The primary purpose of the thesis is to investigate how social workers working in the social services are preparing for the incorporation of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (Children's Convention) into Swedish law with a focus on the child's participation. The secondary purpose is to investigate how social workers enable children of different ages to be given a voice in child welfare investigations.

To fulfil the purpose, six social workers in five municipalities were interviewed. The empirical findings were thereafter analyzed on the basis of Shier's pathways to participation, from a developmental psychological perspective as well as previous research.

The results of the study show that a majority of the interviewed social workers are not involved in the social services' preparatory work ahead of the incorporation of the Children's Convention into Swedish law. All interviewed social workers are positive about the Children's Convention becoming law, but some raised concerns that it may lead to a heavier administrative burden. Most believed that it is mainly other functions within the municipality that will be affected by the Children's Convention becoming law and that it in practice will not change their work to ensure the child's participation in child welfare investigations.

The results also show that the lack of time and resources makes it difficult for the social workers to find sufficient amount of time to meet with the child during the childcare investigation, and several argue that all social workers do not always feel comfortable talking to children. Another aspect that is highlighted is the parents lack of knowledge about the Children's Convention and of the Social Services Act, resulting in planned support measures not being implemented.

The psychosocial work environment refers to the social climate in workplaces which affects all employees who interact with each other. The employees' health and satisfaction in their workplace, is the leader's responsibility and how he or she chooses to respond to their employees' needs also affects the results around the work environment. The study was comprised of eight semi structured interviews where teachers were interviewed regarding their experiences on how the leader's traits and skills affect their psychosocial work environment, and how their leaders should act when conflict arises. Traits are defined in this study as something you are born with and skills are defined as something that you learn. The results indicate that participation, clear directives and responsiveness promote good psychosocial work environment according to the teachers, while master suppression techniques and difficulties in receiving criticism counteract it. In conflict situations it is important that the principal can act as a neutral collocutor but still remain as a mainstay to the teachers.

Previous research has demonstrated correlations between values and religiosity in the aspect of propensity to believe. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the research in moral vitalism, which includes an approach to good and evil forces.

The participants in the study were 122 individuals; the age range was 18 – 68 of which 84 women, 37 men, and one who identified themselves as other. They filled in the Portrait Value Questionnaire to measure values and the newly developed questionnaire Moral Vitalism Scale for the measurement of moral vitalism. Data was analyzed using Pearson's correlation (r), multiple linear regression, and independent t-test. The study shows a positive correlation between moral vitalism and the value safety. A negative correlation is shown between moral vitalism and the value achievement.

The result indicates that individuals who value achievement have lower propensity to believe in moral vitalism, unlike individuals who generally cherish stability, which show higher propensity to believe in moral vitalism. No differences were found in how a person's individual values affect the degree of moral vitalism. No gender differences in moral vitalism were detected in the study.

This longitudinal study focuses on the transition from higher education to working life. Research has hitherto described the transition in rather general terms, and there is still only limited knowledge about how graduates construe themselves as professionals, or how they experience the transition to the sociocultural contexts of working life. In this study, the transition is viewed as a trajectory between different communities of practice. Three different Master’s programmes at Linköping University are focused on and compared: political science, psychology and mechanical engineering. The specific aims are to: (i) identify aspects of identity and knowledge formation as reported by informants, both as...

Because of covid-19 physical meetings have been replaced with digital meetings. Companies have perceived great advantage with digital meetings and teleworking may therefore continue partially after the pandemic. At digital meetings peoplecommunicate behind a screen and other behaviors may arise in comparison with physical meetings. Previous research has shown that personality traits are a good predictor for behaviors. There was limited research in the field, therefore the study had an exploratory purpose where the relationship between personality traits and individual behaviors at digital meetings were investigated. A quantitative method was used, and a total of 167 people participated in the study (M = 41 years, SD = 13; 131 women). To collect data an internet-based survey was made with self-rated questionnaires. The survey was based on the personality test IPIP-30 and self-designed statements, intended to measure the personality traits in The Big Five and individual behaviors at digital meetings. The data collection was analyzed through a correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Our study showed that there was a relationship between personality traits and behaviors at digital meetings and contributed to an increased knowledge of individual differences. For a deeper understanding of the relationship, more studies need to be accomplished and the instrument needs further development. The personality trait conscientiousness had the most meaningful impact of specific behaviors at digital meetings and showed positive correlation with several behaviors. This means that the higher value the individuals have of the personality trait conscientiousness, the more they tend to agree with specific behaviors at digital meetings.

Creativity is a popular term that frequently occurs in the working life. Despite its popularity, the possibility to be creative varies a lot between work places, and many employees feel that they do not have a creative outlet in their work role. The purpose of the present study was to examine how different conditions could affect creativity. The two questions that this study intended to answer was: a) Can individuals' creative performance be manipulated by performance requirements during explicit time constraint? b) Can individuals' self-rated creativity be manipulated by performance requirements during explicit time constraint? An experimental study was conducted with a total of 89 participants randomly distributed into two groups. Experimental group 1 had a total of 47 participants, of which 23 women (48.9%) and Experimental group 2 had a total of 42 participants, of which 15 women (35.7%). The experiments were conducted individually with one participant at a time. The measuring instruments used were Guilford's (1967) Alternative Uses Task to measure creativity and Mini-IPIP6 to control for personality. The current item used in Alternative Uses Task was a coffee mug that the participants were assigned to write down as many alternative uses for as possible. Experimental group 1 had a performance requirement to write down a minimum of 15 alternative uses and an explicit time constraint. Experimental group 2 did the same task, but without performance requirement and no explicit time constraint. The collected data was analysed with IBM SPSS and the tools used for the analyses was Pearson's correlation (r), independent t-test and Repeated Measures ANOVA. The results showed a) that Experimental group 1 produced a higher number of creative ideas than Experimental group 2, but that Experimental group 2 had a significantly higher creative quality on their ideas than Experimental group 1. Further the results showed b) that it was not possible to manipulate the self-rated creativity when the personality trait Openness was controlled for.

