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Nostalgia is a psychological phenomenon we all can relate to but have a hard time to define. What characterizes the mental state of feeling nostalgia? What psychological function does it serve? Different published materials in a wide range of fields, from consumption research and sport science to clinical psychology, psychoanalysis and sociology, all have slightly different definition of this mental experience. Some claim it is a psychiatric disease giving melancholic emotions to a memory you would consider a happy one, while others state it enforces positivity in our mood. First in this paper a thorough review of the history of nostalgia is presented, then a look at the body of contemporary nostalgia research to see what it could be constituted of. Finally, we want to dig even deeper to see what is suggested by the literature in terms of triggers and functions. Some say that digitally recorded material like music and videos has a potential nostalgic component, which could trigger a reflection of the past in ways that was difficult before such inventions. Hinting towards that nostalgia as a cultural phenomenon is on a rising scene. Some authors say that odors have the strongest impact on nostalgic reverie due to activating it without too much cognitive appraisal. Cognitive neuropsychology has shed new light on a lot of human psychological phenomena‘s and even though empirical testing have been scarce in this field, it should get a fair scrutiny within this perspective as well and hopefully helping to clarify the definition of the word to ease future investigations, both scientifically speaking and in laymen‘s retro hysteria.Keywords:

Organizations have to understand the customer very well if they want to exist in business. Thisunderstanding of the customer will help organizations to act accordingly. More specifically hotelservices are characterized by frequent interaction with the customers. Thus, these frequentcontacts with the customers may lead to experience dissatisfaction/ frustration when things gowrong. Accordingly, it is important to find out the reasons for such negative emotions andmeasures to be taken to mold these behaviors.For this reason, the aim of our master‟s thesis is to identify reasons for customer aggression andconsiderable mechanisms to put in place for, how customer service employees mold the behaviorof aggressive customers through emotional labor while delivering services in hotels. This impliesthat major motives are mentioned based on some of the routine interactions, from the serviceitself and others outside the service delivery process. In addition, customer service employees‟(CSEs) key mechanisms used to react positively to such emotions due to customers‟dissatisfaction/ frustrations are assessed. Moreover, to fulfill the aim of the research, the hotelindustry has been chosen from which sample customers and service employees are also selected.In this regard, survey questions from a sample of customers and interviews held with selectedcustomer service employees (CSEs) were used as data collection tools from one of the hotelslocated in Umeå. The result of the findings helps to identify the most common types of reasonsfor customer aggression during interaction; lack of assistance from CSEs, noisy customeraround, lack of punctuality and billing errors are the common reasons for customer aggressionfrom the respondents‟ point of view. While interview results revealed that customer‟s ownpersonal reasons due to the prior emotional state of the customer (Antecedent State) are causes ofaggression during service provision. On the other hand, in molding such behaviors, emotionallabor is found to be fundamental tool in services, where surface acting emotional labor is themost widely used mechanism while delivering services to mold the customer aggression, angerand dissatisfaction into happier and more satisfying situations for the customers.We believe the study complements the existing research by extending and bridging on customeraggression and in response emotions to be applied to mold such behavior in hotel services. Keywords: Hotel industry, Emotional labor, Aggression, Anger, Customer serviceEmployees (CSE)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of emotional labor on instances of burnout by specifically focusing on real estate sales professionals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008) cites the purchase or sale of a home as one of the most substantial and complicated financial events most people ever experience, thereby magnifying the challenges of work and communication in the real estate sales profession and providing a rich framework for understanding the concepts of emotional labor and burnout. A three part questionnaire focused on emotional labor and burnout was distributed to 450 real estate sales professionals in early March, 2008. Linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the predictive values of emotional labor components with burnout components. Findings in this study indicated that real estate sales professionals may rarely be required to display feelings in prescribed ways due to the autonomous nature of real estate sales work. Various implications and suggestions related to identification and empathy surfaced in the discussion chapter as components of emotional labor and burnout were considered in the context of the real estate sales profession.

Theoretical developments of emotional intelligence (EI) are jeopardized by the inability of empirical studies to keep pace with its intense surge to the forefront of both lay and academic communities. Due to the paucity of empirical evidence, claims of the contributions of EI are met with speculation in the scientific community. Furthermore, EI is conceptualized and measured in a variety and often, diverging ways. Subsequent to indications from previous literature that EI shows promise to be linked to the field of health and psychological well-being (Austin, Saklofske, & Egan, 2005), the primary aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent criterion validity of a mixed model conceptualization of EI with self-reported exercise attitudes by comparing two subsamples of university students, (Mean Age = 22 years; 72% Female, 28% Male; NonKinesiology n1 = 271, Kinesiology n2 = 127). The finding of a weak overall correlation fails to provide concurrent criterion validity to the BarOn (2002) conceptualization of EI with exercise attitudes as measured by HBQ (Austin, unpublished), r(398) = .13, p = .013. This finding is further substantiated by the lack of significant findings in an ANOVA and a lack of practical significance in a MANOVA. While the criterion group had significantly stronger beliefs of the benefits of exercise, F(1, 394) = 47.54, p < .001, Å2 = .11; no significant difference between the means of the Composite EI was found between the subsamples for the main effect (field of study) or for the interaction effect (field of study ~ sex): F(1, 394) = 0.08, p = .78; F(1, 394) = 1.82, p = .18, respectively. Additionally, the MANOVA findings determined that only 1.6% of the overall variance could be attributed to the model effect of self-reported activity level and exercise attitude with EI. The secondary purpose of this study was to examine the sex differences in the relationship of EI and exercise attitudes. The scales for the female subsample were not significantly correlated, r(287) = .07, p = .25; whereas, a low and significant correlation was found in the male subsample, r(111) = .37, p = .001. The finding is noteworthy and appears to suggest that the contributing factor to the significant, but weak overall correlation, was obtained from the male sector. Although, the study does find the BarOn EQ-i:S instrument to be a good measure with strong internal consistency reliability and large intercorrelations with its components, the findings point to concerns as to what is being measured and the degree to which the measure overlaps with the personality domain.

Purpose: The aim of this Bachelor Thesis is to explore what makes an interactive viral marketing campaign effective in terms of Word-of-Mouth. Background: With the growth of Internet, a new force of marketing has developed where the consumer is more involved in the marketing process. This thesis studies the underlying emotions and motivations of consumer incentives to engage in positive Word-of-Mouth, regarding an interactive viral marketing campaign. Method: In order to fulfil the purpose of this study a case study is performed. An inductive approach is followed and qualitative research in the form of a netnography and interviews are used to collect the empirical material that is required in order to answer the given research questions. The netnography was performed on Facebook and ten respondents from the netnographical study were invited to participate in interviews. Conclusion: Based on the frame of reference, a strong relationship was expected between certain emotions and the willingness to share or discuss Tipp-ex’s campaign. However, the results indicate that other variables such as Comprehension and Personalisation might have a greater effect on Word-of-Mouth incentives. Regarding motivations, Message- involvement was found to be the motivation that triggers a consumer to engage in Word-of-Mouth.

The aim of this study was to investigate emotions and emotion regulation of a downsizing in an industrial company. The sample consisted of persons who had experienced a downsizing but have kept the employment, within a same position or being transferred to another one. Data consisted of two focus group interviews, analysed by an inductive thematic analysis. The results have indicated that emotional reactions changed over time as well the emotional regulation did during the different phases. The groups differed in emotional reaction related to the time of decision regarding the retention of employment. One conclusion is that fast and accurate information during the different phases of a downsizing process may lead to more positive emotional reactions, which in consequence may result in a positive experience of the reduction process as a whole. The confidence in management increased across the time, due to its decisiveness during the process of downsizing. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka individers emotionella upplevelser och emotionsreglering i samband med nedskärningsprocess på ett industriföretag. Urvalet bestod av individer som varit med om en nedskärningsprocess och fått behålla sin anställning, antingen på samma tjänst eller blivit omflyttade till annan tjänst. Data samlades in genom fokusgruppsintervjuer och analyserades med induktiv tematisk analys. Resultatet indikerar att de emotionella upplevelserna av nedskärningsprocessen förändrades över tid liksom emotionsregleringen vid de olika faserna i processen. Resultaten från de olika grupperna vad gäller emotionell reaktion skiljer sig åt framförallt vid tidpunkten för beslut om behållande av anställning. En slutsats är att snabb och tydlig information i samband med nedskärningsprocessens olika faser leder till mer positiva emotionella upplevelser, vilket bidrog till att nedskärningsprocessen som helhet upplevdes som positiv. Företagsledningens agerande, som visade på handlingskraft, ledde till ett ökat förtroende för företagsledningen.

The schools have problems with conflicts and mobbing. One way to deal with this is to focus on the importance of life skills “SET- Social emotional training”. SET is a program that encourages student’s self-awareness, that is, the understanding students have about themselves and how he or she can relate to it and to others. This study aims to examine if life skills in school contribute to student’s ability to reflect and deal with conflicts. The main research questions are: How can life skills, and specifically the SET program help students to reflect about themselves and others in the group?    In which way can the SET-program help students to reflect and deal with conflicts? How can reflection and conflict management using the SET method affect student’s action in school? What are the limitations/ difficulties? The study is a qualitative research based on observation, group interviews with four students and a teacher in 5th grade, in a school south of Stockholm. The theoretical framework emphasises Vygotskij’s description of the relationship between thoughts and feelings and how this affects our action and behavior. The results of the study show that life skills help students to improve their self-awareness by reflecting on their emotions and thoughts. By repeating concepts, students are helped to train their thought and process emotions during lesson time. The study reach the conclusion that life skills/SET help the student to learn something new about themselves and others in their environment. Life skills/SET helps the student to understand changes and manage them by focusing on how to gain new experience of these changes.

This quantitative survey aims to highlight the impact of the meeting with the grief for customer advisers and representatives of funeral homes connected to the SBF (Sveriges Begravningsbyråers förbund). It also aims to demonstrate any differences between the sexes on this subject. Issues include: How does the person experience expectations and requirements in relation to their professional role? Does the person experience a personal impact due to the encounter with grief and death in their profession, in what way and to what extent? What consequences does the expectations, reactions and the possible impact result in for that person? What conditions does the person have to help cope with the professional role? Is there a gender difference in this experience? The theory base, which consists of theories taken from The Managed Heart: The commercialization of Human Feeling by Arlie Hochschild (2003) and descriptions taken from Yrke: begravningsentreprenör. Om utanförskap, döda kroppar, riter och professionalisering by Anna Davidsson Bremborg (2002), has been fundamental in both the preparatory work and the analysis. The population consists of those with client contact at funeral homes connected to the SBF. The questionnaire was answered through an internet page and the contact with the particiants were made via e-mail. The questionnaire consisted of 44 claims which were answered by how well the respondents agreed with them. The responses were then coded and calculations were made of mean and significance of these figures. Comparisons were made on several levels between the different variables in order to find patterns and indications. The results showed trends that the respondents to some extent experienced high demands in their profession, stress connected with the customer interactions and that this to some extent resulted in negative consequences. The results suggests that respondents were expected to and strove to go the "extra mile" to please the customers. The results also showed trends that the respondents enjoyed their work, experienced relatively good conditions in their profession and that the benefits outweighed the sacrifices. The results also showed an interesting pattern of that women, more than men, experience pressures and stress due to the encouter with grief at work, and that the higher education the respondents had the greater the impact. This study resulted in some interesting indications that can be used in further research.

The purposes of this study are to explore flight attendants¡¦: (1) the effect of personal characteristic to emotional intelligence, service attitude and withdrawal behaviors; (2) the relationship among emotional intelligence, service attitude, and withdrawal behaviors; (3) the mediating effect between emotional intelligence and withdrawal behaviors through service attitude. For this research, according to the 232 valid returned questionnaires from the native flight attendants of China Airlines, the results of the study are as follows: 1.Partial personal characteristic has a significant influence on emotional intelligence, service attitude and withdrawal behaviors. 2.Emotional intelligence is significantly positive related to service attitude. 3.Emotional intelligence has a significant negative influence on withdrawal behaviors. 4.Service attitude has a significant negative influence on withdrawal behaviors. 5.Service attitude has a partial mediating effect between emotional intelligence and withdrawal behaviors. Finally, the suggestion has been offered to the managerial level of the airlines and others researchers.