Background: The emergence of virtual social networks has facilitated a new form of marital infidelity known as internet infidelity.Aims: This study investigated the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between self-compassion, relationship maintenance behaviors, and attitudes toward internet infidelity.Methodology: A cross-sectional study using SEM was conducted among 481 Iranian married users. The data collection was performed using Internet Infidelity, Relationship Maintenance Strategies, Self-Compassion, and Self-Esteem Questionnaires. SEM was used to examine hypothesized relationships, and the bootstrap in Preacher and Hayes’ Macro program was employed for testing mediation.Findings: SEM analysis revealed that self-compassion and relationship maintenance behaviors had a direct effect on both self-esteem and attitudes toward internet infidelity (P< 0.0001). However, the hypothesized mediating role of self-esteem was not supported. These findings underscore the significant influence of self-compassion and relationship maintenance behaviors in predicting attitudes toward internet infidelity.Conclusion: Counseling interventions aimed at fostering self-compassion and reinforcing relationship maintenance skills may help reduce the risk of internet infidelity.
Background: With the advent of online social networks, some new form of life was developed in a virtual environment and the relationship among people became different from its traditional form.Aims: The present study examines the status quo of the use of one of the most popular social networks in Iran, namely Instagram, and the typology of its users.Methodology: The data was collected using a questionnaire and almost 1000 Instagram users answered the questions. In order to understand the use of Instagram and the typology of its users, the theoretical concepts of "uses and gratifications", "transition from audience orientation to user orientation", "online identity", "networked individualism" and "cyberloafing" were examined.Findings: The daily use of social networks by users is an average of 139 min, of which approximately 104 min are dedicated to Instagram, and that there was a significant relationship between the use of Instagram and the age group, marital status, and social classes.Conclusion: Instagram users comprise a spectrum from passive consumer actors to active producer actors. Different user types based on the use motives are: instrumental/commercial users (consumer or passive and productive or active), interactive users (social communicator and relationship builder), information seeking users (wide scope information seeking and local scope information seeking), disclosing users (aesthetic and lifestyle), loafing users (tourists and celebrities) and specialty-oriented users.
Background: Background: Four of the top ten subscribed YouTube channels feature child-centric content, with three belonging to kidfluencers whose videos are dubbed in fourteen languages. By mid-2025, these four channels collectively garnered 608 million subscribers, demonstrating the phenomenon's significance in the digital sphere.Aims: This article utilizes the Dual-Spacization of the World paradigm and a qualitative approach (combining participatory observation and documentary analysis focused on YouTube and the popular unboxing genre) to describe the kidfluencer phenomenon, its links to digital commerce and economy, and its cultural consequences on child development and socialization.Methodology: The second part offers a local interpretation of this global trend by analyzing thirteen semi-structured interviews with children and adolescents (aged six to fourteen).Findings: The analysis confirmed the interviewees' positive alignment with kidfluencing through four key themes: "Spectacular Consumption and the Spectacularization of Consumption", "Perceiving Kidfluencers as Independent and Validating Them", "Expert Users, Potential Producers" and "Kidfluencing: A Path to Fame, a Shortcut to Wealth".Conclusion: The study’s findings recommend that, to maximize opportunities, supportive legislation and regulatory bodies should actively back children’s agency and capabilities in digital environments, while simultaneously promoting the development of spatial literacy and enhancement of children’s digital literacy through national and global programs and policies.
Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming global economic systems, reshaping labor markets, industries, and geopolitical power structures. The Age of AI and Our Human Future by Kissinger, Schmidt, and Huttenlocher (2021) offers an influential perspective on these transformations, warranting systematic academic analysis.Aims: This study aims to examine the major economic and societal themes emerging from The Age of AI and Our Human Future and to interpret their implications for the future of the world economy in the age of AI.Methodology: Using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase thematic analysis, the book was analyzed as the primary qualitative data source. The theoretical framework combined the concept of Disruptive Technologies and Schumacher’s human-centered perspective to interpret how AI influences global economic and ethical structures.Findings: Four key themes were identified: (1) Transformation of Industries, (2) Labor Market Shifts and Economic Inequality, (3) AI and Global Power Dynamics, and (4) Regulation and Ethical Frameworks. The findings show that AI drives innovation and productivity while intensifying inequality and geopolitical competition. Ethical and regulatory frameworks are essential to balance technological progress with social justice and human welfare.Conclusion: AI’s rapid development is reshaping the world economy, necessitating interdisciplinary approaches and global cooperation. Human-centered and ethically governed AI development is vital to ensure that technological progress contributes to equitable and sustainable global prosperity.
