Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how variation in product information about environmental consequences could make professional food purchasers inclined to choose more environmentally friendly alternatives. Design/methodology/approach: In an internet-based experiment, the paper systematically varies environmental and price information about food products and measures the effects on product choice. In addition, the paper varies the condition of choice. Findings: More complex and detailed environmental information, compared with simpler and less detailed information, was paired with a stronger preference for environmentally benign products. This effect was accentuated when the task was to minimize costs compared with that to promote the environment. Negative information, which is bad for the environment, had a stronger effect than positive information. Originality/value: The research shows that detailed information emphasising potentially destructive environmental consequences may promote the choice of environmentally sustainable products among professional purchasers. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

The purpose of the present study was, first, to detect possible changes in health-related quality of life (HRQL) over time and, second, to predict HRQL at 1 year based on measures made 1 week and 5 months after a first-time acute myocardial infarction. There was an improvement in HRQL at 1 year, as measured by the questionnaire 36-item Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form (SF-36), for both men and women as compared with the assessment 5 months after the acute myocardial infarction. However, the pattern was somewhat different for women and men. Women mainly reported increased scores on scales reflecting better mental health, whereas men, on the whole, demonstrated higher scores in the physical health domain. Depression (HAD) and fatigue were identified as early predictors of lower HRQL at the 1-year follow-up. Our conclusion is that early assessment of fatigue and depression is worthwhile, as they may indicate decreased HRQL in men and women 1 year after first-time myocardial infarction.

In the present study, we wished to explore physical activity in middle-aged patients 6 months after a myocardial infarction and to compare the patients' self-reported activity level with pedometric measures of footsteps/day. The sample comprised 89 patients with myocardial infarction, aged

Surviving a myocardial infarction (MI) can be a stressful event entailing challenges in daily life during the recovery period. Experiencing fatigue symptoms post-MI has been described as bothersome and occurs in nearly half of patients four months and two years after MI. The aetiology of fatigue disorder is unclear, but research has shown that fatigue plays an important role in the relationship between stress and perceived poor health. Previous findings indicate that having access to an easily administered stress measurement is worthwhile both in the clinic and in research. The single-item measure of stress symptoms has not been validated in persons treated for MI. The aim was to validate the single-item measure of stress symptoms and to explore its association with fatigue in a sample of persons treated for MI. Methods: 142 respondents completed the questionnaires of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, the single-item measure of stress symptoms and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PPS-10) two months post-MI. Correlation analysis and t-tests were used to validate the single-item stress measure and its association with post-MI fatigue. Results: The convergent validity of the single-item measure of stress symptoms was confirmed. In analyses of relations between stress and fatigue, it was found that the single-item stress measure was strongly associated with both the global fatigue score and all four fatigue dimension scores (general, physical and mental fatigue as well as reduced activity). Conclusion: The single-item measure of stress symptoms was found to be a valid measure of post-MI stress. Also, the measure was useful in assessing associations between stress and fatigue and could therefore indicate that post-MI fatigue experiences should be further explored in full using multidimensional fatigue assessmen

Human Resource Management students' beliefs about how work should be organised will influence their behaviour in future professional positions. This prompted a study in which students in a three-year programme in Human Resource Management at University West in Sweden commented on a number of statements about what work should ideally be like. All 140 respondents were born between 1978 and 1990 and hence belong to Generation Y, also known as Generation Me. The respondents generally agreed strongly with humanistic beliefs about work and female students agreed with humanistic beliefs to a far greater extent than male students.

This paper evaluates associations between values and preference for the Fairtrade concept andcompares the ecocentric and anthroprocentric views of Nature. The intention of Fairtrade productlabelling is to increase consumers' awareness of products that have a presumably more positiveinfluence on workers' lives in developing countries. The ecocentric view assumes that Nature hasan intrinsic value and should be preserved regardless of economic implications. The anthropocentricview, on the other hand, assumes Nature has value only because of the material, physical,or other benefits Nature provides humans. All respondents in the study were residents of Gestad, asmall town in a sparsely populated area of Sweden. Among the main results of the study was thatself-transcendence values (e.g., universalism and benevolence) were positively correlated with apreference for Fairtrade and ecocentrism, and negatively correlated with anthropocentrism. Conservationvalues (e.g., tradition and conformity) were positively correlated with anthropocentrism,and negatively correlated with a preference for Fairtrade. Another result was that women weremore positive than men towards Fairtrade and ecocentrism.

