Date & Time: July 28th 13:00-14:00

Venue: Lecture Room and Zoom

Speaker: Dr. Ayu Pratiwi (Postdoctoral Researcher, Turku School of Economics, the University of Turku, Finland)

Talk Title: Associations between Virtual Community of Practices (VCoP) with personality traits and household shocks’ coping strategies: Evidence from Indonesian aquaculture communities

Language: English

Registration for online participation.

Abstract

The Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) is an important platform of learning for the farming communities, as it allows for user interaction, information sharing, and knowledge co-creation irrespective of their physical location. However, its effects on the users’ psychological features and behaviour in perceiving and responding to external shocks are not well understood. This study looks at how VCoP affects users’ personality traits and perception of negative external shocks. We exploit unique survey data of Indonesian aquaculture communities comprising 1,658 Vannamei shrimp producers, with 273 (16.5%) being the users of the Indonesian Vannamei Shrimp Community Facebook group and 1,385 (83.5%) non-users. We examine users and non-users personality indices that combine self-efficacy, self-esteem, and locus of control indicators, how they perceive farm shocks, and how they cope. We found a negative correlation between VCoP use and general personality traits. Because people discussed good farming practices in VCoP, other users may get the impression that they are not as successful as other VCoP members, resulting in a decline in their self-esteem. Furthermore, VCoP users are less likely to report adverse farm shocks in the preceding year. VCoP members might inform other users about potential negative farm shocks, thereby increasing their awareness and making them more prepared. While social media has been generally demonstrated to have detrimental effects on personality, VCoP use might present more nuanced consequences on the users’ psychological traits, future behaviour, and responses to external shocks.