Ce travail de recherche est consacré à la différenciation individuelle (DI), une notion présente dans trois champs de recherche : l’identité, l’individualisme/collectivisme et la variabilité perçue dans les groupes. Avec des approches contrastées, ces trois courants ne situent pas la DI au même niveau d’analyse et adoptent des méthodologies différentes. En outre, dans ces travaux, la DI n’a qu’une place périphérique. Par conséquent, on ne sait pas exactement ce qu’elle recouvre. L’objectif de ce travail est d’approfondir le contenu théorique de la DI et de l’opérationnaliser plus précisément. Afin de comparer les méthodologies existantes, nous avons utilisé trois mesures de la DI. Une échelle générale et décontextualisée, des échelles spécifiques, contextualisées séparément et une mesure implicite fondée sur des descriptions de soi et d’autrui. L’impact du statut socioprofessionnel, du genre, du contexte et de l’ordre des descriptions dans la mesure implicite ont été examinés auprès d’une population de professionnels, agents de service et avocats. Les résultats montrent un fort impact des variables positionnelles sur la DI. Le contexte et l’ordre des descriptions ont également induit d’importantes variations. Cette recherche permet de mieux délimiter l’approche de la DI et d’étayer sa définition. La DI correspond à une norme socioculturelle induisant deux conséquences : la perception d’unicité et la recherche de différence, repérable dans les stratégies de présentation de soi. L’utilisation de mesures complémentaires semble indispensable car ces deux effets sont approchés par des mesures différentes, la mesure générale et la mesure implicite, respectivement. Sur ces deux mesures, la DI est plus importante dans les groupes dominants. Les échelles spécifiques correspondent à une mesure explicite qui produit des résultats inversés : davantage de DI dans les groupes dominés. Ce type de mesure révèle un refus des images respectives associées aux groupes dominants et dominés. Elle permet de comprendre que dans la vie quotidienne, la DI engendre de nombreux paradoxes par rapport aux besoins de conformité et d’affiliation groupale. Cette mesure reflète la gestion des contradictions induites par la DI aux plans identitaire et normatif. / The present dissertation is devoted to individual differentiation (ID), a notion that is present in three fields of research: identity, individualism/collectivism and perceived group variability. These three approaches do not consider ID at the same level of analysis and use different methods. Moreover, ID only has a peripheral place. Consequently, we do not know exactly what this notion covers. This work intended to develop the theoretical content of ID and operationalize it more precisely. With the aim to compare the existing methods, we used three measures of ID. A general and decontextualized scale, specific scales, separately contextualized and an implicit measure based on self and others descriptions. The impact of socio-professional status, gender, context and order of descriptions in the implicit measure were estimated within a population of cleaners and lawyers. Results showed a strong effect of status variables on ID. Important variations induced by context and order of descriptions were also observed. This research enabled to delimit ID approach and to develop its definition. ID refers to a socio-cultural norm that brings about two consequences: perception of uniqueness and quest of difference, located in self presentation strategies. The use of complementary measures appears necessary since these two effects are reached by different measures, general measure and implicit measure respectively. With these two measures, ID is more important in high-status groups. Specific scales refer to an explicit measure which produces the opposite result: more ID in low-status groups. This type of measure reveals a rejection of respective images associated to high and low-status groups. It enables us to understand that in everyday life, ID generates many paradoxes with regard to the needs of conformity and of group affiliation. This measure reflects the control of contradictions induced by ID that arise at an identitary level and a normative one.