This essay aims to examines the topic of introduction process, where we approach first-time line managers experiences of what such a process should contain in order to take on the new role as manager in the best possible way. The introduction represents the process of assimilating the new line manager into the new role. The study is based on data produced through semi-structured interviews with 9 recently promoted line managers in a public organization. The results indicate that activities such as dialogue, practical participation and reflection are very important parts to include in an introductory process for first-line managers. The greatest lessons are based on experience-based and informal learning. This thanks to the large network of contacts presented early in the introduction process. The contact network is considered to be an important and supportive part in the role transition of first line managers to that extent, that the first line managers are asking for more of the planned opportunities for discussion and dialogue. The contact network includes mentoring, which provides space and opportunity to vent practical questions, feelings and thoughts. Based on these results, this study argues that organizations should keep this in mind when preparing an introductory process for managers.

The purpose of the study is to achieve an increased understanding of the school counselors' experiences of practical and theoretical knowledge in conversations with students.

To answer the purpose, the following questions have been used: What experience does the school counselors have of theoretical and practical knowledge in conversations with students? Do the school counselors experience that any other form of knowledge emerges, than the theoretical and practical knowledge, in conversations with students? The study is based on a qualitative method and is inspired by a phenomenological research approach. In other words, we have not investigated the phenomenon, but the school counselors experiences of the phenomenon. The data collection method used for the study is semi-structured interviews. The material has been analyzed using a phenomenological analysis method.

The result of the study shows that school counselors experience both practical and theoretical knowledge as significant in conversations with students. The school counselors' experiences of what the forms of knowledge mean and how they are used in conversations with students differ, but the common denominator of their experiences is that one cannot exclude the other. During the work on the study, another form of knowledge emerged that was considered for the school counselors as at least as important as the practical and theoretical knowledge. This knowledge is referred to as interpersonal knowledge, of which the school counselors' experiences of this form of knowledge are also separated here. Interpersonal knowledge is described both as a personality-based knowledge and as a tacit knowledge. The school counselors also experienced that an empathic approach and their intuition affects the conversation with the students.

Violence in close relationships is a major problem worldwide, including in Sweden, and is already present in young people’s partner relationships. This cross-sectional study examines young people’s knowledge and view of violence in young people’s partner relationships, as well as professional views and treatment of young people who have in some way experience violence in their partner relationships. The subject was investigated with both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative method consisted of a questionnaire study with 101 high school student respondents aged 16-20 years. The qualitative material was collected through semi structured interviews with two counsellors working at a youth clinic and an interview with a social worker. The quantitative data was entered and processed in the computer program SPSS 27 for statistical analysis. In the analysis of the material, t-tests were used to compare girls’ and boys’ estimates of acts of violence. The results show significant differences in views on violence based on gender, with girls rating acts of violence higher than boys. Analysis of themes emerging from the qualitative research reveal violence in young people’s close relationships is a difficult problem for professionals to identify, and it is difficult to reach young people where violence is suspected. Both young people and professionals generally believe that more conversations about relationships and awareness about violence in young people’s relationships is needed. To counteract violence in young people’s partner relationships, professionals need to be able to better equip young people with knowledge, and improve their own ability to detect, meet, and follow-up with young people who are exposed to violence in partner relationships.

There is strong evidence of a positive association between corporal punishment and negative child outcomes, but previous studies have suggested that the manner in which parents implement corporal punishment moderates the effects of its use. This study investigated whether severity and justness in the use of corporal punishment moderate the associations between frequency of corporal punishment and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. This question was examined using a multicultural sample from eight countries and two waves of data collected one year apart. Interviews were conducted with 998 children aged 7–10 years, and their mothers and fathers, from China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. Mothers and fathers responded to questions on the frequency, severity, and justness of their use of corporal punishment; they also reported on the externalizing and internalizing behavior of their child. Children reported on their aggression. Multigroup path models revealed that across cultural groups, and as reported by mothers and fathers, there is a positive relation between the frequency of corporal punishment and externalizing child behaviors. Mother-reported severity and father-reported justness were associated with child-reported aggression. Neither severity nor justness moderated the relation between frequency of corporal punishment and child problem behavior. The null result suggests that more use of corporal punishment is harmful to children regardless of how it is implemented, but requires further substantiation as the study is unable to definitively conclude that there is no true interaction effect.

Today the concept of empathy is widely used where people are considered to have different definitions of the concept. Civilian investigators, police officers and criminologists come, in their professional role, in contact with people who are suspected of crime. This makes it of critical importance to investigate whether these occupational groups find it difficult to assess if a person have empathic ability.

The purpose of the study was to investigate what characterizes empathy for people and what characterizes empathy in situations where a good or bad deed is done to another person.

The study was carried out based upon a qualitative research approach, with a thematic analysis, and consisted of 52 participants in respective groups of civil crime investigators, police officers, and criminology students.

The results show that the concept of empathy had a similar meaning for all participants involved. They described it as being able to relate to other people's lifeworld, lived experiences and feelings. However, it can be defined differently based on other people's life experiences. Most people considered it difficult to judge whether a person has empathy since it is difficult to know what someone else is thinking and feeling.

Furthermore, psychological violence was described as harming someone through lies, deceit and insults, while physical violence meant harming another person physically. Both mental and physical violence, according to the participants, could be seen to be a defense mechanism to protect themselves from being mentally or physically harmed. Furthermore, the participants considered that empathy included such things as helping someone in need, being humane when necessary. This makes the study fall in line with previous research on the concept of empathy.

BACKGROUND: Using serum creatinine leads to an overestimation of kidney function in patients with primary neuromuscular disorders, and reduced kidney function may remain undetected. Cystatin C (CysC) could provide a better estimation.

AIM: To evaluate the precision, accuracy, and bias of two creatinine-, one cystatin C-based and one combined equation to estimate glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients with primary neuromuscular disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of the 418 patients initially identified at the out-patient clinic, data on kidney function was obtained for 145 adult patients (age 46 ± 14 years, BMI 26 ± 6 kg/m²) with primary neuromuscular disease. Kidney function was measured by iohexol clearance, and blood samples for serum creatinine and CysC were drawn simultaneously. Bias was defined as the mean difference between eGFR and measured iohexol clearance, and accuracy as the proportion of eGFRs within ± 10% (P10) of measured clearance.

RESULTS: Kidney function (iohexol clearance) was 81 ± 19 (38-134) ml/min/1.73m². All equations overestimated kidney function by 22-60 ml/min/1.73m². eGFR CysC had the lowest bias overall 22 (95% CI 20-26) ml/min/1.73m² also at all levels of kidney function we evaluated (at 30-59 ml/min/1.73m² bias was 27 (95% CI 21-35), at 60-89 it was 25 (95% CI 20-28) and at ≥ 90 it was 12 (95% CI 7-22)). eGFR CysC also had the best accuracy in patients with reduced kidney function (P10 was 5.9% at 30-59 ml/min/1.73m²).

