There are substantial data exploring the link between religiosity and health, yet there is no consensus regarding the appropriate measurement tool for assessing religiosity in health psychology settings. The purpose of this study was to identify a set of items that could serve as a reliable and valid proxy measure of religiosity. Participants included 251 (M=19.02; range = 17-25) young adults who completed self-report measures of religiosity (Intrinsic-Extrinsic/Revised, Quest Scale, Faith Maturity Scale), psychological distress (SCL-90-R), and personality (NEOPI-R). Individual item pools for religiosity were developed by identifying significant correlations between each of the religiosity measures and the SCL-90-R items. Exploratory factor analyses and item-level analyses were conducted and convergent and discriminant validity were examined for each proposed measure. A group of items were identified that were associated with previously validated measures of religiosity. These religiosity measures were also associated with the personality domains of Openness to Experience and Agreeableness but were not associated with Neuroticism. There was insufficient evidence, however, to conclude that the proposed measures could serve as true proxy measures of religiosity as they were more strongly associated with Neuroticism than the religiosity measures from which they were derived. The results of this study underscore the importance of the religiosity construct to health-related outcomes, yet much work remains to delineate the optimal means of measuring the construct and the specific pathways by which religiosity may exert its influence on both mental and physical health.

Bipolar disorder is associated with significant social and occupational impairments, as well as increased risk for substance abuse and suicide. More research is needed to identify potential mechanisms associated with vulnerability to the disorder. Previous research has identified altered processing of emotional information in bipolar and bipolar-prone individuals, including attentional biases which appear to differ based on the current affective state of the individual. The current study applied a sensitive measure of attention (i.e., eye-tracking) to assess whether vulnerability to bipolar disorder, as indexed by hypomanic personality traits, would be correlated with biases in attention to emotional facial stimuli, independent of mood state. Hypomanic personality traits were hypothesized to be associated with greater attention to happy and angry faces, as indexed by faster initial orientation, more frequent gazes, and longer gaze duration for these stimuli. Participants completed self-report measures assessing current mood symptoms, positive and negative affect, and hypomanic personality traits. They then completed two tasks assessing attention for emotional faces. The first was an eye-tracking task, which measured latency to first fixation, total gaze duration and total number of gazes for each emotional face category. The second was a spatial cueing task which assessed both attentional engagement with emotional faces, and ability to disengage attention from this material. Hypomanic personality traits were significantly negatively correlated with latency to orient attention to happy faces. A trend toward decreased latency to orient to angry faces with higher hypomanic personality traits was also demonstrated. Hypomanic traits were not correlated with attention to sad faces. Furthermore, hypomanic traits were associated only with differences in initial orientation of attention, not with continued engagement or disengagement. The results of this study suggest that individuals with higher levels of hypomanic personality traits, who are hypothesized to be at greater risk of developing bipolar disorder, are characterized by differences in their initial orientation of attention to positive emotional stimuli, independent of their current mood state. This finding is indicative of biased information processing in individuals with vulnerability to bipolar disorder. Such a bias may have important clinical implications for individuals with a vulnerability to bipolar disorder, as it may represent a mechanism by which vulnerability leads to increased, and at times problematic, engagement with rewarding stimuli.