Dualists view mind and body as two fundamentally different kinds of “things”. Mind and the physical body are viewed as equally real and neither of them is, in a primal way, thought to be dependent on the other. Cartesian or “substance” dualism include the idea that mind and body belong to two different substances, the non-physical and the physical. These two substances are furthermore thought to influence each other causally. Physicalism, on the other hand, is the notion that everything is physical or totally dependent of and determined by physical items. In this view everything in the world is composed by the same kind of substance, which is physical or material. All mental states are hence fundamentally physical states. In the current study Swedish university students views on the mind-body relationship as well as the importance they attached to different personal values were measured using a self-report inventory. Students that attached more importance to the power value; that is to strive for social status and prestige, and control or dominance over people and resources, were found to hold stronger non-dualistic or physicalistic views on the mind-body relationship. If similar results in future studies of professional philosophers should be found it would challenge the idea that philosophical arguments and opinions is something “above” or “are unaffected by” psychological factors such as personal values.

This report is an overview of academic research into consumer attitudes towards, and choice of, alternatives with ethical, in the sense of socially aware, product labelling. Nearly all research within this field has been conducted on consumers in (northern) Europe and in the USA. In certain literature on the subject, a broader definition is used of ethical product alternatives; normally products are included in that case with different types of environmental labelling. Socially responsible product labelling focuses on issues linked to how the production of labelled goods influences both the people as well as the local communities where the production of the goods takes place. In order for the product to be socially labelled it is necessary that active work is undertaken in the field of employee rights. Child labour and all forms of discrimination shall be actively opposed while democracy and the right to organise in the workplace, including the right to form trade unions, shall be promoted. The purpose of social labelling is that consumers in the developed world shall be given the possibility of choosing product alternatives that have a more favourable effect on the communities where the goods are produced. The Fairtrade label is the dominant social labelling; the lion's share of the academic research into consumer attitudes to products with social labelling has been carried out with Fairtrade labelled product alternatives in focus. Research has shown that a large share of the Swedish population knows the Fairtrade label and their trust in the Fairtrade label is relatively high. Women generally have a more positive attitude towards Fairtrade than men. To place greater emphasis on self-transcending values, i.e. to strive to transcend personal and individual interests and instead to work for the good of others (and in that case also others with whom one is not in direct contact) has been shown to increase the likelihood of having a positive view of Fairtrade. To strive for "warm relations" (to have close colleagues and friends and deep ties of friendship) are also associated with a positive attitude to Fairtrade. Certain studies have investigated how much consumers are prepared to pay for a socially labelled product. The results vary quite sharply and the methodology in itself has also been criticised. Researchers in this field believe that the so-called "willingness-to-pay" studies function as a kind of attitude indicator, rather than a measure of how much one is actually prepared to pay. In studies where factors such as good working conditions are set against the products being produced in an eco-friendly manner, it has been found that the social, employee right aspects, and in particular the fact that no child labour has occurred, are shown to be more important than the fact that the products are produced in an eco-friendly way.

Kvantitativ forskning inom psykologi och andra beteendevetenskaper är inspirerad av ett naturvetenskapligt sätt att förstå världen. Mätningar och insamling av sifferdata sker genom att frågor eller påståenden presenteras tillsammans med svarsalternativ som kan översättas till siffror. Insamlat siffermaterial analyseras med statistiska metoder vilket gör det möjligt att dra slutsatser om samband mellan variabler och skillnader mellan grupper. Boken tar främst upp enkäter som metod för insamling av data. Du får lära dig hur du lägger upp en enkätundersökning, hur du ställer de rätta frågorna och hur svaren ska analyseras. Du lär dig också om vanliga fallgropar vid kvantitativa undersökningar. Medelvärden, standardavvikelser, korrelationskoefficienter, enkel regressionsanalys och test av statistisk signifikans är några av de statistiska verktyg som tas upp och förklaras i boken. Metoderna förklaras och exemplifieras så att även läsare utan speciella matematiska förkunskaper lätt kan följa resonemangen och förstå de bakomliggande idéerna. En första bok om kvantitativa metoder kan användas som grundbok i kurser i kvantitativ forskningsmetod för psykologistuderande och andra beteendevetare.