CONCLUSIONS: Cystatin C-based estimations of kidney function performed better than creatinine-based ones in patients with primary neuromuscular disease, but most importantly, all evaluated equations overestimated kidney function, especially in patients with reduced kidney function. Therefore, kidney function should be measured by gold-standard methods when precision and accuracy are needed.

Work life today is constantly evolving, not least in grocery stores that are experiencing a major digitization. Therefore, work life motivation and the factors preceding motivation are highly relevant to study. We have used a qualitative method where ten interviews were conducted, three leaders and seven employees within three supermarkets located at the Swedish west coast. Our purpose was to make a greater understanding of the employees' own opinions and values regarding hygiene- and motivational factors. We also gained understanding for how the employees experience that the leaders work to promote work life motivation and how the management actually works around the subject. The collected material has been analyzed using a directed content analysis. The most important findings are that the employees value the hygiene factors the most. In general, the respondents also experience a lack of leaders' promotion of work motivation. The findings have been discussed together with previous research and our main conclusion is that every individual is different, which means that managers must know their employees to know what motivates each and everyone.

The purpose of this study was to examine how school personnel have reacted in regard to their mental, physical, and social working environments one year after the Kronan School attack in Trollhättan. The study's results are based on semi-structured interviews with five staff members. The qualitative method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (I.P.A) has been used to analyse the material. The results show which factors the staff members have considered to be the reasons for their recovery and setbacks when returning to work after the event. Five comprehensive themes presented themselves as being the most prominent after analysis. The comprehensive themes are based on the interviewees' experiences of social support, security, the lost meeting place, social strains, and mental processing. The results present how important the component's safety, security, and social support has been for the interviewees' processing of the traumatic event, as well as their return to work. The conclusion emphasises the interviewees' experience in a workgroup, where solidarity has developed and strengthened after experiencing crisis.

An important question for parents and educators alike is how to promote adolescents’ academic identity and school performance. This study investigated relations among parental education, parents’ attitudes toward their adolescents’ school, parental support for learning at home, and adolescents’ academic identity and school performance over time and in different national contexts. Longitudinal data were collected from adolescents and their parents in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). When adolescents were 16 years old, their mothers (N = 1083) and fathers (N = 859) provided data. When adolescents were 17 years old, 1049 adolescents (50% girls) and their mothers (N = 1001) and fathers (N = 749) provided data. Multiple-group path analyses indicated that, across cultures, higher parent education was associated with better adolescent school performance. Parents’ attitudes toward their adolescents’ school and parent support for learning in the home were not associated with adolescents’ school performance but were associated with academic identity. The findings suggest somewhat different pathways to school performance versus academic identity. Implications for helping parents and educators in different countries promote adolescents’ academic identity and achievement are discussed.

Performing in working life is important today in order to develop, gain experience, and be judged by one’s manager. Previous research shows that our personality plays a big role in working life. This study focuses on three different parts of experienced work performance; that is, task work performance (everyday tasks), contextual work performance (initiative in addition to everyday tasks) and counterproductive work behavior (working against the business). The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between aspects of individual work performance and personality dimensions. The study made use of personality-based questionnaires, HEXACO (Mini-IPIP6) and Dark Triad (SD3), as well as a measure of individual work performance (IWPQ). The study involved 207 people (M = 36.13 years, SD = 19 years; 109 men). The results showed, as expected, that task-based work performance was positively related (.35) to conscientiousness and negative (-.36) to neuroticism. Contextual work performance was positively related (.41) to openness, which showed the strongest correlation. Counterproductive work behavior showed the strongest correlation with neuroticism (.39). This study results indicate that personality has significance for individual work performance which can be implemented in staff development.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to see if there are differences between trained recruiters compared to untrained, and differences in improvement in the hourly substitutes who have been recruited by trained staff and whether the City of Gothenburg works uniformly or not. Can a trained recruiter with his or her knowledge select and find more efficient and dedicated staff than untrained recruiters? The data material was collected with the help of semi-structured interviews with seven people with different positions who worked in various activities within elderly care. The analysis was carried out via a thematic analysis of transcribed data material and the results were summed up in two themes: "A united City of Gothenburg" and "One's own perspective". The two themes were the result of a summary of minor sub-themes which included: lack of communication, subjectivity, and illegal approaches. The conclusion shows that there is a difference in job performance and knowledge between trained and untrained recruiters. The conclusion also showed that hourly substitutes who have been recruited by trained recruiters operate with more responsibility and it also shows that they do not receive as many complaints as other hourly substitutes. Another conclusion is that the City of Gothenburg does not work uniformly as they market.

This study examinates how child interviews are implemented in financial assistance in Norrköping municipality. In 2015, the management within Financial Assistance in the Municipality of Norrköping formed a group of social workers secretaries called the "Children's Group" to investigate the possibility of conducting child interviews within Financial Assistance. The child group is an assignment from the management in Financial Assistance, where it includes social workers who can contribute to focusing on the children within Financial assistance, in order to strengthen the child's perspective, exist as a consultant's support in matters concerning children for other social secretaries and implement child interviews. During an annual work with child interviews, the children's group has written a preliminary study. The child group has written a preliminary study during one year's work about the possibility to perform child interviews in financial assistance. The preliminary study shows that in financial assistance there is potential and that there are benefits in performing child interviews. The Children's Group in Financial Assistance in the Municipality of Norrköping today consists of five social workers who are working on implementing child interviews. The study is of a qualitative approach and has been used semi-structured interviews with five informants who work within Financial Assistance and who work with the Children's Mission. The study uses organizational theory and system theory to analyze how the child group relates to the child mission and the goals of the activity. Previous research is also used to understand how the children whose parents are involved in financial assistance affects by their parents' finances situation. The purpose of the study is to investigate how Norrköping municipality is working to implement child interviews within financial assistance and how the employees who are part of the child group experience the implementation process. The purpose is also to highlight opportunities and difficulties with the implementation. The study uses theories to offer an understanding of how the child group relates to the mission and the goals of financial assistance. Previous research is also used to highlight children whose parents are involved in financial assistance in order to gain an understanding of how these children are affected by their parents' finances. The study's results showed that the purpose of child interviews within financial assistance is to offer the children the opportunity to be noticed and make their voice heard. The purpose is also to follow the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Social Services Act, who contain regulations about the child's best interests. Using child interviews in financial assistance can help social workers to make more overall assessments where different perspectives are taken into account in their work. The study shows that the child group that works with the implementation of child interviews needs more time and resources in the form of the education in order for the implementation to continue and thus for the child group's commitment to remain. It appears that the implementation of child interviews has begun to apply as of May 1, 2019, but that the work has not been fully possible due to the absence of a compliance form 4 that was planned to be given out to the child’s legal guardians to ask whether their child can be interviewed or not. The results of the study show that the work with the implementation of child interviews can be influenced by decisions that must be made by the management, staff turnover, new employees that are part of the group who need to get introduced and practice child interviews, cancellations, loss and lack of resources in form of time and economy. These are some of the factors that need to be considered when implementing child interviews.