ICT development and deployment and supporting policies take place within a fiercely contested globalised political economy. For organisations there is a pervasiveness of change processes, often externally imposed, which are rising with these globalising effects. This not only implies that the context in which organisations are situated is continuously changing, but also that the nature of the organisation itself is subject to change (Van Tonder, 2004). However, the external influences imposed on an organisation are often heterogeneous and make the management of adapting to the external environment extremely complex. This thesis explores such an externally imposed change on an organisation around the implementation of a contentious national policy. This entails not only dealing with the more usual dimensions of change in an organisation, but also the implications of the national debate and contentions around the national policy playing out in the local setting of the organisation. In this thesis the change explored is within a government department from a proprietary Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to an open source ECM system. An interpretative approach was followed, using a longitudinal case study. Two main aspects of this change process are explored. The first is the impact of the national open source policy on government departments - an externally imposed change of mission, vision and values. The second is how internally the government department changed its internal work processes and information systems to comply with that policy. These two aspects are intertwined. Alignment of the organisation mission, values and objectives, with the proposed technological innovation and change management models emerges as a necessary condition for managing change. However, what emerged as a more challenging issue was whether internal organisational changes can be aligned with contentious national policy imperatives. Three theoretical lenses are used to explore this contentious issue: the HEM model of Du Plooy’s (1998); the improvisational change management model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997); and institutional theory as it applies to Information Systems. The improvisational change model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997) in combination with Du Plooy’s (1998) HEM model, was used to understand the change process unfolding in the implementation of an OS ECM system in a Government department in SA. The result of this application is some practical recommendations for government officials on future OS implementations, as well as a theoretical add-on to extend the change management model applied. The researcher found that models can increase our understanding and reveal how one can ‘cultivate’ the human environment within which technology is to be implemented. However, the process of developing an understanding of how national policy was developed and the rationale for it was also found to be important, as is developing an understanding of the rationale of this particular department for choosing to implement the OS ECM system. By adding to, or expanding on Orlikowski and Hoffman’s (1997) model to include a fourth element, indicating the external forces in the environment, such as government regulations; government policy; and the debate on global and national FOSS versus PS, highlights the need for this external alignment as well as prevents the focus on internal alignment only. Institutional theory was consequently applied in an attempt to unpack the organisational and change management dimensions of the change model, aiming at understanding the institutional forces which legitimates or contradicts the technical/rational ideas and actions of the change. The findings were threefold. Firstly, the role played by IS as an institutional process in and of itself and the way in which this could have affected the implementation of the new OS ECM system was discussed, pointing to the possibility that the new system was not necessarily being implemented to streamline the work practices, but rather due to its institutional status of being a ‘rational myth’; something which had to be done as ‘it’s just the right thing to do.” Secondly, OSS and PS were argued to be different ‘types’ of institutions. Using the institutional pillars it was argued that OSS and PS were driven by different institutional forces, with PS leaning towards the regulative pillar and OSS being more in line with the normative pillar. These two institutions were found to mainly differ with regard to their basis of compliance and the logic behind them. The insights offered by this argument revealed that when changing from OSS to PS, it would be very valuable to recognise that OSS and PS are two different ‘types’ of institutions, and to not only understand that the new system could therefore change the organisational processes when it is implemented, but to also acknowledge the change which will take place within the IS/IT institution itself – moving from the regulative to the normative. The change should thus be understood both within the two different IS innovations themselves, and in how these two innovations interact. Lastly, the research in this thesis went beyond the technical/rational actions of the stakeholders, and included an in depth analysis of the institutional forces at play in the broader social context of the Government department. It explained the institutions which were at play on the international, national and organisational levels, pointing out which of these forces worked in favour of or against the technical/rational actions, and in the process contributed to the unexpected outcome of the new OS ECM implementation process. / Thesis (PhD-- University of Pretoria, 2014 / Informatics / unrestricted

Denna studie beskriver utmaningar för socialt arbete mot barnarbete inom ASM-gruvarbete i Afrika. Detta är gjort genom en strukturerad litteraturöversikt där nio av 192 artiklar valdes ut, vilka tillsammans redovisar en översikt av existerande data. Uppsatsen är ämnad att tematiskt analysera omständigheter kring barnarbete i gruvor i Afrika, och hur förhållandet gällande socialt arbete mellan västerländska och afrikanska länder kan förstås avseende barn som arbetar med mineralbrytning i Afrika. Förhållandet mellan Afrika och västvärlden konkretiseras genom Demokratiska republiken Kongo (DRK) och koboltkedjan. Utgångspunkten för studien är barnkonventionen. Analysen diskuterar vad som behöver tas i beaktning för att uppnå hållbara förändringar. Studiens slutsats är att perspektiv på barnets bästa och barnarbete skiljer sig beroende på social kontext, vilket leder till utmaningar för socialt arbete mot barnarbete. Samarbetet mellan västvärlden och Afrika behöver stärkas än mer för att uppnå hållbar utveckling. / This study depicts challenges in social work against child labour in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa. It is made through a structured review where nine of 192 articles were selected, which together provides an overview of existing data. The paper is aimed to thematically analyze circumstances of child labour in mines in Africa, and how the relationship of social work between Western and African countries can be understood regarding children mining in Africa. The relationship between Africa and the Western world is concretized through the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) and the cobalt chain. The approach in this article is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The analysis discusses what should be considered to achieve sustainable changes. It concludes perspectives on best interest of the child and child labour differs depending on the social context, leading to challenges for social work against child labour. Greater cooperation between the western world and Africa is needed for sustainable development.

