The rollout of electric vehicles (EV) occurring in parallel with the decarbonisation of the power sector can bring uncontested environmental benefits, in terms of CO2 emission reduction and air quality. This roll out, however, poses challenges to power systems, as additional power demand is injected in context of increasingly volatile supply from renewable energy sources. Smart EV charging services can provide a solution to such challenges. The development of effective smart charging services requires evaluating pre-emptively EV drivers’ response. The current practice in the appraisal of smart charging strategies largely relies on simplistic or theoretical representation of drivers’ charging and travel behaviour. We propose a random utility model for joint EV drivers’ activity-travel scheduling and charging choices. Our model easily integrates in activity-based demand modelling systems for the analyses of integrated transport and energy systems. However, unlike previous charging behaviour models used in integrated transport and energy system analyses, our model empirically captures the behavioural nuances of tactical charging choices in smart grid context, using empirically estimated charging preferences. We present model estimation results that provide insights into the value placed by individuals on the main attributes of the charging choice and draw implications charging service providers

This study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and selfesteem on undergraduate college students' academic involvement and career preparation. In addition, the effects of emotional intelligence and self-esteem on problem-solving skills and group skills were also examined. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between the different variables. The survey instrument employed had been previously tested and reliability tests were run to ensure alpha levels were appropriate A sample of 292 undergraduate college students voluntarily completed surveys that measured emotional intelligence, self-esteem, academic involvement, group skills, problem-solving skills, and career goals. Data was collected from four different academic institutions in Northern California-two community colleges, and two universities. Consistent with hypotheses, it was found that emotional intelligence and selfesteem were both positively correlated to academic involvement (defined as participation in academic activities) and career preparation (defined as career orientation) .. Both emotional intelligence and self-esteem were significant predictors of academic involvement and career preparation.

The main objective of this thesis is to develop a martingale-type solution to optimal consumption--investment choice problems ([Merton, 1969] and [Merton, 1971]) under time-varying incomplete preferences driven by externalities such as patience, socialization effects, and market volatility. The market is composed of multiple risky assets and multiple consumption goods, while in addition there are multiple fluctuating preference parameters with inexact values connected to imprecise tastes. Utility maximization becomes a multi-criteria problem with possibly function-valued criteria. To come up with a complete characterization of the solutions, first we motivate and introduce a set-valued stochastic process for the dynamics of multi-utility indices and formulate the optimization problem in a topological vector space. Then, we modify a classical scalarization method allowing for infiniteness and randomness in dimensions and prove results of equivalence to the original problem. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate practical interests and method applicability progressively. The link between the original problem and a dual problem is also discussed, relatively briefly. Finally, by using Malliavin calculus with stochastic geometry, we find optimal investment policies to be generally set-valued, each of whose selectors admits a four-way decomposition involving an additional indecisiveness risk-hedging portfolio. Our results touch on new directions for optimal consumption--investment choices in the presence of incomparability and time inconsistency, also signaling potentially testable assumptions on the variability of asset prices. Simulation techniques for set-valued processes are studied for how solved optimal policies can be computed in practice. / 2025-05-12T00:00:00Z

Research examining the relationship between psychological distress and health behaviors is limited, as most of these studies examine one type of psychological distress and relate it to one type of health behavior. To address this limitation, an exploratory study was conducted that included online self-report measures of a wide range of positive health behaviors (Health Behavior Checklist; HBC) and a wide range of different types of psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory; BSI). Participants were 762 undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida (55% female). Results revealed that the total BSI score showed statistically significant negative correlations with the HBC total score and all four HBC subscales. Thus, participants reporting more overall psychological distress reported that they engaged in fewer positive health behaviors, across all health behavior subtypes. Stepwise regressions that examined the nine BSI subscales and their relationship with the HBC total score revealed that the Hostility subscale of the BSI was the strongest and most consistent predictor of positive health behaviors (in a negative direction). Stepwise regressions also revealed additional relationships of the BSI subscales of Depression and Phobia to particular HBC subscales. The results of this exploratory study provide an initial model on the relationships of particular types of psychological distress that are related to particular types of health behaviors, which will inform future studies on this important topic area.

