There has been undoubtedly a rapid economic growth in China over the last few decades and globalization has affected many business practices in China. Therefore this study addressed the interesting question of how the traditional concept of ‘guanxi’ works in modern day China. This was investigated through the lived experiences and perceptions of how Hong Kong executives establish business relationships in China. This research is important because ‘guanxi’ has often been associated with the success factor of business practices in China. Through a qualitative research methodology this research found that the practices of ‘guanxi’ take a changing and integrated approach. While some elements including favours and benefits have changed to become more indirect, less materialistic and depend on trust, other elements like socializing, hierarchy and the long term orientation in a business context have decreased in importance. Further the different experiences in the government sector, different company size, geographic locations in China, as well as the emergence of a new generation, have shown that the formation of networks cannot be generalized, but take different approaches depending on the situation. The significance of this is that ‘guanxi’ is less important for large organizations and the new generation of Western influenced managers in China. Finally while experiences of ‘guanxi’ change, they take a more international perspective while maintaining some traditional elements such as face. This suggests that Chinese business practices combine and accept apparent opposite values of international and traditional practices.

Based on the reflections of frontline workers, this paper explores restorative justice programming in Winnipeg, Manitoba and critically raises questions around settler colonialism, the justice process, and the “participant” “worker” relationship. Within settler colonial theory, the criminal justice system is seen as a colonial project that continues to disproportionately control and confine Indigenous Peoples. Exploring how workers understand settler colonialism and the restorative justice difference in their work and in their relationship with participants, this thesis argues that, to its detriment, restorative justice theory has not adequately considered settler colonialism. Grounded in a critical constructivist research paradigm, data was collected through one-on-one interviews and focus groups with ten frontline workers who are program coordinators, victim offender mediators, and community workers. Framed by the writer’s own experience as a frontline worker, the collected narratives offer critical, yet hopeful insight into restorative justice theory and practice, particularly within settler colonial contexts. / February 2017

Background: The concept of relationship marketing is a continuously growing research area in the field of academic research. A topic being widely discussed is which factors builds trust and the importance of having trust in business-to-business (B2B) relationships. However, there is a lack of research in the field of which factors have a negative effect on the level of trust in business relationships. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain which factors are crucial to maintain trust in a B2B relationship. Focus: The focus in this study is on trust in B2B relationships. Particularly how it is negatively affected by lacking the building blocks needed in order to have trust in such a relationship. Method: This study made use of a deductive, quantitative approach. By using a survey, the data was gathered through an online questionnaire sent out via e-mail to 700 Swedish B2B companies. Results: In total, answers from 141 were reliable. In SPSS analyses for regression, reliability, and validity were conducted. Out of the five stated hypotheses, three were accepted and two rejected. Conflict handling was shown to have the largest influence on the level of trust together with communication and competence. Commitment and contracts were rejected in the hypotheses testing. Conclusion: A new model is presented where the accepted hypotheses act as influencers on trust. The conclusion of this study is that if there is a lack of conflict handling, communication, and competence it will have a negative effect on trust in a B2B relationship. Due to limitations of the study, other research opportunities derive. It is suggested that future research should explore the differentiation between different industries and/or different kind of actors within the B2B-relation or countries.

This study examines the relationship between truancy and levels of self-efficacy in adolescents. Results revealed no significant relationship between truancy and levels of self-efficacy. However, when the self-efficacy sums of the General Self-efficacy Survey and the Academic Self-efficacy Survey were analyzed individually with the dependent variable truancy, there was a statistical significant relationship in levels of academic self-efficacy in adolescents ages 12-1 7 years old who were truant versus those who were not truant.

