Karolien Poels
Biographic Data
| ID | 72190 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Karolien Poels |
| GIVEN NAMES | Karolien |
| FAMILY NAME | Poels |
| SIGNATURE | POELS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5276-0293 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A Psychophysiological Investigation of Boredom Profiles Differing in Meaning, Stimulation and Subsequent Activity Choices
This study investigated the psychophysiological markers of distinct boredom profiles, defined along the meaning and stimulation dimensions of the Meaning and Attention Components (MAC) model. Psychophysiological markers were also assessed during regulatory activity choices following boredom to investigate their actual regulatory potential. The study ( N = 60, M age = 21.4, SD = 3.38, male = 35%) employed a mixed-factorial design, with meaning as …
Cognitive empathy and dehumanization co-vary with dark triad traits and agency detection sensitivity
Bored gamers: Applying the Meaning and Attentional Components model of boredom to digital game selection
Introduction Communication research has typically examined boredom as a negative emotion characterized by low arousal or understimulation. However, this one-dimensional approach to boredom does not resonate with more recent psychological insights, as summarized in the Meaning and Attentional Components (MAC) model. This model proposes several boredom types based on individuals’ attention levels (low versus high cognitive resources) and how meanin…
Cognitive Fatigue, Humor, and Physical Activity: A Field Experiment Testing Whether Humorous Messages Promote Walking in Cognitively Fatigued Individuals
Despite the success of humorous messages in various health interventions, its role in promoting physical activity (PA) remains understudied. This study addresses this gap by investigating the effectiveness of humorous messages in a 2-week smartphone-based intervention aimed at promoting walking behavior, particularly amongst cognitively fatigued individuals. Female participants (n = 57; Mage = 32.00; SD = 4.385) received humorous, nonhumorous, or…
Enhancing user satisfaction in the reporting of online sexual harassment on social media: The role of anthropomorphic design in mitigating negative emotions and building trust
How social context and gender influence the sense of responsibility for serving healthy meals: A study involving parents
Purpose This research tests how the social context of meals influences the sense of responsibility for serving healthy meals and food choices, taking into account the role of gender. Design/methodology/approach An online between-subject scenario experiment was conducted with parents of young children (under 12 years old) in Flanders, Belgium ( N = 288, 67.4% women). Participants envisioned serving and consuming food in three social contexts: alon…
Empowering communities through citizen science and participatory action research: Implementation of a schistosomiasis communication campaign in Uganda
Schistosomiasis is a water-related disease strongly linked with high-risk water and sanitation practices perpetuating disease transmission. In Uganda, despite health education and sensitisation efforts through communication campaigns by the Ministry of Health to reduce schistosomiasis prevalence, common risky practices still pose a challenge, especially among endemic communities. Here, we steered away from the conventional top-down approach to co…
Boosts for walking: How humorous messages increase brisk walking among cognitively fatigued individuals
This study is the first to unravel the underlying relationship between humorous intervention messages and brisk walking intentions through positive changes in perceptions of self-control within a cognitively fatigued sample. Results of this study suggest that existing smartphone applications monitoring and promoting brisk walking should integrate tailored message strategies within their cues to brisk walk by implementing humour as a strategy to m…
Why, how, when, and for whom does digital disconnection work? A process-based framework of digital disconnection
Digital disconnection has emerged as a concept describing the actions people take to limit their digital connectivity to enhance their well-being. To date, evidence on its effectiveness is mixed, leading to calls for greater consideration of why, how, when, and for whom digital disconnection works. This article responds to these calls, presenting a framework that differentiates four key harms that contribute to experiences of digital ill-being (t…
The ecology of online hate speech: Mapping expert perspectives on the drivers for online hate perpetration with the Delphi method
Online hate speech (OHS) is a prevalent issue on social media with harmful consequences for individuals and society. Counteracting this issue requires a better understanding of the factors that drive behaviors such as posting hate speech or making hateful comments. The present study contributes to this need by investigating the personal, social, and digital determinants for OHS perpetration. By conducting a two‐round Delphi study, data was collec…
Drug behaviors, sexually transmitted infection prevention, and sexual consent during chemsex: Insights generated in the Budd app after each chemsex session
Chemsex refers to the intentional use of drugs before or during sex in a specific context, typically involving prolonged sex sessions with multiple partners. Engaging in chemsex is associated with a wide range of health risks and related risk behaviors. We developed a mobile phone application (‘Budd-app’) to support and inform chemsex participants, reduce potential negative impacts associated with chemsex (e.g., physical, psychological and social…
