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Smartphones are omnipresent and indispensable in today’s society. Research in psychology and education points to both helpful and detrimental implications of smartphone usage for performance and well-being. Competitive and high-performance athletes represent a subsection of a demographic deeply intrenched in smartphone usage, yet few studies have shed light on the impact of smartphones usage in athletes’ lives. The overarching aim of this research was to advance knowledge on athletes’ use of smartphones. The mixed methods research program, with sequential pacing and qualitative priority, was informed by a critical realist paradigm. Data were collected through focus groups, remote tracking and surveys, and individual interviews with competitive and high-performance athletes. The research culminated in four distinct but related studies and four articles. The purpose of Study 1 was to qualitatively investigate varsity athletes’ lived experiences with smartphones. Five focus groups were conducted with a sample of 21 varsity athletes (9 men, 12 women) representing nine different sports (i.e., track and field, basketball, rowing, fencing, Nordic ski, rugby, swimming, lacrosse, and soccer). The inductive and reflexive thematic analysis led to the creation of three main themes. The first theme pertained to general usage experiences (i.e., characteristics of usage, awareness and nature of usage, restrictions of usage), revealing that social media is a focal point of athletes’ usage. The other two themes concerned athletes’ concurrent experiences of negative (i.e., stress, distraction, disengagement) and positive (i.e., self-regulation, social connectedness) smartphone usage. The majority of varsity athletes (81%) self-identified as moderate or heavy smartphone users, and relied on their devices throughout the day for communication and self-management. Findings suggest that smartphone usage exists along a continuum of negative/unhelpful to positive/helpful usage rather than as distinct “good” or “bad” usage. Usage is complex and often paradoxical for sport preparation, performance, recovery, and well-being. The purpose of Study 2 was to develop and pilot test a novel research application designed to examine, in an ecologically valid way, the prevalence and features of smartphone usage among a sample of athletes, in tandem with a selection of psychosocial variables. An interdisciplinary research team was formed to create the mobile research application and measure its tracking ability and accuracy to inform Study 3. The smartphone usage of five (n = 5) studentathletes was tracked in real-time over a 15-day period. Participants also completed a mobile self-report survey on psychosocial variables deemed important to athletes’ performance and wellbeing (i.e., mindfulness, mental health, and self-regulation). Results of the pilot study demonstrated a sizable range in total hours of smartphone usage, with an average of 31.1 hours per week, predominantly for social media. Real-time smartphone usage averages surpassed athletes’ self-reported time spent studying (20h per week) and training for sport (11.4h per week). All participants reported moderate-to-high self-regulation capacity, mindfulness, and mental health. The pilot study provided proof of feasibility for a longitudinal study using the research application and methods. It afforded the opportunity to make technical adjustments based on participant feedback, enhance usability and ecological validity, and subject the data to preliminary algorithms to extract detailed information from a large data pool. Building on Study 2, the purpose of Study 3 was to investigate the prevalence and features of competitive student-athletes’ smartphone usage and psychosocial outcomes using a longitudinal in vivo design. Over the course of one year, student-athletes’ smartphone usage was automatically tracked via the mobile app they installed on their phone and they also completed a self-report survey through the app on a monthly basis to assess self-regulation, mindfulness, mental health, stress, loneliness, and perfectionistic self-presentation. Although 20 participants volunteered to complete the study, only 10 participants consistently completed the survey and were retained in the final dataset. Descriptive analyses showed that the student-athletes used their smartphones for an average of 24.15 hours per week, predominantly for social media, and they formed two distinct user groups (i.e., heavy and light usage). Psychosocial profiles revealed they had moderate-to-high psychosocial functioning and highly nuanced changes in psychosocial outcomes and usage over time. There were no significant relationships between amount of smartphone usage and psychosocial outcomes, except for one positive relationship between usage and mental health in the winter. Findings support a new wave of literature deemphasizing a simple negative relationship between smartphone usage and psychosocial outcomes, and encourage further study of individual characteristics, such as purpose of usage. This study illustrates that although it is resource intensive, it is feasible to leverage the smartphone as an in vivo research tool to collect complex, ecologically valid usage data in tandem with psychosocial self-reports. It lays a foundation for larger-scale studies to assess the impact of athletes’ usage on their psychosocial functioning. The purpose of Study 4 was to qualitatively examine the self-regulatory processes, conditions, and outcomes related to the smartphone usage of competitive and high-performance athletes, and to postulate a model to inform research and applied practice in this area. Guided by the results of the previous studies showing prevalent social media usage among athletes, Study 4 also furthered explored athletes’ use of social media. Twenty-four (n = 24) competitive and highperformance athletes from eight different sports participated in individual, in-depth interviews. A directed content analysis, informed by the models of self-regulated learning and self-regulatory strength, was performed to analyze the data. While many themes aligned with components of both or either self-regulation models, new themes were generated. To account for all the data and explain athletes’ smartphone usage in and around the sport setting, the “Self-regulation and Smartphone Usage Model” (SSUM) was created. The SSUM includes five broad components: (a) self-regulation capacity, (b) self-regulation processes, (c) conditions (i.e., context of usage, type of usage, awareness of usage, autonomy of usage, and concurrence of usage), (d) outcomes, and (e) self-regulation competencies. Findings support a paradoxical relationship between smartphone usage and self-regulation. On the one hand, athletes use their smartphones to engage and master helpful self-regulation processes and on the other, they face increased self-regulatory demands because of their smartphones—particularly social media—which can lead to self-regulatory depletion. Overall, the current research sheds light on a new facet of competitive athletes’ livesthe smartphone. It underscores a deeply individualized, nuanced relationship between athletes and their phones, regardless of age, sex, type of sport, or competitive level. These devices can both inhibit and facilitate self-regulation and influence performance and well-being. Regardless of the purpose of usage, smartphones must be effectively managed. Thus, athletes must develop self-regulatory competencies specifically for this tool. This research shows the value of tracking real-time usage of phones and provides a conceptual map for working with athletes to leverage the benefits of smartphone technology.

