Publikationer från Stockholms universitet
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Färgkodade känslor En kvalitativ studie om hur användare upplever färger på en hemsida kopplat till deras känslor och beteende
No full textIntroduktion: Denna uppsats undersöker vilka känslor som väcks vid an- vändandet av färgen blå, gul respektive röd på en hemsida. Studien foku- serar på sociala medier som undersökt typ av hemsida. Kunskap om vilka känslor som väcks av färgerna hjälper webbutvecklare och företag som vill skapa eller uppdatera sin brand image i valet av färg för att väcka önskad känsla hos användarna. Forskningsfråga: Forskningsfrågan studien ämnar att besvara är: Vilka känslor väcker användandet av färgen blå, gul respektive röd på en hem- sida hos användare? Metod: För att besvara forskningsfrågan samlades data in från 10 respon- denter genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Respondenterna visades åtta prototyper av hemsidor i färgerna blå, gul, röd, respektive grå. Samtliga ver- sioner visades med både en ljus och en mörk bakgrund. Respondenterna besvarade frågor bland annat kring sina känslor när de såg prototyperna. Det insamlade materialet analyserades induktivt med en tematisk analys. Resultat: Resultaten visar att blå i denna studie upplevdes som stressan- de då färgen upplevdes som stickig och obehaglig för ögonen. Gul väck- te känslor som glädje och lekfullhet medan röd upplevdes som varm och inbjudande men även som påträngande. Majoriteten av respondenterna upplevde att prototyperna med mörk bakgrund gav upphov till negativa associationer och känslor. Diskussion: Resultatet tyder på att vilka känslor som väcks av färger är personliga och starkt kopplade till tidigare associationer till färgen. Det är därmed viktigt för webbutvecklare att känna sin tänkta målgrupp väl. Vi- dare visar resultaten att det noggrant bör övervägas vilka färger som ska användas vid mörkt läge, samt att starka färger på stora områden bör und- vikas vid mörkt läge. Vidare forskning kan undersöka om studiens funna mönster även stämmer för den större populationen samt om även andra färger än de i denna studie ger upphov till negativa associationer vid mörk bakgrund.This study examines which emotions are evoked by the use of the colors blue, yellow, and red on a website. The studied type of website is a ficti- ve social media website. Understanding the emotions these colors evoke helps web developers and companies when developing or updating their brand image choose colors that create the desired feelings in users. The research question this study aims to answer is: What emotions are evoked by the use of the colors blue, yellow, and red on a website? To answer the research question, data was collected from 10 respon- dents through semi-structured interviews. The respondents were shown eight website prototypes in the colors blue, yellow, red, and grey, with both light and dark backgrounds. They were asked questions about their emo- tions when viewing the prototypes. The collected material was analyzed inductively using a thematic analysis. The results show that, in this study, blue was perceived as stressful, as the color was perceived as harsh and unpleasant for the eyes. Yellow evoked feelings of joy and playfulness, while red was seen as warm and inviting but also intrusive. The majority of respondents found that the prototypes with dark backgrounds triggered negative associations and emotions. The findings suggest that the emotions evoked by colors are personal and strongly linked to prior associations that the respondents had with the colors. It is therefore crucial for web developers to understand their in- tended target audience well. Additionally, the results indicate that careful consideration should be given to the colors used in dark mode, and that bright colors on large areas should be avoided in dark mode. Further rese- arch could study whether the patterns found in this study are relevant for a larger population and whether other colors than the ones included in this study also evoke negative associations on dark background
Towards safe and sustainable fashion : Screening methodologies to detect health-hazardous chemicals in textiles and textile processing
