Publikationer från Södertörns Högskola
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Smidighetens Pris : En kvalitativ studie om upplevelsen av att betala digitalt
No full textThe digitalisation of payment markets has transformed how consumers pay in everyday life, particularly in Sweden where digital payment methods have largely replaced cash. While payments have become faster and more convenient, they have also become increasingly invisible and automated. Despite extensive research on digital payments and consumption, limited attention has been paid to how consumers experience the payment moment itself. The aim of this study is to explore how Swedish consumers experience the payment moment when using different digital payment methods and how these experiences relate to everyday consumption and perceived financial control. The study adopts a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews with twelve respondents. The empirical material was analysed using thematic analysis. The result show that mobile payments and contactless card payments are the dominant methods in everyday life and are perceived as fast and smooth. At the same time, this convenience reduces awareness during the payment moment, making costs feel abstract at the time of purchase. Control over spending is often experienced retrospectively through digital overviwes. The findings also indicate that low-friction payments may contribute to impulsivity, particularly in everyday purchases, while certain digital tools can strengthen perceived financial control over time. By focusing on consumers lived experiences, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the payment moment in an almost cashless society and highlights how the convenience of digital payments can both facilitate everyday life and challenge financial self-regulation.Digitaliseringen av betalningsmarknaden har förändrat hur konsumenter betalar i vardagen, särskilt i Sverige där digitala betalningsmetoder i stor utsträckning har ersatt kontanter. Betalningar har blivit snabbare och mer bekväma men också mer osynliga och automatiserade. Trots omfattande forskning om digitala betalningars påverkan på konsumtion finns det begränsad kunskap om hur konsumenter själva upplever betalningsögonblicket. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur svenska konsumenter upplever betalningsögonblicket vid användning av olika digitala betalningsmetoder samt hur dessa upplevelser relaterar till vardaglig konsumtion och upplevd ekonomisk kontroll. Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsdesign och bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv respondenter. Materialet har analyserats genom tematisk analys. Resultaten visar att mobilbetalningar och kontaktlösa kortbetalningar utgör norm i respondenternas vardag och upplevs som snabba och smidiga. Samtidigt framkommer att denna smidighet minskar medvetenhet i betalningsögonblicket, vilket gör att kostanden ofta upplevs som abstrakt. Kontroll över utgifterna upplevs i många fall först i efterhand genom digitala översikter. Studien visar även att låg friktion kan bidra till impulsivitet, särskilt vid vardagliga inköp, samtidigt som vissa digitala verktyg kan stärka upplevd kontroll över tid. Genom att fokusera på konsumenters egna upplevelser bidrar studien till en fördjupad förståelse av betalningsögonblicket i ett nästan kontantlöst samhälle och belyser hur digitaliseringens smidighet både kan underlätta vardagen och utmana ekonomisk självkontroll
Unga kvinnors uppfattningar om mödomshinnan, sexualitet och heder : en kvalitativ studie om normer, kultur och unga kvinnors erfarenheter
No full textThe purpose of the study is to examine how young female university students with both Swedish and Middle Eastern backgrounds construct meanings around the hymen, and how discourses of purity, virginity, sexuality and honor are socially constituted within this conceptual framework. The study is grounded in a social constructionist approach, through which the hymen is interpreted as a socially and culturally loaded phenomenon rather than a biological part of the human body. The empirical material is covered by semi-structured interviews with six young women who have been divided into two groups depending on their cultural background. Thematic analysis was used in order to analyze the collected data. The findings demonstrate the fact that the hymen is rarely perceived in anatomical terms and is instead mainly related to morally and socially embedded meanings. The participants with Swedish roots understood the hymen as a myth or a misinterpretation with limited relevance to personal sense of identity. In comparison, respondents with Middle Eastern heritage delineate the hymen as strongly connected to family reputation, honor and normative constraint, which might circumscribe women’s freedom of action and contribute to feelings such as shame, guilt and distress. The results emphasize how ideas of female sexuality are wrought at the interrelation of individual experiences and normative frameworks, and how these discursive formations result in different outcomes based on sociocultural context. The essay leads to an enhanced understanding of how control, gender and culture intertwine in the constructed meaning of sexuality amongst young women
"We would not be ourselves if we did not hold this opinion." : A history of reception analysing nationalism in and surrounding "God in disguise" by Hjalmar Gullberg and Lars-Erik Larsson (1940)
No full textThe subject of this essay is to analyse how “God in disguise”, as a poem by Hjalmar Gullberg (1933), as musically interpreted by Lars-Erik Larsson for Swedish public radio (1940), and as canonised over time as well as by the Swedish government’s proposal of an official national canon (2025), stages a national community. Using the government’s proposal for a national canon as a starting point I investigate “God in disguise” as a “window” to Swedish history, as they phrase it, and the national self-image this “window” frames and reflects. With Benedict Andersons theory of the nation as an “imagined community”, and literature as a technology for staging that national imaginary, as well as Wolfgang Isers and Hans Robert Jauss reader-oriented reception theories, I analyse how “God in disguise” may have been used and perceived within different historical and nationalist contexts. Within a nationalist framework, and through the readers’ identification with the poem and its projected histories, “God in disguise” stages an exceptionalist self-image of an inherently “good” imagined community
What is the state of public service media in Sweden?
