The role of personality traits in participation in an Online Cancer Community
Aslib Journal of Information Management
ISSN: 2050-3806
Article publication date: 25 July 2022
Issue publication date: 23 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate how personality traits influence participative behaviour in an Online Cancer Community (OCC).
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 users of one of the largest OCCs in Australia – Cancer Council Online Community in New South Wales (NSW).
Findings
The results showed that extraversion, emotional stability and agreeableness traits influence posting behaviour, whereas the conscientiousness trait influences lurking behaviour. The openness trait did not affect either posters or lurkers’ online behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
The research highlights the pivotal role of personality traits in users’ decisions to post or lurk using a multi-theory perspective that combined the social exchange theory and the Five-Factor Model. Future studies should explore personality traits that can benefit from online participation in an OCC to transition only lurkers who may benefit from posting.
Practical implications
Insights from the study inform OCC practitioners and moderators when designing the OCC platform. Except for the openness trait, lurkers and posters exhibited different attitudes, which indicates that integrating these findings in the OCC design can facilitate adopting strategies to elicit more participation by OCC users.
Originality/value
This is the first study that explored the role of personality traits in users’ decisions to participate in an OCC.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Annette Beattie, Kate Fenerty and Rhiannon Davies from the Cancer Council NSW of Australia for the continued support and guidance throughout the project process. The authors would also like to thank all the interview participants for sharing the valuable experiences.
Citation
Badreddine, B., Blount, Y. and Quilter, M. (2023), "The role of personality traits in participation in an Online Cancer Community", Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 75 No. 2, pp. 318-341. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2022-0242
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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