No full textAs one of the top global industries, textile manufacturing utilizes several thousands of industrial chemicals, many of which end up in the finished garments. These residues constitute a widespread, possibly hazardous, exposure of the general population, yet the long-term health effects remain largely unknown. Skin allergy - a life-long, incurable condition – is one health effect of repeated skin exposure to one or several chemicals. Among the Western population, textile allergy is estimated to have a prevalence of around 1%. Fast-fashion trends make the chemical content in everyday textile apparel hard to predict, as non-regulated chemicals are rapidly introduced into production. Only a tiny fraction of the used chemicals is hitherto regulated, and there is a lack of oversight regarding the content in everyday garments. A recently introduced EU legislation concerning handling textile waste motivates the development of alternative recycling methods for worn-out textile apparel. Upcycling methods are also important to reduce the environmental burden from incineration and landfilling. This thesis focuses on developing analytical tools for the quantitative chemical screening of textiles. A novel, fully automated analytical methodology based on thermal desorption - gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (ATD-GC/MS) was developed for polyester, synthetic polyester blends, and cotton, constituting at least 75% of the retail market. The method is especially suitable for detecting semi-volatile compounds capable of skin permeation. Recently, the method was proposed for evaluation as a potential EU standard. Ultimately, the method could help ensure regulatory compliance within the textile industry. In addition, a high-resolution mass spectrometry workflow was developed to investigate the fate of hazardous substances during the upcycling of polycotton waste into cellulose nanocrystals. Most hazardous textile chemicals were found to remain in the polyester, while the upcycled product contained much less contaminants. Chemical release into waste streams is correlated with solubility under acidic conditions, highlighting target compounds for removal during upscaling. Together, the developed methods contribute to a robust analytical toolbox with the potential to improve chemical oversight in textiles, support regulatory expansion, and promote safer, more sustainable fashion
From Morphology to Syntax : A Diachronic Study of the Swedish Possessive, with Special Focus on the Impact of Variation and Ambiguity
No full textThis thesis focuses on changes in possessive marking in the history of Swedish by means of the study of legal texts written between the Old and Early Modern Swedish periods (from 1281 to 1695). Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, my aim is to shed light on these changes and to understand the factors driving them. My first research question is how the transition of the Swedish possessive marking, from genitive case to the use of an enclitic possessive-s, can be described in more detail. Three systems have been discerned: System I is a purely morphological system with genitive case and full overt concordial agreement within the possessor noun phrase. System II is a system without full overt concordial agreement within the possessor noun phrase, but where possession, in addition, is marked with a possessive-s (or a possessive-Ø). System III is a purely syntactic system where the possessive-s is the only way to express possession. The quantitative results show an overlap between these systems from the late 14th to the late 17th century. A detailed examination of System II reveals that the enclitic possessive-s is an innovation. According to my analysis it is located in the head of a DPOSSP. Instances of double possessive marking, where genitive case and possessive-s coexisted, corroborate my hypothesis meaning that the modern possessive-s is a new syntactic possessive marker and is not the result of a reanalysis of the old genitive case suffix -s. A closer analysis shows that they are two different morphemes with different feature set-ups. My second research question is how the change can be explained from a language acquisition perspective and in the light of our general knowledge of language change. I have argued that ambiguity in the possessive marking played a central role in the change. Using a micro-cue approach to children’s acquisition of possessive marking (e.g., Lightfoot & Westergaard 2007), I argue that children are sensitive to and rely on fine syntactic distinctions in the acquisition of the Swedish possessive marking. Morphological ambiguities that are caused by phonetic reductions such as the weakening of word-final /a/ to schwa and the loss of concordial agreement rendered genitive case less and less learnable. Consequently, the syntactic possessive-s took over. My third research question is how different grammatical levels interact in the change from System I to System III. I show that phonetic changes in the vowel quality gave rise to morphological changes in the nominal system that resulted in ambiguous genitive markings and the loss of concordial agreement. Additionally, syntactic developments in noun phrase structure such as more rigid prenominal word order and the rise of definiteness and the article system, further facilitated the rise of a new syntactic possessive construction (namely DPOSSP). Another underlying factor driving the change is the general drift (at least in the Indo-European languages) from morphology to syntax. Thus, a number of factors contributed to the decline of genitive case and the establishment of possessive-s as the dominant marker. The results of my thesis provide new insights into how Swedish possessive marking changed from a morphology-based system to a syntax-based one and have implications for the debate on the origins of the modern possessive-s. A significant implication of my findings is the importance of ambiguity in language change
