According to social identity theory people categorize themselves and others into groups based on political affiliation. The political group identity makes them favor policies and people associated with the political ingroup and disapprove of policies and people associated with the political outgroup. The purpose of this study was to investigate if this effect could extend to attitudes on non-political clothes associated with politicians. 638 Swedish adults partook in an online experimental survey. Participants evaluated pictures of clothes worn by famous Swedish politicians and non-political persons on two occasions. On the first occasion, identity was unknown, and on the second occasion, identity was revealed. When revealing identity, participants rated clothes worn by outgroup politicians less beautiful and clothes worn by ingroup politicians more beautiful. They were also willing to pay more for clothes that they learned were worn by ingroup politicians. Participants were also analyzed by their political left or right placement. Both leftist and rightist participants rated clothes worn by opposite political groups less beautiful. This tendency was stronger for rightists. Additionally, rightists rated clothes worn by rightist politicians more beautiful and were willing to pay more for them when learning about their political affiliation. In conclusion, by associating non-political items with politicians our attitudes towards those items can change, thus political association can affect our attitudes outside of the political realm.

Although there have been many previous studies done on the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in organizations, there has been relatively less research on the impact of CSR on the organization’s employees. Studies conducted in this topic have looked at various industries such as banking, manufacturing and others but very minimal studies on the Information Technology(IT) industry Considering the research gaps, this thesis examines the employee’ perceptions and attitudes towards CSR and its impact on organizational commitment in the IT industry in the context of Sweden. In order to study this further, it was hypothesized that CSR has a positive impact on organizational commitment (OC) of employees in the IT companies of Sweden. In order to empirically test this, the questionnaire method was employed, and 164 completed surveys were conducted. The findings of this study support hypothesis that CSR has a positive correlation with employee commitment towards their companies. These conclusions indicate that IT firms require to strengthen and integrate CSR to attract and retain motivated, engaged labour force.

Successful transition to civilian employment is a challenge for veterans. The purpose of this single case study was to explore critical aspects of hiring managers' decision-making process and to understand how these strategies and techniques affect the hiring of veterans. Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory and Lewin's organizational change model formed the conceptual framework for the study. The participants for this study were 8 hiring managers from a midsized company in the Upper Hudson Valley Region, New York. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. The data were analyzed and coded and 4 themes emerged: strategies used to fill open positions, specific recruitment and interview protocols, veterans' skills from military training, and lack of experience with hiring veterans. The study results may contribute to veteran's awareness of the skills that employers are seeking that veterans may be able to fulfill. The results of the study could create an opportunity for hiring managers to recognize that veterans represent a trained, ready-made talent pool. The social impact of the study could help hiring managers identify and design the required job description criteria to include the transferable skills of veterans.

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Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Flertalet internationella och nationella kriser har skakat om revisionsvärlden till följd av att revisorn inte alltid har agerat oberoende. En betydande faktor som kan påverka revisorns oberoende är relationen mellan revisorn och klientföretaget. Utifrån tidigare forskning finns det ett behov av att studera revisorns oberoende på mindre revisionsbyråer genom att titta på relationen ur både revisorns och klientföretagets perspektiv. För att skapa en djupare förståelse för relationen kommer den sociala identitetsteorin att användas. Teorin innebär att en gemensam identiteten kan uppstå till följd av att revisorn och klientföretaget spelar inom samma sociala kontext. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra till en fördjupad förståelse för revisorns oberoende, med ett särskilt fokus på relationen mellan revisorer på mindre revisionsbyråer och deras klientföretag. Metod: Uppsatsen utgår från en deduktiv forskningsansats och en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts för att samla in uppsatsens empiriska material där komparativ design har använts som forskningsdesign. Analysen av det empiriska materialet har utgått från en tematisk analys. Slutsats: Uppsatsen visar på att klientföretagen har andra förväntningar på revisorn än vad revisorn möjligen kan prestera. Dessutom utför revisorer uppgifter som kan stå i strid med analysmodellen. Revisorn och klientföretaget kan identifiera sig med varandra eftersom de befinner sig i samma sociala kontext. Relationen mellan revisorn och klientföretaget kan ses vara mer komplex än vad man tänker sig, varför revisorns oberoende ibland kan ifrågasättas till följd av relationen. / Background and problem discussion: Several international and national crises have shaken the audit world because of the auditor not always acting independent. A significant factor that may affect the auditor's independence is the relation between the auditor and the client company. Based on previous research, there is a need to study the auditor’s independence at smaller accounting firms by looking at the relation from the perspective of both the auditor and the client company. To create a deeper understanding of the relation, the social identity theory will be used. The theory means that a common identity can arise because of the auditor and the client company playing within the same social context. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of auditor independence, with a particular focus on the relationship between auditors at smaller audit firms and their client companies. Method: This thesis is based on deductive research approach and a qualitative research strategy. Semi-structured interviews have been used to collect the thesis’s empirical material where comparative design has been used as research design. The analysis of the empirical material has been based on a thematic analysis. Conclusion: This thesis shows that the client companies have different expectations of the auditor than what the auditor can perform. In addition, the auditors perform tasks that may conflict the analysis model. The auditor and the client company can identify with each other because they are in the same social context. The relationship between the auditor and the client company can be seen as more complex than imagined, which is why the auditor's independence can sometimes be questioned because of the relationship.

Distansarbete är något som blivit allt mer förekommande på många företag. Covid-19 har varit en stor bidragande faktor till att nya lösningar varit nödvändiga i och med att medarbetare inte längre fick vistas fysiskt på sin arbetsplats. Tidigare studier har visat att distansarbete kommer med en rad svårigheter. Sociala sammanhang är grundläggande för skapandet av individens sociala identitet på arbetsplatsen. När arbetet sker på distans går dessa sammanhang och interaktioner med kollegor förlorade i stor utsträckning. Syftet med följande studie var därför att undersöka hur medarbetare på ett kontor upplever och hanterar de möjligheter och begränsningar som distansarbete kan medföra i relation till upprätthållande av deras sociala identitet på arbetsplatsen. Vidare ämnar studien undersöka vilka eventuella strategier som tillämpas i samma avseende.  Vid insamlingen av det empiriska materialet genomfördes kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta personer som arbetar på ett företag där arbetet till stor del sker på distans. För att förstå det fenomen som studerats och för att analysera resultatet i relation till frågeställningarna har Tajfel och Turners teori om social identitet tillämpats. Resultatet visade att det fanns både upplevda för- och nackdelar med distansarbete. När det kom till upprätthållande av social identitet på arbetsplatsen framkom resultat som pekade på att den sociala isoleringen var ett stort problem. Centrala resultat som framkom var att känslan av tillhörighet, förmågan att samarbeta samt det kollektiva lärandet drabbades till följd av de utmaningar som distansarbetet fört med sig. Dock framkom det att informanterna upplevde att det finns förbättringspotential i hur arbetet bedrivs och vilka strategier som tillämpas för att upprätthålla den sociala identiteten.

The coronavirus was declared a health emergency in 2020, which led to many employers let their employees work from home to decrease the virus. After the restrictions regarding working from home were removed, some people continued to work from home for a few days a week and spent the other days at the office, which is today called the hybrid solution. As the hybridly way of working is relatively new, there is a lack of research on how the employees perceive the mix of working from the office and home. In order to recruit and retain employees, it can be essential to know if the hybrid solution is perceived as an advantage or disadvantage. Therefore, this thesis explains how the employees perceive the hybrid solution, with the perspective of how it affects their motivation, well-being, and group dynamics. The study is going to answer the research question: If offering a hybrid solution to work is attractive to prospective employees, how does the opportunity to work hybridly affect their motivation, well-being and group dynamics and consequently organizational retention? Based on that, the theoretical framework has come into existence that connects the different themes: of motivation, social identity theory, and talent management into the research. It is a qualitative study with ten semi-structured interviews. The respondents have answered how they perceive the hybrid solution and its effects from their perspective. After the execution of the interviews, we analyzed the material and connected it to previous studies and the theoretical framework. In the analysis, we focus on the outcome of our interviews connected to concepts such as social identity theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the equity model, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and talent management strategy.The findings are that the employees find the hybrid solution as an advantage but that it is not required for them in order to be motivated and feel satisfied with their employers. Employees working remotely today would feel dissatisfied if the opportunity were taken away. Moreover, from the social perspective, work groups must often meet to have great work dynamics.

This study discusses the process of identity-building among second-generation migrants from former Yugoslavia, living in the Southern Region of Sweden, Skåne. The findings of this study have shown that respondents' identity construction is fluid and depends on many factors that influence it, which vary from one individual to another. For instance, language, culture, values, norms, how individuals were raised and where they were born. Moreover, depending on the individuals' experiences and personal choice. Some individuals maintain and reproduce their identity by using the parent’s mother tongue to speak with their family at home and maintain the culture by making Serbian/Bosnian food and choosing to listen to Yugoslavian music. I found that some individuals born in former Yugoslavia feel belongingness to Sweden, where they grew up and were raised instead of where they were born. The feeling of belonging differed from one respondent to the other. Some respondents showed their sense of belonging through feelings and emotions they have attached to the country they were raised in (Sweden). They have established bonds that make them see their belonging to Sweden as necessary. Others attributed their belonging to their environment, place where they were born, or parent's country of origin.

This study was conducted to explore the phenomenon of White male membership in a historically Black fraternity. The researcher utilized a qualitative research methodology to investigate the pre-collegiate experiences of White males that influenced them to seek membership in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Due to the national pool of potential participants, interviews were conducted with White male members of this fraternity using video chat software. The researcher utilized social identity theory (SIT) as the framework for this study based on the premise that in-groups might prove to be significant. Examining the participants’ pre-collegiate in-groups, diversity of family and family friends, and home environment provided insight into participants’ reasoning for seeking membership. Additionally, exploring the participants’ pre-membership perceptions of their eventual fraternity revealed further detail as to the extent to which individuals became members of the in-group associated with that fraternity. Findings for this study were that participants’ comfort levels with diverse backgrounds and individuals allowed them to feel comfortable seeking membership in a Black fraternity. It was also found that shared traits of service and the opportunity for growth were reasons why White males sought membership in a Black fraternity.