Today, flexible ways of working such as flextime and telework are a common occurrence, which could result in a conflict between work life and private life. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate whether there was a relation between the attitude to flextime and telework as well as in what way an individual experiences a conflict between work life and personal life and finally, if flextime and telework affects the extent an individual experiences a conflict between work life and private life. This study had a quantitative approach and consisted of a survey with questions regarding flextime, telework and the conflict between work life and private life. The respondents of the study consisted of 92 administrative officials working at a municipality (67% women och 33% men), (year of birth, M = 1970, SD = 11,05). Every respondent was bound by the same flextime contract and none of them had a leading position. To interpret the results, previous research was used as well as result analyses, specifically Pearson correlations and t-tests. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents considered flextime and telework positively. The results also showed that those that had a positive attitude to telework also experienced the conflict between work life and private life to higher level. Furthermore, the more positive an individual is towards flextime the more positive is an individual towards telework. In the free-text answers it was possible to find answers from the respondents that showed some of the negative aspects of flextime and telework.

The purpose of the essay is to elucidate and analyse how foreign-born women describe their experiences of starting a new life in Sweden. It is also about how these women has experienced the life journey during their years in a new country. I will analyse further how important new qualifications were, how big was the need of being integrated by the society was and finally, in which way the Swedish language had been a key to integration.

The study is based on qualitative methods and I have conducted deep interviews with five participants who have experienced being a newcomer in his/her adult life. The analysis of the study was done with IPA (Interpretative phenomenological analysis). IPA is a combination of phenomenology and hermeneutics. Based on this theme, I interview five foreign born women between the ages of 44-65. The method is based on semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences in Sweden.

The theoretical starting point is the social class theory. With help of this theory, I analyse the importance of developing the class in a certain group of individuals who have used college education and languages for tools.

In this essay it has emerged that the foreign-born women were facing a difficult challenge when they came to Sweden and met the language barrier, which is a considerable obstacle to start to work and be integrated in the community. During the first years, the Swedish language was the first goal to achieve as it opened more opportunities to get a job, help their children in school and make new friends. Education requires a long time for the immigrant women who want to learn a new profession and to adapt to a new country.

The purpose of the study is to investigate how women view the possibilities of reconciling work and family life as well as how they perceive equality in the home, as well as the prevailing norms and ideals of motherhood. Based on the purpose, I have formulated the following issues:

What opportunities do women have to combine working and family life?

What is the distribution of housework in women's families and why?

How do women view their mother role based on the norms, ideals, expectations and requirements that exist in their environment?

The theoretical perspective used to interpret the study's results is Yvonne Hirdman's theory of the gender system. It consists of two different principles, the separation of the sexes and the subordination of women.

I have conducted two focus group interviews to answer my purpose and my research questions for the study. The analysis of the empirical material was carried out with a thematic analysis.

The results of my study show that women see that there are various causes that underpin whether they have succeeded in the opportunity to combine their work and family life. The study shows that there are changes regarding production and reproduction around male and female in families' everyday lives and that there are changes in the distribution of home responsibilities and chores over generations, although it can sometimes be perceived as the change slowly. According to the women surveyed, there are several different views of how they relate to the ideals, expectations and requirements of the parenting role.

Intresset för tillitsbaserad styrning inom offentliga verksamheter ökar runt om i Skandinavien. Trots det ökade intresset existerar forskning som berör implementeringar av olika styrmodeller enbart i ringa omfattning. Studiens syfte var att undersöka chefers upplevelser av medarbetarnas reaktioner och beteenden avseende både motivation och delaktighet i arbetet enligt den tillitsbaserade styrmodellen som implementerats i den västsvenska kommunen. För att besvara studiens syfte sammanställdes tre frågeställningar: 1.Vilka upplevelser har chefer att arbeta i enlighet med en tillitsbaserad styrmodell? 2. Vilka upplevelser har chefer av medarbetarnas motivation och delaktighet i arbetet enligt en tillitsbaserad styrmodell? 3. Vilka upplevelser har chefer av medarbetarnas motstånd till förändringen att arbeta enligt en tillitsbaserad styrmodell? Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod varav semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta chefer från två olika förvaltningar på kommunen utgör studiens empiriska data. Det insamlade materialet från intervjuerna analyserades genom tematisk analys. Studiens resultat påvisar att det i viss mån finns vissa kunskapsbrister bland cheferna gällande den tillitsbaserade styrmodellen, vilket bland annat framgår av de varierande resultaten gällande medarbetarnas delaktighet och motivation.

Work-related learning plays a significant part for individual development as well asorganizational success. It is also known that work-related learning mostly is informal, meaning that it occurs in an unorganized way in everyday practice. A variety of theories aimed at explaining learning includes a social aspect and believes that learning most often takes place in interaction with others. To prevent the spread of Covid-19 measures are being taken, such as asking employees to work remotely. If learning primarily occurs in interaction with others, can work-related informal learning be affected as the distance between coworkers increases? Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the possible impact of telework on informal learning from an employee perspective. The study also aims to identify possible prerequisites for work-related informal learning in transition to telework. To answer the study’s research questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven whitecollar workers employed by Swedish municipalities. Thematic analysis with a sociocultural perspective was used to approach the collected data. The results indicated that work-related informal learning primarily occurs while interacting with coworkers. During the transition to telework, informal learning situations appears to, in some cases, have decreased. In other cases, it appears to happen to the same extent but the way that knowledge is shared has been affected. The results also revealed factors that can affect informal learning while working remotely. These factors can be summarized in three main conditions: a good team, technical tools, and individual responsibility. The conclusion is that employees informal learning is perceived to be affected by the transition to telework, mainly in form of reduced amount of knowledge sharing between coworkers. 

