This qualitative study examined Urban Black high school students’ pathways to academic success, with particular attention to their perspectives about achieving academic success despite stereotype threats and impeding social factors, the support systems they rely upon, and the coping mechanisms they employ when encountering challenges. Study data suggested that the way urban Black high school students achieved academic success despite stereotype threats and impeding social factors is to identify and focus on their goals, circumventing what obstacles they could and cognitively and emotionally coping with what they could not. Students primarily relied upon family members, community members, school staff, and college-bound programs as support mechanisms. In response to challenge, they employed coping mechanisms of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies that enhanced their focus on the goal, reduced their stress, helped them avoid distraction, and promoted their achievement of the goal. These strategies indicated that the students possessed grit and a growth mindset. The relatively few instances of racism and stereotyping identified in this study indicate the need for more study conducted using different methods to reveal the more widespread and insidious instances of racism and stereotyping within school systems. Longitudinal research also may be helpful for revealing the challenges, racism, and stereotypes students experience as they happen, along with the sensemaking, coping strategies, and support mechanisms they employ to persist through to completion. Keywords: African American, Urban, high school students, racism, stereotype threat, success factors

Transnational security threats are among the most pressing and complicated problems facing both governmental and non-governmental actors in today's world. Human trafficking is one example of contemporary transnational security threat that is relatively less studied compared to other transnational security threats. Because transnational security threats such as human trafficking exist above and outside the boundaries of state control, it may be supposed that a greater degree of supranationalism in the policy responses to them would yield better results in combatting these modern-day ills. Anti-trafficking efforts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union are examined to assess the impact of degree of supranationalism present in the respective policy responses to determine if any advantage is gained from aligning supranational policies to transnational problems. This question is not answered conclusively due to a lack of supranationalism present in key areas of EU governance responsible for law enforcement efforts.

Positive community-police relations, which are based on mutual trust, are key to equitable and just policing. Use of force that is perceived as unfair and biased can quickly undermine relations between the police and the public. In an attempt to understand what psychological factors contribute to police use of force decisions and potentially racially biased use of force application, this study proposed masculinity threat as an important psychological factor that influences police behavior. Masculinity threat occurs when a man's status as a man is threatened, and threats to masculinity are often associated with increased aggression and dominance as a way of restoring the threatened status. Policing is a male-dominated field, and because most victims of officer use of force are men, the current research examines how threats to male police officers' masculinity, including verbal and physical manifestations of threat, contribute to officer force against civilians. Past research has explored how high levels of trait masculinity threat (as measured by the Male Gender Role Stress scale; Goff, Martin, & Gamson-Smiedt, 2012) in police officers is associated with higher levels of force against racial minority suspects, however, no such research has examined state level masculinity threat (e.g., in the moment threats) as they occur in real world police-suspect interactions. Focusing on understanding the associations between use of force and state level masculinity threat, it was predicted that officers who have their masculinity explicitly and publicly threatened by male suspects will use more force against suspects compared to interactions where no such masculinity threat has occurred. It was also predicted that minority suspects who threaten officers' masculinity will receive more force than White suspects. To test these hypotheses, reporting officers' (RO) narratives of use of force interactions (excluding lethal force) from a large police department on the West Coast were coded and analyzed. Contrary to the hypotheses, results suggest that masculinity threat within an officer-suspect interaction may relate to lower levels of average officer force and higher number of sequences (e.g., back and forth exchanges) between suspect and officer. While results are in the opposite direction of the hypotheses, they provide new information regarding the association between personal threats to officer manhood and their subsequent actions. Specifically, results suggest that masculinity threat has a more complicated relationship with force than previously predicted and future research would do well to investigate a potential interaction effect of trait level and state level masculinity on police use of force decisions. Several other areas of further research are outlined, such as the need to examine other suspect-level and officer-level variables such as age and tenure. Overall, the results of this study suggest the need for continued clarifying research.

Past research indicates that having a similar life experience as another person leads to greater empathic concern towards that person. Two studies empirically investigated if similar experiences of race-based social identity threat can increase the empathic concern of White Americans toward African Americans. Study 1 revealed that White Americans randomly assigned to think about White privilege and then randomly assigned to read a passage about an African American whose accomplishments are attributed to Affirmative Action policies (versus an African American whose accomplishments are attributed to his hard work and merit) felt greater empathic concern toward the African American described in the passage. This effect was significantly mediated by stereotype threat feelings and moderated by group identity. Study 2 revealed that White Americans randomly assigned to think about how others think they have benefited from White privilege and then randomly assigned to read a passage about an African American whose accomplishments are attributed to Affirmative Action policies (versus an African American whose accomplishments are attributed to his hard work and merit) felt greater empathic concern toward the African American described in the passage only when mediated by stereotype threat feelings or stereotype threat cognitions. This mediated effect was moderated by merit identity. This suggests that White American participants do not see the literal similarities between the scenarios of race based social identity threat to merit but can see the similarities in internal feelings and cognitions that both experiences create. Collectively, these studies suggest a novel consideration of social identity and understanding of intergroup processes.