Features for Hate? Using the Delphi Method to Explore Digital Determinants for Online Hate Perpetration and Possibilities for Intervention
The rise, growth, and future of branded content in the digital media landscape
The advertising field has witnessed a dramatic transformation over the past decade. This contribution to the IJA 40th anniversary special issue deals with (digital) branded content; any output fully/partly funded or at least endorsed by the legal owner of the brand which promotes the owner’s brand values, and makes audiences choose to engage with the brand based on a pull logic due to its entertainment, information, and/or education value. We ske…
Systematic review of determinants and consequences of bystander interventions in online hate and cyberbullying among adults
Despite the substantial amount of literature concerning adolescent bystanders of online hate and cyberbullying, relatively little attention has been devoted to studying the same issue in adults. Similarly, the determinants of the effectiveness of different messages to support the victims or counter hate have also been understudied. The existing pieces of empirical research on these topics remained scattered and no systematic review was performed …
“Meating halfway”: Exploring the attitudes of meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters toward those who eat meat and those who do not eat meat
Empirical studies have persistently reported negative attitudes of meat eaters toward vegetarians and vegans (veg*ns), but scant attention has been paid to veg*ns’ attitudes toward meat eaters. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of meat eaters and veg*ns from both perspectives. In addition, we explored the attitudes of occasional meat eaters. We performed a cross-sectional study (Study 1) among meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters, …
Machine learning techniques for the identification of risk factors associated with food insecurity among adults in Arab countries during the Covid-19 pandemic
The ML algorithms seem to be an effective method in early detection and prediction of food insecurity and can profoundly aid policymaking. The integration of ML approaches in public health strategies could potentially improve the development of targeted and effective interventions to combat food insecurity in these regions and globally
Missing ingredients: Digital commensality and its challenges in fostering psychological well-being
Commensality, the act of sharing a meal or drink together, has been widely associated with psychological well-being in traditional in-person settings. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its necessary physical distancing measures have prompted a shift toward digital commensality, where individuals gathered online to virtually share food and beverages. This study investigates the relationship between digital commensality and psychological well-bein…
Think Positive, be Positive: Expressive Writing Changes Young People’s Emotional Reactions Towards the Covid-19 Pandemic
Combining the transactional model of stress and coping and expressive writing theory, this research studied whether writing on one’s personal experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic may improve young people’s emotional reactions to the situation. A standard expressive writing instruction was compared to a positive writing instruction (writing about the positive aspects) and a coping writing instruction (writing about previous experiences and how t…
Everywhere You Look, You’ll Find Food ”: Emerging Adult Perspectives Toward the Food Media Landscape
This study explores what emerging adults value in food media, i.e. food-focused content and personae in media. Emerging adults (18-25) are an important target group for food media as they transition toward nutritional independence and consume media substantially. Seven semi-structured focus groups were conducted with thirty-seven Belgian participants. Thematic analysis revealed three themes ( hedonism, ability, information ) grouping nine subthem…
Around the same table: Uniting stakeholders of food-related communication
Physical Activity during the First Lockdown of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Investigating the Reliance on Digital Technologies, Perceived Benefits, Barriers and the Impact of Affect
The measures to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have been concentrated on inviting people to stay at home. This has reduced opportunities to exercise while also shedding some light on the importance of physical health. Based on an online survey, this paper investigated physical activity behaviours of a Belgians sample ( n = 427) during the lockdown period between the end of May 2020 and the beginning of June 2020 and found that, during …
Ninety Minutes to Reduce One's Intention to Eat Meat: A Preliminary Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Watching the Cowspiracy Documentary on Intention to Reduce Meat Consumption
Whereas past research has shown that using environmental arguments to reduce meat intake are unsuccessful in awareness campaigns, popular documentaries might have the potential to successfully change the public awareness of the environmental implications of meat consumption today. This preliminary study aimed to provide first empirical evidence of the potential effects of watching a popular documentary on a less-known environmental topic among a …
Harm Reduction Practices and Needs in a Belgian Chemsex Context: Findings from a Qualitative Study
Chemsex is a growing public health concern, with little evidence-based care and support available. The aim of this study is to understand current risk reduction practices, and the information and care needs of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) who engage in chemsex. Between January and March 2020, semi structured in-depth interviews with drug-using GBMSM ( n = 20) were conducted. Data were analyzed thematically. The repor…