Background: Patient participation is ideal in psychiatric care. Patient participation leads to a favourable work environment and good conditions for care staff and increased selfdetermination for the patient.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the promoting factors that may contribute to patients' participation in psychiatric care.

Method: The study was conducted as a systematic literature study and was based on tenscientific articles.

Result: There are a wide range of different aspects of patient participation. Based on the questions and purpose of this study, the results showed three of these: professionalism in communication, patient-centered care, and the personal skills of the caregiver. These three components proved to be among the basic factors that promote patient’s participation.

Conclusion: It is important that the care staff combine both treatment and conduct with involving the patient in their own care. In the case of patients with mental illness in particular, the competencies of healthcare staff must be increased extra.

Collaboration in emergency work is challenging on many levels. The unforeseen and temporary nature of incidents presents basic challenges. Another important challenge is boundaries between specialized and autonomous emergency service organizations. We need to know more about how exercises are performed to increase the individuals and organizations preparedness for future joint response work. The aim of this study was to explore how boundary work is carried out at the incident site during exercises, and how boundary awareness is developed based on this boundary work. The analytic focus was on how boundaries were identified, negotiated and managed in the participants work. Empirically, full-scale exercises involving police, ambulance and rescue services and with repetition of practical scenarios and joint-reflection seminars are studied. Much of the work in the exercises was performed within distinct areas of expertise, in accordance with concrete routines, skills and responsibilities. Boundary work was often organized in the form of distribution of labour or creating chains of actions. The exercises shed light on challenges related to other aspects of emergency response,such as a lack of resources, diverging primary responsibilities, time-criticality and hazardous environments. The design allowed participants to explicate boundaries, test and discuss alternative solutions, and to visualize the effects of different solutions as the scenarios were repeated. The boundaries that were identified were often of institutional character, and were also related to the specific scenarios and to the actions taken in the activities. By integrating real-life experiences of collaborative work in the exercise, the exercise gained a certain meaning that was essential for the participants to develop boundary awareness.

The Personality Differentiation by Intelligence Hypothesis (PDIH) predicts larger trait-variances, and smaller across-trait covariances for individuals with higher intelligence. We tested these predictions using multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses (MG-CFA), while controlling for the potential confound of systematic method variance related to reversed items using a correlated trait, correlated method (CTCM) approach. Participants between the ages of 62 and 68 completed measures of personality (Mini-IPIP: Donnellan et al., 2006) and intelligence (Raven APM-12: Arthur & Day, 1994). After establishing strict measurement invariance (MI), we found no support for larger variances, and only minor support for lower trait covariances as related to higher intelligence. Overall, the findings provide scant support for the PDIH when controlling for systematic method variance.

The purpose of the study was to examine how professional caretakers perceive the effects on children with parents who suffers from substance- or alcohol abuse. The results of the study was based on eight semi-casual interviews that were conducted with professional caretakers who had relevant experience within childcare. The data that was gathered through the study was analyzed through the qualitative method of thematic analysis. The study was presented with six constructed themes which were recurring throughout the interviews. The themes could indicatehow a child could get affected by an addiction-induced environment. The themes were: ''child confidentiality'', ''early responsibility'', ''lack of trust and security'', ''stress and anxiety'', ''low self-esteem'' and ''apathy''. The results illuminate that the caretakers addiction has a negative effect on the child's development. The child tends to not develop an ability to cope with their feelings and suffer from a general lack of trust. The children of caretakers who suffers from addiction tendto result in a childhood were the child has to take a large amount of responsibility whilst they at the same time tend to get a low amount of appreciation for their efforts which tends to lead to low self-esteem

In a recruitment process, recruiters make daily decision on which candidates are best suited for specific position. Research shows that standardized recruitment methods have a high predictive value that can explain individuals' future performance. Nevertheless, many professionals prefer intuition-based working methods. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the connection between personality, emotional intelligence and the attitude of using intuition in recruitment decisions. When collecting empirical data, a web-survey was constructed consisting of three tests that measured personality (Big-Six), Emotional Intelligence (TEIque-SF) and intuition methods when hiring. The sample consisted of 100 recruitment professionals within Human Resource. The results of the study indicate that people who are positively committed to the use of intuition in recruitment decisions are more extroverted. The result also indicates that people who are negative to the use of intuition in recruitment decisions are more emotional stable and honest-humility.

The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of how managers within two SiS institutions feel that they are working with competence development initiatives regarding MI.

The result shows that the competence development initiative becomes part of the implementation and the mainteanace of the method, since employees through training in MI receive a common approach with a common language.

The study is a qualitative study that is based on interviews with managers at two institutions within the State Department Board. The results are reported on the basis of interviews with eight unit managers. The interviews were conducted with the help of semi-structured interview questions that opened up the informants' own stories and gave the researchers the opportunity to ask supplementary questions. The informants were interviewed individually and the interviews were recorded to ensure that the researchers got everything that was said.

The phenomenological approach of the study wanted to reach the core of the phenomenon how managers at two SiS institutions feel that they are working on competence development initiatives concerning MI. Continued learning and development of MI takes place in everyday life at the workplace where learning in the method needs to be structured so as not to be forgotten. The structure of MI increases the quality of the organization for both young people and staff, as the common approach gives a security. The implementation of MI is a shared responsibility where the managers structure for a good and developing learning environment and employees are responsible for using MI in everyday life through reflection and feedback.

Background

Sustaining multiple concussions over one’s lifetime may be associated with behavioral and mood changes beyond the acute phase of injury. The present cross-sectional study examined the relationship between concussion history, the incidence of current moderate-severe psychological distress, and lifetime adolescent hazardous gambling in high school students.

Methods

Four-hundred fifty-nine high school students from southern Sweden (age: 16.81 ± 0.83, 58.2% male) completed a survey assessing concussion history (0,1,2…>8), psychological distress using the Kessler-6 scale, and lifetime hazardous gambling using the NODS-CLiP scale.

Results

Participants who self-reported three or more concussions were more likely to endorse moderate-severe symptoms of psychological distress than those with no concussion history while controlling for covariates, OR = 2.71, 95% CI [1.19, 6.18]. In contrast, concussion history was not associated with hazardous gambling after controlling for confounding variables.

Conclusions

Self-reporting three or more concussions was associated with increased current psychological distress beyond the acute phase of injury among high school students. Adolescents who have sustained multiple concussions should undergo mental health evaluations beyond the acute phase of injury to identify and treat psychological distress, but probing for hazardous gambling may not be clinically relevant in this previously concussed adolescent population.