The aim of this thesis was to describe and explore how the partner relationship of patient–partner dyads isaffected following cardiac disease and, in particular, atrial fibrillation (AF) in one of the spouses. The thesis is based on four individual studies with different designs: descriptive (I), explorative (II, IV), and cross-sectional (III). Applied methods comprised a systematic review (I) and qualitative (II, IV) and quantitative methods (III). Participants in the studies were couples in which one of the spouses was afflicted with AF. Coherent with a systemic perspective, the research focused on the dyad as the unit of analysis. To identify and describe the current research position and knowledge base, the data for the systematic review were analyzed using an integrative approach. To explore couples’ main concern, interview data (n=12 couples) in study II were analyzed using classical grounded theory. Associations between patients and partners (n=91 couples) where analyzed through the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model using structural equation modelling (III). To explore couples’ illness beliefs, interview data (n=9 couples) in study IV were analyzed using Gadamerian hermeneutics. Study I revealed five themes of how the partner relationship is affected following cardiac disease: overprotection, communication deficiency, sexual concerns, changes in domestic roles, and adjustment to illness. Study II showed that couples living with AF experienced uncertainty as the common main concern, rooted in causation of AF and apprehension about AF episodes. The theory of Managing Uncertainty revealed the strategies of explicit sharing (mutual collaboration and finding resemblance) and implicit sharing (keeping distance and tacit understanding). Patients and spouses showed significant differences in terms of self-reported physical and mental health where patients rated themselves lower than spouses did (III). Several actor effects were identified, suggesting that emotional distress affects and is associated with perceived health. Patient partner effects and spouse partner effects were observed for vitality, indicating that higher levels of symptoms of depression in patients and spouses were associated with lower vitality in their partners. In study IV, couples’ core and secondary illness beliefs were revealed. From the core illness belief that “the heart is a representation of life,” two secondary illness beliefs were derived: AF is a threat to life, and AF can and must be explained. From the core illness belief that “change is an integral part of life,” two secondary illness beliefs were derived: AF is a disruption in our lives, and AF will not interfere with our lives. Finally, from the core illness belief that “adaptation is fundamental in life,” two secondary illness beliefs were derived: AF entails adjustment in daily life, and AF entails confidence in and adherence to professional care. In conclusion, the thesis result suggests that illness, in terms of cardiac disease and AF, affected and influenced the couple on aspects such as making sense of AF, responding to AF, and mutually incorporating and dealing with AF in their daily lives. In the light of this, the thesis results suggest that clinicians working with persons with AF and their partners should employ a systemic view with consideration of couple’s reciprocity and interdependence, but also have knowledge regarding AF, in terms of pathophysiology, the nature of AF (i.e., cause, consequences, and trajectory), and treatments. A possible approach to achieve this is a clinical utilization of an FSN based framework, such as the FamHC. Even if a formalized FSN framework is not utilized, partners should not be neglected but, rather, be considered a resource and be a part of clinical caring activities. This could be met by inviting partners to take part in rounds, treatment decisions, discharge calls or follow-up visits or other clinical caring activities. Likewise, interventional studies should include the couple as a unit of analysis as well as the target of interventions.

The present study investigated the relationship between self concept and children's figure drawings. The principle variable under consideration in each child's drawing were (a) size of the drawing and (b) number of colors used. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965) was administered to 80 students selected from the seventh grade at Logan Junior High School, Logan, Utah. The subjects were then instructed to draw a picture of themselves. No further instructions were given regarding specific details of the requested picture. Ten colored pencils along with a regular pencil were made available to each student. No instructions were given as to the type or number of pencils to be used in their figure drawing. After the subjects completed their respective drawings, the experimenter rated each picture in terms of (a) number of colors used for the drawing, and (b) the height or vertical size of the drawing measured in millimeters from top to bottom of the drawing. It was hypothesized that students who obtain high scores on a measure of self concept (positive self concept) will use a greater number of colors in drawing a picture of themselves than will students who score low (negative self concept) on the same self concept measure. Students with high score on the measure of self concept will also draw a picture of themselves which is larger in size (height) than will students with low scores on the self concept measure. In addition to the two major hypotheses, it was also hypothesized that: (1) the high self concept group will have more smiles on the faces of their drawings than the low self concept group; (2) the high self concept group will draw more full figures than the low self concept group; (3) the high self concept group will use more total space on the paper than the low self concept group; and (4) the high self concept group will draw their figures more in the top two-thirds of the page and the low concept group will draw their figures more in the bottom two-thirds of the page. All of the subjects were ranked from high to low scores obtained on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and were then divided into a high self concept group (top 20 scores) and a low self concept group (bottom 20 scores). Scores for the total sample of 80 students ranged from 193 to 394. Thus, the high self concept group was comprised of students with scores from 314 to 394. The low self concept group scores ranged from 193 to 246. The figure drawings of high and low scores on the Self Concept Scale were then compared to determine any apparent relationship between measured self concept and (a) number of colors used in the drawing and (b) overall size of the drawing. Analysis of the figure drawings indicated no significant differences, either in number of colors used, or in size of figure between high and low scorers on the Self Concept Scale. the mean number of colors used by high scorers was 3.5 millimeters. Thus, the basic hypotheses of the study were not substantiated by the results obtained. However, subjective inspection of the pictures in terms of the four sub-hypotheses did produce two significant findings in terms of projective-type ratings of the pictures and statistical analysis by the chi square method. In brief, these particular differences were that students who scored high in self concept drew more pictures with smiling faces and utilized the top two-thirds of the drawing paper, while students with low self concept drew pictures with sadder-looking faces and more toward the bottom of two-thirds of the paper. The data also showed a significantly higher number of boys than girls in the high self concept group.

