This research examines the mediating role of the tendency for Internet addiction, fear of missing out (FOMO), and psychological well-being in the relationship between online exposure to movement-related information and support for radical actions. A questionnaire survey that targets tertiary students was conducted during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement (N = 290). The findings reveal the mediating effect of Internet addiction and depression on the main relationship. These findings enrich the literature of political communication by addressing the political impact of Internet use beyond digital architecture. From the perspective of psychology, this research echoes the literature that concerns depression symptoms driven by a protest environment. Radical political attitudes driven by depression during protests should also be concerned based on the findings of this survey.

This paper aims to evaluate the economic impact after Macao decided to liberalize its gaming industry. By analysing both objective data of official statistics and subjective data of the perceptions of quality of life, we painted a picture of mixed blessings. Although objective indicators showed strong economic growth in terms of a rise in per capita GDP and public revenue as well as a decline in unemployment rate, subjective indicators revealed that local residents were less than optimistic about their own employment outlook and did not perceive any improvement in their overall economic situation. While casino liberalization brought forth tremendous economic gain, the general population did not subjectively feel the benefits. An integrative analysis of both objective and subjective indicators would therefore allow us to look closer how residents’ lives in the micro-level could have been adversely affected by the prosperous economic outlook at the macro-level.

Suitcase trade is a common activity along state borders in Asia. Existing scholarship has often viewed such suitcase trade as locally embedded activities characterised by informality. This article contends that this perception underestimates the diversity and complexity of suitcase trade. This is illustrated with a case study of the Pearl River Delta region of southern China, where thousands of suitcase traders carry goods across the borders between mainland China and its two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. Several patterns of operation run in parallel, ranging from petty traders working alone to highly-organised group operators. While each individual transaction is small scale and based on informal networks, the entire chain of operations is run by syndicates that are highly organised, commercial, with well-defined divisions of labour, and on a large scale. We describe such a combination of organisational competence and informal networks as “organised informality.” The concept allows us to expand the analytical horizon to cover those cross-border exchanges that incorporate modern commercial practices in otherwise non-formal settings. It also bridges the oft-criticised dichotomies of formal-informal and licit-illicit.

Background: Drawing on the intolerance of uncertainty model, this study aimed to examine whether intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation difficulties (in terms of impulse control difficulties and limited access to emotion regulation strategies) contributed to individual differences in gambling urge and involvement. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit Chinese adult participants who had engaged in buying lottery tickets and other gambling activities in the past year. They were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire survey, and a total of 580 valid cases (M_age = 34.07, SD = 13.36; 50.4% female) were collected for data analysis. Results: Path analysis showed that the total effect of intolerance of uncertainty on gambling urge and involvement was significant and positive. However, only impulse control difficulties and not limited access to emotion regulation strategies fully mediated the effect of intolerance of uncertainty. Conclusions: As the first study to apply the intolerance of uncertainty model to real-life gambling, it found that individuals’ intolerance of uncertainty and impulse control difficulties contributed to more gambling urge and involvement. Improving emotion regulation skill (e.g., impulse control training) may, therefore, be considered in programs for promoting responsible gambling among Chinese gamblers.