Understanding the long-term trends and seasonality of Arctic atmospheric aerosol : Through the lens of black carbon and new particle formation
No full textThe Arctic region is witnessing changes on an unprecedented level. Surface air temperatures have increased at a rate four times the global average. Two of the main climate forcers that are responsible for perturbing the radiative balance in the Arctic are greenhouse gases and atmospheric aerosols. Aerosols are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere that range in size from a few nanometres to tens of microns. These particles affect the climate by interacting with radiation and influencing cloud formation, brightness, and longevity. The work presented in this thesis aims to improve our understanding of the drivers and mechanisms involved in controlling both the seasonal variations and the long-term changes in Arctic aerosols, and analyse the general aerosol lifecycle. In a changing Arctic, both the emissions of anthropogenic and natural aerosol particles have and are expected to continue to change. For one, the long-range transport of anthropogenic aerosols is likely to continue to decline with reductions in emissions. Measurements of Arctic aerosols were carried out at a research observatory on Svalbard. In this thesis, a variety of instrumentation and measurements were used to assess seasonal and long-term changes in various aerosol-related variables. The work in this thesis shows that the concentration of light-absorbing aerosol particles has decreased significantly over the past two decades, with the largest decrease in contributions from northern Siberia. This thesis argues that a quarter of the overall reduction is due to changes to the removal processes via wet scavenging. In this thesis, the changes in environmental parameters along the transport pathway to the site are explored. From this perspective, precipitation is shown to act as both a source and a sink, impacting the number of particles depending on their size, whilst solar radiation is shown to promote an increase in the number of aerosol particles over the entire size spectrum. Furthermore, using the first long-term time series measuring light-absorbing particles inside and outside of clouds, the process of nucleation scavenging is explored. Increased uptake of light-absorbing particles into cloud droplets is presented from April until October. Incorporation of these particles into cloud droplets is shown to be dependent on temperature and cloud water content. Lastly, the frequency in the production of small particles, barely a nanometre in diameter, in the vicinity of Svalbard is shown to be heavily influenced by solar radiation and the total surface area of pre-existing aerosol particles. The Greenland Sea is shown to be a relatively larger source of these small particles compared to neighbouring seas. Its shown that the total surface area of pre-existing aerosols within airmasses is reduced through cloud and precipitation events, setting the stage for new particle formation and the replenishment of aerosol particles in the presence of solar radiation. Understanding how these findings can be broadened and applied across a larger geographical region remains to be answered. Additionally, the overall effect these mechanisms and changes can have on the radiative balance in the Arctic requires further exploration
Sveriges sjätte minoritetsdialekt : En dialektpolitisk analys av älvdalskans språksituation
No full textI denna uppsats presenteras två undersökningar som analyserar hur politiker legitimerar sina ställningstaganden inom språkpolitiken. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur svenska politiker legitimerar sin uppfattning om hur älvdalskan ska betraktas som ett självständigt språk eller en dialekt av svenska, samt att jämföra detta med hur andra sakkunniga aktörer, som språkvetare och utredare på ISOF legitimerar sina ställningstaganden. Sverige ratificerade minoritetsspråkskonventionen år 2000, vilket resulterade i att fem minoritetsspråk erkändes.