Syfte och frågeställningar Målet med denna studie var att undersöka hur elever upplever omklädningsrummet och omklädningssituationeni skolan samt vad som påverkar upplevelsen. Syftet med studien var således att problematisera tidigareforskningsresultat kring upplevelsen av omklädningssituationen kopplad till prestation inom ämnet samt attutifrån den förståelse som dessa resultat genererar kunna föreslå åtgärder. Utifrån detta syfte formuleradesforskningsfrågorna “Hur upplever högpresterande respektive lågpresterande elever omklädningssituationen?” samt “Vilka faktorer anser högpresterande respektive lågpresterande elever påverkar situationen?” Teori och metod Studien utfördes i form av en komparativ undersökning med sex respondenter från en gymnasieskola iStockholms innerstad. Dessa var indelade i två elevgrupper utifrån hög/låg närvaro, höga/låga betyg samttidigare idrottsbakgrund. Materialet skapades genom kvalitativa intervjuer av reflexiv och semistruktureradkaraktär, transkriberades sedan med orthographic och analyserades slutligen med inspiration från kvalitativ ochtematisk meningsinnehållsanalys. Det teoretiska ramverket för analysen bottnade i strukturalistisk,poststrukturalistisk och poststrukturalistisk feministisk teoribildning inspirerad av bland annat Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Jean-Paul Sartre och Jean Baudrillard. Resultat Gemensamt för eleverna i båda grupperna är att de inte använder skolans duschar och även till viss del undvikerskolans omklädningsrum. Sammanhanget kring både dusch och ombyte upplevs som mer eller mindreobekvämt, onormalt och exponerande. Det sociala sammanhanget, nakenhet i grupp och den egna kroppen iandras ögon ses som centrala faktorer. Även tidsbrist, schemaläggning och behovet att ta med sig en handdukmenas påverka. De två elevgruppernas upplevelser verkar enbart skilja sig i viss mån från varandra. Dehögpresterande eleverna ser skolämnet som något positivt, ser det fysiska rummet som bristfälligt och önskarförändringar i schemat i högre grad. De lågpresterande eleverna verkar i högre grad se handduken som ett problem. Slutsatser Den vanligaste orsaken till att undvika dusch eller ombyte verkar handla om vad som anses normalt, snarare änupplevt obehag på grund av nakenhet. De elever som har större erfarenhet av idrottsverksamhet utanför skolanverkar dock vara mer bekväma med både ombyte och nakenhet i grupp, något som förklaras genom habitus ochsymboliskt kapital. Nakenhet och exponering är dock centrala faktorer för vissa elever. Upplevelsen av att kroppen som både objekt och subjekt inte lever upp till de förväntade kraven skapar tillsammans med en upplevelse av övervakning och dömande blickar ett beläggande av skuld- och skam på sig själv. Ett samband mellan hög frånvaro, låga betyg, en negativ inställning till ämnet och obehag kopplat till omklädningsrummet motsägs delvis av denna studie. Det är snarare upplevelsen av normalitet i sammanhanget som påverkar valet attanvända dusch- och omklädningsrum eller inte, oavsett närvaro, betyg eller inställning. / Aim and research questions The aim of this study was to investigate how students experience their school’s changing room and whatinfluences this experience. The purpose of the study was thus to problematize previous research results regarding the experience of the changing situation linked to performance within the school subject and to beable to propose measures based on the understanding these results generate. Based on this aim, the following research questions were formulated: "How do high-achieving and low-achieving students experience the changing situation?" and "Which factors do high-achieving and low-achieving students think influence thesituation?". Theory and method The study was carried out in the form of a comparative survey with six respondents from an upper secondaryschool in inner city Stockholm. These were divided into two student groups based on high/low attendance,high/low grades and previous sports background. The material was created through qualitative interviews of areflexive and semi-structured nature, then transcribed using orthographic and finally analyzed with inspirationfrom qualitative and thematic content analysis. The theoretical framework for the analysis was rooted instructuralist, poststructuralist and poststructuralist feminist theorizing inspired by, among others, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean Baudrillard. Results Common to the students in both groups is that they do not use the school's showers and also to some extentavoid the school's changing rooms. The context surrounding both showering and changing is experienced asmore or less uncomfortable, abnormal and exposing. The social context, group nudity and one's own body in theeyes of others are seen as central factors. Lack of time, scheduling and the need to bring a towel are also said tohave an effect. The experiences of the two student groups only seem to differ from each other to a certain extent. The high-achieving students see the school subject as something positive, see the physical space as deficient anddesire changes in the schedule to a greater degree. The low-achieving students seem to see the towel as aproblem to a greater extent. Conclusions The most common reason for avoiding showering or changing appears to be about what is considered normal, rather than perceived discomfort due to nudity. However, the students who have more experience of sportsactivities outside school seem to be more comfortable with both changing and nudity in a group, something thatis explained by habitus and symbolic capital. However, nudity and exposure are central factors for somestudents. The experience that the body as both object and subject does not live up to the expected requirements,together with an experience of surveillance and judgmental looks, creates a coating of guilt and shame ononeself. An association between high absenteeism, low grades, a negative attitude towards the school subjectand discomfort linked to the changing room is partially contradicted by this study. Rather, it is the experience ofnormality in the context that influences the choice to use the shower and changing rooms or not, regardless of attendance, grade or attitude.

