning as part of the new curriculum.

International order: https://www.booky.fi/product.php?id=9789513773083

Finnish order: https://www.editapublishing.fi/muut/tuote/phenomenal-learning-from-finland

Spanish order: https://www.amazon.com/Aprendizaje-extraordinario-Finlandia-Kirsti-LONKA/dp/9586656195

Chinese order: https://www.amazon.com/Phenomenal-learning-interpretation-methods-education/dp/7521732286

Lonka, K., Ketonen, E., & Vermunt, J. D.
04.07.2020

University students’ epistemic profiles, conceptions of learning, and academic performance. Higher Education.

University students’ epistemic beliefs may have practical consequences for studying and success in higher education. Such beliefs constitute epistemic theories that may empirically manifest themselves as epistemic profiles. This study examined university students’ epistemic profiles and their relations to conceptions of learning, age, gender, discipline, and academic achievement.

Jussi Nyrhinen
03.06.2020

Social Capital in the Digitised Servicescape

Digitalisation has placed retail stores under re-examination due to the changing servicescape (i.e. the shopping environment) and social interactions with store personnel and other customers that are experienced across both online and offline stores. This interdisciplinary dissertation seeks to fill a research gap in the marketing literature concerning the servicescape and the sociological theory of social capital, including how interpersonal relationships and social networks constitute the service experience and how the digital–physical servicescape facilitates trust, human contact and communities.

Tuominen, H., Niemivirta, M., Lonka, K., & Salmela-Aro, K.
01.04.2020

Motivation across a transition: Changes in achievement goal orientations and academic well-being from elementary to secondary school

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of achievement goal orientation profiles among Finnish sixth- and seventh-graders, the stability and change in these profiles across the transition from elementary to lower secondary school, and the profile differences in academic achievement (grades) and academic well-being (school engagement and school burnout).

Hietajärvi, L., Lonka, K., Hakkarainen, K., Alho, K., & Salmela-Aro, K.
20.02.2020

Are Schools Alienating Digitally Engaged Students? Longitudinal Relations between Digital Engagement and School Engagement

This article examined digital learning engagement as the out-of-school learning component that reflects informally emerging socio-digital participation. The gap hypothesis proposes that students who prefer learning with digital technologies outside of school are less engaged in traditional school. Frontline Learning Research, 8(1), 33 – 55.

Cornée, Simon; Kalmi, Panu; Szafarz, Ariane
20.12.2019

The business model of social banks

The main reason for the existence of social banks is to fund other social enterprises. On that basis, Simon Cornée from the University of Rennes 1, Panu Kalmi from the University of Vaasa and Ariane Szafarz from the Université Libre de Bruxelles propose that social banks can operate profitably and still lend to their borrowers at attractive interest rates when their owners and depositors accept lower returns on their investments.

Ranta, Mette, Punamäki Raija-Leena, Chow Angela & Salmela-Aro, Katariina
12.12.2019

The Economic Stress Model in Emerging Adulthood: The role of social relationships and financial capability. Emerging Adulthood

Families mobilize psychosocial resources to attune negative consequences of economic hardship, but research is lacking among youth. We propose an Economic Stress Model in Emerging Adulthood (ESM-EA) conceptualizing age-salient social relationships and financial capability as mediators between economic hardship and well-being.

The ESM-EA was tested in a three-wave prospective study following the 2008 economic recession, as part of the Finnish Educational Transitions studies. The sample consisted of 551 emerging adults (55.5% female) who participated at ages 23, 25, and 28. Economic pressures and financial capability mediated the effect of economic hardship on well-being, whereas social relationships did not. Individuals with an unfavorable financial situation at age 25 were more likely to show lower life satisfaction and higher depressive symptoms at 28 when they reported a higher level of economic pressures and a lower level of financial capability.

Sjöblom, K., Lammassaari, H. M. W., Hietajärvi, L., Mälkki, K., & Lonka, K.
10.10.2019

Training in 21st century working life skills: How to support productivity and well-being in multi-locational knowledge work

(2019).  Creative Education, 10(10), 2283–2310.

Along with the rapid development of digital technology and the increasing proportion of knowledge work, work is becoming decreasingly defined by time and place, and more diverse in terms of both. As digital tools and multi-locational spaces become focal parts of human performance, the optimal use of these resources requires not only the ability to mechanically use them, but also the ability to develop useful behavioral strategies and practices related to them.

Talvio, M., Hietajärvi, L., Matischek-Jauk, M. & Lonka, K.
01.09.2019

Do Lions Quest (LQ) workshops have systematic impact on teachers’ social and emotional learning (SEL)?

(2019).   Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology 17 (2), 465-494.

The global trend of new curricula in many OECD countries indicates that social interaction skills are becoming increasingly important. Educators need to start fostering the development of learners’ social competences, which requires development of their own knowledge and skills. This study investigated the possible change in teachers’ knowledge, their applied knowledge and their sense of competence during the Lions Quest (LQ) workshops. For us to measure this, the participants responded to the LQ inquiry.