Syfte: Denna studies syfte är att öka förståelsen för vilka personlighetsdrag konsumenter tillskriver varumärken beroende på logotypens färg. Metod: Eftersom studiens syfte har varit att öka förståelsen för ämnet har en kvalitativ metod använts och färgerna blå, grön, gul, röd och svart har legat till grund för undersökningen. För att samla in empiriskt material har semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts med tolv deltagare. Materialet har analyserats med hjälp av Aakers (1997) Brand Personality Scale samt tematisering. Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att den blå logotypen associeras med kompetens, den gröna med uppriktighet och den gula med spänning. Den röda logotypen har även den associerats med kompetens och den svarta med robusthet, i Aakers (1997) Brand Personality Scale. Reaktionerna för den blå och den gröna logotypen har visat sig vara enklast för deltagarna att placera samt visat sig överensstämma med tidigare forskningsresultat. Den gula, röda och svarta logotypen har upplevts svårare och resultaten har avvikit mer från tidigare forskning. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Våra förslag för framtida forskning är att istället för att studera färger, studera vilken påverkan logotypens utformning har på varumärkets personlighet. Vidare kan framtidens forskning studera flerfärgade logotyper. Vår studie studerar endast en speciell subgrupp och framtida forskning kan därför studera en annan subgrupp för jämförelse. Uppsatsens bidrag: Som bidrag till framtida forskning ser vi att denna studie beskriver samband mellan färgerna blå, grön, gul, röd och svart och dimensionerna som återfinns i Aakers (1997) Brand Personality Scale. Detta tillägg ser vi skulle fungera som ett utvecklande ramverk och därför bidra till det teoretiska perspektivet i framtida studier utförda i Sverige. Som rekommendation kan företag rent praktiskt använda sig av dessa resultat när de ska välja färg för sin logotyp. / Aim: In this study we aim to increase understanding of the personality traits consumers ascribe to brands depending on the color of the logo. Method: Due to the aim of the study, which was to increase understanding of the topic, a qualitative method has been used. To collect empirical data semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve participants. The material was analyzed using Aaker’s (1997) Brand Personality Scale and thematisation. Result & Conclusions: Results show that the blue logo is associated with competence, green with sincerity and yellow with excitement. The red logo has also been associated with competence and the black with ruggedness, in Aaker’s (1997) Brand Personality Scale. The reactions of the blue and green logo has proven to be the easiest for the participants to place and shown to be consistent with previous research. The yellow, red and black logo has been perceived more difficult and the results have deviated more from previous research. Suggestions for future research: Our suggestions for future research is that instead of examining colors, examine the impact of the logo design in brand personality. Furthermore, future research could investigate multi-color logos. Our study examines only a specific subgroup and future research can explore a different subgroup for comparison. Contribution of the thesis: As a contribution to future research, this study describes the relationship between the colors blue, green, yellow, red and black and the dimensions found in Aakers (1997) Brand Personality Scale. This addition would serve as a developed framework and thus contribute to the theoretical perspective in future studies carried out in Sweden. As a recommendation, companies can practically use these results when they are designing their logo.

Bakgrund: Brand personality beskrivs i litteraturen som den uppsättning avpersonliga egenskaper som beskriver ett varumärke, genom att försevarumärken med mänskliga drag kan konsumenten lättare relatera ochknyta an till sina egna preferenser utifrån sin egen karaktär (Aaker 1997).Det var år 1997 som forskaren Jennifer Aaker (1997) kom med denförsta definitionen om brand personality, som följde "the set of humancharacteristics associated with a brand" (Aaker 1997, p 347). Syfte: Syftet är att förklara hur Aaker’s (1997) modell brand personality “thebig five” kan revideras för att passa till den Svenska kontexten. Forskningsfråga: Vilka dimensioner i modellen brand personality “the big five” (Aaker,1997) behöver revideras för att appliceras i en Svensk kontext?Vilka personlighetsdrag och dimensioner är unika för den svenskakontexten och behöver därmed adderas till brand personality modellen? Metod: Denna studie har antagit en abduktivt angreppssätt, där tidigareforskning om brand personality har varit utgångspunkt. Författarna toggrund i befintlig teori med avsikt att testa modellen ”the big five” skapadav Aaker (1997) empiriskt i en ny kontext. Till studien tillämpadesfokusgrupp (förstudie) och enkät. Resultat och slutsats: Genom studien var det möjligt att fastslå att Aakers (1997) ursprungligamodell brand personality, inte var funktionell i den kontext som studienämnar. En revidering var nödvändig för att uppnå en effektiv brandpersonality i den svenska kontexten. Resultatet genererade 41personlighetsdrag fördelade i 15 fasetter och fem dimensioner. Unikt förden svenska kontexten är åtta nya personlighetsdrag och tvådimensioner. Dimensionerna sophistication och ruggedness (Aaker1997) förkastades och ersattes av dynamisk och elementär. Det påvisadesatt vissa personlighetsdrag hade en annan innebörd i den svenskakontexten och var därmed bättre lämpade till en annan dimension.