This study examines into how tourists in Sweden engage in sustainable tourism by analysing the impact of personal norms and environmental knowledge on their purchasing decisions, with an emphasis on eco-friendly options for accommodation. The goal of the study is to ascertain how much sustainable tourism practices are considered by visitors in Sweden when making vacation choices. To do this, a survey was given to visitors (both domestic and international) to Sweden, and statistical analysis was done on the data gathered. The study's conclusions show a strong relationship between individual norms, environmental knowledge, and environmentally conscious purchasing practices among Swedish travelers. This shows that more environmentally conscious travelers are more likely to choose sustainable travel options, especially when it comes to choosing eco-friendly lodging. Policymakers, stakeholders in the tourist sector, and marketers wanting to promote sustainable tourism practices in Sweden can all benefit from the knowledge provided by these insights. The development of tailored measures to promote eco-conscious tourism behaviors among visitors to this Scandinavian destination can be aided by an understanding of the interaction between personal norms and environmental awareness.

The dissertation has as its fir s t objective the study of the relative impact o f CHOICES on the constructs of congruence, id entity and decidedness. The second and more specific objective o f this research is to investigate whether or not there are certain types o f decision makers (rational, dependant and intuitive) that benefit more from CHOICES. Lastly, this research also investigates whether ones anxiety level has an impact on the relative success rate of CHOICES on its users in terms of congruence, identity and decidedness. This study's experimental group is made up o f 121 first-year, pre-university (CECEP) male and female students. Based on the results of a classification test, each student is placed in one of three decision making style groups (a. rational; b. intuitive; c. dependant). The rational decision making style group is then placed in one of three anxiety groups (a. low anxiety; b. moderate anxiety; c. high anxiety) based on the results of an anxiety test. All 121 students are pretested for the variables o f congruence, identity and decidedness. In addition, these students are then instructed to complete a CHOICES guidebook and to spend one-hour-and-a-half on CHOICES. Six weeks after the completion o f the treatment, students are administered posttests. It is hypothesized that the rational decision makers benefit significantly more from CHOICES than the dependant decision makers and the intuitive decision makers. The results o f the analysis of covariance do not support this hypothesis. It is also hypothesized that the rational decision makers characterized as moderately anxious benefit significantly more from CHOICES than those characterized as being part of the high or low anxiety group. The results of the analysis of covariance do not lend support to this hypothesis. The results o f a number of T-tests, however, show that most students improved their scores on the variables of identity and decidedness after using CHOICES. In addition, the use of the temporal deployment technique presented readers with a graphic representation of how each subject responded to CHOICES in terms of congruence, decidedness and identity. One o f the encouraging results o f this research is that there is an indication that CHOICES was generally a helpful counselling tool for students. The discussion of the results attempts to explain possible reasons why the hypotheses are not supported, while at the same time bringing to light some o f the positive results using a computerized counselling system such as CHOICES. Lastly, the limitation of the research and the need to pursue more research in this area are also discussed. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2016

Background. As video games increase in popularity and more people look to them as their primary source of entertainment, discussions around how they can affect players’ engagement become more important. One such discussion is around player agency, a player’s sense of control over the games that they play. Within this discussion, a new type of thinking regarding player agency has started emerging, where it gets divided into the amount of control a player experiences and the amount of control that they actually have. One way to see the difference between the two types of player agency is to look at linear and branching narratives. In a branching narrative, the player’s choices dictate the flow of the story, while in a linear narrative, the player chooses how to react, but the story itself is unaffected. Objectives. Our objective with this study was to explore how player engagement differs between a linear narrative and a branching narrative, and if there is a difference when going from one to the other. Methods. This was done by creating a game demo that contains both a linear narrative, as well as a branching narrative and conducting a user study where participants played the game and answered a questionnaire on their experience. Results. In our findings, no significant difference in engagement was observed through Pearson’s chi-square tests between the different narratives. However, there was a significant difference based on what order the narratives were presented. Participants that played the linear narrative first had significantly higher engagement levels than the participants that played the branching narrative first. Conclusions. We conclude that more research should be made, but we find there is a positive effect on engagement when both a linear and branching narrative presented in the same experience, and the linear narrative is presented first.

