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Hostile online communication is a global concern. Academic research and teaching staff are among those professionals who routinely give public comments and are thus vulnerable to online attacks. This social psychological and criminological study investigated online harassment victimization among university researchers and teachers. Survey participants (N = 2,492) were university research and teaching staff members from five major universities in Finland. Victimization was assessed with a 20-item inventory. The study included a wide range of both background and general measures on well-being at work. Participants also took part in an online experiment involving a death threat targeting a colleague. Results showed that 30% of the participants reported being victims of online harassment during the prior 6 months. Victims were more often senior staff members, minority group members, and from the social sciences and humanities. Those active in traditional or social media were much more likely to be targeted. Victims reported higher psychological distress, lower generalized trust, and lower perceived social support at work than non-victims. Individuals who were targeted by a colleague from their work community reported higher post-traumatic stress disorder scores and a higher impact of perceived online harassment on their work compared to other victims. In the experimental part of the study, participants reported more anxiety when a close colleague received a death threat. Participants also recommended more countermeasures to a close colleague than to an unknown person from the same research field. Results indicate that online harassment compromises well-being at work in academia. There is an urgent need to find ways of preventing online harassment, both in workplaces and in society at large.

Increasingly, people must interact with robot technologies. In this research, we examined attitudes toward robots as equipment and as coworkers and whether these attitudes are affected by the autonomy of the robot among participants living in the United States (Study 1: N = 1003; Study 2: N = 969). Study 1 revealed that respondents had a more positive attitude toward robots as equipment than as coworkers. Technology use self-efficacy and prior robot use experience were associated with more positive attitudes toward both robot positions. Having a degree in engineering or technology was associated with a positive attitude toward robot coworkers, while neuroticism was associated with a negative attitude. Additionally, technology use self-efficacy was found to have a significant indirect effect on the associations between openness and attitudes toward robots as well as conscientiousness and attitudes toward robots. In Study 2, a three-group online survey experiment showed that teleoperated robots and semi-autonomous robots were preferred as equipment over fully autonomous robots. The robots’ autonomy level did not impact attitude toward robot coworkers. Overall, the results suggest that people prefer non-autonomous robots over autonomous robots in the work-life context. The studies provide a comprehensive overview of attitudes toward robots as both equipment and coworkers, and the key predictors of the noted attitudes. The results suggest a readiness for shared autonomy between a human operator and a robot. This should be considered in the design and successful implementation of new robot technologies in workplaces.

This article presents a comparative study of the urban water and energy sectors in the coastal city of Walvis Bay in Namibia, where the rapid urbanization places pressure on public infrastructure development. A multidata approach is used to study the ability of the energy and water sectors to adapt to this pressure. Theoretically, the analysis is guided by the systems transition framework. A comparison between the two regimes is made on four dimensions: (1) regime dynamics, (2) level of complexity, (3) level of coordination, and (4) multiplicity of perceptions. The energy regime was found to be more capable of transitioning towards more sustainable practices due to better outcomes in multi-stakeholder engagement, a higher level of transparency, and differing landscape and niche development. The energy regime is also more open for new service providers. The water regime, on the other hand, suffers from overlapping roles and practices as well as non-existent monitoring authorities, which together negatively affect the regime&rsquo, s transition potential. Both regimes suffer from lack of funding and weak institutional capacities. In conclusion, the transition potential of the studied regimes is found to increase when cross-sectoral governance is strengthened.

Social media enables information sharing and social interaction within organization. This research aims to analyze how both work- and nonwork-related communication with colleagues and the work community on social media is associated with work engagement among Finnish professionals. A total of five Finnish professional organizations ( N = 563) and a representative sample of the Finnish working population ( N = 1817) contributed to the survey data, which was analyzed with structural equation modeling. We found a direct positive association between work-related communication and work engagement among Finnish working population, and a positive indirect associations between both work- and nonwork-related communication and work engagement via organizational identification and social support. Findings suggest that communication in social media supports work engagement via organizational identification and social support. Organizations should pay more attention to social media communication practices and provide opportunities to build organizational identification and receive social support in social media.