Titel: Varumärkens personlighet: En kvalitativ undersökning av relevanta faktorer. Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Douglas Svinge, Louisa Plymoth Hjalmarsson Handledare: Jonas Molin och Lars-Johan Åge Examinator: Maria Fregidou-Malama Datum: 2020 – 05 – 25 Syfte: Då det råder en brist på kvalitativa undersökningar – samt en brist på kunskap angående vilka faktorer som påverkar hur konsumenter upplever en varumärkespersonlighet – anser vi att det är av intresse att med hjälp av en kvalitativ undersökning skapa en djupare förståelse för vilka faktorer som påverkar hur konsumenter upplever en varumärkespersonlighet. Syftet med denna studie är därför att öka förståelsen för vilka faktorer som är relevanta för hur konsumenter upplever en varumärkespersonlighet. Metod: Vi har valt att utgå ifrån en kvalitativ forskningsdesign, där ett deduktivt förhållningssätt har valts för att kunna besvara syftet. Vi använder oss av tidigare framforskad teori inom varumärkespersonlighet och marknadsföringsmixen, vilka vi kombinerar för att undersöka hur teorin förhåller sig till vår insamlade empiri. Vi har sammanställt vår data och identifierat olika teman och mönster, vilket vi sedan ställt mot vårt teoretiska material. Tio stycken intervjuer har genomförts och den yngsta respondenten var 19 år och den äldsta 63 år. Resultat & slutsats: Respondenterna valde olika personlighetsdrag för respektive varumärke, vilket innebär att de upplever distinkta varumärkespersonligheter. Vi ifrågasätter dock relevansen av personlighetsdragen charmig och glamorös för snabbmatsbranschen då de ej valdes någon gång. Vårt resultat tyder på att samtliga faktorer i 7P-ramverket påverkar upplevd varumärkespersonlighet, där vissa faktorer verkar vara viktigare än andra. Examensarbetets bidrag: Vår studie skapar en större förståelse för att företag bör beakta samtliga aspekter i 7P-ramverket vid utveckling och kommunikation av önskad varumärkespersonlighet. Genom att öka denna förståelse kan företag mer effektivt utvärdera och anpassa sina varumärkespersonligheter för att på så vis attrahera kunder och bygga långsiktiga kundrelationer. Vi ser även vår inkludering av negativa personlighetsdrag i form av motsatsord som ett viktigt praktiskt bidrag. Genom denna inkludering fick vi insikt om att flera faktorer som påverkar att konsumenter associerar varumärken med positiva personlighetsdrag även kan påverka att negativa personlighetsdrag tillskrivs varumärket om de inte sköts på ett korrekt vis. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi föreslår att framtida forskning genomför liknande studier för olika branscher och olika länder. Detta skulle öka möjligheten att generalisera resultaten, och det skulle även innebära en chans att identifiera nya mönster gällande faktorer som påverkar hur konsumenter upplever en varumärkespersonlighet. Framtida kvantitativa undersökningar vore önskvärt för att kunna avgöra om de mönster och teman vi urskilt står fast med ett större antal deltagare. Detta skulle till exempel kunna genomföras med hjälp av en enkät där respondenter får välja och rangordna faktorer som har påverkat upplevda personlighetsdrag. Ytterligare forskning krävs även för att kunna ta reda på vilken/vilka faktorer som har störst respektive minst påverkan på hur konsumenter upplever en varumärkespersonlighet. Nyckelord: Brand Personality Scale, Brand Personality, Marketing Mix, 7P Model, Modified Brand Personality scale, Antecedents of brand personality. / Title: Varumärkens personlighet: En kvalitativ undersökning av relevanta faktorer. Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration Authors: Douglas Svinge, Louisa Plymoth Supervisors: Jonas Molin och Lars-Johan ÅgeExaminator: Maria Fregidou-Malama  Date: 2020 - 05- 25 Aim: Since there is a lack of qualitative research - as well as a lack of knowledge about the factors that influence how consumers perceive the personality of a brand - we believe it is of interest to use a qualitative method to create a deeper understanding of the factors that influence how consumers evaluate brand personality. The purpose of this study is therefore to increase understanding of the factors that are relevant to how consumers evaluate brand personality. Method: We have chosen to base our study on a qualitative research design, and a deductive approach was chosen to answer our purpose. We use previously researched theory on brand personality and the marketing mix, which we combine to investigate how the theory relates to our collected empirics. We have compiled our data and identified different themes and patterns, which we then tested against our theoretical