Background: Approximately 7% of clinically referred youth exhibit profound impairment in the ability to regulate their affect, behavior, and cognition. This phenotype – often referred to as dysregulation – has been associated with a multitude of negative outcomes. Symptom overlap between dysregulation and other psychological disorders has generated debate regarding whether DP constitutes a distinct syndrome characterized by intense, persistent irritability or is merely the combination of symptoms from disruptive or mood disorders. In order to elucidate this question, the current study examined the transdiagnostic continuities and discontinuities in three RDoC constructs (frustrative non-reward, acute threat, and cognitive control) proposed to be mechanisms of irritability Method: Participants were 294 children ages 7-17 (M=10.94; 67% male). Emotional and behavioral symptoms were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Frustrative non-reward was measured using a frustration-induction Go/No-Go paradigm during which heart rate variability was indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Acute threat was measured using an Emotional Faces computer paradigm in conjunction with an eyetracker/pupilometer. Cognitive control was assessed with the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and Stop Signal Task (SST). Results: Symptoms of dysregulation and non-episodic irritability were strongly, positively related. Due to a lack of demonstrated construct validity for the hypothesized RDoC constructs of frustrative non-reward, acute threat, and cognitive control, two alternative mechanisms—SNS response and cognitive dyscontrol of emotion—were derived from the data. Results showed that blunted sympathetic responsivity and poor executive control in response to emotion were predictive of more severe irritability symptoms. Finally, moderation analyses showed that among highly dysregulated children, low levels of sympathetic responsiveness were associated with more severe irritability symptoms. Conclusions: Despite phenotypic overlap with other forms of developmental psychopathology, dysregulated children can be distinguished based on the severity of their irritability symptoms. This supports the conceptualization of dysregulation as a unique syndrome characterized by intense and persistent irritability and lends credence to the novel diagnosis of DMDD. Furthermore, cognitive, behavioral and physiological patterns identified in this study suggest that difficulties with processing negative emotion—as opposed to frustration or threat specifically—may constitute a vulnerability for irritability.

Requirements determination is a critical driver in a successful software development process. Despite decades of research prescribing various software development methodologies, intended to aid in achieving an eventual convergence between the user’s mental models and an informationally equivalent representation that is codified within an information system, we can still attribute many of the deficiencies in software development projects to the improper or ineffective execution of the requirements determination process. This study draws on the user resistance, software development, and psychology literature to discuss how perceived threats by potential users and key respondents can result in sub-optimization of a proposed information system via reduction in the quality of their responses during the requirements gathering phase. A laboratory experiment was carried out to explore the sources and effects of various threat perceptions and the effectiveness of techniques intended to detect and mitigate such perceptions of threat. The results confirm that perception of threat does lead to a degradation in response quality, with perceived adaptability fully mediating the relationship. The findings on whether interviewer reassurance has a moderating effect on the relationship between threat and perceived adaptability had interesting results, which are discussed.

Negative characterisations of social groups threaten group members’ social identities evoking various group-protective responses. Drawing on research about the functions of lay conceptions of humanness in social perception, the current research investigated a novel group-protective strategy: believing that an in group’s negative traits (flaws) are fundamental aspects of ‘human nature’ (HN). A similar protective strategy has been documented when acknowledging flaws in the individual self; this was extended to the acknowledgement of in group flaws in the current studies. In Study 1 (N = 77),participants’ in group-descriptiveness ratings of flaws were most strongly predicted by their HN ratings of flaws, suggesting that people may selectively acknowledge HN flaws as in group-descriptive. Study 2 (N = 51) demonstrated that flaws were rated higher on HN when attributed to an in group than to an out group. However, this effect was not found for positive traits, suggesting that it may reflect a motivation to protect a threatened in group-identity. Study 3 (N = 79) replicated this asymmetrical ‘humanising of in group flaws’ effect, and found that it was independent of desirability. In addition in group-identification was measured in Study 3 and found not to moderate the humanising of in group flaws. / Finally, in Study 3 participants also rated traits on an alternative sense of humanness, known as ‘human uniqueness’ (HU). The asymmetrical humanising of in group flaws effect was not found for the HU dimension, indicating that HN may be better suited to the protective function of mitigating flaws. These studies indicate that HN beliefs are systematically related to in group flaw-acknowledgement and suggest that in order to mitigate their in group’s flaws and thus protect the value of their social identities, people may be motivated to (a) selectively acknowledge HN flaws as in group-descriptive; and (b) ‘humanise’ flaws attributed to their in group Further more, the current research supports the claim that HN is an important dimension of social perception (e.g., Haslam et al., 2008); extends the relevance of this dimension to perceptions of in groups; and suggests that the HN concept should be understood as dynamic and flexible, rather than fixed.