Gambling opportunities are facilitated by the growth of the Internet and social media platforms. Digital games also increasingly include monetary features, such as microtransactions, blurring the line between gambling and gaming. The Internet provides a variety of virtual communities for gamblers and gamers, but comprehensive research on these communities and their relevance in gambling and monetary gaming behaviors remains scarce. This paper summarizes research of online gambling and monetary gaming communities based on a systematic literature review. A systematic literature search was conducted from five databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Social Science Premium Collection, and EBSCOhost. The search was limited to empirical articles that focused on gambling or gaming involving money and examined online interaction between gamblers or gamers. Preliminary search resulted in 1056 articles, from which 55 were selected for the analyses based on pre-determined criteria. According to results, online communities serve different functions in gambling and gaming behaviors. Gambling communities are typically forums for discussing and sharing gambling experiences, strategies, and tips as well as gambling problems, while gaming communities are inherently embedded inside a game being an essential part of the gaming experience. Identification with virtual communities influences gambling behavior and monetary gaming behavior through mechanisms of perceived norms, social influence, and community feedback. Whereas some gambling communities may provide protection from excessive gambling habits, gaming communities seem to solely motivate gaming behavior and purchase intentions. The role of online communities should be acknowledged in prevention and treatment of gambling and gaming problems.

PurposeSocial media platforms are increasingly used at work to facilitate work-related activities and can either challenge or make people feel more productive at jobs. This study drew from technostress and employee well-being literature and analyzed longitudinal effects of professional social media (PSM) invasion, work engagement and work exhaustion on PSM-enabled productivity.Design/methodology/approachNationally representative five-wave survey data of Finnish employees were analyzed with hybrid multilevel linear regression analysis. Outcome measure was PSM-enabled productivity and the predictors included PSM invasion, work exhaustion and work engagement. Age, gender, education, occupational sector, managerial position, remote work and personality traits were used as control variables.FindingsPSM invasion and work engagement had both within-person and between-person effects on PSM-enabled productivity. Higher educated and individuals with open personality reported higher PSM-enabled productivity. No association between work exhaustion and PSM-enabled productivity was found.Originality/valueThe findings are central considering the increasing use of social media and other technologies for work purposes. The authors challenge the dominant view in the literature that has often seen PSM invasion as a negative factor. Instead, PSM invasion's positive association with PSM-enabled productivity and the association of work engagement and PSM-enabled productivity should be recognized in work life.

This study grounded on computational social sciences and social psychology investigated sentiment and life domains, motivational, and temporal themes in social media discussions about robotic technologies. We retrieved text comments from the Reddit social media platform in March 2019 based on the following six robotic technology concepts: robot (N = 3,433,554), AI (N = 2,821,614), automation (N = 879,092), bot (N = 21,559,939), intelligent agent (N = 15,119), and software agent (N = 18,324). The comments were processed using VADER and LIWC text analysis tools and analyzed further with logistic regression models. Compared to the other four concepts, robot and AI were used less often in positive context. Comments addressing themes of leisure, money, and future were associated with positive and home, power, and past with negative comments. The results show how the context and terminology affect the emotionality in robotic technology conversations. publishedVersion

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being and mental health are a concern worldwide. This article is based on two longitudinal studies that investigated the role of social media use in loneliness and psychological distress before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 utilized nationally representative 3-point longitudinal data (n = 735) collected in 2017–2020 on the Finnish population. Study 2 utilized 5-point longitudinal data (n = 840) collected in 2019–2021 representing the Finnish working population. We analyzed the data using multilevel mixed-effects regression analysis. A longitudinal analysis of Study 1 showed that perceived loneliness did not increase among the Finnish population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stronger involvement in social media identity bubbles predicted lower loneliness during the pandemic. Study 2 results showed that since the outbreak of the pandemic, psychological distress has increased among lonely individuals but not among the general working population. Involvement in social media identity bubbles predicted generally lower psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it did not buffer against higher psychological distress among lonely individuals. The findings suggest that perceived loneliness is a risk factor for prolonged negative mental health effects of the pandemic. Social media identity bubbles can offer meaningful social resources during times of social distancing but cannot protect against higher psychological distress among those who perceive themselves as often lonely.

