The purpose of the following is to study whether there are gender differences in the sense of personal responsibility during the coronavirus pandemic. By using quantitative data from Ipsos,various quantitative methods were used to study whether these potential differences can be explained by factors such as level of concern, risk perception, social trust, institutional trust, and political ideology. All analyses have been conducted while considering control variables such as age, education, and income to ensure transparent results. The findings from the survey have been analyzed using Yvonne Hirdman's theories, focusing on the "gender contract." The theoretical framework assumes that there are differences between men and women in their behavior during crises, since previous research has indicated such assumptions. The results of this study indicate that there in fact are gender differences in personal responsibility during the Covid-19 pandemic,which shows that worry, risk perception and ideology could be a part of the explanation of these differences.

The overall security posture of information systems (IS) depends on the behaviors of the IS users. Several studies have shown that users are the greatest vulnerability to IS security. The proliferation of smartphones is introducing an entirely new set of risks, threats, and vulnerabilities. Smartphone devices amplify this data exposure problem by enabling instantaneous transmission and storage of personally identifiable information (PII) by smartphone users, which is becoming a major security risk. Moreover, companies are also capitalizing on the availability and powerful computing capabilities of these smartphone devices and developing a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program, which makes companies susceptible to divulgence of organizational proprietary information and sensitive customer information. In addition to users being the greatest risk to IS security, several studies have shown that many people do not implement even the most basic security countermeasures on their smartphones. The lack of security countermeasures implementation, risky user behavior, and the amount of sensitive information stored and transmitted on smartphones is becoming an ever-increasing problem. A literature review revealed a significant gap in literature pertaining to smartphone security. This study identified six socio-cognitive factors from the domain of traditional computer security which have shown to have an impact on user security behaviors and practices. The six factors this study identified and analyzed are mobile information security self-efficacy, institutional trust, party trust, and awareness of smartphone risks, threats, and vulnerabilities and their influence on smartphone security practices and behaviors. The analysis done in this research was confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) – structural equation modeling (SEM). The goal of this study was to cross-validate previously validated factors within the context of traditional computer security and assess their applicability in the context of smartphone security. Additionally, this study assessed the influential significance of these factors on the security behaviors and practices of smartphone users. This study used a Web-based survey and was distributed to approximately 539 users through Facebook® and LinkedIn® social media outlets which resulted in 275 responses for a 51% response rate. After pre-analysis data screening was completed, there were a total of 19 responses that had to be eliminated due to unengaged responses and outliers leaving 256 responses left to analyze. The results of the analysis found that vulnerability awareness, threat awareness, and risk awareness are interrelated to one another which all in turn had significance in predicting self-efficacy, security practices, and behaviors. This intricate relationship revealed in this study indicates that a user has to have an increased awareness in all three categories of awareness before they can fully understand how to protect themselves. Having an increased awareness in one category does not impact the overall security posture of the user and that risk, threat, and vulnerability awareness all work together. Another interesting find was that as risk awareness increased the less the smartphone users protected themselves. This finding warrants additional research to investigate why the user is more averse to risk, and willing to accept the risk, despite their increased awareness. Finally, institutional trust and party trust was found not to have any significance on any of the factors. These findings should give smartphone users and organizations insight into specific areas to focus on in minimizing inappropriate security behaviors and practices of smartphone users. More specifically, users and organizations need to focus on educating users on all three factors of threats, risks, and vulnerabilities in order for there to have any impact on increasing self-efficacy and reducing inappropriate security behaviors and practices.

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The thesis is focused on currently widely discussed topic of the Russian hybrid warfare. It examines how the discourse surrounding this topic in the Czech Republic unfolded and how certain actors, primarily the think-tank European Values, have securitized the issue of the Russian hybrid warfare. The thesis is grounded in the securitization theory developed by the Copenhagen School. The international context is also discussed, since the discourses about the Russian hybrid warfare against the West are interconnected and the interest in this subject have risen after the annexation of Crimea and especially after the Russian interference into the U.S. presidential election in 2016. The case study of the documents related to the Russian hybrid warfare published by the think-tank European Values is central to this project. Institutional mistrust is a crucial underlying cause driving the success of disinformation campaigns and creates an opportunity for the hybrid efforts. However, this thesis attempts to explain, how securitization of the Russian hybrid warfare can be unhelpful or even detrimental to the goal of facilitating a greater trust in institutions.

There is a current widespread knowledge about what factors that is of importance when explaining levels of individuals political trust. Unfortunately, the same knowledge is not at hand as to whether these ‘determinants’ of political have changed over time and if so how? In other words, can we assume that citizens form their trust in similar matters over time or has there been a shift? With the purpose of contributing to new knowledge about political trust, this thesis mainly explored if there has been a change in the effects of often argued to be strong determinants on political trust and secondly if there are any trends as to how these effects has changed over time. In order to realize answers to these most likely never posed questions, the theoretical framework departed from Mishler and Rose’s sectioning of cultural and institutional theory which entail very different views on the origin and dynamic of political trust. Later the two theories were operationalized into cultural and institutional related variables in accordance to available variables found in “The SOM Institute Cumulative Dataset 1986-2019”. Through numerous multiple linear regression analyses utilizing Swedish data between 1998 and 2019 it shows that the effect of most explanatory variables on political trust changes, but since these effects were small from the start there are reasons to question what weight the changes are carrying. Onwards, by performing interaction analyses the thesis was able to conclude a handful of positive and negative linear trends arching over the 22-year period meaning that some explanatory variables have become increasingly and decreasingly important when explaining the variation in political trust, which in turn indicates that the Swedish population on average tends to form their trust slightly different in 2019 as opposed to in 1998.

Depuis le retour de la démocratie l’Amérique Latine a expérimenté une série de transformations importantes. Les premières, furent économiques et se caractérisent principalement par une grande vague de libéralisation économique qui a signifié entre d’autres choses, un type de changement fluctuant, des réductions des dépenses publiques, ainsi que, la privatisation des entreprises et des services de l’État qui ont fini pour réduire considérablement leur rôle. Les secondes, furent politiques et ont été marquées par l’arrivée des partis de gauche au pouvoir et la mise en œuvre d’une série de politiques sociales visant à réduire la pauvreté et les inégalités, qui ont permis d’améliorer significativement les conditions de vie de millions de Latino-américains. Tous ces changements, en plus de la fréquente alternance entre l’autoritarisme et la démocratie vécue durant les dernières années ont inévitablement eu un effet sur la confiance que les individus ont envers les institutions. Dans ce sens, comment le niveau de confiance institutionnelle en l’Amérique Latine a-t-il évolué au cours des dernières années? Spécifiquement, comment l’alternance au pouvoir des partis de gauche et de droite qui ont gouverné en Amérique Latine durant les derniers trente ans, a-t-il impacté sur les niveaux de confiance que les Latino-américains ont envers leurs institutions? Utilisant un modèle statistique multiniveau longitudinale de mesures répétées, cette recherche a comme premier objectif, de comprendre l’évolution historique du niveau de confiance institutionnelle en Amérique Latine entre 1995 et 2021, à partir de la combinaison des données incluses dans les sondages réalisées par Latinobarómetro, LAPOP et l’Enquête Mondiale des Valeurs (WVS), et comme deuxième objectif, d’estimer l’impact de l’orientation idéologique des individus et des partis au pouvoir sur le niveau de confiance institutionnelle. Les résultats montrent que quand le parti au pouvoir est de gauche, le niveau de confiance moyen envers les institutions est significativement plus élevé. Ils montrent également que la confiance institutionnelle se renforce positivement chez ceux qui déclarent avoir la même orientation que le parti au pouvoir. L’évolution de la confiance institutionnelle dans la région s’explique donc en partie, par l’orientation idéologique des individus et du parti au pouvoir. / Desde el retorno de la democracia América Latina ha experimentado una serie de importantes transformaciones. Las primeras, fueron económicas y se caracterizaron principalmente por una gran ola de liberalización económica que significó, entre otras cosas, un tipo de cambio fluctuante, recortes en el gasto público, la privatización de las empresas y servicios públicos que terminaron por reducir considerablemente el papel del Estado. Las segundas, fueron políticas y estuvieron marcadas por la llegada de los partidos de izquierda al poder y la implementación de una serie de políticas sociales dirigidas a reducir la pobreza y la desigualdad que permitieron mejorar significativamente las condiciones de vida de millones de latinoamericanos. Todas estas experiencias más la frecuente alternancia entre el autoritarismo y la democracia vivida durante los últimos años inevitablemente han ejercido un efecto en la confianza que los individuos tienen sobre las instituciones. En este sentido, ¿Cómo ha evolucionado el nivel de confianza institucional en América Latina los últimos años? Específicamente, ¿Cómo la alternancia en el poder de partidos de izquierda y de derecha que han gobernado en América Latina durante los últimos treinta años, ha impactado en los niveles de confianza que los latinoamericanos tienen de sus instituciones? A través de un modelo estadístico multinivel longitudinal de medidas repetidas, esta investigación tiene como objetivo en primer lugar, comprender la evolución histórica del nivel de confianza institucional en América Latina entre 1995 y 2021, a partir de la combinación de datos incluidos en las encuestas realizadas por Latinobarómetro, LAPOP y la Encuesta Mundial de Valores (WVS), y en segundo lugar, estimar el impacto de la orientación ideológica de los individuos y de los partidos gobernantes sobre el nivel de confianza institucional. Los resultados muestran que cuando el partido gobernante es de izquierda, el nivel de confianza medio hacia las instituciones es significativamente más alto. Por otra parte, muestran que la confianza hacia las instituciones se refuerza positivamente en aquellas personas que declaran tener la misma orientación que el partido gobernante. Por lo tanto, la evolución de la confianza institucional en América Latina se explica en parte, por la orientación ideológica de los individuos y del partido en el poder. / Since the return of democracy, Latin America has experienced a series of important transformations. The first, were economic and were mainly characterized by a big wave of economic liberalization that meant, among other things, a fluctuating exchange rate, curs in public spending, the privatization of public organizations and services that ended up considerably reducing the role of the State. The second, were politics and were marked by the arrival of left-wing parties to power and the implementation of a series of social policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality that allowed to significantly improved millions of Latin Americans’ life conditions. All those experiences, plus the frequent alternance between authoritarianism and democracy in recent years, have inevitably had an effect on the trust that individuals have in institutions. Therefore, how has the level of institutional trust evolved in Latin America in recent years? Specifically, how has the alternance in power of left and right parties that have governed in Latin America during the last thirty years, had an impact on the levels of trust that Latin Americans have in their institutions? Through a longitudinal multilevel statistical model of repeated measures, this research aims, first, at understanding the historical evolution of the level of institutional trust in Latin America between 1995 and 2021, from the combination of data included in the surveys carried out by Latinobarómetro, LAPOP and the World Values Survey (WVS), and secondly, to estimate the impact of the ideological orientation of individuals and of the ruling parties on the level of institutional trust. The results show that when the ruling party is from the left, the average level of trust towards the institutions is significantly higher. They also show that trust in institutions is positively reinforced in those people who declare that they have the same orientation as the ruling party. Therefore, the evolution of institutional trust in Latin America is explained in part by the ideological orientation of individuals and the party in power.