<p><strong>Title:</strong> Yes, but…<em> - How changes in banks in Västerbotten are linked to the current financial crisis, but are still normal organizational development</em></p><p><strong>Background: </strong>In the beginning of the 90’s, there was a financial crisis in Sweden which hit Swedish banks hard. The Swedish bank Gota banken went bankrupt and Nordbanken was taken over by the government, in large part because of their apathetic reactions to the situation they were so surprised to find themselves in. Today, almost 20 years later, the banks of Sweden find themselves in a new crisis. Because of the important position banks have in society, it is extremely important that they remain stable and have the capacity to ride out a crisis situation comfortably. As the banks did not show any crisis management strategy or skills in the 1992 crisis, it is relevant to explore if the previous experience has given Swedish banks the ability to handle a crisis situation in an efficient way.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this study is to apply organizational development theory, crisis management theory and adversity reaction theory to the primary data collected from the interviews with the banks and through that analyze if Swedish banks are acting to prevent the financial crisis from affecting them badly.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> The study has a hermeneutical approach and was carried out by interviewing managers from the five major banks in Västerbotten. The primary data collected has been analyzed to get an understanding of the current development in the banks and its possible link to the financial crisis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We found that banks are constantly changing in order to keep up with their competitors, changes in technology, society and the increasing demands from customers. The current events and changes in the banks are undoubtedly linked to the financial crisis, it has accelerated change, it has slowed down ongoing processes and it has facilitated harder decisions and less popular changes. But the crisis has not caused drastic changes in the organizations or their way of doing business. In fact, it can be said that the changes due to the financial crisis is normal organizational development, as the banks have responded to it in much the same fashion as they do to all changes in the external environment.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> crisis management, organizational development, threat rigidity, prospect theory, financial crisis</p>

<p>This thesis presents improvements and extensions of a previously presented threat assessment algorithm. The algorithm uses Monte Carlo simulation to find threats in a road scene. It is shown that, by using a wider sample distribution and only apply the most likely samples from the Monte Carlo simulation, for the threat assessment, improved results are obtained. By using this method more realistic paths will be chosen by the simulated vehicles and more complex traffic situations will be adequately handled.</p><p>An improvement of the dynamic model is also suggested, which improves the realism of the Monte Carlo simulations. Using the new dynamic model less false positive and more valid threats are detected.</p><p>A systematic method to choose parameters in a stochastic space, using optimisation, is suggested. More realistic trajectories can be chosen, by applying this method on the parameters that represents the human behaviour, in the threat assessment algorithm.</p><p>A new definition of obstacles in a road scene is suggested, dividing them into two groups, Hard and Soft obstacles. A change to the resampling step, in the Monte Carlo simulation, using the soft and hard obstacles is also suggested.</p>

<p>Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att ta del av revisorers uppfattning om det förekommer självgranskningshot vid utfärdandet av apportintyg, samt vilka rådgivningstjänster som kan utövas utan att det hotar revisorns självständighet och opartiskhet.</p><p>Metod: Vi har i vår studie använt oss av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod, där vi har intervjuat fyra stycken auktoriserade revisorer. Detta har givit oss en bra grund för att kunna reda ut syftet med uppsatsen.</p><p>Teori: Uppsatsens teoridel består främst av fakta från Krister Moberg samt tidningen Balans, då dessa har varit relevanta för att kunna forska i det valda ämnet.</p><p>Empiri: Denna del består av fyra stycken intervjuer med auktoriserade revisorer som besitter erfarenhet av apportuppdrag. Dessa revisorer kommer från två olika byråer som ligger i två olika städer.</p><p>Resultat: Vår studie visar att det råder delade meningar om att apportuppdrag kan leda till självgranskningshot. Men alla revisorerna var överrens om att självgranskningshot blir ett faktum om revisorn själv värderar apportegendomen. Detta eftersom revisorn vid bokslutet kommer att granska sin egen värdering. En annan anledning till varför revisorn inte själv ska värdera apportegendomen är att revisorn ej besitter den kompetens som kan krävas vid en sådan värdering. Därför är det viktigt att värderingen sker av en pålitligt, oberoende samt kunnig värderingsman.</p> / <p>Purpose: The purpose with our thesis is to understand if the auditors think that it occurs a self-audit threat about the issue of capital contribution, and which service can an auditor perform without not disturb and threat the auditor’s independence.</p><p>Methodology: We have used a qualitative method in our thesis. We carried out four interviews with auditors from two different auditing firms.</p><p>Theory: Our thesis theory part is based especially on facts from Krister Moberg and the newspaper Balans, because these facts have been relevant to our study.</p><p>Empirical foundation: This part exists of four interviews with four chartered accountants, who have experience capital contribution. Our four auditors were from two different auditor firms in two different towns.</p><p>Conclusions: Our study shows different pictures about capital contribution that can lead to a self-audit threat. But every one of the auditors is agree that a self-audit threat can occur if the auditor himself appraises the property. The reason is that the auditor is going to review his own appraises in the final account. Another reason is that the auditors not have the competence to do appraise like this. It is important that appraise performs by a reliable, independent and competent appraiser.</p>