Bakgrund I dagens samhälle är CSR, samhälleligt ansvarstagande, en viktig fråga för företag. De studier som undersökt medarbetare i företag som arbetar med CSR har visat på ett positivt samband mellan detta arbete och medarbetarnas motivation. Däremot har få kvalitativa studier fokuserat på medarbetaren och ingen studie har tidigare använt meningsskapande som perspektiv för att skapa förståelse om detta fenomen. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att med en komparativ utgångspunkt belysa vilken mening medarbetare skapat i deras arbetsgivares samhälleliga ansvarstagande för att skapa förståelse för betydelsen av arbetsgivares förhållningssätt till samhälleligt ansvarstagande för medarbetares självbild, motivation och organisatoriska engagemang. Metod Studien har antagit en komparativ fallstudiedesign. En kvalitativ metod och en iterativ ansats med deduktiva inslag har använts. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare på respektive fallföretag. Slutsatser Medarbetare ser att arbetsgivarens samhälleliga ansvarstagande finns till för att tillgodose medarbetarnas behov av att vara en del av något som gör gott för andra intressenter. Medarbetares motivation och organisatoriska engagemang kan härledas ur deras arbetsgivares samhälleliga ansvarstagande såvida medarbetarna själva tycker att den typen av arbete är viktigt. Detta förklaras av att individens självbild och arbetsgivarens organisatoriska identitet och båda parters underliggande värderingar överensstämmer. / Background In our society, the question of social responsibility is of importance for most companies and it has long been a subject for scholars. Studies of employees in social responsible companies indicate a positive correlation between CSR activities and motivation. However, only a few have focused on the employee and none of the previous studies have used sensemaking as a theoretical perspective to deepen our knowledge and understanding of employees’ behavior within a socially responsible company. Aim The aim of this study is to illustrate, with a comparative approach, what meaning employees have given to their employer’s social responsibility to provide an understanding of the significance of employers’ various approaches to social responsibility for the social identity, organizational engagement and motivation of employees. Methodology The research design is a comparative case study. A qualitative methodology was used with an iterative approach, although the initial approach was deductive. The empirical data was gathered through three semi-structured interviews with employees on each company. Conclusions Employees consider that the purpose of their employer’s social responsibility is to fulfill their need to belong to a company that does good for other stakeholders. Employees’ motivation and organizational commitment may be derived from their employer’s social responsibility if the employees themselves consider these activities important. This is explained by congruence between the individual’s social identity, the employer’s organizational identity and the underlying values of these identities.

Personas är något som används av företag idag inom en mängd branscher och däribland modebranschen. Det används för att skapa en bild av sin kund och rikta sig mot en tydlig målgrupp. Tidigare forskning talar emot att utveckla personas internt inom företag och denna studie har genom en fallstudie, på ett klädföretag som gjort det, undersökt om det går att utveckla personas internt utan extern kundinformation. Modebranschen karaktäriseras av snabba förändringar och befinner sig därmed på en dynamisk marknad. Teorin om optimal distinctiveness menar på att företag på dynamiska marknader behöver anpassa sig till omvärlden för att vara optimalt distinkta, det vill säga att vara distinkta för att sticka ut från sina konkurrenter men uppnå konformitet för att inte bli irrelevanta för det segmentet. Idéen om dessa motstridiga krafter har undersökts för att studera om teorin optimal distinctiveness skulle kunna appliceras på personametoden för att utveckla den, detta genom modellen Optimal Distinct Persona. Fallstudien har genomförts med hjälp av intern information från Företag X, en kvantitativ enkät som genomförts i Företag Xs butiker samt två kvalitativa fokusgrupper. Resultatet från denna fallstudie visade att det går att utveckla personas internt inom företag även fast inte alla kunder stämmer in på samtliga attribut i personabeskrivningen. Resultaten visade även att teorin optimal distinctiveness skulle vara behjälplig för att utveckla personametoden då den i dagsläget kan innebära vissa problem. Modellen Optimal Distinct Persona kan minimera dessa problem genom att använda teorin optimal distinctiveness vid utvecklingen av attribut till personabeskrivningen men även genom att konstant anpassa attributen till omvärlden och kundernas ändrade preferenser. / Personas is something that is used by companies today in a number of industries, including the fashion industry. It is used to