The balance between work and private life has become vague due to the use of social media and flexible working conditions. The study drew from technostress and wellbeing literature and examined the behavioral and psychological outcomes of professional social media invasion, the perception that work-related social media usage interferes with one’s private life. Nationally representative five-wave survey data of Finnish employees (n = 840) were analyzed with hybrid liner regression analysis. Results showed an increase of social media-enabled productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020 – Spring 2021. Professional social media invasion was associated with both within-person and between person effects on social media-enabled productivity. Additionally, work engagement was associated with within-person and between person effects. Higher educated and individuals with open personality reported higher social media-enabled productivity. We challenge the dominant view that professional social media invasion is solely a negative factor. Instead, perceived social media-enabled productivity should be recognized in organizations.

The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus and the associated disease (COVID-19) has changed working conditions due to social-distancing policies. Many workers started to use new technologies at work, including social media applications. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the potential stress effects of social media communication (SMC) at work. Based on our integrative theoretical model, we expected that SMC at work would burden some workers, but those who were accustomed to SMC at work would be better off when the crisis started. We collected a nationally representative sample of Finnish workers before (N = 1308) and during (N = 1081) the COVID-19 crisis. Outcome measures included technostress and work exhaustion. Multilevel linear mixed-effects regression models investigated formal and informal SMC at work. Covariates included cyberbullying at work, social media usage, personality, occupational status, and sociodemographic factors. Results showed that formal SMC increased and predicted higher technostress. However, technostress and work exhaustion decreased among workers already accustomed to using SMC at work before the crisis. The results indicate a disparity in workers’ resilience during remote work and highlight a need for organizational level support. publishedVersion

Smartphone use has changed patterns of online and offline interaction. Phubbing (i.e., looking at one’s phone instead of paying attention to others) is an increasingly recognized phenomenon in offline interaction. We examined whether people who phub are more likely to have lower social intelligence, whether phubbing is considered more annoying than being ignored due to reading a magazine, and if people describe smartphones and magazines differently as sources of social distraction. We collected two survey samples (N = 112, N = 108) for a cartoon-based role-playing experiment (the Bystander Inaccessibility Experiment) in which a smartphone user and a person reading a magazine ignored the respondents’ conversational initiatives. Annoyance in each scenario was measured, and written accounts were collected on why the respondents rated the scenarios the way they did. Other measures used included the Generic Scale of Phubbing, Generic Scale of Being Phubbed, and Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale. The results showed that participants in both samples were more annoyed by phubbing than by being ignored due to reading a magazine. Linear regression analyses showed that phubbing was associated with lower social intelligence, even after adjusting for confounding factors. The annoyingness of phubbing was explained with negative attitudes toward smartphones, which were assumed to be used for useless endeavors, while magazines were more appreciated and seen as more cultivating. The role of bystanders’ epistemic access to the smartphone user’s activities is discussed.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic restricted everyday life during 2020-2021 for many people worldwide. It also affected alcohol consumption patterns and leisure activities, including the use of social media. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze whether social media use predicts increased risky drinking over time and during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in particular. METHODS This 5-wave longitudinal survey study, based on a nationwide sample of workers, was conducted in Finland in 2019-2021. A total of 840 respondents (male: 473/840, 56.31%; age range 18-64 years; mean age 43.90, SD 11.14 years) participated in all 5 waves of the study. The outcome variable was risky drinking, measured using the 3-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C). Multilevel linear hybrid modeling enabled the investigation of both within-person and between-person effects. Predictors included social media use and communication, involvement in social media identity bubbles, psychological distress, and remote working. Controls included sociodemographic factors and the Big Five personality traits. RESULTS Increased involvement in social media identity bubbles was associated with an increase in risky drinking behavior. Of all social media platforms examined, online dating app use was associated with riskier use of alcohol over time during the COVID-19 crisis. Daily social media communication with colleagues about nonwork topics was associated with risky drinking. Female gender, younger age, university education, nonindustrial occupational field, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism were associated with lower levels of risky drinking. CONCLUSIONS Social media use during a pandemic carries some risks for alcohol consumption. Involvement in social media identity bubbles and online dating are risk factors for excessive drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study investigated the impact of cyberbullying victimization at work on well-being and strain in the workplace. This is the first study to use a longitudinal approach to research cyberbullying at work. A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers ( n = 768) took part in a five-wave survey study. Both within-person and between-person effects were analyzed using hybrid regression models showing that experiencing cyberbullying at work leads to psychological distress, technostress, work exhaustion, and decreased work engagement. The effects of remote work and social media use were also explored. These results confirm that cyberbullying at work can have damaging consequences for victims and, consequently, for whole organizations. Thus, it constitutes a significant problem that employers must confront.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has changed work life profoundly and concerns regarding the mental well-being of employees’ have arisen. Organizations have made rapid digital advancements and have started to use new collaborative tools such as social media platforms overnight. OBJECTIVE Our study aimed to investigate how professional social media communication has affected work engagement before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of perceived social support, task resources, and psychological distress as predictors and moderators of work engagement. METHODS Nationally representative longitudinal survey data were collected in 2019-2020, and 965 respondents participated in all 4 surveys. Measures included work engagement, perceived social support and task resources, and psychological distress. The data were analyzed using a hybrid linear regression model. RESULTS Work engagement remained stable and only decreased in autumn 2020. Within-person changes in social media communication at work, social support, task resources, and psychological distress were all associated with work engagement. The negative association between psychological distress and work engagement was stronger in autumn 2020 than before the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted pressure on mental health at work. Fostering social support and task resources at work is important in maintaining work engagement. Social media communication could help maintain a supportive work environment.