The convention on the Rights of the Child becomes Swedish law on January 1, 2020. The Government believes that it is necessary to ensure that the convention is applied at all levels in the country.

The purpose of the study is to investigate how professionals within the National Board of Institutional Care experience whether the convention will change their way of working.

The study results are based on semi-structured interviews with 7 people from SiS. This study used the trans-theoretical model of behavior change and the theory of planned behavior. For the analysis of the material, the qualitative method thematic analysis was used. In the results of the thematic analysis, three themes emerged: attitudes, knowledge, and views on self-control in addition to an overall theme regarding behavioral changes.

The results show that the respondents, depending on their professional role, had different perceptions about how the upcoming changes would affect their future work situation. It was shown that, depending on perceived self-control and own knowledge of the convention that affected if they were inclined to change their behavior. The study may be a contribution to research on attitudes influence on behavioral changes. The final discussion further highlights the importance of a knowledge lift among the public regarding the rights of the child.

The reliability of eyewitness statements has long been considered of great importance for the application of legal certainty in legal systems. Incorrect testimonies are troublesome as eyewitnesses often play a central role in criminal investigations. According to research and news, inaccurate testimonies have been presented as factors for convicting people for crimes for which they were innocent.

One way to examine the reliability of eyewitness statements has been to study confidentiality assessments (the eyewitness' relationship between correct memories and the degree of certainty that information provided is accurate). This study investigated whether realism in confidence assessments was negatively affected by stress based on 5 measures.

Through convenience selection 40 participants aged 19 years to 55 years participated. Of the participants, 58% were women and 42% men. The study was conducted as an experimental intergroup design in which the participants were randomly allocated to an experimental group and a control group. A variant of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used for the purpose of adding stress to the experimental group in the form of an elevated pulse. Participants watched a movie and answered questions with associated confidence assessments.

The result of t-tests for independent groups indicated that the experimental group had poorer memory compared to the control group and a reversed result against what previous research has presented about the realism of the eyewitnesses in confidence assessments. The study contained deficiencies and failed to add stress to the experimental group, which meant that the results could not be generalized. The current study should instead be seen as an interesting element for research in the field with suggestions for suitable changes in similar studies.

Previous studies in the field of personality have been carried out for many years where the results show that personality are important for different life outcomes. However, few studies have investigated relationships between personality and organizational commitment. Previous research shows that organizations can avoid unnecessary costs by hiring people who tend to contribute with high levels of 3 organizational commitment. Thus, our study sought to preserve investigating relationships between personality and organizational commitment. A quantitative method was used, and data collection was done through a web-based questionnaire consisting of 48 statements. The questionnaire consisted of two established instruments, the IPIP-30 and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), which intend to measure personality dimensions and organizational commitment. A total of 155 people participated in the study (M =34 years, SD = 12, Range 18-64years, 75% women) with average period of employment in their organization of 6.5years (SD = 8.5, range 0.7-44 years). The results were partly in line with previous research where the personality dimensions of neuroticism, conscientiousness and agreeableness have been shown to predict organizational commitment. An unexpected result in the present study was that extraversion did not show any relationship with organizational commitment. A regression analysis testified that personality could explain ≈ 20% of the variance in organizational commitment. The results contribute to increased knowledge that personality can be used as a predictor of organizational commitment. Our conclusion is that personality can be used as a predictor for finding individuals who tend to be loyal, which is an investment for organizations in order to avoid high turnover and unnecessary costs, as well as obtain individuals who tend to contribute the little extra.

Moral vitalism describes a belief in good and evil forces as independent, and thinking, agents that possess the capacity to influence people and events in the world. The concept of moral vitalism and the instruments to measure the degree of belief in said concept was introduced by Bain et al. (2015). Previous research suggests a potential correlation between the extent of belief in moral vitalism and spirituality (Bain et al., 2015) and the personality trait neuroticism (Lace, 2016).

The purpose of the present study was to examine these relations further.

The study used a quantitative design and had 51 participants. For the collection of data concerning personal values, the Portrait Values Questionnaire 40-items (Schwarts, 2012) was used and for the measuring of neuroticism, the Big Five Index (John & Srivastava, 1999) was used.

The results of the study point to, based on the present sample, a positive correlation between conservative values and the extent of belief in moral vitalism. Within the limitations of the study's sample size, this indicates that individuals who have conservative values tend to a greater extent to believe in moral vitalism.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of relapse prevention (RP) as a treatment for internet gaming disorder (IGD).

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Three child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) units in Region Skåne, Sweden.

Participants: Children aged 13-18 years, coming for their first visit to CAP during 2022, were screened for gaming behavior. Those who met the proposed DSM-5 criteria for IGD were offered participation in the trial, if they had the capacity to provide written informed consent and if they spoke Swedish. A total of 111 CAP patients agreed to participate. Out of those, 11 patients were excluded due to incorrect inclusion such as young age (n = 1), or due to the absence of responses to follow-up measures (n = 9). After exclusion, 102 participants remained (intervention = 47, control = 55).

Interventions: The intervention, RP, is based on cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) and was provided individually, comprising of five to seven 45-min sessions over a period of 5 to 7 weeks versus treatment as usual.

Outcome measures: Participants were assessed with Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents pre-treatment (GASA) (baseline), post-treatment (treatment group only), and 3 months after baseline (follow-up).

Results: The repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect between treatment and time. Both the control group and treatment group lowered their mean GASA score from baseline to follow-up significantly, but the improvement was greater in the treatment group (mean difference in control group -5.1, p < 0.001, 95% CI = - 3.390 to -6.755, mean difference in treatment group -9.9, p < 0.001, 95% CI = -11.746 to -8.105).

Conclusion: RP was found to be superior to treatment as usual in terms of reduction of IGD symptoms. Future research should address which aspects within a given treatment are effective, who benefits from treatment, in what aspects, and why.