Svenskar lägger årligen tiotals miljoner kronor på gymkort för ett medlemskap som aldrig används. Min hypotes är att det handlar om motivationen med en avgränsning inom välkomnandet samt omhändertagandet för hur man som nybörjare bemöts på gymmen av de som redan är där. En undersökning genomfördes via intervjuer av både medlemmar, anställda samt chefer hos gymkedjorna Friskis och Svettis samt Fitness 24 Seven i Malmö. Komplement till undersökningen kom genom en kartläggning av gymkedjornas anläggningar för att se hur reklam och annan information faktiskt syntes utifrån en medlems perspektiv. En konkurrentanalys av liknande mobilapplikationer genomfördes också. Analysen av materialet resulterade i specifika värdeord med kompletterande fakta vilket blev min röda tråd. Värdeord som Community, Social samhörighet och Gemenskap var ord som präglade mina intervjuer från undersökningen och som blev designprojektets grund. Baserat på denna information designade jag en mobilapplikation vid namn Socify vars syfte är att lösa de sociala problemen som många nybörjare känner och samtidigt knyta samman det med de praktiska och teoretiska kunskapsbristerna som nybörjare oftast besitter. / Swedes spend annually tens of million crowns on gym memberships that are never used. My hypothesis is that it’s about motivation with a demarcation within the welcome and care for how beginners gets treated in the gyms by other members. A survey was conducted through interviews with both members, employees and managers from two gym chains, Friskis och Svettis and Fitness 24 Seven in Malmo, Sweden. A complementary to the survey came through a survey of the gym chains facilities to see how the advertising and other information was perceived by the members. A competitive analysis of similar mobile applications was also conducted. The analysis of the material resulted in specific core values including some additional facts which became my silver thread. Core values such as Community, Social affinity and Fellowship became words that characterized my interviews from the survey and later becoming the foundation for the design project. Based on this information, I designed a mobile application called Socify whose purpose is to solve the social problems that many beginners feel while linking it with the practical and theoretical knowledge gaps that beginners usually possess.

The thesis research question originated form an interest in experiments with web and social media tools, and explores in what ways these kinds of communicative and collaborative media could facilitate opening dialogue among citizens and various actors present in the area of Malmö.The research approach deemed most suitable for the selected area is a combination of a participatory design methodology and ethnographic research. During the fieldwork phase different use situations were investigated through interviews, surveys and case studies. The purpose of the investigation was mapping the different stakeholders who operate to solve these problems engaging the residents. The modalities of communication of Malmö municipality and its non-profit organizations have been analysed. The results were compared with other researches in the fields.To understand the motives behind the users’ behaviour, the reasons for active and non- active participation have been investigated, especially those related to social media. Between a form of passive and active engagement a different form of engagement has been identified, that could include the mixed user group of individuals who are interested in being gradually involved in volunteering; having different level of indirect engagement can facilitate these users in “taking the first step” to participate.The concept was developed as a Facebook App in collaboration with Frivilligcentra. The app will allow the users to define their own engagement path, dividing every local volunteering event in tasks, with different levels of involvement. Overall it may define a new flexibility in the non-profit sector- in the sense of time, place, diversification of the experience, engagement - which could demonstrate that with the support of online tools organizations and users can interact better.