material. Ten interviews have been conducted and the youngest respondent was 19 years old and the oldest respondent 63 years old. Result & Conclusions: Our respondents chose different personality traits for each brand, which suggests that distinct brand personalities were perceived. We question the relevance of the personality traits charming and glamorous for the fast-food industry since they were not chosen once in our study. Our results suggest that all the factors in the 7P-framework affect perceived brand personality, where some factors seem to be more important than others. Contribution of the thesis: Our study supports that brand should consider all factors of the 7P-framework in the development and communication of desired brand personality. This way brands will be able to assess and adjust their brand personalities more efficiently in order to attract customers and build long-lasting relationships. An inclusion of negative personality traits is suggested in the evaluation of brands as it may increase the understanding of how different factors affect how customers perceive brand personalities. Suggestions for future research: We suggest that future research perform similar studies among different industries and countries. This would increase the generalizability of the results and it would also provide a chance to identify new patterns regarding factors that affect how consumers perceive a brand personality. Future quantitative studies would be desirable in order to determine whether our results are valid for a larger number or respondents. An example would be to use a survey where respondents would choose and rank factors depending on their respective impact on perceived brand personality. Further research is also required in order to determine which factors of the 7P-model that are more/less important. Key words: Brand Personality Scale, Brand Personality, Marketing Mix, 7P Model, Modified Brand Personality scale, Antecedents of brand personality.

I takt med upplevelseindustrins tillväxt, ökar även konkurrensen inom branschen. Evenemang som nöjesplattform konkurrerar direkt och indirekt med andra upplevelseinriktade verksamheter och behöver hitta nya sätt att få kundernas uppmärksamhet. Forskning visar hur kunder tenderar att agera mer emotionellt vid sina köp, något som många företag försöker bemöta. Produktproducerade företag har sedan långt tillbaka anammat varumärkespersonlighet som en del i marknadsstrategin för att kommunisera och personlighetsanknyta med kunder. Tidigare studier har visat att företag som väljer att personifiera sitt varumärke nått stor framgång på dess marknad. Ett evenemangs varumärke är desto svårare att kontrollera då många intressenter är involverade, vilket försvårar arbetet med att skapa tydliga kärnvärden som kommuniceras ut till kunden.Studies syfte är att bidra med förstålse samt utforska om Aakers Brand Personality Scale som skapats för att synliggöra produkters personligheter även går att tillämpa för evenemang. Den kvalitativa undersökningen utgår ifrån Aakers Brand Personality Scales variabler och genomförande datainsamling i form av en fokusgrupp med åtta deltagare. Under fokusgruppen diskuterades tre svenska musikrelaterade evenemang, som deltagarna fick välja personlighetsegenskaper för. Utifrån vår studie kom vi fram till att man kan identifiera evenemangs personligheter med karaktäristiska egenskaper som gör varje evenemang unikt. Valet av egenskaper baserades på 1) sina egna upplevelser eller via media och andras upplevelser, 2) associationen till helheten eller olika delar av evenemanget, så som scen, ljud/ljus, staden, platsen, miljön såväl som besökaren. Med förståelse om varför man väljer egenskaper som man gör, upptäcktes en viss problematik med att applicera Aakers Brand Personality Scale på evenemang. Med instinkt om varumärkespersonlighet kan man sammanföra de delar av evenemanget som arrangören har kontroll över, så att de kommunicerar en tydligare image. Exempelvis kan varumärkespersonlighet användas i marknadsföring vilket kan bidra till skapandet av starkare personlighetsanknytning med besökare. Problematiken uppstår kring de okontrollerbara komponenterna som påverkar besökarna och som arrangören inte har möjlighet att styra i samma utsträckning. Med sin varumärkespersonlighet synlig blir arrangören däremot medveten om hur de uppfattas. Man kan således ta ställning till om de kontrollerbara såväl som de okontrollerbara delarna har egenskaper man vill bygga vidare på eller arbeta med att förminska. För användning av modellen krävs viss modifiering samt en förståelse för att evenemangs varumärkespersonlighet inte är fullt kontrollerbar.

