This thesis aims to investigate to what extent the centrality of religion influences the existential aspects of an individual’s meaning-system. To do this I used a meaning-system framework and a qualitative approach in which I gathered information through a questionnaire based on the Centrality of the Religious Meaning System Scale and by conducting 8 semi-structured interviews with young adults in Uppsala, Sweden. The analysis of these interviews was implemented through an abductive method. The theoretical perspective is based on the concept Global meaning and the General attribution theory. My conclusion is that those participating in the study describe their meanings differently depending on their religious meaning-system. The thesis also shows that the religious interpretations to a large degree were actualized by situational and dispositional factors. This suggest that the religious attributions were made to meet the participants need for meaning, control, and self-esteem. Finally, the thesis indicates that the centrality of one’s religion appears to inform the religious meaning-system, as well as, functions as a dispositional factor. Thus, this thesis suggests that the centrality of one’s religion can be an influential factor in how religious meaning is constructed regarding existential questions.

<p>The overall aim of this thesis is to develop a typology of the relationship between parents and schools by clarifying different meanings of that relationship. The study is anchored in a tradition within the sociology of knowledge which stresses the ongoing interpretative struggle between different social groups (Mannheim 1928/1968). Based on this theoretical approach, and in the light of international research, four models of the parent–school relationship are developed. Each model is related to an overall system of meaning, thereby clarifying competing conceptualizations of central concepts such as “parent” and “involvement”.</p><p>The partnership model (1) stresses that it is in the children’s best educational interests to encourage cooperation between parents and schools. I argue that this model was originally based on the concept of equality, but that this concept was replaced in the 1980s by those of efficiency and learning.</p><p>The user participation model (2) entails formal involvement of parents in the governance of individual schools. Participatory democracy, I argue, is one component in an overall system of meaning for this model. The other is efficiency, a concept that is related to changes in school governing bodies and school management during the 1980s.</p><p>The choice model (3) emphasizes the rights of parents to choose among schools for the sake of their own children. Despite different interpretations of what choice entails, I argue that this model of the parent–school relationship can be related to an overall system of meaning in which the autonomous civil citizen is in focus.</p><p>The separation model (4) takes as its starting point the differences between parents (home) and teachers (school) and problematizes the endeavour to achieve cooperation between the two. I argue that one component in the overall system of meaning associated with this model could be termed constitutive differences, a component that is also embedded in the concept of teacher professionalism. Two other components of the separation model are equality and integrity, the latter from the vantage point of children and young people.</p><p>The thesis also analyses the parent–school relationship in the Swedish historical context, using the four models and the concepts mentioned above as analytical tools. In the first period, beginning with the reports of the 1940 School Committee and the 1946 School Commission, the focus was on the partnership model and the separation model. The user participation model was introduced in connection with a proposal to establish local governing bodies in the mid-1970s, and the choice model emerged, in the Swedish context, in the early 1990s.</p>

This thesis presents a cross-sectional study of psychological meaning making processes involving religious beliefs and the construction of a sense of purpose in life. Previous research has studied the connection between religiosity and purpose in life, but has failed to adequately represent the multidimensionality of meaning and religion, resulting in a lack of understanding of the psychological processes involved in the construction of a sense of purpose in life.  The purpose of this study was to research the connection between specific religious beliefs and a sense of purpose in life in individuals aged 25-40, by testing one hypothesis: There is a significant, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, and answering two research questions: 1. What specific religious beliefs show a significant correlation to purpose in life?, and 2. How are religious beliefs used in a meaning system for the construction of purpose in life? The study employed a two-phase, mixed methods sequential exploratory design, and a meaning system theory framework, complemented by additional theoretical perspectives in phase 2. The weighting of the data was on the first, qualitative phase of the study  and the data were mixed in the final, joint analysis of both types of data.  Phase 1 consisted of a survey, measuring the strength of religious beliefs (measured by the BVS scale) and sense of purpose in life (measured by the LAP-R and one item of the WHOQOL-BRIEF). The survey was completed by 40 respondents who self-identified as Christian and were members of various Christian congregations in the city of Stockholm and surrounding areas. The results of phase 1 of the study firstly showed a significant, moderate, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, confirming the hypothesis. The results also showed that purpose in life was positively and significantly correlated to a belief that God is an all pervading presence (tau = 0.35, p&lt;0.05), belief in forces for evil in the universe (tau = 0.40, p&lt;0.01), belief that human physical contact can be a spiritual experience (tau = 0.27, p&lt;0.05), belief in life after death (tau = 0.31, p&lt;0.05), belief that one's life has been planned out (tau = 0.33, p&lt;0.05), belief that there is a heaven (tau = 0.30, p&lt;0,05), belief that the human spirit is immortal (tau = 0.30, p&lt;0.05), and belief that there is a God (tau = 0.32, p&lt;0.05). Phase 2 consisted of interviews with 9 of the survey respondents, yielding qualitative data that were analysed through an interpretative framework based on two hermeneutic theories. The qualitative analysis showed that religious beliefs are used to construct purpose in a meaning making process consisting primarily of three elements in a meaning system. Beliefs regarding what is ultimately good (ultimate concerns) and beliefs regarding the purpose and role of humanity (overall purpose) provides a foundation for the construction of purpose in life. The individual constructs purpose by locating himself/herself (self-definition) in relation to ultimate concerns and overall purpose. The results of phase 2 also showed that both the content and conviction of religious beliefs influence their use in the construction of purpose in life, further explicating the results of phase 1.  The joint analysis of the two phases showed that the results from phase 2 supported the results from phase 1, both regarding the beliefs involved in the construction of purpose in life and the importance of both content and conviction in meaning making processes.  Suggestions for further research include additional research on the connections between the various elements of a meaning system, research on the connection between religious beliefs, purpose and the development of self-definition, as well as further theoretical developments of meaning system theory, and harmonisation of meaning system theory with other, complementary theoretical perspectives.

The overall aim of this thesis is to develop a typology of the relationship between parents and schools by clarifying different meanings of that relationship. The study is anchored in a tradition within the sociology of knowledge which stresses the ongoing interpretative struggle between different social groups (Mannheim 1928/1968). Based on this theoretical approach, and in the light of international research, four models of the parent–school relationship are developed. Each model is related to an overall system of meaning, thereby clarifying competing conceptualizations of central concepts such as “parent” and “involvement”. The partnership model (1) stresses that it is in the children’s best educational interests to encourage cooperation between parents and schools. I argue that this model was originally based on the concept of equality, but that this concept was replaced in the 1980s by those of efficiency and learning. The user participation model (2) entails formal involvement of parents in the governance of individual schools. Participatory democracy, I argue, is one component in an overall system of meaning for this model. The other is efficiency, a concept that is related to changes in school governing bodies and school management during the 1980s. The choice model (3) emphasizes the rights of parents to choose among schools for the sake of their own children. Despite different interpretations of what choice entails, I argue that this model of the parent–school relationship can be related to an overall system of meaning in which the autonomous civil citizen is in focus. The separation model (4) takes as its starting point the differences between parents (home) and teachers (school) and problematizes the endeavour to achieve cooperation between the two. I argue that one component in the overall system of meaning associated with this model could be termed constitutive differences, a component that is also embedded in the concept of teacher professionalism. Two other components of the separation model are equality and integrity, the latter from the vantage point of children and young people. The thesis also analyses the parent–school relationship in the Swedish historical context, using the four models and the concepts mentioned above as analytical tools. In the first period, beginning with the reports of the 1940 School Committee and the 1946 School Commission, the focus was on the partnership model and the separation model. The user participation model was introduced in connection with a proposal to establish local governing bodies in the mid-1970s, and the choice model emerged, in the Swedish context, in the early 1990s.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine psychological processes that can contribute to religiously motivated violence from a psychology of religion perspective in relation to the collective meaning-system of the Christian militant anti-abortion movement the Army of God. The study applied a single-case design and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 3 prominent figures within Army of God, as well as through 43 qualitative documents and 4 autobiographical books. The collected data was analyzed through a deductive approach, implementing the concept of sanctification, social identity theory, selective moral disengagement, and the Staircase to Terrorism model. The results show that the collective meaning-system of the Army of God can be understood as a form of religious fundamentalism that acts as a frame that binds the members together, and from which social categorization and group identification can induce acts of violence. The results also demonstrate that abortion is perceived as a grave injustice and destruction of something sacred, and how it leads to a moral outrage and aggression by constituting a threat towards one’s social identity. This threat moves the individuals towards a ‘black-and-white’ and ‘the ends justify the means’ mentality. The act of violence is further prompted by a perceived duty from God and facilitated by a dehumanization of the perceived enemy. The findings of the study address the need of primary empirical data in the psychological research of violent extremism. Furthermore, it brings further knowledge regarding religiously motivated violence and leaderless resistance by taking into account the search for significance and sacred values. In contrast to previous research the current study also demonstrates that a leader or a well-structured group is not necessarily a key factor when explaining religiously motivated violence from a social psychological perspective. This can contribute to the theoretical understanding regarding social identity and a collective meaning-making in relation to violent extremism and lone-wolf terrorism.