Marital relationships play an important role in family functioning and in the development of sibling relationships. From a family systems perspective, other subsystems within the family, such as coparenting interactions, could explain the effects of the marital relationship on sibling bonds. Specifically, the quality of the coparenting relationship may mediate the association between marital functioning and sibling relationship quality. The current study examined relationships between these three subsystems (marital, coparenting, and sibling) as self-reported by mothers, fathers, and children with siblings. As part of a larger project, families with a child aged 8 to 11 and at least one sibling (N = 75) completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Coparenting Scale (both completed by mother and father), as well as the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (completed by target child). Results suggested that marital functioning is a significant predictor of functioning within the coparenting relationship. Predicted associations did not emerge between sibling relationship quality and marital or coparenting relationships, with minor exceptions, and the coparenting relationship did not mediate the association between marital and sibling relationship quality. Implications of the current findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Climate change is one of the the world's biggest challenges. How media report about it has a big affect on how people interpret it and if government take action. Sources has a big importance for all journalism that is produced. Does the journalist or the source control what is reported about climate change, what does their relationship look like and how does that affect the result of the reporting? This is a study about the relationship between environmental journalists and their sources. We investigate in what way they are dependent on each other and who or what controls the reporting about climate change in Swedish Public Service. We are analyzing this by doing a case study of two climate journalists, one from Public Service Television (SVT) and one from Public Service Radio (SR). We are interviewing them and their sources to find the sources approach towards environmental journalist and vice versa. We also analyze if the journalist, the source or the circumstances controls the reporting and set the agenda about climate change. Our study shows that environmental sources have a positive attitude towards environmental journalists and that they find knowledge as a highly valued quality. Furthermore it shows that both the journalists and the sources actively works to initiate what is brought up in media. Sources write press releases, debate articles, tweet their work and contact journalists but in most cases it is the journalist who initiates contact with the source. In our study it becomes clear that environmental sources and environmental journalist depend on each other and have a dynamic relationship.

Gurus claim that they are able to act as mediators to put disciples on the path of spiritual development in diaspora. This study aims to investigate this claim, researching the hypothesis ‘that changing cultural environments in the United Kingdom, compared to those of the Indian sub-continent, requires a different model of the guru-chela (guru-disciple), relationship?’ In effect it seeks to test the differences, based on the stability and sustainability of the relationship in diaspora? This claim was endorsed by psychotherapist, J S Neki (1973), in a meeting in America and was published in The Journal of Ortho-psychiatry Volume 3. It discusses the possibility of the ‘guru-chela (disciple) relations’ acting as a model for ‘therapeutic care for the Hindu patient in diaspora.’ This research aims to examine critically the effectiveness of the guru-disciple relationship in light of changes the gurus have made in the delivery and quality of instructions they provide and the changes in the disciples’ aspirations in the new environment. The study investigates the meeting ground for science-based western psychotherapy and intuition-based spirituality. Both subjects deal with pastoral care components for their respective respondents, but are diametrically opposed in their approaches. The research sample in the study, are taken from Leicester, where the researcher is based, as the area provides a diverse group in the Heart of Hindu England, through which to examine the guru-disciple phenomena in diaspora.

This research introduces the concept of “brand addiction” as a new marketing construct. Employing conceptual development, the concept of brand addiction is defined as a psychological state that entails an obsessive relationship between the consumer and a specific brand. To examine the phenomenon of brand addiction, the present research was designed based on a partial sequential mixed methods research in which a qualitative study was followed by a quantitative study. Arguing that research on brand addiction should be built based on an understanding of how consumers experience this phenomenon in reality, the research incorporated a series of four qualitative focus group studies to uncover the possible core features, motives, and consequences of the brand addiction prototype using discursive psychological perspective. Survey data were subsequently used to generate the brand addiction measurement scale and to test the brand addiction theoretical model. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the brand addiction measurement scale employed 14 core elements. In addition to the brand addiction core features, the brand addiction prototype comprises brand trust, ideal, and actual self-image congruence and fashion interest as its antecedents. Furthermore, the brand addiction prototype includes the feeling of guilt, appearance esteem, debt attitude, and life happiness as its consequences. This research concludes with a presentation and discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications. The research findings provide an understanding of and deep insights into the brand addiction phenomenon, thereby adding to the existing body of literature.