The following study aims to investigate the concept of macho culture among younger boys in schools. The paper examines the extent to which the concept can be seen as a problem and whether schools are working with the topic. The paper is presented inductively through qualitative data collection based on interview studies. Before that, two theories, hegemonic masculinity and the gender schema theory, which permeate the study's results and analysis. The interview study took place over the course of the thesis and involved eight different professional school counsellors in different municipalities. The data generated was then subjected to thematic analysis where four themes emerged: poor attitudes, difficulties with emotions, limited norms and working methods. The constructed themes are later presented in terms of results, but also as a discussion analysis to highlight the connection with selected theories and previous research. Conclusions relevant to the study include the recognition of macho culture as a problem in the schools where we conducted interviews, the problem of working methods, and the influence of norms and values from home. / Följande studie syftar till att undersöka begreppet machokultur bland yngre killar inom skolvärlden. Uppsatsen kommer att studera i vilken grad begreppet kan ses som ett problem och huruvida skolor arbetar runt ämnet. Genom att inhämta data kvalitativt med utgångspunkt i intervjustudier har uppsatsen framställts induktivt. Dessförinnan introduceras två teorier, den hegemoniska maskuliniteten och the gender schema theory som genomsyrar studiens resultat och analys. Intervjustudien har skett över tid under uppsatsens förlopp och har innefattat åtta olika yrkesverksamma skolkuratorer och skolsocionomer inom varierande kommuner. Den data som framställts har sedan genomgått en tematisk analys där fyra teman framträdde: dålig attityd, svårt med känslor, snäva normer och svårt att omsätta arbete i praktiken. De teman som konstruerats presenteras senare rent resultatmässigt men även som en diskussionsanalys för att belysa anknytning till valda teorier samt tidigare forskning. Slutsatser som ligger till vikt för studien är bland annat erkännandet av machokultur som ett problem på de skolor där vi utfört intervjuer, problematiken med arbetssätt samt präglandet av normer och värderingar hemifrån.

The emergence in recent years of strong female musical artists asserting their sexuality as empowerment (Andsager & Roe, 2003; Gauntlett, 2002) has necessitated an evaluation of their depictions in music videos as perceived by contemporary target audiences. This study attempts to determine how viewers’ gender role identity, based upon gender schema theory (Bem, 1981; 1993) and measured through Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), relate to perceptions of female pop and hip hop artists’ music videos. It was hypothesized that sex-typed respondents would perceive portrayals as traditional more than other groups, whereas cross-sex typed respondents would perceive empowerment more than others groups. A convenience sample of 177 female undergraduate students was used for this cross-sectional study. Results did not support the hypotheses. Though some of the traditional items were found significant, no other significant differences emerged. Overall, gender role identity was ultimately found to have little relationship to perceptions of music video portrayals.

Research has unearthed an abundance of objectification and hypersexualization of female characters within video games. However, the recurring element of the damsel in distress trope is also harmful to the medium. This cliché of a helpless princess in need of a man to save her is a recurring element of The Legend of Zelda series. This experimental design tested the effects of a prototypical œsave the princess mission on players agreement to sexist statements on gender roles, objectification, and female dependency, and examined the factors of self-efficacy and gamer status as potential mediators. Participants played a modified version of a classic Legend of Zelda game, where the genders of the hero protagonist and damsel are manipulated. This 2 x 2 study included male and female heroes rescuing male and female victims in the four different cells. Immediately following the experiment, participants then took a post-test survey to gauge if there was any difference on their agreement to sexist statements. These results were also compared to their previous responses on their self-efficacy scores and their gamer status.

Abstract Background: The packaging design of a product, primarily the design element colour, affects purchase intention extensively. This has been stated in prior studies. However, whether colour has the same effect in the Swedish market has not been researched. Furthermore, there has been limited research on the difference between the genders' perception of gendered colours on product packaging and colours' effect on purchase intention in the Cosmetics and Personal care industry. Therefore, these elements are the focus of this research.   Purpose: This research aims to evaluate the effect of product packaging colour on Swedish residents' purchase intention in the Cosmetics and Personal Care industry. Furthermore, the relationship between gendered colours on product packaging and purchase intention will be analysed, comparing females and males.   Method: This study is deductive research, and it is based on a positivism paradigm. It uses a quantitative approach of gathering data through an online questionnaire. The sample consisted of 194 Swedish residents gathered through convenience sampling. Moreover, the data was analysed using Cronbach alpha coefficient, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Ordered logistic regression to test the hypotheses.    Findings: The theoretical framework identified a research gap concerning the impact of product packaging colours on purchase intention and how gender-specific packaging colours affect males and females differently. Based on the existing literature, five hypotheses were formulated. The findings confirmed that product packaging colours for all Swedish residents, had a significant positive influence on purchase intention, leading to the acceptance of H1. Moreover, both males and females demonstrated a significant positive effect on purchase intention when exposed to packaging colours associated with their respective genders, resulting in the acceptance of H2 and H4. However, both genders demonstrated a non-significant effect on purchase intention when exposed to packaging colours associated with the opposite gender, leading to the rejection of H3 and H5.   Conclusion: The results show that product packaging colour has a positive effect on purchase intention among Swedish residents. Moreover, it shows that the Gender Schema theory is still relevant in today's society, which shows contribution to theory. Further, marketers should continue to use gendered colours in their product packaging.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka upplevda förväntningar för de två biologiska könen bland gymnasieelever. Syftet preciseras i tre frågeställningar vilka behandlar om och hur dessa förväntningar tar sig uttryck samt hanteringsstrategier och konsekvenser kopplade till dessa. För att undersöka detta genomfördes åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med gymnasieelever från tre olika län och tre olika inriktningar. Resultatet analyserades via en tematisk analys och mynnade ut i totalt åtta teman och 15 subteman vilka visade att de förväntningar som upplevdes bland eleverna kunde kategoriseras upp i beteende, utseende och känslomässiga förväntningar. Hanteringsstrategierna handlade om antingen anpassning eller normbrytande och i vissa fall båda två. Konsekvenserna innebar bland flera individer ett försämrat mående och oförmågan till att kunna vara sig själva. I diskussionen presenteras sammanfattningen att gymnasieflickor upplevs behöva vara tillgängliga för pojkarna på flera olika plan, samt den heteronormativitet som tydligt existerade bland gymnasiepojkarna. Studien kan hjälpa till att ge en förståelse för unga människors agerande och mående med könsrollsanknutna förväntningar som utgångspunkt.