create an image of its customer and aim at a clear target group. Previous research speaks against developing personas internally within companies and this study has through a case study, at a clothing company that has done so, investigated whether it is possible to develop personas internally without external customer information. The fashion industry is characterized by rapid changes and is thus in a dynamic market. The theory of optimal distinctiveness means that companies in dynamic markets need to adapt to the outside world in order to be optimally distinct, that is to be distinct in order to stand out from their competitors but achieve conformity in order to not become irrelevant to their segment. The idea of ??these contradictory forces has been investigated to study whether the theory of optimal distinctiveness could be applied to the persona method to develop it, this through the model Optimal Distinct Persona. The case study was conducted using internal information from Company X, a quantitative survey conducted in Company X's stores and two qualitative focus groups. The results from this case study showed that it is possible to develop personas internally within companies even though not all customers match on all attributes in the person description. The results also showed that the theory of optimal distinctiveness would be helpful in developing the persona method as it currently involves certain problems. The Optimal Distinct Persona model can minimize these problems by using the theory of optimal distinctiveness in the development of attributes to the persona description but also by constantly adapting the attributes to the outside world and customers' changing preferences.

Les perturbations de l'identité suite à une commotion cérébrale liée au sport (CCS) ont été explorées du point de vue de l'identité athlétique. Cependant, ces études négligent d'autres constructions identitaires importantes, comme l'identité personnelle (p.ex. la personnalité, les émotions) et sociale (p. ex. la famille) ainsi que le concept de soi, c'est-à-dire l'identité collective, personnelle et sociale. En utilisant l'approche de l'identité sociale pour conceptualiser le concept d'identité, cette étude qualitative multiméthodes a exploré l'impact d'une CCS sur les constructions identitaires de sept athlètes élites (n = 6 femmes, M = 25,1 ans). Deux entretiens semi-structurés (durée moyenne de 83,7 minutes et 76,9 minutes respectivement) et l'outil nommé Social Identity Mapping Tool ont été utilisés pour collecter les données. Suite à une analyse thématique réflexive, trois thèmes ont été développés. Thème A : L’impact de la CCS durant le rétablissement sur les constructions identitaires des participants menace le concept de soi. Le thème B : L’identité post-commotion décrit comment les constructions identitaires des participants ont changé après le rétablissement de la CCS. Le thème C : La gestion de l’identité via l’identité sociale explique comment les dynamiques du réseau social des participants impactent leurs constructions identitaires. Les résultats démontrent que les athlètes élites ayant subi une CCS peuvent éprouver une perturbation allant au-delà de l’identité athlétique. Les futures recherches devraient explorer les interventions nécessaires afin de gérer adéquatement cette perturbation de l’identité. / Researchers have explored the impact of a sport-related concussion (SRC) on athletes’ identity almost exclusively through the lens of athletic identity. However, this approach neglects other important identity constructs, such as personal (e.g., personality, emotions), and social identity (e.g., family, student), and the self-concept (i.e., collectively, personal, and social identity). Using the Social Identity Approach, this qualitative, multi-method study explored the impact of SRC on the identity constructs of seven (n = 6 female, M = 25.1 years) elite soccer, swimming, ice hockey, and curling athletes. We collected data using two semi-structured interviews (Mtime = 83.7 and 76.9 minutes, respectively). The second interview included the Social Identity Mapping Tool, a comprehensive visual display of individuals’ social identity and social network. We used a reflexive thematic analysis and organized the data into three themes. SRC Experience Threatening the Self-Concept (Theme A) explored disruption to participants’ identity constructs during SRC recovery. Post-Concussion Identity (Theme B) described how participants’ identity constructs changed when recovered. Identity Management Through Social Identity (Theme C) explained how the dynamics of participants’ social identity impacted disruptions to identity constructs throughout the SRC experience. Results highlight that elite athletes with SRCs may encounter identity disruption that extends beyond merely their athletic identity. Although this study expands the knowledge around identity disruption from SRCs, we suggest future research explore potential intervention strategies for managing identity disruption from SRCs.