The program in Social Psychiatric Care is a three-year program at the university level leading to a vocational qualification in social psychiatric care and a bachelor's degree in the field of Health Sciences. Until the spring of 2018, six litters have graduated. Students in the social psychiatric care program often have personal interest, previous professional experience from the business areas or inspiration from related friends working in the field of activity. Personal experiences of problems in the fields of activity are also prominent among the students. Students believe that personal experience, willingness and ability is important in order to work within the profession. Characteristics of the students are also an interest and a clear empathetic willingness to work with people and they consider that the profession primarily requires characteristics such as altruism, empathy, social skills and deeper knowledge and understanding in the field. Upon completion of education, students want a career role where they can help other people, feel motivated, or they aim for specific positions or areas of activity. Both managers and alumni from the Social Psychiatric Care program value the broad professional competence that the program leads to. Psychiatric competence is emphasized as particularly valuable by both alumni and managers. This competence means that they also complement the other professions in the activities. Students consider themselves possessed a professional identity that involves introducing psychiatric and custody skills to organizations that previously lacked these perspectives. Something that also brings new approaches to patients, users and clients. Being able to use knowledge from several disciplines are considered to be a strength and competence that are well-needed in environments where people with mental ill health are cared for. The alumni perceive their knowledge as both interdisciplinary and interprofessional.

Background: Despite about one hundred years of reserach on Performance Appraisals, the topic is still relevant today. Performance Appraisals is for many organizations a tool for managing their human resources, partly by giving employees feedback on their work performance and partly for setting goals for the future.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate employee’s perceptions about the Performance Appraisals an d how it can be used to motivate employees.

Method: This study’s questions was answered by a qualitative approach. Eight semistructured interviews were conducted, audiorecorded and transcribed. The collected empirical data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Participants: Eight people employed in the healthcare profession were interviewed in the study. Seven of the participants were assistant nurses and one was a nurse. The participants worked at the time of the study at various workplaces in southwestern Sweden and were 26 to 58 years old.

Results: The results of this study shows the respondents generally believe that the performance appraisals is significant and has a positive effect in the form of giving employees the opportunity to have a conversation where one can discuss their work situation with their manager. The performance appraisal can contribute to increased motivationas it provides an opportunity to “look ahead” and that the employee from his/her manager gets feedback and a sense of support and confidence. In order to create a more long-lasting and persistent effect of increased motivation, the performance appraisal needs to take place more often.

In 2017 every fourth employee had a psychologically demanding work (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2018). The ability to handle psychological demand is determined by prior experiences in close relationships but also by the ability to seek out social support (Berry & Kingswell, 2012; Howard & Medway, 2004).

The purpose of this study was to examine: 1. How does attachment covary with coping-strategies? and 2. How does attachment covary with the tendency to seek out social support as a coping strategy?

The survey consisting of two forms, attachment style questionnaire (Feeney, Noller & Hanrahan, 1994) and Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) was sent out. Out of 70 hotel employees, we received 28 answers; the average age was 35 years, and 22 of the respondents were women and 6 were men.

The result showed a positive covariance between secure attachment and emotional coping just as with social support seeking. The study also showed a positive association with problem-focused coping. Simultaneously it showed a positive covariance between unsecure-anxious attachment and dysfunctional coping. It also showed a positive association between unsecure-avoidant attachment and dysfunctional coping, and furthermore it showed a negative association between unsecure-avoidant attachment and problem-focused coping but also with social support seeking. Hence the result showed that secure attached is more prone to use constructive stress-reducing strategies and to engage in social support seeking.

The police profession is a profession exposed to stress related problems. Because of high demands at work it creates risks for stress to arise. Social support is a factor which can reduce individuals' stress because it contributes to increased wealth and functions as a protection against stress. The study used the demand, control and support model and the purpose was to find out how general stress with police officers could be explained by the variables demand, control and social support. The purpose was also to investigate if any of the variables gender, age or number of years on work could explain general stress with the police officers. To answer the questions a quantitative approach was chosen. The questionnaire was created online but was also handed out in paper format at local police stations. It was 32 police officers in Västra Götaland who participated in the study, 21 men and 11 women. The result in the study showed a negative strong relationship between social support and stress. This indicated that when police officers experienced less social support they experienced more stress. Another strong positive relationship showed between demand and stress which meant that when police officers experienced high demand at work they experienced more stress. The variables control, age and years within work had strong negative relationships with stress.

Fear of failure (FF) has a negative impact on individuals' motivation, choice of occupation, ability to work and general well-being and can occur when people make different decisions.

Our study was designed to investigate whether fear of failure can be explained by personality and whether there were other factors of influence such as socioeconomic status, age and sex.

A quantitative method was used, and data collection was conducted via a web-based survey containing 62 questions. The participants in the study (N = 153) consisted of 115 women (75%) and 38 men (25%). IPIP-30 was used to measure personality and the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) was used to measure fear of failure.

The result showed in regression analysis a very strong statistically significant relationship (r = .69) between fear of failure and the personality factor neuroticism, and that it could explain ≈ 53% of the variance in fear of failure. The result was surprisingly strong and clear and showed convincingly that personality explained a large part of the content of the term called "fear of failure".

Our conclusion is therefore that fear of failure as a concept, together with the associated measuring instrument (PFAI scale) becomes superfluous and can instead be replaced by the personality in the five-factor model.

The aim for this study was to investigate how the presumptions for informal workplace learning and knowledge transfer between colleagues were affected by the increase of teleworking, which has become more and more established among organizations and employees. The success of digital learning is essential if you wish to sustain or become a competitive and developing organization. We have examined how the possibilities for informal learning has been influenced by teleworking, and what sorts of shortcomings this might lead to. We also wanted to research how the knowledge transfer may be invigorated and transformed due to the possibilities with teleworking. With a qualitative method and 10 semi-structured interviews with employees in a government-controlled business in a Swedish region, we collected our data, which led to our result. Our approach to answer the study’s purpose has been with an inductive eye and a phenomenological point of view, trying to understand and make conclusions based on our informants’ experiences of learning during teleworking. Our presented result shows that the process of knowledge transfer has, as a consequence of teleworking, shifted from the working party to the individual worker who now must rely on its own abilities. A lack of social presence has been discovered, but at the same time, the feeling of being closer than ever with all your colleagues in the region has appeared, since the digital distance is now equal to everyone. Another discovery mentions the mental presence during digital meetings, and how involved you are in them during the working day, with an experienced increase of screen fatigue. Furthermore, our research also examined how currently implemented strategies were more or less successful to maintain a knowledge transfer among colleagues, together with how knowledge seeking is expressed in the organization.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how first-line managers handle and relate to work-related conflicts between employees and how it affects the wellbeing of the working group. The conflict management styles integrating, obliging, compromising, avoiding and dominating are pervasive in the study. The data collection is based on semi-structured interviews with eight managers in the automotive industry and security companies. The analysis is done through a thematic analysis of the data. The results show phenomena that affect conflicts, conflict management and well-being. Five overall themes were revealed in the analysis. These five general themes are neutrality, communication, experience, motivation and uncertainty. The discussion section mentions that the majority of respondents focused only on the negative with conflicts, but a few also highlighted positive aspects of conflicts.

