Cheuk Fan Ng

Satisfying shoppers’ psychological needs: From public market to cyber-mall☆

Abstract In many cities in North America and Europe, shopping centres are replacing the traditional high street shops. At the same time, electronic shopping is growing rapidly. In this paper, the results of a literature review of environment–behaviour research on shopping and shopping environments (e.g., farmers markets, shopping centres, and electronic shopping) are presented. The focus of analysis is on how the physical features (e.g., layout and background music) influence shoppers’ experiences, and on how well these environments satisfy the psychological needs of their shoppers (e.g., social interaction, sensory stimulation, and security and comfort). Any implications for environmental design, and the future of shopping environments are discussed. A conceptual framework and suggestions for future research are proposed.

Housing and Living Arrangements of South Asian Immigrant Seniors in Edmonton, Alberta

The Canadian population is aging and becoming more ethnically diverse. This paper focuses on South Asian immigrant seniors and examines differences in housing and living arrangements among seniors who immigrated at different life stages. We interviewed a convenience sample of 161 immigrant seniors of South Asian descent in Edmonton, Alberta, to assess type of living arrangement, type of housing and dwelling density (measured in persons per room), activity in the neighbourhood, and means of transportation. Overall, those seniors who came to Canada before the end of mid-life were more likely than those who came at an older age to drive a car and, if married, to live in a one- or two-generation family. Women were more likely than men to be widowed, have poorer English-language skills, or live with a three-generation family if unmarried, and less likely to drive a car. Most respondents were satisfied with their living arrangements, housing, and perceived safety at home and in their neighbourhood. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Living arrangements and loneliness of South Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Canada

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationships between self-reported loneliness and living arrangements. A structured questionnaire with some open-ended questions was administered face-to-face in English, Hindi or Punjabi to a sample of 161 elderly South Asian immigrants 60 or more years of age living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The majority of respondents said that they never felt lonely. More than one in three (37.3%) respondents indicated that they felt lonely occasionally, frequently or all of the time. Those living alone were significantly more likely to report feeling lonely at least occasionally than were those living with others, especially those living with their spouse in an extended family. The fact that South Asian immigrant seniors typically lived with others, often in an extended family with or without their spouse, and rarely lived alone protected them to some extent from loneliness. However, our findings showed that among those living with others, it was the amount of waking time spent alone at home and the quality of family relationships rather than living arrangement per se that significantly predicted self-reported loneliness. Nevertheless, living in a larger household was associated with spending less time alone. We discuss plausible influences of culture on expectations regarding family and social relationships and on the meaning of being alone, as well as practical implications for addressing loneliness in a multi-cultural society.

The Ethnic and National Identity of South Asian Immigrant Seniors Living in Edmonton, Canada

The Canadian population is aging and also becoming more ethnically diverse. This study examined differences in identities among South Asian seniors who immigrated at different life stages with different lengths of residency in Canada. We interviewed 161 immigrants of South Asian descent in Edmonton, Canada, aged 60 and older about their ethnic/national identity, transnational ties, cultural retention and practices, and participation in and concerns about life in Canada. Our findings show that women were more likely than men to see themselves as more South Asian than Canadian. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis showed that older age at immigration and low English-language proficiency were significant predictors of ethnic identity. These findings indicated the importance of language for ethnic and national (Canadian) identity and revealed that South Asian immigrant elders who came to Canada in later life tended to retain their ethnic identities, while immigrant elders who came to Canada earlier in life were more likely to have developed a bicultural identity that incorporated both ethnic and Canadian identity. Related to the notion of bicultural identity, strong transnational ties with the country of origin were associated with greater participation in Canadian society. La population canadienne vieillit et, par ailleurs, se diversifie ethniquement. Cette étude porte sur les différences identitaires parmi les aînés immigrés d’Asie du Sud qui sont arrivés au Canada à des âges divers et qui y sont depuis plus ou moins longtemps. Cent soixante et une personnes de 60 ans et plus ont répondu à nos questions portant sur leur identité ethnique / nationale canadienne, leurs liens transnationaux, le maintien d’habitudes culturelles ainsi que leur participation et l’intérêt qu’elles portent à la vie au Canada. Il en résulte que les femmes ont davantage que les hommes tendance à se percevoir plutôt comme sud-asiatiques que comme canadiennes. En outre, l’analyse de régression logistique montre qu’un âge plus avancé lors de l’immigration et une connaissance limitée de l’anglais sont des indices significatifs d’identité ethnique. Selon nos résultats, la langue joue un rôle important à cet égard, et c’étaient surtout les aînés plus âgés lors de leur immigration d’Asie du Sud qui tendaient à maintenir cette ethnicité, alors que ceux venus plus jeunes au Canada avaient davantage propension à une identité biculturelle qui incorporait les deux aspects, l’ethnique et le canadien. À propos de la définition d’identité biculturelle, nous avons découvert que de forts liens transnationaux avec le pays d’origine étaient associés à une plus grande participation à la société canadienne.

Public spaces as workplace for mobile knowledge workers

Purpose This purpose of this paper is to review the relationships between the physical and social characteristics of public and semi-public spaces and work behaviors of mobile knowledge workers employed by organizations. Design/methodology/approach This is a literature review of research from several disciplines on teleworking from multiple settings, particularly in public and semi-public spaces. Findings This review suggests that both the physical and social characteristics of public and semi-public spaces can constrain the cognitive work and communication of knowledge workers. The physical characteristics include amount of space, layout, ambient conditions and internet and Wi-Fi connectivity. To be effective, mobile workers perform different tasks at different workplaces that support those specific work tasks. Planning and coordinating work tasks for different workplaces is time-consuming and requires anticipation of constraints and effort to overcome obstacles encountered in these places. Research limitations/implications Little empirical research focusing on these new workplaces is available. There is much need for future research that uses larger, representative samples and a diversity of methods. As this paper is based on a review of a small number of studies currently available in peer-reviewed journals written in English, the findings should be considered tentative. Practical implications Understanding how the design of the physical workplace, work processes, organizational support and its interface with the virtual space support successful mobile work is crucial for organizations. Corporate real estate and facility managers of public and semi-public spaces should support mobile workers’ needs for internet and Wi-Fi connectivity and provide separate spaces for cognitive work and private business conversations. Originality/value This paper extends the research about teleworking from home to working in public and semi-public spaces.

Living Arrangements of South Asian Immigrant Seniors in Edmonton, Canada: An Assessment of the Economic, Cultural, Health, and Availability of Kin Explanations

Immigrants from Asian countries who are living in Canada are more likely to live with extended families than Canadian-born seniors. This article focuses on the living arrangements of 161 South Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and examines the relative importance of various factors that influence living arrangements. Demographic characteristics were associated with living arrangements; seniors who immigrated when they were young and were married were the most likely to live independently. Logistic regression analyses suggest that economic and cultural factors were more important than health and availability of kin factors in explaining living arrangements, after controlling for demographic and immigration variables.

Research productivity and impact of professors in Canadian undergraduate psychology programmes.

Professors in small departments do carry out research, and they can serve an important role in inspiring and preparing undergraduate students for graduate school. Although normative data of research productivity and impact of professors in Canadian psychology graduate departments have been reported, no normative data are available for professors in departments that offer undergraduate programmes only. Such normative data would provide a fuller picture of research productivity in academic psychology in Canada and help students in small departments identify mentors. In the present study, normative data of research productivity and impact for 165 professors in 14 Canadian psychology departments that offer only undergraduate programmes were provided through an analysis of data from publicly available databases. The results show that these professors (excluding 5 outliers) had a mean of 11.74 career-to-date peer-reviewed journal articles (Md = 9), 268 citations (Md = 130), and an h-index of 6.30 (Md = 5), and there were great variations on all measures. Most significant was that research field had significant effects on number of career-to-date publications and h-index, but research field was no longer a significant factor for the number of publications at their current institutions. As expected, there was a significant main effect of academic rank (p < .05) but no significant differences in productivity and impact between men and women. Limitations of using such archival data and implications of the findings for professors and students in undergraduate programmes are discussed. Les professeurs de petits départements effectuent des recherches et peuvent jouer un rôle important en inspirant et en préparant les étudiants du premier cycle en vue d’études supérieures. Des données normatives sur la productivité et l’incidence de la recherche ont été publiées au sujet des professeurs des départements de psychologie offrant un programme d’études supérieures, mais il n’en existe pas sur les professeurs de départements qui offrent seulement des programmes de premier cycle. De telles données normatives permettraient de peindre un portrait plus complet de la productivité de la recherche au sein de la psychologie universitaire au Canada et aideraient les étudiants de petits départements à déterminer des mentors. Dans la présente étude, des données normatives sur la productivité et l’incidence de la recherche sont fournies pour 165 professeurs de 14 départements de psychologie d’universités canadiennes offrant uniquement des programmes de premier cycle; elles ont été dégagées de bases de données accessibles au public. Les résultats montrent que ces professeurs (sauf 5 anomalies) ont, au cours de leur carrière, publié en moyenne 11,74 articles dans des revues à comité de lecture (Md = 9), obtenu 268 citations (Md = 130), pour un facteur h (h-index) de 6,30 (Md = 5). Toutes les mesures comportaient d’importantes variations. Le domaine de recherche a un effet important sur le nombre de publications en carrière et le facteur h, mais il perdait de son importance quant au nombre d’articles publiés à leur institution actuelle. Comme on pouvait s’y attendre, le rang universitaire a un effet important (p < 0,5), mais on ne constate aucune différence au chapitre de la productivité et de l’incidence entre les hommes et les femmes. Sont présentées les limites d’un tel usage de données d’archives et les répercussions des résultats pour les professeurs et les étudiants de programmes de premier cycle.

Living and Working in Tall Buildings: Satisfaction and Perceived Benefits and Concerns of Occupants

In the last few decades, tall buildings of 30 to over 100 stories are becoming more common in modern cities around the world, especially in Asia and the Middle-East, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Extensive research has focused on the technical aspects of erecting tall buildings, yet few recent studies have been conducted to examine occupants’ experiences and responses. To assess what is already known about living and working in these tall buildings and to provide future directions for research, this paper reviews recent empirical studies on occupants’ perception of tall buildings, and physiological and psychological experiences in relation to its tallness. Occupants perceive better view, less noise, and better air quality as benefits for living and working on higher floors than on lower floors. However, occupants also expressed concerns about height, difficulty with vertical transportation, strong wind, and escape in case of fire. Note that the methodologies used in many of the self-reported studies are relatively weak. Given the scarcity of research regarding human responses, this mini-review aims to encourage behavioral scientists to collaborate with building science researchers to advance our understanding of human-environmental relations in this new habitat.