På senare tid har de uppmärksammade härjningarna och våldsamma metoderna som används av Islamiska Staten i Irak och Syrien (ISIS) bidragit till en ökad oro och diskussion om vad som får muslimska ungdomar ifrån väst att ansluta sig till sådana hänsynslösa organisationer. Mot bakgrund av detta ville jag undersöka vilka tankar och antaganden som konstruerar en muslimsk ungdoms världsbild avseende identitet och tillhörighet. Denna studie syftar därför till att uppnå ökad förståelse för hur fenomenet radikalisering kan relateras till identitetsskapande hos muslimska ungdomar och vilka processer i identitetsskapandet som kan utgöra en risk för vägen mot radikalisering. För att lyckas med detta har jag utfört semistrukturerade utforskande djupintervjuer med muslimska ungdomar i Malmö. Min avsikt med denna studie har inte varit att utgå från att alla muslimska ungdomar är, eller har potential för att bli radikaliserade. Min avsikt har snarare varit att utforska hur identitet och tillhörighet kan säga något om vägar (pathways) till radikalisering oavsett av religiös tillhörighet. För att analysera informanternas berättelser har begrepp och ramverk från Social identitetsteori använts. Studien påvisar en stabil grund för bi-kulturell identifiering med en svensk och en muslimsk kontext bland ungdomarna som ingått i denna studie. Samtidigt går det att spåra en kluvenhet i att på grund av sin religiösa identitet inte alltid accepteras fullt ut i alla sammanhang och en känsla av medialt utpekande av muslimer som grupp. Informanternas berättelser synliggör också en upplevd intern konflikt bland muslimska samfund då terrorism som utförs i islams namn tvingar medlemmar i gruppen att både internt och externt markera ställningstagande i frågan om religiöst motiverat våld och terrorism. Denna konflikt i kombination med ett upplevt utanförskap som svensk muslim kan i sig vara grunden för att vissa ungdomar vänder sig in i andra delar av den muslimska gruppen för att söka acceptans och bekräftelse. I denna process finner en del av dessa ungdomar radikala och extrema rörelser. Dessa rörelser är isolerade från omvärldens intryck vilket möjliggör för extremism att gro. När medlemmar inom en sådan grupp vill öka sin status kan beteende och handlingar eskalera vilket kan leda till våld och terrorism. Ett sätt att förhindra denna väg mot radikalisering av unga muslimer skulle således kunna vara att skapa förutsättningar för muslimska ungdomar att kunna känna tillhörighet i sina olika sociala identiteter som både svensk och muslim. / As the brutality and violent means of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become evident a general concern and public discussion has emerged about what makes young Muslims from the Western world to join such devious organizations. In light of this I wanted to examine the thoughts and assumptions that constructs the feelings of identity and belonging of young Muslims in the city of Malmo. This study thus aims to create a wider understanding of how the phenomenon of radicalization can be related to identities of Muslim youth and how the processes of forming identity can compose a risk for the individual to find pathways to radicalization. To accomplish this explorative semi-structured interviews with young Muslims in Malmo was conducted. My intention with this study has not been to assume that all Muslim youth is, or has the potential to become radicalized. My intention rather has been to explore how identity and belonging can tell something about routes (pathways) to radicalization regardless of religious affiliation. To analyze the stories of the young Muslims who participated in this study concepts and frameworks from Social Identity Theory has been applied. This study shows that among the young Muslims participating in this study there is a stable basis for a bi-cultural identification with both a Swedish and a Muslim context. It is though possible to trace some ambivalence in the bi-cultural identity of these individuals as their experience as being Muslims e.g. their religious identity are not always compatible or fully accepted in all contexts. Additionally the participants also perceive that Muslims as a group is being publicly singled out and criticized by media. The stories also reveals a perceived internal conflict among Muslim communities as terrorism conducted in the name of Islam compels members of the Muslim group to both internally and externally mark position concerning religiously motived violence and terrorism. This conflict joint with the experience of exclusion among Swedish Muslim can potentially become the reason for some young Muslims to turn into the wide range of Muslim communities in search for acceptance and affirmation. In this process some individuals will find radical and extremist movements. The isolation these movements/groups experience from outside impressions then enables extremism to flourish inside the group. When members of such a group strives to improve individual status the behavior and actions of the group can escalate which in turn can result in violence and terrorism. Thus to avoid this pathway to radicalization the solution lies in creating conditions that allows for young Muslims to feel belonging and inclusion in their bi-cultural identities as being both Swedish and Muslims.