This quantitative study has the purpose of mapping educational background and illustrate the possibilty of competence development in municipal elderly care. The study is based on answers from 108 electronic questionnaires from assistance nurses and nurse´s aides in municipal elderly care in Sweden.

The result of the study shows that as much as 23,2% that are working in municipal elderly care is unqualified for their jobs. The study also shows that the municipalities around Sweden give their employees a good amount of competence development, but in the smaller municipalities there is less access to competence development than in the middle sized municipalities.

In this study nine relatively new employees within a staffing company were interviewed about their experience of entering into a strong organizational culture. The company that was subject to the study has a recognized strong organizational culture that characterizes the daily life at the workplace. The people we interviewed had been employed between 3 to 18 months.

The purpose of the study is to investigate employees' experience of socializing into a strong organizational culture, and to what extent they have internalized cultural norms and values.

The result of the study shows that the respondents to different extents have embraced the organizational culture and feel comfortable with it, even though socializing into the new culture has been a process. Finally there is a discussion about the importance of person - organization fit as a significant requisite for organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in the company.

In March 2020, it was declared by the WHO that the world was facing a pandemic. In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, people are expected to follow the restrictions imposed by governments. The purpose of the study is to gain insight into the personality traits that predict social distance. Data were collected from a Swedish sample (N = 566) with a web-based survey. A total of 429 women (75.8%) and 137 men (24.2%) participated. Using Mini-IPIP6, personality factors in the Big Five and Honesty-Humility were measured and through Dark Triad Dirty Dozen we measured personality factors in the Dark Triad. Through bivariate correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, we found significant relationships between personality traits and social distancing. Above all, the results show that Dark Triad (r = -.33) and Honesty-Humility (r = .30), but also conscientiousness (r = .18), extraversion (r = -.16), and agreeableness (r = .17 ) are the strongest predictors. Differences in personality are therefore believed to have an importance on how to engage in precautionary measures and thus limit the spread of infection.

We humans live in an increasingly digitized world and this affects both our private and working lives. Regardless of occupation, modern technology has resulted in a digitized work life. Even if the change that has happened within the latest years has resulted in what many would regard as positive aspects such as flexibility, availability and mobility, it is not a work situation that suits everyone.

This study intended to investigate the associations between IT related stress in the working life and personality, based on the five-factor model (FFM). Previous research has established that out of the five personality traits that constitutes FFM, it is neuroticism and conscientiousness that has strong association with different forms of stress and stress-related phenomena.

Data was collected from 170 participants using an online survey. The survey that the participants answered to consisted partly of a scale developed with the purpose of capturing IT related stress in work life and partly of a mini scale for FFM (IPIP30).

The results showed, that the individuals least affected by IT related stress, or potential factors that affect how an individual copes with IT related stress, are individuals with high levels of conscientiousness.

In our time, stress is a factor that greatly influences our lives. Previous research has examined individual differences in relation to stress mainly through Costa and McCrae's (1985) five factor model (FFM). New research indicates that the current construct of Dark Triad consisting of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism needs further research. Research regarding the dark personality traits in relation to stress is limited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible correlations between the dark personality traits vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism and psychopathy and Machiavellianism as well as the possible correlations between these dark personality traits and perceived stress. The number of participants was 346. The participants answered a questionnaire using different scales for each of the dark personality traits as well as one for perceived stress. PSS-10 for perceived stress, HSNS for vulnerable narcissism and NPI-13 for grandiose narcissism, EPA-SSF for psychopathy and MACH-IV for Machiavellianism. The results from the analyses show a significantly strong, positive correlation between vulnerable narcissism and perceived stress, as well as a negative correlation between grandiose narcissism and perceived stress. One conclusion of this study is that we suggest that narcissism should be treated as two separate personality traits in future research related to stress. The results also showed that we cannot draw any conclusions regarding differences between psychopathy and Machiavellianism in relation to perceived stress.Based on the results, we also suggest that primary and secondary psychopathy should be used in future research to investigate possible correlations between perceived stress.

Mindfulness is a phenomenon that has been studied over the past three to four decades. With the rapidly growing number of elderly people in today's society, we are faced with new challenges in order to find new ways to meet this target group and their needs so that they can feel a high quality of life even in this phase of life. Mindfulness can be a method for increasing the quality of life of the elderly suffering from both mental and physical disorders.

In the present study, mindfulness has been studied and whether age and gender can predict the degree of mindfulness. The questions asked were: Are women more mindful than men? To what extent can openness, age and gender explain the degree of mindfulness of the respondents? Quantitative methods were used with a survey as the measuring instrument. The population examined was women and men over 65, of whom 164 were women and 68 were men.

The result showed that there is no connection between mindfulness and age, or mindfulness and openness as well as no connection between mindfulness and gender. The result that emerged from the study is not in line with what previous research has found.

Introduction and objectives. – Self-efficacy, personality and different affect states in entrepreneurs and managers are important factors for effectiveness and well-being. The aim of the study was to examine in young adults during entrepreneurship-related education, the relationships between venturesomeness and self-efficacy, and the mediating effects of positive affect and positive emotions (joviality, self-assurance, attentiveness) on these relationships.

Method. – One hundred and fifty-three participants (mean age 22 years) completed questionnaires that assessed venturesomeness, general self-efficacy, positive affect (measured as a state), and positive emotions. Bootstrapping analyses with simple and multiple mediators were conducted, controlled for gender, to estimate the indirect effects of positive affect and positive emotions on venturesomeness and general self-efficacy.

Results. – Venturesomeness was significantly correlated with self-efficacy. Positive affect (model 1), joviality and self-assurance, but not attentiveness (model 2), were complete mediators in the relationship between venturesomeness and self-efficacy.

Conclusion. – The present study provides new evidence that heightened venturesomeness is related to higher levels of positive affect, self-assurance and joviality. Venturesomeness, therefore, may strengthen self-efficacy in young people during entrepreneurship-related education, and positive emotions may lead to an aware use of resources, including self-efficacy. These results may stimulate young people to be braveand to try new experiences.