No full textPublic service broadcasting in Sweden is a well-established and widely used system that enjoys a high level of public trust. However, time, political pressure and regulatory restrictions are increasing, while budgets are shrinking in real terms. Further digitalisation and AI offer new opportunities, but also pose risks to reach and credibility. Particularly controversial are planned funding cuts, debates about impartiality and the role of broadcasters in times of crisis
Holy Order of the Claw : Memetic religiosity between shitposting and sincerification
No full textThis thesis examines Holy Order of the Claw (HOC), a Facebook group that has, since 2020, gathered hundreds of thousands of members around the idea of creating, caring for, and ultimately ”worshipping” a future leviathan lobster deity: the Lorb. The study asks how HOC emerged and developed organizationally, which practices and symbols structures its communication, and how the group can be understood as a religious community in relation to comtemporary concepts of religion. Empirically, the analysis combines semi-structured interviews with key participants and a corpus of digital documents (posts, comments, and internal texts). Methodologically, it applies a theory-driven thematic analysis. The theoretical framework integrates Teemu Taira’s notion of liquid religion with perspectives on digital third spaces and carnivalesque approach to parody and sacrofanum. Findings show that HOC’s religiosity is not best described as a linear shift from ”joke” to ”religion”, but as a gradual stabilization of forms that remain ambivalent. The group’s origin operates as a carnivalesque legitimation: participation becomes possible without confession as members ”play” their way into a shared sacred semiotics. During the pandemic, Facebook functions not merely as a channel but as a gathering place where recurring expressions (memes, catchphrases, commandments) and collaborative projects become a kind of memetic liturgy. Creativity is ritualized through collective production, while ”semiotic upscaling” lends epic weight to ordinary or technical language. Through an as-if ontology and deferred teleology, members can act as if the narrative were true without committing to fixed transcendent belief. These dynamics are synthesized through the concept of sincerification: a process in which an initially ironic, low-commitment expressive system becomes socially durable as religiosity – not by abandoning irony, but by concentrating meaning through repetition, relations, and shared investment
Kroppsfixering inom idrotten : Normer, ideal och påverkan på hälsan
No full textThe aim of this study is to examine how body fixation in sport is shaped, maintained, and experienced, and how bodily norms influence athletes’ self-understanding, agency, and relationships to their bodies. The study is grounded in a gender studies and sociocultural perspective, in which body ideals are understood as historically and socially situated rather than individually chosen. The empirical material consists of qualitative document studies, including news articles, documentaries, and social media content, as well as a semi-structured interview with a former elite athlete and norm-critical actor. The material is analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The theoretical framework combines Raewyn Connell’s (2005) concept of hegemonic masculinity with Judith Butler’s (2007) theory of performativity to examine both structural conditions and everyday bodily practices. The analysis shows that athletic bodies are constituted through a tension between functionality and normativity, where performance and aesthetic ideals coexist. Body fixation emerges as a pervasive normative system that shapes interpretations of health, discipline, and bodily value. These consequences extend beyond the individual athlete, for example through the normalisation of weight talk and monitoring in training environments, by influencing what is understood as a “legitimate” athletic body for younger athletes, and by shifting responsibility for health onto individuals rather than sport structures
Att gestalta en normbrytande kvinna : En genus- och didaktisk analys av Ett jävla solsken av Fatima Bremmer (2017)
No full textThis thesis examines how gender and norm-breaking femininity are represented in Fatima Bremmer’s biography Ett jävla solsken: En biografi om Ester Blenda Nordström (2017), as well as the work’s didactic potential within upper secondary school Swedish education. The study is based on a qualitative text analysis and draws on an intersectional perspective, Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of the gender system, and the concept of didactic potential. The analysis focuses on how Bremmer portrays Ester Blenda Nordström as a woman who challenges the gender norms of early twentieth-century Sweden through her professional life, travels, and personal relationships, while simultaneously being constrained by societal expectations related to gender, sexuality, and class. Particular attention is paid to Bremmer’s narrative strategies and how they shape the reader’s understanding of norm-breaking femininity as both enabling and limiting. The results show that Ett jävla solsken presents Ester Blenda Nordström as a complex and ambivalent figure whose independence and agency coexist with vulnerability and compromise. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the biography holds significant didactic potential, as it enables discussions of gender, norms, power structures, and critical reading practices, making it a valuable resource for promoting gender-aware and reflective literary analysis in the upper secondary school classroom
Kapitalstrukturen hos svenska private equity bolag : En kvantitativ studie om sambandet mellan kapitalstruktur och lönsamhet hos svenska PE-bolag under perioden 2014-2023.