Bakgrund: När inflationstakten ökar i Sverige (högsta nivån hittills 2023; februari 12%) står företag inför en redovisningsmässig situation som de inte ställts inför på flera decennier. Nukostnadsredovisning var en form av inflationsredovisning som det fanns ett utkast av senast på 90-talet som företag kunde använda i tider av en högre inflationstakt. Idag finns ingen vägledning för större svenska företag som redovisar enligt K3 regelverket. Ekonomichefers avsaknad av erfarenhet att verka i en miljö med högre inflationstakt kan komma att påverka dess redovisningsval i kommande årsredovisning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att förstå om företagsledningar anser att den rättvisa bilden i företagets finansiella rapporter bibehålls trots att inflationsredovisning saknas. Detta genom att undersöka behovet av att inkludera inflationens påverkan i redovisningen och i så fall på vilket sätt det ska synliggöras. Metod: Med anledning av bristen på relevanta tidigare studier genomförs en förstudie. Förstudien består av intervjuer med ett flertal redovisningsspecialister i FAR:s operativa grupp för finansiell rapportering. Gruppens uppdrag är att vara proaktiva i nyuppkomna redovisningsmässiga frågor. Utifrån förstudien formuleras sedan hypoteser för att undersöka vidare genom en enkätundersökning om ekonomichefers redovisningsval och hur viktigt de tycker att det är att lämna upplysningar om inflationens påverkan på företaget i kommande årsredovisning. En statistisk analysmetod genomförs i form av chi-2 test och resultatet illustreras i diagram. Analys och slutsatser: Förstudien tyder på att företagsledningar kan komma att agera rutinmässigt enligt de regelverk som finns och att det finns en inställning att inflationstakten är tillfällig. Resultatet från enkäterna indikerar att de flesta ekonomichefer tycker det är viktigt att lämna information i förvaltningsberättelsen genom beskrivande analys för att bibehålla principen om rättvisande bild och majoriteten tycker inte det är viktigt att upplysa i not (genom inflationsjustering) eller att kunna inflationsjustera enskilda poster i balans- och resultaträkningen. Det nämnda resultatet ändrades inte trots att de ställdes inför scenariot att inflationen skulle fortsätta kring 10% under en överskådlig tid.

Life course theory suggests that an individual’s development is influenced by many factors such as one’s past choices and environment. The twenties are a period of great autonomy for many young people with opportunities to engage in choices with lasting consequences, both positive (e.g., furthering education, volunteering) and negative (e.g., crime, risky sexual behavior, heavy video game use). The current study explored the relationship between behaviors during one’s twenties and indices of adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and hope) and maladjustment (i.e., poor emotional health and regret) in one’s thirties. Additionally, as factors such as income and biological sex may limit or impact the choices one has available to them or chooses to engage in during this time period, income and biological sex were both tested as moderators. Participants included 4,969 (59% female, 41% male) individuals between the ages of 30 and 35. Employing structural equation modeling, results revealed that choices from emerging adulthood were associated with outcomes during one’s thirties. Specifically, education and volunteering were associated with positive outcomes (i.e., higher life satisfaction, better emotional health, and lower levels of regret); volunteering was also significantly associated with hope and relationship satisfaction. Criminal activity, on the other hand, was associated with negative outcomes (i.e., lower life satisfaction and higher levels of regret). Number of non-committed sexual partners was significantly associated with lower relationship satisfaction and emotional health. This study contributes significantly to the literature on emerging and early adulthood by suggesting that choices made during emerging adulthood impact adjustment or maladjustment during early adulthood.

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