Coping with distress among adolescents: Effectiveness of personal narratives on support websites
Sharing, reading and responding to personal narratives on peer-to-peer support websites may provide adolescents with informational and emotional support to feel more confident in coping with stressful events. However, their use may also pose a threat to adolescents’ coping self-efficacy. Principles of expressive writing, social sharing of emotions, narrative persuasion and self-effects may provide insight in how these actions may both positively …
The influence of a descriptive norm label on adolescents’ persuasion knowledge and privacy-protective behavior on social networking sites
The literature has advocated the use of a clear and unambiguous label to inform adolescents of advertisements on social media. In this study, we introduce a norm-based label and determine its effects. In a series of three studies, we test a label that triggers the bandwagon heuristic (i.e., “your friends know this is sponsored”) and compare its effectiveness to a traditional label (i.e., “sponsored”) in a social network. The results reveal the no…
Patterns and Universals of Adult Romantic Attachment Across 62 Cultural Regions: Are Models of Self and of Other Pancultural Constructs
As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completedthe RelationshipQuestionnaire(RQ), a self-reportmeasure of adult romanticattachment. Correlational analyses within each culture suggested that the Model of Self and the Model of Other scales of the RQ were psychometrically valid within most cultures. Contrary to expectations, the Model of Self and Model of Other dimensions …
From Normative Influence to Social Pressure: How Relevant Others Affect Whether Bystanders Join in Cyberbullying
As cyberbullying is a phenomenon that is inherently social, the normative social influence of significant others can play an important role in the behaviour of adolescents involved in cyberbullying incidents. Using data from 525 adolescent bystanders of cyberbullying, we created a path model in order to investigate whether injunctive and descriptive norms of certain reference groups can cause bystanders to experience social pressure and join in c…
Why, how, when, and for whom does digital disconnection work? A process-based framework of digital disconnection
Digital disconnection has emerged as a concept describing the actions people take to limit their digital connectivity to enhance their well-being. To date, evidence on its effectiveness is mixed, leading to calls for greater consideration of why, how, when, and for whom digital disconnection works. This article responds to these calls, presenting a framework that differentiates four key harms that contribute to experiences of digital ill-being (t…
Older and Wiser? Facebook Use, Privacy Concern, and Privacy Protection in the Life Stages of Emerging, Young, and Middle Adulthood
A large part of research conducted on privacy concern and protection on social networking sites (SNSs) concentrates on children and adolescents. Individuals in these developmental stages are often described as vulnerable Internet users. But how vulnerable are adults in terms of online informational privacy? This study applied a privacy boundary management approach and investigated Facebook use, privacy concern, and the application of privacy sett…
Universitycrisis: The Impact of Social Media Type, Source, and Information on Student Responses Toward a University Crisis
Universities have every reason to avoid damaging their reputations through mismanaged crises. Moreover, universities have the moral duty to protect their students from harm by effective communication in a time of crisis. Social media have evolved into the fastest and most direct means to communicate with student populations. In this study, we experimentally tested the use of Twitter and Facebook as crisis communication media at a university. We f…
The influence of a descriptive norm label on adolescents’ persuasion knowledge and privacy-protective behavior on social networking sites
The literature has advocated the use of a clear and unambiguous label to inform adolescents of advertisements on social media. In this study, we introduce a norm-based label and determine its effects. In a series of three studies, we test a label that triggers the bandwagon heuristic (i.e., “your friends know this is sponsored”) and compare its effectiveness to a traditional label (i.e., “sponsored”) in a social network. The results reveal the no…
Harmonizing freedom and protection: Adolescents' voices on automatic monitoring of social networking sites
Around the same table: Uniting stakeholders of food-related communication
Our” food versus “my” food. Investigating the relation between childhood shared food practices and adult prosocial behavior in Belgium
World of Warcraft, the aftermath: How game elements transfer into perceptions, associations and (day)dreams in the everyday life of massively multiplayer online role-playing game players
This paper describes the phenomenon of game-biased perceptions and associations, or how, through intensive game play, elements from the game world can trigger thoughts and imagery outside the game world, influencing the perception and interpretation of stimuli in everyday life. Examples include the insertion of game elements in thoughts, perceptions and dreams, the use of specific vocabulary or slang – typical to the game world – in everyday conv…
Patterns and Universals of Adult Romantic Attachment Across 62 Cultural Regions: Are Models of Self and of Other Pancultural Constructs
As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completedthe RelationshipQuestionnaire(RQ), a self-reportmeasure of adult romanticattachment. Correlational analyses within each culture suggested that the Model of Self and the Model of Other scales of the RQ were psychometrically valid within most cultures. Contrary to expectations, the Model of Self and Model of Other dimensions …
Morality and involvement in social virtual worlds: The intensity of moral emotions in response to virtual versus real life cheating
Our focus lies on moral emotions in the social virtual world Second Life (SL). Based on media equation theory we could expect that moral emotions regulate social virtual interactions in a similar way as they do in real life (RL). However, emotions are also linked with involvement, and SL residents presumably are more involved in SL compared to non-residents. Via two quasi-experiments, we tested to what extent moral emotions felt when being cheate…
Determinants of Self-Reported Bystander Behavior in Cyberbullying Incidents Amongst Adolescents
This study explores behavioral determinants of self-reported cyberbullying bystander behavior from a behavioral change theoretical perspective, to provide levers for interventions. Nine focus groups were conducted with 61 young adolescents (aged 12-16 years, 52% girls). Assertive defending, reporting to others, providing advice, and seeking support were the most mentioned behaviors. Self-reported bystander behavior heavily depended on contextual …
Cyberbullying on social network sites. An experimental study into bystanders’ behavioural intentions to help the victim or reinforce the bully
World of Warcraft, the aftermath: How game elements transfer into perceptions, associations and (day)dreams in the everyday life of massively multiplayer online role-playing game players
This paper describes the phenomenon of game-biased perceptions and associations, or how, through intensive game play, elements from the game world can trigger thoughts and imagery outside the game world, influencing the perception and interpretation of stimuli in everyday life. Examples include the insertion of game elements in thoughts, perceptions and dreams, the use of specific vocabulary or slang – typical to the game world – in everyday conv…
Universitycrisis: The Impact of Social Media Type, Source, and Information on Student Responses Toward a University Crisis
Universities have every reason to avoid damaging their reputations through mismanaged crises. Moreover, universities have the moral duty to protect their students from harm by effective communication in a time of crisis. Social media have evolved into the fastest and most direct means to communicate with student populations. In this study, we experimentally tested the use of Twitter and Facebook as crisis communication media at a university. We f…
Severe Sexual Harassment on Social Networking Sites: Belgian Adolescents’ Views
Online sexual harassment is increasingly encountered by adolescents and is associated with various negative psychosocial outcomes. In particular, social networking sites (SNSs) may facilitate sexual harassment. This study used focus groups to examine sexual harassment on SNSs from adolescents’ (aged 12–18 years) point of view: what do they perceive as severe cases and who do they think should play a role in addressing them. The qualitative data s…
From Normative Influence to Social Pressure: How Relevant Others Affect Whether Bystanders Join in Cyberbullying
As cyberbullying is a phenomenon that is inherently social, the normative social influence of significant others can play an important role in the behaviour of adolescents involved in cyberbullying incidents. Using data from 525 adolescent bystanders of cyberbullying, we created a path model in order to investigate whether injunctive and descriptive norms of certain reference groups can cause bystanders to experience social pressure and join in c…
Our” food versus “my” food. Investigating the relation between childhood shared food practices and adult prosocial behavior in Belgium
Older and Wiser? Facebook Use, Privacy Concern, and Privacy Protection in the Life Stages of Emerging, Young, and Middle Adulthood
A large part of research conducted on privacy concern and protection on social networking sites (SNSs) concentrates on children and adolescents. Individuals in these developmental stages are often described as vulnerable Internet users. But how vulnerable are adults in terms of online informational privacy? This study applied a privacy boundary management approach and investigated Facebook use, privacy concern, and the application of privacy sett…
Deciding whether to look after them, to like it, or leave it: A multidimensional analysis of predictors of positive and negative bystander behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents
Harmonizing freedom and protection: Adolescents' voices on automatic monitoring of social networking sites
A Factorial Survey Study on the Influence of Advertising Place and the Use of Personal Data on User Acceptance of Facebook Ads
Advertisements on social networking sites are typically unrequested messages placed in between the user-generated content. What makes users accept these ads (or not)? A factorial survey was conducted to uncover the impact of different factors related to the use of personal data (e.g., sensitivity of personal data) and advertising place (e.g., ad location) of Facebook ads on user acceptance (i.e., fairness and appropriateness) of the advertisement…
“Everything under control?”: Privacy control salience influences both critical processing and perceived persuasiveness of targeted advertising among adolescents
Given that adolescents continuously interact with the user interface of a social networking site, it might be a strategic place to address privacy-related issues. This study investigates whether and how privacy control features embedded in Facebook’s user interface could serve as a cue to influence adolescents in their critical processing and perceived persuasiveness of targeted advertisements. To test this, an experimental study among 178 adoles…
Ninety Minutes to Reduce One's Intention to Eat Meat: A Preliminary Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Watching the Cowspiracy Documentary on Intention to Reduce Meat Consumption
Whereas past research has shown that using environmental arguments to reduce meat intake are unsuccessful in awareness campaigns, popular documentaries might have the potential to successfully change the public awareness of the environmental implications of meat consumption today. This preliminary study aimed to provide first empirical evidence of the potential effects of watching a popular documentary on a less-known environmental topic among a …
Harm Reduction Practices and Needs in a Belgian Chemsex Context: Findings from a Qualitative Study
Chemsex is a growing public health concern, with little evidence-based care and support available. The aim of this study is to understand current risk reduction practices, and the information and care needs of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) who engage in chemsex. Between January and March 2020, semi structured in-depth interviews with drug-using GBMSM ( n = 20) were conducted. Data were analyzed thematically. The repor…
Coping with distress among adolescents: Effectiveness of personal narratives on support websites
Sharing, reading and responding to personal narratives on peer-to-peer support websites may provide adolescents with informational and emotional support to feel more confident in coping with stressful events. However, their use may also pose a threat to adolescents’ coping self-efficacy. Principles of expressive writing, social sharing of emotions, narrative persuasion and self-effects may provide insight in how these actions may both positively …
The influence of a descriptive norm label on adolescents’ persuasion knowledge and privacy-protective behavior on social networking sites
The literature has advocated the use of a clear and unambiguous label to inform adolescents of advertisements on social media. In this study, we introduce a norm-based label and determine its effects. In a series of three studies, we test a label that triggers the bandwagon heuristic (i.e., “your friends know this is sponsored”) and compare its effectiveness to a traditional label (i.e., “sponsored”) in a social network. The results reveal the no…
Physical Activity during the First Lockdown of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Investigating the Reliance on Digital Technologies, Perceived Benefits, Barriers and the Impact of Affect
The measures to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have been concentrated on inviting people to stay at home. This has reduced opportunities to exercise while also shedding some light on the importance of physical health. Based on an online survey, this paper investigated physical activity behaviours of a Belgians sample ( n = 427) during the lockdown period between the end of May 2020 and the beginning of June 2020 and found that, during …
Think Positive, be Positive: Expressive Writing Changes Young People’s Emotional Reactions Towards the Covid-19 Pandemic
Combining the transactional model of stress and coping and expressive writing theory, this research studied whether writing on one’s personal experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic may improve young people’s emotional reactions to the situation. A standard expressive writing instruction was compared to a positive writing instruction (writing about the positive aspects) and a coping writing instruction (writing about previous experiences and how t…
Everywhere You Look, You’ll Find Food ”: Emerging Adult Perspectives Toward the Food Media Landscape
This study explores what emerging adults value in food media, i.e. food-focused content and personae in media. Emerging adults (18-25) are an important target group for food media as they transition toward nutritional independence and consume media substantially. Seven semi-structured focus groups were conducted with thirty-seven Belgian participants. Thematic analysis revealed three themes ( hedonism, ability, information ) grouping nine subthem…
Around the same table: Uniting stakeholders of food-related communication
Drug behaviors, sexually transmitted infection prevention, and sexual consent during chemsex: Insights generated in the Budd app after each chemsex session
Chemsex refers to the intentional use of drugs before or during sex in a specific context, typically involving prolonged sex sessions with multiple partners. Engaging in chemsex is associated with a wide range of health risks and related risk behaviors. We developed a mobile phone application (‘Budd-app’) to support and inform chemsex participants, reduce potential negative impacts associated with chemsex (e.g., physical, psychological and social…
Features for Hate? Using the Delphi Method to Explore Digital Determinants for Online Hate Perpetration and Possibilities for Intervention
The rise, growth, and future of branded content in the digital media landscape
The advertising field has witnessed a dramatic transformation over the past decade. This contribution to the IJA 40th anniversary special issue deals with (digital) branded content; any output fully/partly funded or at least endorsed by the legal owner of the brand which promotes the owner’s brand values, and makes audiences choose to engage with the brand based on a pull logic due to its entertainment, information, and/or education value. We ske…
Psychology (33 works) · Social Psychology (24 works) · Computer Science (14 works) · Medicine (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression (7 works) · Business (7 works)