This paper studies the importance of acknowledging social identities in a state-building process. Kosovo is a disputed area in which several ethnic groups reside. These groups obtain extensive rights within the legal framework of the Republic of Kosovo. Although these rights are extensive and, according to some, the best laws regarding minorities in Europe there are those who do not feel an attachment to the state. Historically states have been based on single-groups in so called nation-states in which the mainstream identity of the population were synonymous with that of the state. Today the view on the state has evolved into that of a multi-cultural society in which everyone are accepted regardless of their identity (i.e. sex, ethnicity, gender and so on). The conflict of Kosovo has its base in the Albanian population within Kosovo and their struggle for recognition as a people. Their struggle throughout the 20th century culminated with the complete removal of rights by Slobodan Milošević in 1989 and the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1993. By the end of the 20th century NATO intervened in the conflict resulting in the adaptation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 in which the future of Kosovo where determined. After being administrated by the international UN mission (UNMIK) for almost 9 years Kosovo declared its independence. Kosovo were to be a multi-ethnic state constituted of its many communities (ethnic-groups). Today there are few people who uses the term 'Kosovar', instead people still identify themselves by their ethnic-identity. This paper studies the importance of social identities and if the citizenship of Kosovo can fill the position as an overlapping identity bringing the ethnic-groups of Kosovo together. Although the conclusion is that the citizenship cannot fill this position today the study identifies several issues that, when resolved, severely increases the possibility for the Kosovo citizenship to fulfill this position.

This study focuses on aspects of cult experiences, given by deconverted former members of closed religious movements. Their testimonies were published in books or interviews. The aims of the study were to understand the interaction between the religious group and its members, living in high tension towards mainstream society and their testimonies of altered self-esteem during attraction, membership, deconversion and defection. The purpose was to understand how a person´s self-esteem is affected by inner mechanisms of closed religious movements and how these experiences affects a persons identity. Another aspect was whether there might be differences in altered self-esteem, between those who enlisted as adults, and those who were born into the closed religious contexts. Social Identity Theory, Sigmund Freud´s and Carl Rogers models of personal ego were used as models of interpretations. Qualitative methods have been used for analysis of data. The defectors´ testimonies could be interpretated in terms of altered social identity. During attraction and membership, the members perceived him or herself as an in-group member, which boosted their self-esteem. Their perceived selves existed in congruence with group norms. Being a former member lead to a reversed process of socialisation and self perception, during which the out-group became a new in-group in order to enhance self-esteem. Those, who enlisted as adults, reformed back to their former identity and thereby enhanced their self-esteem by integrating their cult experiences with their former self. Those, who were born into the religious movements, had troubles to adapt to mainstream society, as they did not have any alternative personal identity outside the group, and therefore experienced difficulties to enhance self-esteem.

Uppsatsens syfte är att se vilka faktorer som kan vara avgörande och vad det är som styr urvalsprocessen vid valet av en ny styrelseledamot ur ett genusperspektiv. Studien baseras på Handelsbankens styrelse som är den av storbankerna i Sverige med störst snedfördelning mellan könen i styrelsen. Det mesta av materialet vi studerat är tryckta källor i form av årsredovisningar och vetenskapliga artiklar men vi har även använt oss av en enkät som är skickat till Alecta som är en av röstrepresentanterna till bankens valberedning. Undersökningen delas in i tre olika delar vilka är humankapital, social identitet och ledarskap. Syftet med teorierna var att se om de stämde in i verkligheten på Handelsbankens styrelse. Varje del har analyserats var för sig för att sedan kopplats samman i slutsatsen. Analysen sker genom en koppling mellan teorin, den empiriska metoden samt med svaren från frågeformuläret. Studiens resultat visar att det inte är så stor skillnad mellan könen i styrelsen på Handelsbanken när man tittar till humankapital och ledarskap. Dock visar studien att männen i Handelsbanken har skapat sig ett socialt nätverk och är en mer benägna att omge sig med människor som påminner om deras egen bakgrund, profiler och värderingar. Detta gör det också lättare för dem i gruppen att rekommendera andra i deras nätverk att ansluta till Handelsbankens styrelse vid val av en styrelseledamot och därmed har både män och kvinnor som står utanför svårt att ta sig in i gruppen. Genom att i framtiden upprepa denna studie går det att utläsa om ambitionen, via de riktlinjer som finns, uppfylls i högre grad, d.v.s. om fördelningen mellan könen i styrelsen bättre speglar de framtida visionerna om att könsfördelningen blir jämnare och att antalet kvinnliga ledamöter beräknas öka. Det skulle även vara av stort intresse att utvidga studien över längre tid då det är en långsamtgående process. / The purpose of this dissertation is to define what criteria that are decisive and what it is that controls the selection process when choosing a new member of the board from a gender perspective.  The survey is based on the board of Handelsbanken which is one of the major banks in Sweden with the largest misallocation between the genders. Most of the studied material is printed sources in form of annual reports and scientific articles but also a questionnaire that has been sent to Alecta which is one of the parts representing the nomination for board members in the bank. The survey is also divided into three different parts which are human capital, social identity and leadership. The purpose of the theories is to see whether they reflected the actual conditions in the board of Handelsbanken.  Each part has been analyzed and then linked together in the conclusion. The analysis is done by linking the theory and the empirical method with the answers from the questionnaire. The result of the survey shows that there isn’t any big difference between the genders in the board at Handelsbanken when you look closer to human capital and leadership. However, the study shows that the men in the board of Handelsbanken have created a social network and are more likely to surround themselves with people that are similar to their background, profiles and values. This also makes it easier for the ones in the group to recommend other people in their network to join the board of Handelsbanken when selecting a board member and therefore both men and women outside the group have difficulties to join. By repeating this survey in the future, we can tell if the ambition, through the existing guidelines, are met to a greater extent, that is, if the gender division of the board better reflect the future visions of the gender distribution becoming  more even and the number of female board members are expected to increase. It would also be of great interest to extend the survey over longer time because it is a slow working process.