No description available.

Text in Afrikaans / The central focus of this study is the church involvement of young adult members. Following an introductory chapter in which the research methodology and modus operandi are being explained, a discussion, in the light of recent literature, is devoted to young adults as a unique generation of our time, shaped within a particular social context; their specific characteristics and spiritual needs; and possible reasons for their very slight involvement with the church (chapter 2). In chapter 3, the empirical survey, conducted by means of questionnaires and structured interviews within the Uniting Reformed Church's Circuit of Wellington, is described and the results interpreted. In chapter 4, certain conclusions are drawn. The indication from the literature reviewed, that young adults are mainly uninvolved with the church, was empirically confirmed. Finally, recommendations are made and guidelines given, aimed at a more effective ministry to the young adult member of the church. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M. Diac. (Youth Work)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the social and cultural contexts of 1QS (Serek ha-Yahad) by means of a textual study. The analysis of the text is performed in a synchronic perspective. This means that lexical choices, grammatical forms, references, topics, themes, and intertextuality are analyzed text-internally. By doing so, this study sheds new light on old questions of textual cohesion and coherence, questions that until now have been dealt with mostly from a diachronic perspective. The text analysis entails investigation in view of three interrelated dimensions of language function: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. These imply language as transmitting information, creating and sustaining relations, and functioning to organize itself into cohesive units. Although applying some of the terminology from the field of text linguistics (SFL), the focus in this study is on what a text means rather than why. This means that the semantic-pragmatic aspects of language are of foremost interest here. The analysis is performed from bottom and up, then from top down again. Words, phrases, and sentences are investigated up to the broadest linguistic level, namely, to the semantic discourse itself. With an understanding of the larger discourse at hand thanks to this analysis of textual cohesion and coherence, textual details are once again revisited and interpreted anew. In this work, 1QS is analyzed from beginning to end—chronologically, so to say. Then, at the end of each major section, the discourse is analyzed overall. Following the text analysis, conclusions of the investigations are presented. The conclusions argue that the hierarchal structure of the community and its stringent regulations are to be understood as a corrective in response to corrupt society. It is also argued that language in 1QS has a performative function. Rather than describing the way things are, it aspires to evoke the ideal society. Instead of understanding 1QS and the community mirrored in it as a deviant group with little or no contact with the surrounding world, it is then understood as a potent contribution to late Second Temple Jewish discourse concerning how to create a just society and a sanctifying cultic practice. In the final chapter, the insights gained from textual analysis of 1QS are brought into encounter with the theoretical framework posited by French historian and philosopher René Girard (1923–2015). In light of Girard’s philosophy, the hierarchal organization of the community (the Yahad) as well as its regulations can be interpreted as an effort to prevent a mimetic crisis. The function of the scapegoat in 1QS is discussed in light of Girard’s grand theory of the mechanisms of scapegoating in all societies. The study closes with the tentative hypothesis that the community in 1QS deconstructs the scapegoating mechanism by taking the role of the scapegoat upon itself.