Brand personality is a set of human personality traits that are relevant to a brand. A distinctive brand personality serves a symbolic or self-expressive function and helps to create a set of unique and favourable associations in the consumer’s mind. Generation Y consumers are considerably more brand and image conscious than any other generational cohort. Given that motor vehicles, especially luxury motor vehicles, are a conspicuous consumption item that are often used to signal status to others, luxury motor vehicle marketers need to understand Generation Y members’ perceptions of brand personality. Aaker (1997) developed a brand personality trait scale to measure brand personality perceptions. This study established a factor structure for Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale applicable for luxury sedan brands. This adapted brand personality trait scale was used to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst Generation Y. The target population for this study was defined as students registered at South Africa’s public HEIs in 2014. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample to select one traditional university campus and one university of technology campus located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in two separate steps. Step 1 of the study distributed the questionnaire to 65 participants to identify Generation Y students’ top-of-the-mind awareness concerning luxury sedan motor vehicle brands. Step 2 of the study distributed 500 questionnaires to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan brands amongst Generation Y students by means of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale. Step 2 also investigated Generation Y students’ purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles by making use of an adapted a scale by Zeithaml et al. (1996:31-46). The statistical analysis included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and significance tests. The findings of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ top three luxury sedan brands are BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The brand personality perception results revealed that all three brands are associated with the ‘Competence’ and ‘Sophisticated’ brand personality dimensions. In addition, BMW is also associated with the ‘Excitement’ brand personality dimension. The findings of the study also suggest that Generation Y students do have purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles. Some gender differences regarding Generation Y students’ brand personality perceptions and purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles do exist. However, the differences are limited with a small effect of practical significance. The study offers insight into the brand personality perceptions in the South African market. Generation Y consumers have unique perceptions regarding different brands and it is therefore important to gain insight regarding their perceptions. The results presented in this study can aid the marketers of the selected luxury sedan motor vehicle brands in identifying the personality traits associated with their brand. This information can be compared with their current marketing strategy to determine if any differences exist between the desired and perceived brand personality. This can also help the marketers to tailor the marketing strategy accordingly to achieve the desired brand personality / MCom (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

Brand personality is a set of human personality traits that are relevant to a brand. A distinctive brand personality serves a symbolic or self-expressive function and helps to create a set of unique and favourable associations in the consumer’s mind. Generation Y consumers are considerably more brand and image conscious than any other generational cohort. Given that motor vehicles, especially luxury motor vehicles, are a conspicuous consumption item that are often used to signal status to others, luxury motor vehicle marketers need to understand Generation Y members’ perceptions of brand personality. Aaker (1997) developed a brand personality trait scale to measure brand personality perceptions. This study established a factor structure for Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale applicable for luxury sedan brands. This adapted brand personality trait scale was used to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst Generation Y. The target population for this study was defined as students registered at South Africa’s public HEIs in 2014. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample to select one traditional university campus and one university of technology campus located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in two separate steps. Step 1 of the study distributed the questionnaire to 65 participants to identify Generation Y students’ top-of-the-mind awareness concerning luxury sedan motor vehicle brands. Step 2 of the study distributed 500 questionnaires to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan brands amongst Generation Y students by means of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale. Step 2 also investigated Generation Y students’ purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles by making use of an adapted a scale by Zeithaml et al. (1996:31-46). The statistical analysis included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and significance tests. The findings of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ top three luxury sedan brands are BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The brand personality perception results revealed that all three brands are associated with the ‘Competence’ and ‘Sophisticated’ brand personality dimensions. In addition, BMW is also associated with the ‘Excitement’ brand personality dimension. The findings of the study also suggest that Generation Y students do have purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles. Some gender differences regarding Generation Y students’ brand personality perceptions and purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles do exist. However, the differences are limited with a small effect of practical significance. The study offers insight into the brand personality perceptions in the South African market. Generation Y consumers have unique perceptions regarding different brands and it is therefore important to gain insight regarding their perceptions. The results presented in this study can aid the marketers of the selected luxury sedan motor vehicle brands in identifying the personality traits associated with their brand. This information can be compared with their current marketing strategy to determine if any differences exist between the desired and perceived brand personality. This can also help the marketers to tailor the marketing strategy accordingly to achieve the desired brand personality / MCom (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

為建立適用於本土文化的品牌性格量表（brand personality scale），本研究以主位取向（emic approach）的角度，採取基本語彙策略（fundamental lexical strategy），依序建構「品牌性格語彙詞庫」與編製「品牌性格量表」，以期建立的量表具有本土契合性（indigenous compatibility）。本研究以六個階段依序進行，在語彙詞庫建構部分，透過「知名品牌調查」、「性格語彙蒐集」與「品牌性格語彙篩選」三個階段，得到253組相似詞組，收錄959個品牌性格語彙。最後，再利用使用頻率區分使用層級，進而建構出「品牌性格語彙詞庫」與「性格語彙檢索表」。在量表編製部分，則包含品牌性格語彙適合性調查、品牌性格語彙與品牌配對，以及品牌性格調查三個階段。經因素分析主成份法與信度分析，得到「知性與感性」、「冒險創新」、「能幹可靠」，以及「純淨健康」四個品牌性格構面，信度分別為.99、.97、.96與.91，總解釋變異量為87.45%；經純化後，四構面的信度分別為.96、.95、.94與.88，題項由89題縮減至37題。 本研究透過對譯方式，分別與Aaker建構美國和日本品牌性格構面進行跨文化比較。結果顯示：(1)本土與美日的品牌性格構面不具有一對一的對應關係；(2)本土品牌性格構面，僅有「冒險創新」構面特質較接近美國「Excitement」構面（達47.62%），而「知性與感性」、「能幹可靠」與「純淨健康」三構面分別有57.14%、70.59%與69.23%的性格特質未出現在美國品牌性格構面中；(3)本土品牌性格構面，僅有「純淨健康」構面特質較接近日本「Sincerity」構面（達38.46%），而「知性與感性」、「冒險創新」與「能幹可靠」三構面則分別有69.05%、71.43%與70.59%的性格特質未出現在日本品牌性格中。此說明，本研究建立品牌性格構面在本質上是異於美國與日本品牌性格構面，是可以反映本土重視的品牌性格特質。

This diploma thesis examines the impact of playing RPG on the development of players'creative thinking. Our aim was to analyze the development of creative thinking in relation with RPG playing. This development was observed in the group of beginners and advanced players and in the control group during six months using creative thinking tests (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking - Figural, Urban's Test for Creative Thinking- Drawing Production). Tests were administered three times, in the beginning, after 3 months and after 6 months. During the second measurement the experimental group was also assigned a Creative Personality Scale (CPS). The obtained values were processed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and t-tests. Overall, it has not been conclusively proved that playing RPG influenced the creative thinking development of players, but a certain trend of improved creativity, especially in RPG-beginners was observed. We found out that the gaming intensity (hours per week) and the creativity are not related. A positive relation between the CPS score and the creativity improvement and also relation between the age and the creativity improvement was established. KEYWORDS RPG, creative thinking, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking - Figural, Urban's Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing...