Today, there has been growing concern on how to live a life more sustainable in terms of people’s needs and consumptions, globally with no exception in Sweden. It is due to the challenges that society faces to ensure the existence of resources availability for current as well as future generation. At the same time, we are looking at an era where the advancement of technology could incentivize people to shift their consumption pattern from acquiring new products to used goods from other peers. This technology provides the possibility for peer communication and matchmaking to exchange goods from local communities to different regions within the country. This practice is widely known as the sharing economy, although many other similar terms are used by academic scholars as well as business practitioners. As of today, several studies have attempted to understand people’s motives for participating in the sharing economy practice. Nevertheless, some other aspects have not been thoroughly researched, such as the social interaction within the practice. Social interaction is perceived as one of the essential features that the sharing economy heavily relies on among the two practitioners. Hence, the main aim of this study is to understand the role of social interaction between peers while outlining the dimensions within an interaction that affects participation. Therefore, a qualitative study was adopted for this thesis by interviewing eight Swedes while observing the second-hand platforms they were exercising. In this study, we adopted the Social Practice Theory as our theoretical framework to comprehend the meaning behind the practitioners’ involvement, the competence they display, and the materials they curate within the practice. The findings of this study illustrated that social interaction was not only an essential part in the second-hand practice, but also inevitable to avoid completely. Furthermore, our empirical findings illustrated social interaction as a gateway to receive financial benefits while simultaneously offering the practitioners the possibility of manifesting their virtues through the practice. Moreover, we also discovered that social interaction was a crucial element for promoting but also preserving practice. The aspect of social interaction makes the involved practitioners need to manage the adequate know-how/understanding and competencies to get benefits from the practice, such as negotiation capability, dispute handling, risk evaluation, and managing overly apprehension. In addition, we found it beneficial to distinguish the buying practice and the selling practice as two different practices instead of a single practice.

Breeding compexes of poeciliid fishes with a bisexual and two unisexual species were studied for mechanisms permitting Sympatric coexistence. The unisexuals are gynogenetic and thereby sexually dependent on the males of the bisexual species for sperm to initiate development, but inheritance is entirely maternal. Bisexual females are more abundant in headwater localities; unisexuals increase in downstream localities. Males were 10 - 18% of the total poeciliid population, regardless of the relative proportions of bisexual to unisexual females. Downstream localities were typified by greater habitat diversity, including a variety of backwater pools. The unisexuals showed a marked preference for such pools. Both field and laboratory studies showed that all three types of females as well as males preferred shaded areas with a gravel substrate. Although the four types of fish were found together, nearest neighbour data indicated that each type of female preferred its own kind. Males courted throughout the year and were indiscriminate in their choice of mates. Despite the skewed sex ratio, males were not in short supply because only a few females were sexually receptive at a given time. No significant differences existed between bisexuals and unisexuals in their relative reproductive outputs, but they were asynchronous.

Gaming är ett ständigt växande fenomen som för tillfället omfattar ca 2,5 till 3,25 miljarder gamers. En central aspekt av gaming är konkurrens och detta har senare utvecklats till E-sport. Tidigare forskning inom gaming inriktar sig ofta på negativa aspekter av fenomenet, men med tanke på att bilden av en gamer har förändrats under senare tid där de gick från att ses som en hobby för socialt utkastade till att klassas som officiella atleter i bland annat USA (Svenska e-sportförbundet 2021) saknas det viss forskning med tyngdpunkt på de positiva aspekterna av gaming. Syftet med denna studie var att jämföra sociala interaktioner, roller och affektiva reaktioner mellan etablerade respektive icke-etablerade e-sportlag. Detta undersöktes med utgångspunkt i de socialpsykologiska teorierna social interaktion, samarbetsbeteende , roller och rolltagning, teamwork och affektteori om socialt utbyte. Två fokusgrupper och fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt tolv respondenter genomfördes på ett urval där fokusgrupperna var etablerade lag och respondenterna till de semistrukturerade intervjuerna tillhörde icke-etablerade lag. Resultatet i undersökningen visar att sociala interaktioner, roller och affektiva reaktioner i etablerade lag tenderar att vara mer öppna, konsekventa och positiva, jämfört med i icke-etablerade lag. Mest sannolikt beror detta på de tidigare relationerna och kunskapen om varandra som finns i etablerade lag, något som de icke-etableradelagen saknar. / The phenomenon of gaming is continuously expanding and currently includes an approximate of 2,5 to 3,25 billion gamers worldwide. A central concept of gaming is competition which has then evolved into e-sport. Previous research of gaming tend to focus on the negative aspects of the phenomenon. Considering, however, that the view of a gamer has changed during recent times where gaming has previously been seen as a hobby for the socially excluded for now to be classified as official athletes, for instance in the USA (Svenska e-sportförbundet, 2021), there is a need to conduct research looking at the positive aspects of gaming.The purpose of this study was to compare the social interactions, roles and affective reactions between established and non-established e-sports teams. This was investigated on the basis of the social psychological theories social interaction, cooperative behavior, roles and role-taking, teamwork and affect theory of social exchange. Two focus groups and four semi-structured interviews with a total of twelve participants were conducted on a sample where the focus groups were established teams and the respondents to the semi-structured interviews belonged to non-established teams.The results of the study show that social interactions, roles and affective reactions in established teams tend to be more open, consistent and positive overall. This is most likely due to the previous relationships and knowledge of each other that exists in established teams, something that the non-established teams lack.

Children's classroom engagement is important for their learning and academic achievement. Extending Kindermann's (2007) study of peer influence on adolescents' engagement to an ethnically homogeneous sample, the current study examined how different aspects of diversity affect the peer influence process. Three types of diversity were considered: ethnic diversity existing at the school level, relational diversity at the peer network level, and motivational diversity at the group level. Ethnic diversity was observed in the student body as well as among school teachers and staff. Relational diversity was measured by z-scores resulting from binomial tests reflecting how closely two pair of individuals were connected in the peer network. Finally, motivational diversity was measured as the dispersion (SD) around peer group mean engagement levels, thereby reflecting the diversity of engagement within each peer group. The results indicated that adolescents in this ethnically diverse middle school were overall highly engaged; their engagement patterns were comparable to previous findings from homogeneous samples consisting largely of European American adolescents. Also consistent with prior findings, the mean engagement levels of students' peer group members were a significant predictor of changes in adolescents' own engagement, which suggests peer influence on adolescents' classroom engagement. Although previous literature suggests that individuals in diverse settings tend to be less well connected to one another, the adolescents in this ethnically diverse school were well connected with their peers. Unexpectedly, almost all students' peer groups were ethnically diverse. When the impact of relational diversity was examined to see whether strongly connected individuals exerted more influence on each other than weakly connected individuals (differential influence hypothesis), the results indicated that the strength of connections among peer group members did not appear to play a significant role in the magnitude of their influences on each other's changes in engagement. Nevertheless, the present study suggested new pathways and methods to examine differential peer influences. Finally, the impact of motivational diversity of peer groups was examined using a moderated model based on an interaction effect between peer group motivational diversity and individuals' initial engagement. The results indicated that the positive impact of peer group motivational diversity was moderated by individuals' initial engagement status, such that initially low engaged adolescents benefited from diversely engaged peer groups, whereas peer group motivational diversity had a comparatively small negative effect on initially highly engaged students.

The present study examined the relationship between the cognitive skill of role-or perspective-taking and naturally occurring behavior of behaviorally disordered children. Twenty-six boys, aged five years, nine months to twelve years, two months were tested and observed at their treatment facility. It was predicted that children who could take the perspective of others would prefer peer to adult interaction, would more likely give positive attention to their peers and would be more likely to use effective language than their non perspective-taking peers. These and related hypotheses were examined by observing each participant's interactive behavior for 36 minutes distributed over three different settings, lunch, freetime and organized activity on six or more different days. To determine perspective-taking skill, two perspective taking instruments were administered in a separate room at the treatment site. One measure (the Chandler role-taking task) required a child to tell a story from a series of three cartoon pictures and then retell the story from the point of view of a late arriving bystander. The other task (the Friendship interview from the Selman Measure of Interpersonal Understanding) assessed role-taking on the basis of the child's responses to questions about a filmstrip story that depicted a common dilemma between close friends. The variety and frequency of effective words was assessed by counting the effective words used by the child when responding to the first role-taking task, the cartoon stories. A vocabulary test was administered at the same time as the other cognitive measures. Before data analysis began, such methodological concerns as reliability of the observational code, reliability of the judges' scoring of the role-taking tasks and internal consistency of the measures were addressed. Cognitive measures, use of effective language and behavioral categories were then correlated with each other. The vocabulary test was used to partial general verbal skill from the relationship of role-taking and effective language. In addition to examining relationships among the measures, the children were divided into perspective-taking and non perspective-taking groups and compared on the various behavioral and language measures.

Cerebrovascular disease is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide, with about one third of stroke survivors initially suffering from communication disorders, including aphasia. Symptoms in aphasia vary from person to person, ranging from repeated failures in verbal expression to comprehension deficits that may occur in both the spoken and written modality. The current work synthesizes almost a decade of research on aphasia following left-hemispheric stroke in individuals with preserved right-hemispheric function: musical skills and formulaic expressions embedded in social interaction. Moving beyond the traditional scope of clinical linguistics, this work argues that preserved right-hemispheric function not only provides valuable resources in speech-language therapy, but also a possible foundation for psychotherapy in individuals with post-stroke aphasia and concomitant depression. An integrative summary introduces key developments in a line of research spanning from 2013 to 2021, to conclude with an outlook on forthcoming contributions and a commentary on the underlying conceptual framework. Each separate piece of research has been published previously in peer-reviewed journals. Here, the selected studies are assembled in an interdisciplinary context at the intersection of clinical neuroscience, speech-language pathology, and psychotherapy.

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Advancements in technology have rendered social media an indispensable means of social communication. However, among the vast amount of data exchanged between users, there is often limited space for meaningful conversation and the cultivation of deeper interpersonal connections. This dissertation adopts a research-through-design approach to explore the concept of Minimal Social Interaction Design, focusing on the use of colours as the primary tool for facilitating these interactions. The main objective of this project is to investigate: What meaning-making communication practices are produced or altered when using colour-based minimal social communication? To achieve this objective, the study involves an auto-ethnographic pre-study and three focus groups to examine minimal colour-based interactions among individuals and groups. Additionally, Drawing inspiration from the concepts of Calm and Slow Technology, this project includes the design and evaluation of an online platform dedicated to facilitating minimal colour-based social interactions. The qualitative data collected from the study indicates that by engaging in minimal colour-based interactions in different social contexts individuals would face both opportunities and challenges. These opportunities and challenges ultimately create a space for individuals to enhance their social awareness, engage in effective negotiation, deepen their understanding of their partners, and develop an intimate private language based on colours. / Teknikens framsteg har gjort sociala medier till ett oumbärligt verktyg för social kommunikation. Trots den enorma mängd data som utbyts mellan användare är det ofta begränsat utrymme för meningsfulla konversationer och kultivering av djupare och mer personliga relationer. I denna avhandling antas en forskning-genom-design-ansats för att utforska konceptet Minimal Social Interaction Design, med fokus på användningen av färger som det primära verktyget för att underlätta dessa interaktioner. Det primära målet med projektet är att undersöka: Vilka betydelseskapande kommunikationspraktiker uppstår eller förändras vid användning av färgbaserad minimal social kommunikation? Denna studie innefattar en auto-etnografisk förstudie med tre fokusgrupper för att undersöka minimala färgbaserade interaktioner bland individer och grupper. Därtill, med inspiration från koncepten Calm och Slow Technology, inkluderar projektet design och utvärdering av en online-plattform dedikerad till att underlätta minimala färgbaserade sociala interaktioner. De kvalitativa data som samlats in från studien indikerar att genom att deltaga i minimala färgbaserade interaktioner i olika sociala sammanhang så möter individer både möjligheter och utmaningar. Dessa möjligheter och utmaningar skapar i slutändan utrymme för individer att öka sin sociala medvetenhet, kunna förhandla effektivare, fördjupa sin förståelse för sina partners och utveckla ett intimt privat språk baserat på färger.

Vi har gjort en kvalitativ studie vars syfte är att undersöka hur lärare i förskoleklass arbetar med högläsning. Högläsning kan bidra till att eleverna får en positiv läsupplevelse vilket i sin tur kan stimulera elevernas läslust och läsförståelse, samt utveckla deras ordförråd och förmåga att lyssna och koncentrera sig. Resultatet i studien är baserat på våra tolkningar av semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med tio verksamma lärare i förskoleklass. I resultatet framgår det att lärarna anser att högläsning har en viktig del i elevernas språk- och läsinlärning eftersom högläsningen utvecklar elevernas ordförråd och fantasi i samspel med läraren och klasskamraterna. / We have conducted a qualitative study which investigates how educators in the preschool setting work with teacher-led oral reading activities (reading aloud) in the larger student group. Reading aloud in the classroom setting can contribute positively to the overall student reading experience, which in turn has the potential to stimulate students' interest in reading and overall reading comprehension, as well as the development of increased vocabulary skills, listening skills and overall concentration and focus. Our analysis and overall results of this study are based on these researchers’ interpretations of semi-structured interviews conducted with ten active preschool teachers. Our results show that the teachers believe that reading aloud with the larger group is an important step in their students' overall language learning in that teacher-led reading/instruction helps in the development of the students' vocabulary and imagination, as well as establishes positive social interactions with both teachers and classmates.

The purpose of this research study was to research and present data on social interaction in VR, specifically in the game VRChat. The aim of the study was to get a better understanding of social interaction in VRChat and contribute additional knowledge on the subject. The research primarily focused on VRChat users’ own experiences, thoughts, and perspectives on social interaction in VRChat. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews and an ethnographic field study that was conducted in VRChat among VRChat users. The research also present and discuss findings from different aspects of social interaction in VRChat. The results of the research consist of themes and common patterns from VRChat users’ own experiences, thoughts, and perspectives on social interaction in VRChat, as well as observations from within the game.