Denna rapport är en översikt över akademisk forskning om konsumenters inställning till och val av alternativ med etiska, i meningen sociala, produktmärkningar. Nästan all forskningen inom området har genomförts på konsumenter i (norra) Europa och i USA. I viss litteratur används en bredare definition av etiska produktalternativ, vanligen inkluderas då än  produkter med olika typer av miljömärkning. Sociala produktmärkningar har fokus på frågor om hur produktionen av de märkta varorna påverkar såväl människor som de lokala samhällena där produktionen äger rum. För att produkten skall få märkas med en social märkning krävs att det arbetas aktivt med arbetsrättsliga frågor. Barnarbete och diskriminering skall motverkas och demokrati och organisationsrätt, inklusive rätten att bilda fackföreningar, skall främjas. Syftet med de sociala märkningarna är att konsumenter i i-länder skall ges möjlighet att välja alternativ av varor som har en mer gynnsam inverkan på de samhällen där varorna produceras. Fairtrade-märkningen är den dominerande sociala märkningen och den största delen av akademisk forskning om konsumenters inställning till produkter med sociala märkningar har gjorts med Fairtrade-märkta produktalternativ i fokus. Forskning har visat att en stor andel av den svenska befolkningen känner till  fairtrademärkningen och förtroendet för märkningen är relativt hög. Kvinnor är generellt sett mer positivt inställda till Fairtrade. Att lägga större vikt vid självöverskridande värderingar, d.v.s. att sträva efter att överskrida personliga och individuella intressen och istället arbeta för att vara andra till gagn (och då även andra som man inte är i direkt kontakt med) har visat sig öka sannolikheten för att man är positivt inställd till Fairtrade. Att sträva efter "varma relationer" (att ha nära kompisar och vänner och djupa vänskapsband) är även det förknippat med en positiv inställning till Fairtrade. I en del studier har man undersökt hur mycket konsumenter är beredda att betala för en produkt som är märkt med en social märkning. Resultaten varierar ganska kraftigt och även metodiken som sådan har kritiserats. Forskare inom området menar att så kallade "willingness-to-pay" studier fungerar som ett slags attitydmått, snarare än mått på hur mycket man faktiskt är beredd betala. I studier där man ställt faktorer som goda arbetsförhållanden mot att produkterna är miljövänligt producerade har man funnit att de sociala, arbetsrättsliga aspekterna, och då i synnerhet att inget barnarbete har förekommit, anges som viktigare än att produkterna framställts på ett miljövänligt sätt.

I denna rapport presenteras resultat från en studie av samband mellan vikt en individ lägger vid värderingar och preferens för rättvis handel (fair trade). Respondenterna var gymnasieelever i Vänersborg (n = 99). Data samlades in med hjälp av enkäter. Vikt vid värderingar mättes med List of Values (LOV) skalan. Större vikt vid värderingarna ”Varma relationer till andra” och ”Självförverkligande” hade samband med starkare preferens för rättvis handel.

Health Interventions aimed at secondary prevention of myocardial infarction (MI) are important. Patients' illness perceptions influence adherence behaviors and actions. Providing adequate information about the disease and lifestyle interventions is an important task for health care professionals. Therefore, a question of interest is how health care professionals perceive myocardial infarction themselves. The aim with the present study was to investigate how nursing students at a Swedish university perceived Ml and to determine whether their illness perceptions changed during their six-term program of education. Illness perception was measured using the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in a sample of 196 students enrolled in terms 2, 4, and 6 of the nursing program. A quasi-experimental design was used. Illness perceptions among nursing students were also compared to illness perceptions in a group of patients with coronary heart disease. The belief that it is possible to control Ml through medical treatment became stronger during the course of nursing education. Nursing students were found to view the consequences of Ml as serious, but also as medically treatable and responsive to lifestyle changes.

This study investigated whether endorsement of personal values is associated with willingness to pay more for mobile phones with an environmental or social sustainability label. Participants were students in Sweden, Norway and Germany. A self-report inventory was used to measure willingness to pay and the importance attached to values of Schwartz's circular model. In Sweden and Norway, participants were willing to pay, on average, 18% extra for a mobile phone with labels for environmental or social sustainability. In Germany, the corresponding share was 12%. To strive for self-enhancement values, that is, social status and prestige, as well as control and dominance over people and resources, was associated with a lower willingness to pay for mobile phones with labels for environmental or social sustainability in all three countries. Furthermore, women were willing to pay more than men for mobile phones with both kinds of sustainability labels. In Sweden and Norway, participants were, on average, willing to pay more for a mobile phone with a label for social sustainability compared to a mobile phone with a label for environmental sustainability. © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

To maintain rigor and transparency in the science of personality psychology, we conducted a replication of the often cited “The Big Five Personality Factors and Personal Values” by Roccas, Sagiv, Schwartz, and Knafo (2002). More than a decade ago, based on a study of Israeli students, they presented results on how personality traits and personal values relate. In the current replication study with Swedish students, we related the Big Five personality traits to Schwartz´s personal values. Our results replicated most of the earlier findings. Whereas the earlier study tested the predictive validity of traits and values on religious beliefs, presumed to be under a relatively high degree of cognitive control, our study tested the willingness-to-pay for Fairtrade alternatives. Our findings confirmed the earlier findings that personal values explain substantially more variance than personality traits in this. We discuss that traits and values are different constructs and that their relationship is consistent across the two geographic locations and student cohorts.