Denna uppsats behandlar ämnet läsmotivation i en medieteknologisk kontext. Syftet är att bidra till kunskap kring huruvida mobilapplikationen Läs upp kan, eller inte kan, användas för att motivera barn i årskurs två till fem att läsa. Utifrån detta ändamål har en longitudinell studie genomförts i vilken sex barn använt applikationen under tre veckor. Empirisk data samlades sedan genom kvalitativa intervjuer med barnen, och deras respektive förälder, vid två tillfällen; efter en, samt efter tre veckors användning. För att utforska barnens initiala inställning till läsning genomfördes en baslinjeenkät innan försöket inleddes. Resultatet visar sammanfattningsvis; att olika aspekter av motivation är olika starka inom olika individer, och att applikationen därför har olika påverkan (samt varierad möjlighet till påverkan) på enskilda barn. Att applikationens tillvägagångssätt implicerar yttre aspekter för att motivera till läsning men Läs upp kan även ses främja inre läsmotivation. Att tillvägagångssättet har potential att både stärka och underminera barns upplevda självförmåga vilket kan påverka deras läsmotivation. Samt att applikationens limiterade urval boktitlar begränsar barnens möjlighet att välja läsmaterial vilket kan ha negativ effekt på deras upplevda autonomi och läsmotivation. / Application equals motivation? This essay considers the subject of reading motivation in a media technological context. The aim is to provide insight into whether the mobile application Läs upp can, or cannot, be used to motivate children in grades two to five to read. For this purpose, a longitudinal study was performed in which six children used the application for three weeks. Empirical data was gathered through qualitative interviews with the children, and their respective parent, on two occasions; after one and three weeks of use. To explore the children's initial approach towards reading, an initial baseline survey was conducted. The result shows, in summary; that different aspects of motivation are different in strength in different individuals. Therefore, Läs upp has different effects on (and mixed opportunity to effect) the individual child. The application's approach implies external aspects, it can however also promote intrinsic reading motivation. The application may potentially strengthen or undermine the child's self-perceived ability, which may affect their reading motivation. The narrow title selection limits children's possibility to choose reading materials, which can have a negative effect on their perceived autonomy and reading motivation.

The present thesis analyses the online religious practices of Christians through the mobile app YouVersion Bible. Particularly, it explores the ways in which Christians interact with sacred texts online and the phenomenon of a digital Bible. It is argued that the digital form of communication among Christians and the practice of reading the Bible online can undermine once fixed interpretations of the Holy Scripture, turning religious apps into persuasive technologies. An argument proposing that it is impossible to have a sacred text in cyberspace is confronted by an ever-increasing practice of using a Bible app instead of a physical book in churches and at home and affective sharing that happens online during digital religious practices. Moreover, publishers themselves have begun to augment the Bible with multi-media resources, arguing that this will help the user achieve a deeper and more frequent engagement with the text.  To explore and analyse the religious practices through the YouVersion Bible, a digital ethnographic methodology was applied that included YouVersion app observations, interviews, and qualitative surveys. Throughout the paper, it draws on theoretical concepts of technological affordance, emotions in religion, and affect theories in connection to religious practices and embodied experience amplified by the app.  While the purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the YouVersion Bible app, its design, and features, on religious practices, examining ways in which Christians interact with sacred texts online, adopt or resist them, the main finding of this thesis became the conclusion that religious apps can have an appealing, engaging and affective design with a variety of technological affordances, but it does not automatically make them persuasive technologies as stated by several contemporary scholars.

This study examines (1) whether L2 learners’ oral fluency and accuracy improve through conversation practice with AI tutors in a Japanese language learning app, (2) when fluency increases, and (3) which learning cycle is most effective. Ten participants joined the study and practiced conversations with Kaizen Languages’ AI tutors for three weeks. Learners selected their preferred learning cycle: a group with fewer lessons to complete per day but more practice days per week or a group with more lessons to complete per day but less frequent practice days per week. After three weeks of self-study, participants took an oral test to show how much they improved their fluency and accuracy in new contexts. The results of this study show that not only did learners’ oral fluency improve with the use of the Kaizen app, but their oral accuracy also increased. In addition, learners who improved their fluency practiced repeatedly, and their fluency improved until three or four repetitive practices. Although this study did not find an effective learning cycle, it implies that the ideal learning cycle requires at least three times of practice to improve fluency, while five to six times of practice produces higher accuracy.