Research suggests that people define themselves, at least in part, in terms of their group memberships and that their psychology often depends on the state of the groups that defines the self (Haslam, Jetten, Postmes, & Haslam, 2009). Historically, the number of social groups in which people are active or with which they identity is seen as social capital and as leading to better mental health (e.g. identity-complexity, or social complexity, Linville, 1987). As such, social and clinical psychologists generally advocate and perpetuate the idea that multiple group membership and complex patterns of identification is psychologically beneficial to individuals. However, is identity-complexity straightforwardly positive for everyone? The current study examined how issues of identity-complexity are associated with psychological well-being in a young population (16-25). We hypothesised that identity-complexity might not be straightforwardly positive when multiple identities conflict with one another or when particular groups are stigmatised. The sample was made up of 464 young persons from a variety of social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds in schools, colleges, and universities. As hypothesised, participants who reported multiple identity conflicts and stigma were found to have less resilience and life satisfaction, and more depression and anxiety. Notably, findings also revealed that while it was psychologically advantageous for White participants to belong to multiple groups, the reverse was found for Black participants. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. Results provide further insight on the relationship between multiple group membership and well-being.

SAMMANFATTNING Titel: Revisorns identifikation med klienten respektive professionen – Hur påverkas valet av förhandlingsstrategi? Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Jannicke Berghold och Vanessa Do Pilar Lemos Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2016 - Januari Syfte: Revisorers val av förhandlingsstrategi vid meningsskiljaktigheter med klienten angående rapporteringsmål, har visat sig få betydande konsekvenser på de slutliga reviderade rapporterna. Då intressenter till de reviderade företagen till stor del baserar sina investeringsbeslut på dessa rapporter är det av stor vikt att revisorn inte påverkas av den enskilda klienten vid förhandling. Social Identity Theory menar att individer identifierar sig med flertalet sociala grupper, vilka ibland besitter avsevärt skilda intressen och värderingar. Forskare menar att individen är mer eller mindre benägen att följa dessa beroende på hur stark denna identifikation är. Vidare föreslår ny forskning på området att individens beslutsfattande framförallt är beroende av vilken av dessa identiteter som är framträdande i individens sinne vid beslutsögonblicket. Vi ämnar med denna studie undersöka hur revisorns identifikation med klienten påverkar hur denne beter sig vid en förhandling med klienten, samt huruvida denna effekt förändras när professionsidentiteten är framträdande. Metod: Denna studie har genomförts genom att primärdata samlats in via en experimentell enkätundersökning. Urvalspopulationen bestod av 3600 auktoriserade och godkända revisorer i Sverige. Svarsdata har samlats in med hjälp av enkätprogrammet SUNET-survey, för att sedan sammanställas och analyseras i statistikprogrammet SPSS statistics. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visade att en stark klientidentifikation bidrog till att revisorn ansåg sig mer sannolik att använda sig av en förhandlingsstrategi som var inställsam mot klienten, gentemot när klientidentifikationen var svag. Vidare såg vi att när professionsidentiteten gjordes framträdande, så var respondenterna mindre benägen att använda sådana strategier. Vårt utfall visar att styrkan av klientidentifikation påverkar revisorns val av förhandlingsstrategi, dessutom verkar effekten av en framträdande professionsidentitet också influera revisorns val. 3 Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då det stora bortfallet i vår studie kan ha bidragit till ett missvisande resultat, så föreslår vi att framtida forskare utför en studie i likhet med denna under mer kontrollerade former. Detta för att försäkra sig om en högre svarsfrekvens och för att öka möjligheten att i större utsträckning kunna dra generaliserbara slutsatser. Ett förslag, då tidsaspekten inte utgör ett problem, vore att komplettera enkäten med ett alternativ som gör det möjligt för forskaren att mer djupgående få inblick i respondenternas svar. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vår förhoppning är att vår studie kommer att lämna ett värdefullt bidrag till förhandlingslitteraturen. Detta då vi antar en ny infallsvinkel på revisorns förhandling med klienten genom att studera huruvida valet av förhandlingsstrategi skiljer sig åt beroende på vilken av revisorns multipla sociala identiteter som är mest framträdande i beslutsögonblicket. / ABSTRACT  Title: The auditor's identification with the client and the profession - How does it effect the  choice of negotiating strategy?  Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Jannicke Berghold and Vanessa Do Pilar Lemos Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2016 – January Aim: The auditor´s choice of negotiating strategy in cases of disagreement with the client regarding the reporting objectives, has proven to have a significant impact on the final statements to be presented to the public. As stakeholders of these companies largely base their investment decisions on these reports, it is very important that the individual client doesn’t influence the auditor at negotiation. Social Identity Theory predicts that individuals identify with multiple amounts of social groups, which sometimes possess significantly different interests and values. Scientists believe that the individual is more or less prone to follow these groups depending on how strong this identification is. Furthermore, new research in the field suggest that individual decision-making above all depends on which of these identities that are salient in the individual's mind at the moment of decision. With this study we intend to examine how the auditor's identification with the client influences how she choses negotiating strategy, and whether the effect changes when professional identity is made salient. Method: This study was conducted by a collection of primary data through an experimental survey. Sample population comprised 3,600 authorized and certified auditors in Sweden. Response data has been collected using questionnaires program SUNET survey, then compiled and analyzed in SPSS Statistics. Result & Conclusions: The study showed that a strong clientidentification contributed to that the auditor was likely with the use of a negotiation strategy that is slimy to the client, when the identification towards the client was weak. Furthermore, we saw that when professional identity was made salient, so respondents were less inclined to use such strategies. Our results show that the strength of client identification affect the auditor's choice of negotiating strategy, additionally appears the effect of a prominent professional identity also influence the auditor's election 5 Suggestions for future research: Since the great shortfall in our study may have contributed to a misleading result, we suggest that future researchers conducting a study like this, would do so under more controlled conditions. This to ensure a higher response rate and to increase the possibility of generalized conclusions. One proposal, when the time aspect does not present a problem, would be to complete the questionnaire with an option that allows the researcher to get more in-depth insight into the respondents' answers. Contribution of the thesis: We hope that our study will make a valuable contribution to the negotiation literature. This by our adaptation of the new approach to the auditor's negotiation with the client by studying whether the choice of negotiating strategy differs depending on which of the auditor's multiple social identities that are most prominent in the moment of decision

Reading the Fourth Gospel, one is struck by the amount of talk about Jesus. Many of the reports in John describing such talk reflect the social process of gossip in concert with other processes and dynamics involved in constituting social personages in the ancient Mediterranean world. Although there have been a few general treatments of gossip in the New Testament, none have focused on the subject of the gossip in John’s gospel, Jesus, the generative cause of the emergence of gossip traditions. The aim of this research project is to explore how gossip is involved in constituting Jesus as a shamanic figure in the Fourth Gospel. Building on the research of Pieter F. Craffert, and thus beginning with understanding Jesus as a shamanic figure, a viable framework for identifying and explaining features and functions of gossip is constructed after considering sociolinguistic studies and a number of ethnographies of extant traditional cultures of the Mediterranean. The framework is then brought to bear on texts in the Fourth Gospel reporting or describing gossip, in order to see how gossip contributes to constituting Jesus as a shamanic figure. As a result, this research offers a significant contribution to New Testament studies as it 1) represents an exploration and appropriation of gossip that has scarcely been exploited in the field, 2) provides a viable theoretical framework for positioning gossip vis-à-vis other pivotal first-century Mediterranean social values and processes, 3) models a new way to see and understand John’s gospel, and 4) is suggestive of an alternative to the reigning paradigm of conventional historical Jesus research in that it involves linking literary features about oral phenomena in John to a historically plausible figure thoroughly embedded in his social, cultural, and historical world. / New Testament / D.Th. (New Testament)