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between capital structure, profitability, and growth in Swedish Private Equity-owned firms. The study aims to analyze whether profitability and growth explain variations in capital structure, measured through the debt ratio. Questions: Is there a statistically significant relationship between capital structure and profitability in Swedish Private Equity-owned firms?Is there a statistically significant relationship between capital structure and growth in Swedish Private Equity-owned firms? Theoretical background: The study is grounded in established capital structure theories, primarily Pecking Order Theory and Trade-Off Theory, which are used to analyze corporate financing decisions. These theories are complemented by prior research on Private Equity and the use of financial leverage as a value-creation mechanism. Methodology: A quantitative research approach is employed, using secondary data collected from annual reports of Swedish Private Equity-owned firms during the period 2014–2023. Capital structure is operationalized through the debt ratio, profitability is measured using Return on Assets (ROA), and growth is measured through revenue growth. The empirical analysis is conducted using both simple and multiple regression models. Results: The results indicate that neither profitability nor growth exhibits a statistically significant relationship with capital structure. While the multiple regression models demonstrate higher explanatory power than the simple regressions, profitability and growth remain statistically insignificant determinants of capital structure. Conclusion: The findings suggest that capital structure decisions in Private Equity-owned firms are primarily driven by ownership strategies and financing structures rather than by operational performance. Consequently, traditional capital structure theories appear to have limited explanatory power within a Private Equity context. Keywords: Capital structure, Private Equity, Leverage, Profitability, Growt
När generativ AI blir kollega : En kvalitativ studie om mötet mellan HR och generativ AI
No full textGenerativ artificiell intelligens har på kort tid fått en alltmer framträdande roll inom HR-sektorn vilket påverkar både arbetsuppgifter och yrkesroller. Samtidigt är kunskapen begränsad om hur denna teknologiska utveckling påverkar HR-medarbetares psykologiska upplevelser. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur användning av generativa AI-verktyg påverkar HR-medarbetares olika perspektiv på arbete samt hur self-efficacy och copingstrategier bidrar till att hantera denna påverkan. Studiens två frågeställningar löd; Kan generativ AI ses som en stressor, eller som en copingstrategi för att hantera stress inom HR-sektorn? Vilken roll spelar self-efficacy för hur HR-medarbetare hanterar användningen av generativ AI? Datainsamlingen genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv yrkesverksamma HR-medarbetare från både offentlig och privat sektor som använder generativa AI-verktyg i sitt arbete. Materialet analyserades genom induktiv tematisk analys. Resultaten visar att generativ AI ger upphov till en psykologisk dubbelhet där tekniken både upplevs som en resurs och som en potentiell stressor. Centrala teman som framträdde var kompetens, resurser, upplevelsen av att behöva “hänga med” i utvecklingen, arbetsbelastning samt oro kring teknologin. Slutsatsen är att generativ AI inte entydigt kan förstås som vare sig en stressor eller en copingstrategi, utan att dess psykologiska konsekvenser är beroende av individers self-efficacy samt organisatoriska förutsättningar såsom utbildning, socialt stöd och tydliga riktlinjer
Involved Fatherhood as Interpreted by Czech Men’s Organizations
No full textDrawing on the discourse on masculinities, this article explores the positions of Czech men’s organizations related to childcare. Recently, there has been growing attention to the idea of involved fatherhood; we show that one Czech men’s organization has indeed developed a caring masculinity that aligns well with the notion of involved fatherhood. The other organizations, by contrast, have expressed strong anti‐feminist sentiments, blaming women and female‐dominated professions for their losses in divorce cases. While these groups initially emerged to demand equal custody post‐divorce—appearing to endorse gender equality—they claim to support the “traditional family,” where the man is the head of the household. Although these views seem to be contradictory, we argue they are in line with the pre‐modern view of masculinity in which the family (wife and children) was the property of the man; therefore, it was no contradiction for the father to expect the mother to be the main carer before a divorce, while demanding custody rights after a divorce