De nous jours, les modèles se référant aux comportements individuels représentent la pensée dominante pour comprendre les choix alimentaires dans le domaine de la nutrition en santé publique. Ces modèles conceptualisent les choix alimentaires comme un comportement de consommation décidé de façon rationnelle par des individus, en réponse aux multiples déterminants personnels et environnementaux. Même si ces modèles sont utiles pour décrire les déterminants des comportements individuels d’alimentation, ils ne peuvent expliquer les choix alimentaires en tant que processus social façonné en fonction des individus et des lieux, dans des contextes diversifiés. Cette thèse élabore le Cadre Conceptuel sur la Pratique des Choix Alimentaires afin d’explorer les choix alimentaires comme phénomène social. En utilisant le concept de pratique sociale, les choix alimentaires des individus symbolisent une relation récursive entre la structure sociale et l’agence. Ce cadre conceptuel nous donne un moyen d’identifier les choix alimentaires comme des activités sociales modelées sur la vie de tous les jours et la constituant. Il offre des concepts pour identifier la manière dont les structures sociales renforcent les activités routinières menant aux choix alimentaires. La structure sociale est examinée en utilisant les règles et les ressources de Giddens et est opérationnalisée de la façon suivante : systèmes de significations partagées, normes sociales, ressources matérielles et ressources d'autorité qui permettent ou empêchent les choix alimentaires désirés. Les résultats empiriques de deux études présentées dans cette thèse appuient la proposition que les choix alimentaires sont des pratiques sociales. La première étude examine les pratiques de choix alimentaires au sein des familles. Nous avons identifié les choix alimentaires comme cinq activités routinières distinctes intégrées dans la vie familiale de tous les jours à partir d’analyses réalisées sur les activités d’alimentation habituelles de 20 familles avec de jeunes enfants. Notre seconde étude a élaboré les règles et les ressources des pratiques alimentaires à partir des familles de l’étude. Ensuite, nous avons analysé la façon dont les règles et les ressources pouvaient expliquer les pratiques de choix alimentaires qui sont renforcées ou limitées au sein des familles lors de la routine spécifique à la préparation des repas et de la collation. Les ressources matérielles et d'autorité suffisantes ont permis d’expliquer les pratiques de choix alimentaires qui étaient facilitées, alors que les défis pouvaient être compris comme etant reliés à des ressources limitées. Les règles pouvaient empêcher ou faciliter les pratiques de choix alimentaires par l’entremise de normes ou de significations associées à la préparation de repas. Les données empiriques provenant de cette thèse appuient les choix alimentaires comme étant des activités routinières qui sont structurées socialement et qui caractérisent les familles. Selon la théorie de la structuration de Giddens, les pratiques routinières qui persistent dans le temps forment les institutions sociales. Ainsi, les pratiques routinières de choix alimentaires façonnent les styles d’habitudes alimentaires familiales et contribuent par ailleurs à la constitution des familles elles-mêmes. Cette compréhension identifie de nouvelles directions concernant la façon dont les choix alimentaires sont conceptualisés en santé publique. Les programmes de promotion de la santé destinés à améliorer la nutrition sont des stratégies clés pour prévenir les maladies chroniques et pour améliorer la santé populationnelle. Les choix alimentaires peuvent être abordés comme des activités partagées qui décrivent des groupes sociaux et qui sont socialement structurés par des règles et des ressources présentes dans les contextes de pratiques de choix alimentaires. / Models of individual-behaviour currently represent the dominant understanding of food choice in public health nutrition. This model frames food choice as a dietary intake behaviour rationally decided by individuals in response to multiple personal and environmental determinants. While useful in describing determinants of individual dietary behaviours, the model cannot explain food choice as a social process shaped in relation to people and places associated with diverse contexts. This thesis presents the Food Choice Practice Framework to explore food choices as social phenomena. Using the concept of social practice, food choice is proposed as an interplay of social structure and agency. The framework provides a means for identifying food choices as activities patterned among, and constituting, day to day life. It furnishes concepts to identify how social structures reinforce routinized food choice activities. Social structure is examined using Giddens' notions of rules and resources and operationalized as: shared systems of meanings, social norms, material resources, and authoritative resources that enable or constrain desired food choices. The empirical work from two studies supports the proposition that food choices are social practices. The first study in the thesis examines food choice practices in families. We identified food choices as five distinct routinized activities integrated among the usual feeding activities of 20 families with young children. The second study elaborated the rules and resources of food choice practices from the study families. We then analyzed how rules and resources could explain both enabled and constrained food choice practices experienced by families in the specific routine of creating regular meals and snacks. Adequate allocative and authoritative resources helped explain enabled routine food choice practices, while challenges could be understood as coming about through limited resources. Rules could constrain or enable food choice practices through sanctioning norms and meanings associated with creating meals. The empirical work supports understanding food choices as routinized activities that are socially structured and which characterize families. According to Giddens' structuration theory routinized practices that endure through time form social institutions. Therefore routinized food choice practices shape characteristic styles of eating patterns in families, as well as contribute to the constitution of families themselves. This understanding identifies new directions for the way food choice is conceptualized in public health. Health Promotion programs designed to improve nutrition are key strategies for the prevention of chronic disease and improvement of population health. Food choices can be approached as shared activities that describe social groups, and explained as socially structured by rules and resources present in the contexts of food choice practice.