Motivational changes due to individual differences and situational variations in ingroup identification can influence accessibility of memories of ingroup violence, victimization and glories. In Study 1, high identifiers recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than of ingroup suffering. As well, they recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than did low identifiers. In Study 2, a manipulation of ingroup identity produced shifts in memory. Relative to those in the low identity condition, participants in the high identity condition recalled fewer incidents of violence and hatred and more good deeds by members of their group. Participants in a control condition recalled more positive than negative group actions; this bias was exaggerated in the high identity condition and eliminated in the low identity condition. With respect to memories of ingroup tragedies, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that experimental reminders of ingroup suffering enhanced participants' sense of connectedness to the ingroup. The findings suggest that memories of ingroup aggressions threaten ingroup identity whereas memories of ingroup suffering enhance ingroup identity. Societal implications of the findings are discussed. The present research informs the literature on reconstructive memory by extending previous findings on the flexibility of personal memories to historical memory.

Past research suggests that members of devalued groups recognize their group is discriminated against. Do the implicit responses of members of these groups demonstrate the same pattern? I argue that they do not and that this is due to a motivated protection of members of devalued groups’ social identity. Study 1 demonstrates that, at an explicit level African-Canadians recognize that their group is discriminated against, but at an implicit level African-Canadians think that most people like their group to a greater extent than do European-Canadians. Study 2 replicates this implicit finding but demonstrates that devalued and majority groups do not have different implicit normative regard about a non-devalued group. Study 3 again replicates the implicit finding with Muslim participants while demonstrating that, when affirmed, this group difference disappears. Study 4 demonstrates that implicit normative regard can predict collective action over and above implicit attitudes and explicit normative regard. The implications for social identity theory and collective action are discussed.

The present study is designed to extend the finding of Miner-Rubino and Cortina (2007) on bystander experiences of sexual harassment to bystander experiences of racial microaggressions. Racial microaggressions are a form of subtle racism, which are short, quick, everyday encounters that send degrading messages to people of color. The affects of racial microaggression on psychological, physical, and occupational outcomes were examined for both Caucasian and African-American employees. The results of the study indicate that racial microaggression are negatively related to psychological well-being for both races, as well as correlated to multiple negative work outcomes such as job burnout, job withdrawal, and a decrease in job commitment. The overall results demonstrate that subtle racism is pervasive in the workplace and detrimental to employee well-being.