Companies are increasingly drawing on their user communities to generate promising ideas for new products, which are then marketed as "user-designed" products to the broader consumer market. We demonstrate that nonparticipating, observing consumers prefer to buy from user-rather than designer-driven firms because of an enhanced identification with the firm that has adopted this user-driven philosophy. Three experimental studies validate a newly proposed social identification account underlying this effect. Because consumers are also users, their social identities connect to the user-designers, and they feel empowerment by vicariously being involved in the design process. This formed connection leads to preference for the firm's products. Importantly, this social identification account also effectively predicts when the effect does not materialize. First, we find that if consumers feel dissimilar to participating users, the effects are attenuated. We demonstrate that this happens when the community differs from consumers along important demographics (i.e., gender) or when consumers are nonexperts in the focal domain (i.e., they feel that they do not belong to the social group of participating users). Second, the effects are attenuated if the user-driven firm is only selectively rather than fully open to participation from all users (observing consumers do not feel socially included). These findings advance the emerging theory on user involvement and offer practical implications for firms interested in pursuing a user-driven philosophy. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1999. (authors' abstract)

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The purpose of this essay was to examine Islamic State’s (IS) self-image and perception of their enemies, and also what kind of propaganda technique that they use in their movies. To do so three questions were formulated: 1. According to Social Identity Theory the ingroup’s social identity is the same as the ingroup’s prototype. How is IS’s prototype portrayed, and thus their social identity, in the movies Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV? 2. According to Social Identity Theory a consequence of group membership is that the ingroup will associate outgroups with stereotypic images. What stereotypic images does IS’s associate outgroups with in the movies Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV? 3. According to Jacques Ellul propaganda can be categorized as either rational or irrational. So, based on his definition of propaganda, what kind of propaganda technique is used in Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV ? In this paper four segments were analyzed from two of IS’s movies: Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV. Two theories were used in this essay: Ellul’s theory on rational and irrational propaganda, and also Social Identity Theory. The first theory presents different techniques of argumentation that can be classified as either rational or irrational propaganda. The second theory describes the phenomenon known as prototype and stereotype. The most common propaganda technique used in the movies was that of social evidence, which is a rational strategy of propaganda. This means that the propaganda mainly uses symbols in its arguments, which in this case is the symbol of Allah. IS uses Allah, as well as their leader Al-Baghdadi, to justify their actions. Irrational propaganda is also used quite often. It can be seen in the way IS describes their own group and their enemies. IS always describes themselves with positive attributes and characteristics, while their enemies are described as their complete opposite. The purpose of this is to make the viewer automatically start to associate the ingroup (IS) as good and the outgroups (enemies) as evil. The prototype of IS is that they see themselves as the holy warriors of Allah executing His will on earth. The stereotypic image of IS’s enemies is that they are apostates and enemies of Allah. Their infidelity has provoked Allah, they’re sinners and thus IS considers it to be their duty to punish them.