Notre travail doctoral vise à étudier l'impact du contexte social de l'organisation à un premier niveau, sur les perceptions des employés des ruptures du CP et à un second niveau, sur la performance au travail. Nous soutenons que la perception des employés de la rupture du CP est fortement subjective, et donc, qu'elle dépend majoritairement des repères sociaux que l'employé capte en observant la façon dont l'organisation traite les autres employés. S'appuyant sur ces arguments, l'existence de relations politiques au sein de l'organisation ainsi que les processus de comparaison sociale ont été plaidés comme facteurs contextuels sociaux influençant la perception des employés de la rupture du CP et leurs comportements subséquents de performance au travail. L'enquête a été réalisée sur un échantillon non aléatoire de 322 dyades subordonné-superviseur. Le test des hypothèses a démontré que le contexte social négatif est positivement associé à la rupture du CP au niveau transactionnel et au niveau relationnel. Les ruptures des CP transactionnel et relationnel ont des effets significatifs et négatifs sur les comportements volontaires et obligatoires des employés. L'effet est d'ailleurs légèrement plus fort pour les comportements volontaires que pour les comportements obligatoires. L'importance perçue des promesses non tenues a des effets modérateurs significatifs sur la relation entre la rupture des CP transactionnel et relationnel et sur les comportements volontaires des salariés. En revanche, cette importance n'a pas d'effet modérateur significatif sur la relation entre la rupture du CP et les comportements obligatoires des salariés. / The current study is aimed at investigating the impact of organizational social context on employees' perceptions of PCB and subsequent performance behaviors. We argued that employee's perception of PCB is highly subjective in nature, thus, heavily depends on social cues the employee picks up from the organization's treatment to other coworkers. Based on these arguments, organizational politics and social comparison processes (positive and negative comparisons) were argued as social contextual factors that influence employee's perception of PCB and subsequent performance behaviors. A non-random purposive sample of 322 subordinate-supervisor matching dyads, with 60% response rate, collected from various public & private organizations of Pakistan. The SR model results demonstrated that the negative social contextual factors (organizational politics & negative comparison) had significant positive associations with both transactional and relational PCB. However, the positive social contextual factor (positive comparison) had non-significant effects on both transactional and relational PCB. Both transactional and relational PCB had significant negative effects on employees' extra-role (OCB-I) and in-role behaviors, and the effect size was, slightly, greater for extra-role than in-role behaviors. Perceived importance of broken promises showed significant moderating effects only for the relationship between PCB (transactional & relational) and employees' extra-role behaviors (OCB-I) but not between PCB and in-role behaviors.

Throughout the animal kingdom, individuals often differ consistently from one another in how they cope with their environment. In particular, consistent behavioural variation, known as animal personality, is a substantial driver of a range of important ecological and evolutionary processes. As most animal species are social for at least part of their lives and group living is common, a crucial link between personality and the social context may be expected. In this thesis I systematically investigate this link, using three-spined stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as my model system. I begin by showing that fish vary consistently in their boldness and sociability, with only boldness being positively linked to food intake for fish at rest. This finding provides support for evolutionary theory that links personality variation to life-history strategies, and lays the basis for work related to the social context. I continue by investigating how the social context may modulate personality variation and show that short contact with a social group may have carry-over effects and obfuscate personality expression when individuals are alone. Next, I observed fish in different pairs over time and found that social experience from both the current as well as previous social contexts are integrated in the risk-taking and leadership decisions of individuals but also depends on their boldness type. This result provides support for the importance of social feedback in the expression of personality differences. I go on to demonstrate that, in a pair, bolder fish have lower social attraction, with positive effects on individual’s leadership but negative effects on social coordination. Finally, by detailed tracking of the collective movements and group foraging of free-swimming shoals, I reveal boldness and sociability have complementary driving effects of on social structure, collective behaviour, and group functioning. Furthermore, I show that in turn the group composition determines the performance of individual personality types, providing a potential adaptive explanation for the maintenance of personality variation. Taken together, these studies provide an integrated account of animal personality and the social context and highlight the presence of a feedback loop between them, with personality variation being a key driver of collective behaviour and group functioning but also strongly affected and potentially maintained by it.