The present study employs the frameworks of postcolonial literary theory, sociolinguistics, and the social psychology of language use to compare the nature, function, and meaning of English in the delineation of cultural and social identities in anglophone Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian literatures. The construction of cultural and social identities in these literatures inheres in how certain Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian novelists use various linguistic devices to contextualize the English language in their respective cultures, and how they employ the English language to articulate and reinforce colonial, counter-colonial, and other heteroglossic social discourses arising from conflicts of race, class, and gender in the Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian contexts. Chapter One outlines the nature of the research and sets up the terms and categories that will feature prominently in the analysis. Chapter Two examines the place of English in the socio-economic and cultural history of Zimbabwe and of Trinidad and Tobago, and offers a description of the indigenous or other national languages which play prominent roles in the linguistic configuration of the two nations. The chapter also critically reviews the attitudes of some prominent post-colonial writers, particularly from the African and Caribbean regions, to the use of English as a medium of artistic creativity. Chapter Three engages with narrative idiom and characters' idioms and comments as they relate to (a)the nativization of English in selected Zimbabwean novels and the use of English and other indigenous languages for articulating social norms and certain situational imperatives, and (b) the power and politics of English as an instrument for domination, manipulation, oppression, the construction of elitist identity, the reproduction of unequal power relations, and of resistance to such social injustice. Chapter Four addresses issues discussed in Chapter Three, but with reference to the Trinbagonian literary context. Chapter Five, the conclusion, synthesizes the arguments by pointing out the sociolinguistic similarities and differences between Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian Literatures analyzed in the study. Furthermore, the concluding chapter not only indicates the values of an interdisciplinary project such as this one for both linguistics and literary studies, but it also delineates certain research options for the future. The dissertation generally concludes that the construction of Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian identities in and through language can be read as a mode of resistance to the homogenizing, assimilative practices of colonialism and neo-colonialism. Thus, the detailed documentation provided in this study of the range of linguistic and socio-cultural differences between Zimbabwean and Trinbagonian literatures on the one hand, and other works of English (especially the acrolectal varieties) on the other, establishes that while there is no single, stable Zimbabwean or Trinbagonian identity that is constituted in the language of literary texts to set up in contrast to an imperial British or American one, the fact of differences is indisputable.

Konkurrensen om kompetent personal ökar och flertalet faktorer används därför för attattrahera och rekrytera kvalificerad arbetskraft. Företag lägger idag stort fokus på corporatesocial recponsibility (CSR) och studier har visat att CSR spelar stor roll för potentiellamedarbetare i sökandet efter arbetsgivare. Syftet med denna uppsats är således att undersöka,beskriva och analysera huruvida studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett svenskt universitet,värderar CSR som en attraktiv faktor hos en framtida arbetsgivare. Den teoretiskareferensramen utgår från tre områden vilka berör CSR, employer branding samt social identitytheory (SIT). Uppsatsen baseras på en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökningbland 230 studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett av Sveriges största universitet. Resultaten ochslutsatserna visar, till skillnad från tidigare studier, att CSR inte ses som en attraktiv faktorhos en framtida arbetsgivare samt att andra faktorer överlag ses som både mer attraktiva ochviktiga än CSR.

Today, sponsorship is an integrated communication tool used for the achievement of commercial objectives. As the marketing environment changes sport sponsorship has evolved into one of the fastest growing marketing sectors. Yet, research up to now has been somewhat limited to one dimension of the sponsor relationship, without further consideration of the other. Therefore, this study has assessed both sides of sponsorship arrangements. Relevant literature has been reviewed and a survey was carried out in order to answer the purpose within this thesis. Our findings show that identification and commitment to a sport team was positively related to attitudes and purchase intentions toward favorite team sponsors. Moreover, mean scores suggested that negative associations from rival teams could “rub-off” on sponsored brands. This was evident in forms of attitudes but not in avoiding sponsors products. The study showed potentials with sponsorship while at the same time described sponsorship as a complex business which one should treat with caution in order for it to not become a double-edged sword.   Key words: sport sponsorship, social identity, in-group, out-group, identification and commitment to a sport team

European higher education is being faced with more and more challenges arising fromdiversity. Diversity arises as Universities seek to achieve higher levels ofinternationalisation by accepting students from as many countries as possible. Everyoneseems to be of the opinion that diversity is essentially a good thing. However, studies haveshown that diversity does not always lead to productivity. In Sweden for example, researchhas found that groups with gender diversity have more productive outcomes, while groupswith ethnic diversity display less positive outcomes. In general, research on highereducation has often showed that ethnic minority students achieve lower levels ofperformance than other students.This thesis studies the factors that affect the attitudes of ethnic minorities, first from a socialidentity point of view, and then by looking at other factors such as expectations ofemployment and the effects of studying in a new educational system. The social identityprocesses that are important in a student context are examined so as to determine those thathave a stronger effect on minority students.For this study, interviews were carried out with three students, and questionnaires were alsoadministered. From the analysis, it is observed that ethnic minority students suffer negativeeffects from being in a cultural minority and often feel dominated by the surroundingculture. Also, they develop less positive attitudes towards their studies because of loweremployment expectations, difficulties of adapting to a new setting and less preparation intheir earlier education.It is suggested that in order to create a more favourable environment for ethnic minoritystudents, steps must be taken to create a better psychological atmosphere for minoritystudents. Also, steps should be taken to improve social contact between students and toenhance the process of group work.The main limitations of the study are time, scope and cost. To be able to carry out a morein-depth study of school performance, it is important to perform more interviews andsurveys, covering a longer time frame.