After a long history of industrial automation, robots are entering service fields at an accelerating rate due to the recent technological advances in robotics. Understanding the acceptance and applicability of robots is essential for successful introduction, desired benefits, and well-managed transformation of the labor market. In this work, we investigated whether service sector professionals consider robots applicable to their field compared to professionals from other sectors. We collected survey data from Finnish (N = 1817) and U.S. participants (N = 1740) and analyzed them using ordinary least squares regression. Results showed that Finnish and U.S. participants from the service sector disclosed a less positive attitude toward robots’ suitability to their own occupational field compared to participants from other fields. Younger age, technological expertise, prior experience interacting with robots at work, and positive attitude toward robots were associated with higher perceived robot suitability. Perceived robot suitability was also found to mediate the relationship between occupational sector and positive interaction attitudes. The results indicate that robots entering into service industries evokes some resistance and doubt in professionals of these fields. Increasing technological knowledge and prior experience with robots at work are central factors when introducing robots in a socially sustainable way. acceptedVersion

We investigated how people react emotionally to working with robots in three scenario-based role-playing survey experiments collected in 2019 and 2020 from the United States (Study 1: N = 1003; Study 2: N = 969, Study 3: N = 1059). Participants were randomly assigned to groups and asked to write a short post about a scenario in which we manipulated the number of robot teammates or the size of the social group (work team vs. organization). Emotional content of the corpora was measured using six sentiment analysis tools, and socio-demographic and other factors were assessed through survey questions and LIWC lexicons and further analyzed in Study 4. The results showed that people are less enthusiastic about working with robots than with humans. Our findings suggest these more negative reactions stem from feelings of oddity in an unusual situation and the lack of social interaction. publishedVersion

Background: The COVID-19 crisis has changed the conditions of many all over the globe. One negative consequence of the ongoing pandemic is anxiety brought about by uncertainty and the COVID-19 disease. Increased anxiety is a potential risk factor for wellbeing at work. This study investigated psychological, situational, and socio-demographic predictors of COVID-19 anxiety using longitudinal data. Methods: A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers (N = 1308) was collected before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Eighty percent of the participants responded to the follow-up study (N = 1044). COVID-19 anxiety was measured with a modified Spielberger State&ndash, Trait Anxiety Inventory. Psychological and situational predictors included perceived loneliness, psychological distress, technostress, personality, social support received from the work community, and remote working. A number of socio-demographic factors were also investigated. Results: Perceived loneliness, psychological distress, technostress, and neuroticism were identified as robust psychological predictors of COVID-19 anxiety. Increase in psychological distress and technostress during the COVID-19 crisis predicted higher COVID-19 anxiety. A recent change in their field of work and decreased social support from work communities predicted COVID-19 anxiety. Women and young people experienced higher anxiety. Conclusions: Different factors explain workers&rsquo, COVID-19 anxiety. Increased anxiety can disrupt wellbeing at work, emphasizing the organizations&rsquo, role in maintaining an inclusive and caring work culture and providing technical and psychological support to workers during crisis.

Aims The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus rapidly increased working remotely in many countries. The aim of this study was to analyze psychological stressors predicting increased drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Also, individual and socio-demographic differences were analyzed. Methods A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers (N = 1308) was collected before the crisis in September–October 2019 and 82.02% of them responded to a follow-up survey conducted in March–April 2020. Increased drinking was the outcome variable and it was measured with the AUDIT-C before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Predictors measured before the crisis included cyberbullying victimization at work, psychological distress, burnout and work climate. Additional measures included personality factors, socio-demographic factors and occupational information. Results One-fourth of Finnish workers (25.37%) reported increased drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress before the crisis predicted increased drinking during the crisis. Conscientious workers and those working in educational and health and welfare sectors were less likely to increase drinking, while increased drinking was most common among workers under 30 years of age. Conclusions Psychological stressors are risk factors for increased drinking in unusual times such as the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress were found as major risk factors. The results suggest that preventive work should be done at workplaces. This is particularly important if alcohol consumption is used as a means of coping during a stressful time.

BACKGROUND The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapidly increased working remotely in many countries. Hazardous drinking during lockdown has caused worry among experts and increased consumption might be more prevalent among workers facing mental health risks prior to the crisis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze increased hazardous drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. The analysis focused on investigating whether mental health risks such as cyberbullying victimization at work, burnout and psychological distress experienced prior to the crisis predicted increased hazardous drinking during the crisis. We also investigated individual and socio-demographic differences in increased hazardous drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers (N = 1,308) was collected before the crisis in September–August 2019 and 82.02% of them responded to a follow-up survey conducted in March–April 2020. Increased hazardous drinking was the outcome variable and it was measured with the AUDIT-C before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Predictors included cyberbullying victimization at work, psychological distress, burnout, work climate, and personality factors. Number of socio-demographic factors including occupational information were also investigated. RESULTS Approximately one fourth of Finnish workers (25.37%) reported increased hazardous drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress before the crisis predicted increased hazardous drinking during the crisis. Conscientious workers and those working in educational and health and welfare sectors were less likely to increase hazardous drinking, while increased hazardous drinking was most common among workers under 30 years of age. CONCLUSIONS Psychological stressors are risk factors for hazardous drinking in unusual times such as the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress were found as major risk factors. The results suggest that preventive work should be done at workplaces. This is particularly important if alcohol consumption is used as a means of coping during a stressful time, as increased alcohol drinking for the purpose of coping may persist even after the stressor is gone.

Cyberbullying at work takes many forms, from aggressive and threatening behavior to social ostracism. It can also have adverse consequences on general well-being that might be even more severe for people whose identities are centrally based on social media ties. We examined this type of identity-driven social media use via the concept of social media identity bubbles. We first analyzed the risk and protective factors associated with cyberbullying victimization at work and then investigated its impacts on well-being. We expected that workers strongly involved in social media identity bubbles would be in the worst position when faced with cyberbullying. Data include a sample of workers from five Finnish expert organizations (N = 563) and a representative sample of Finnish workers (N = 1817). We investigated cyberbullying at work with 10 questions adapted from the Cyberbullying Behavior Questionnaire. Other measures included scales for private and professional social media usage, social media identity bubbles (six-item Identity Bubble Reinforcement Scale), well-being at work, sociodemographic factors, and job-related information. Prevalence of monthly cyberbullying victimization at work was 13% in expert organizations and 17% in the Finnish working population. Victims were young, active users of professional social media and they were strongly involved in social media identity bubbles. Victims who were in social media identity bubbles reported higher psychological distress, exhaustion, and technostress than other victims. Cyberbullying at work is a prevalent phenomenon and has negative outcomes on well-being at work. Negative consequences are more severe among those with highly identity-driven social media use.

BACKGROUND The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has dramatically changed societies in 2020. Since the end of February, Europe has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19, but there are major country differences in both the spread of the virus and measures taken to stop the virus. Social psychological factors such as institutional trust could be important in understanding the development of the epidemic. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine country variations of COVID-19 mortality in Europe by analyzing social risk factors explaining the spread of the disease, restrictions and control measures, and institutional trust. METHODS The present study was based on a background analysis of European Social Survey data on 25 European countries (N=47,802). Multilevel mixed effects linear regression models focused on 84 days of the COVID-19 epidemic (January 22 to April 14, 2020) and modelled the daily COVID-19 mortality. Analysis focused on the impact of social relations, restrictions, and institutional trust within each country. RESULTS The spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has been fast everywhere, but the findings revealed significant differences between countries in COVID-19 mortality. Perceived sociability predicted higher COVID-19 mortality. Major differences between the 25 countries were found in reaction times to the crisis. Late reaction to the crisis predicted later mortality figures. Institutional trust was associated with lower COVID-19 mortality. CONCLUSIONS The analyses demonstrated the importance of societal and social psychological factors in the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. By considering multiple perspectives, this study showed that country differences in Europe are major, and this will have an impact on how countries will cope with the ongoing crisis in the following months. The results indicated the importance of timely restrictions and cooperation with people.

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has dramatically changed societies in 2020 Since the end of February, Europe has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19, b

Online harassment and hate are personally and societally harmful phenomenona many social media users experience every day. Based on social psychological approach to online harassment and theories of coping behaviors, we investigated how professionals who use the Internet in their work react to online harassment. We collected survey data from Finnish university employees (N = 2492) and local politicians (N = 510). We used logistic regression modeling for the analysis. According to the results, frequent social media use was associated with active reactions to online harassment in both samples. Among politicians, concerns about becoming a future online harassment victim was consistently associated with both standing up against the attackers and recommending others to do so. Higher scores for anxiety and belonging to social media identity bubbles were found to predict recommendations for active reactions in both samples. Several further sample-specific factors were also identified. The results demonstrate that psychological and behavioral factors, as well as individual differences, play a meaningful role in reactions to online harassment among professionals. These influencing factors are necessary to understand the dynamics of online harassment situations and their aftermath, and as such need to be considered in prevention and intervention programs. publishedVersion

This study investigated whether the introduction of robots as teammates has an impact on in-group identification. We used two samples from the United States (N = 1003, N = 969). Participants were asked to imagine a hypothetical situation in which they were assigned to a work team at a new job. The number of robot teammates was manipulated, and the control group included only humans. Two studies examined perceived in-group identification with variance analysis and individual differences with regression analysis. Having a robot on the work team had a negative impact on in-group identification. The results suggest that when humans are members of minority subgroup within a work team, their subgroup identity is threatened. Identification with a work team including robot members is associated with individual factors such as attitude towards robots, technological expertise, and personality. Our findings indicate that introducing a robot as a teammate may affect in-group identification process negatively with some individual differences. acceptedVersion

Architectural design plays a crucial role in sustainable city development. In fast-growing cities in developing countries, it can be a challenge to reach sustainable results. In this paper, we propose the use of Empathic Design, borrowed from the human-centered design field, as one means to support the work of architects and other stakeholders in these settings. To investigate aspects in which this method could be helpful, we have synthesized two existing sustainability models and applied them to three examples of affordable housing from different low-resource settings. After analysis of the examples, we propose a model with an equal balance between the four different dimensions of sustainability&mdash, environmental, economic, social, and cultural&mdash, where the aspects that need inhabitant engagement are highlighted. We argue that, to be able to hold the balance between the diverse dimensions of sustainability, the architect needs to understand in-depth the living conditions of people for whom he or she is designing. This calls for a fine-tuned participatory approach when designing in low-resource settings. It may not always be easy to reach this level of participation, but we propose that it can be achieved when the architecture is created through empathic involvement. The use of Empathic Design methods throughout the design process thus supports the endeavor towards sustainable results.

Robots today are working in both industrial and service sectors. Robots have evolved from one-function automatons to intelligent systems of versatile features, and the new generation of service robots are sharing same space and tasks with humans. The aim of this systematic literature review was to examine how the social acceptance of robots in different occupational fields has been studied and what kinds of attitudes the studies have discovered regarding robots as workers. The data were collected in October 2016 from four major bibliographic databases. Preliminary search results included 336 research articles from which 42 were selected to the final research through inclusion criteria. Of the studies, 69% concerned robots working in health and social services. Positive attitudes occurred more frequently in studies exposing participants to robots. Robots were considered appropriate for different work tasks. Telepresence robots were highly approved by health care staff. The criticism was directed to decreasing human contact and unnecessary deployment of new technology. Our results imply that attitudes toward robots are positive in many fields of work. Yet there is a need for validated measures and nationally representative data that would help us to further our understanding of social acceptance of robots in work.