Dualists view the mind and the body as two fundamental different “things”, equally real and independent of each other. Cartesian thought, or substance dualism, maintains that the mind and body are two different substances, the non-physical and the physical, and a causal relationship is assumed to exist between them. Physicalism, on the other hand, is the idea that everything that exists is either physical or totally dependent of and determined by physical items. Hence, all mental states are fundamentally physical states. In the current study we investigated to what degree Swedish university students’ beliefs in mind-body dualism is explained by the importance they attach to personal values. A self-report inventory was used to measure their beliefs and values. Students who held stronger dualistic beliefs attach less importance to the power value (i.e., the effort to achieve social status, prestige, and control or dominance over people and resources). This finding shows that the strength in laypeople’s beliefs in dualism is partially explained by the importance they attach to personal values.

Att oredlighet och fusk förekommer inom akademisk forskning är nu ingen nyhet. Men vi menar att blicken bör höjas över enskilda fall för att se vilka strukturella förhållanden som kan utgöra incitament för sådana beteenden, skriver Anders Persson universitetslektor i sociologi vid Högskolan Väst och Gunne Grankvist, docent i psykologi vid Högskolan Väst.

Introduction: Lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is associated with fatigue, poor mental and poor gastrointestinal health during the first three months after colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. Research indicates that maintaining usual activities has a positive impact on HRQoL after treatment for CRC. Illness perceptions have been associated with HRQoL in other cancer diseases, and self-efficacy has been associated with HRQoL in gastrointestinal cancer survivors. Our knowledge about illness perceptions and self-efficacy in relation to maintaining everyday activities and HRQoL following CRC treatment is incomplete. Aim: To explore associations between HRQoL, fatigue, mental health, gastrointestinal health, illness perceptions and self-efficacy in relation to maintaining everyday activities, three months after surgical CRC treatment. A further aim was to test the Maintain Function Scale in a CRC population. Method: The study was cross-sectional. Forty-six persons participated. Data were collected using questionnaires. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used. Results: Persons who were more fatigued, depressed, worried, and had more diarrhea were more likely to report lower HRQoL. Increased fatigue and diarrhea were associated with decreased HRQoL. Concerning illness perceptions, persons who reported negative emotions and negative consequences of CRC were more likely to report lower HRQoL. Persons scoring higher on self-efficacy were more likely to report higher HRQoL. Increased self-efficacy was associated with increased HRQoL. The Maintain Function Scale was suitable for assessing self-efficacy in relation to maintaining everyday activities. Conclusions: Nursing support to improve self-efficacy and illness perceptions and to minimize symptoms during recovery should have a favorable impact on HRQoL.

Background: Disturbed sleep has been linked to increased morbidity, mortality and depression and worsened health-related quality of life in patients with chronic illness. Few studies of readjustment after coronary artery disease have explicitly focused on sleep disturbance. Aim: To explore associations between disturbed sleep, fatigue, anxiety and depression, and to assess to what extent fatigue four months post-MI could be explained. Method: The sample included 204 consecutive patients, ≤ 80 years of age who answered questionnaires about disturbed sleep, fatigue, anxiety and depression four months after MI. Results: The variables anxiety, depression and disturbed sleep were all associated with fatigue. The regression model accounted for 46% of the variance in fatigue with depression and disturbed sleep as predictors. Infarct size measured by conventional biochemical markers, left ventricle ejection fraction and history of previous MI were not correlated with disturbed sleep, fatigue, anxiety or depression. Conclusions: From knowledge about associations between disturbed sleep, fatigue, anxiety and depression after MI, cardiac nurses could be trained to observe such symptoms. Optimal care for sleep disturbance may include actions to reduce anxiety and depression as well as self-care advices about sleep hygiene in order to improve sleep quality and reduce fatigue. © 2009 European Society of Cardiology.

Personality traits, including the well-known Big Five traits, the subclinical Dark Triad traits, as well as cognitive (IQ) and emotional abilities (EQ), are known to predict a number of attitudes, such as views of politics, importance of other people, or interest in self. This present study set out to research the impact of personality traits on the view of consciousness, the main question being whether consciousness sets mankind apart from the animal kingdom. A Swedish sample was tested on six different personality-related tests measuring traits, values, and abilities. The results showed that high scorers in emotional intelligence, openness and extraversion had a view of consciousness being unique for human beings only. Furthermore, people high on self-enhancing values and the tendency to manipulate others (Machiavellianism) also held a view of consciousness being unique for human beings, and which sets us apart from animals. Only self-transcending values, such as universalism, showed a negative association with the uniqueness of consciousness. The discussion extends to how the view on consciousness affects other outlooks on life, such as the view on one’s personal future or mankind’s environmental predicament. Motivational agendas stemming from personality traits, in terms of stable, genetical influences, might explain views on ontological questions to a greater degree than previously thought.