[1] Sedan dess har kraven på att erkänna ett sjätte minoritetsspråk, älvdalskan, vuxit sig starkare. Uppmaningar från både politiker och språkexperter har blivit alltmer framträdande, men något formellt erkännande har ännu inte skett. Frågan hur politiker legitimerar sina ställningstaganden om det älvdalska folkmålet blir viktig för att förstå situationen. Ett centralt begrepp i denna uppsats är språk och dess varierande betydelser, såsom vad som definierar ett språk och när ett språk betraktas som en dialekt. Genom en legitimeringsanalys av politiska dokument och mejlintervjuer belyses och jämförs politikers legitimeringar med dem från språkforskare och en utredare vid Institutet för språk och folkminnen (ISOF). Dessutom utförs en analys av manifest intertextualitet för att identifiera vilka aktörer som åberopas och hur dessa används för att legitimera älvdalskans status som språk. Resultatet visar att politikers motiveringar för älvdalskans status som dialekt eller språk varierar beroende på deras ställningstaganden. Förespråkare för språkstatus hänvisar oftare till förnuft och kunskap, medan förespråkare för dialektstatus främst hänvisar till tidigare beslut och utredningar. Vid en jämförelse mellan politiker och utredare på ISOF/språkforskare framkommer endast små skillnader. [1]Det svenska teckenspråket har en liknande juridisk ställning som de officiella minoritetsspråken och kan därför ses som ett sjätte minoritetsspråk i många fall. Eftersom denna uppsats utgår från de minoritetsspråk som nämns i språklagen, betraktas teckenspråket dock inte som ett minoritetsspråk här
“It’s only a cake.” Alienation and Consumption in Plath’s The Bell Jar and Atwood’s The Edible Woman
No full textThe North American fiction of the latter half of the 20th century was largely concerned with the rise of consumerist capitalism. Simultaneously, critics such as Susan Bordo (1993) explored the diet culture within the context of consumerism. This paper explores the intersection of consumerism, gender oppression, and alienation in Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman (1969) and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963). Using Marxist feminist literary theory, this essay examines how these contemporaneous works critique 1950s and 60s consumerist society by symbolizing female oppression through food and consumption. The novels’ protagonists engage in patterns of bingeing and starvation, illustrating the alienation of women’s minds and bodies within capitalist and patriarchal systems. By analyzing these patterns as metaphors for cultural expectations and rebellion, this study highlights how Atwood and Plath interrogate the commodification of women and their bodies. These narratives, rooted in the early days of second-wave feminism, provide a qualitative lens through which the role of disordered eating is used as a critique of societal norms in postmodern North American literature. Ultimately, this essay contends that the authors use food and consumption as vehicles to critique the alienating effects of consumer capitalism on women, offering insights into the relationship between gender, body, and societal structures. Although Plath’s and Atwood’s novels have both been heavily analyzed, the comparison between these two authors is through the lens of eating patterns and Marxist feminism. The juxtaposition of these two novels and the seemingly opposing eating patterns illustrated is meant to contribute to a larger understanding of the paramount position food and eating has for American 50s- and 60s literature and consumerist criticism
A Tale of Two Cities: Occupational Change in London 1991 to 2021
No full textAmid growing evidence that national occupational change trends mask substantial subnational heterogeneity, the author uses census data to visualize how the occupational structure changed within the 33 London borough between 1991 and 2021. The visualization documents a tale of two cities. The story in Inner London is one of clear upgrading: the proportion of residents employed in high-paying occupations increased by approximately 20 percentage points, while the proportion of residents employed in low- and midpaying occupations decreased markedly. In Outer London, the story is rather one of occupational polarization. Although the proportion of residents employed in high-paying jobs increased by 10 percentage points, the rate of growth was much slower, and growth at the top was generally accompanied by an increase in employment in low-paying jobs. These findings have important implications for the socioeconomic composition of schools, income inequality dynamics in London boroughs and potentially also for inequality beliefs and political behavior
Testing the Steps-to-War Theory: An Analysis of the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022
No full textThis study evaluates the fitness of the Steps-to-War theory to the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022. The study employs theory-testing process tracing focusing on the four main components of the Steps-to-War theory: territorial disputes, rivalry, politically relevant alliances, and arms races. Following the tenets of the theory in focus, the aim is to investigate whether these elements were present prior to the onset of the war of 2022, and how each next element further aggravated the tensions pushing the dyad closer to the war. By systematically tracing the processes in the context of the four key components of the theory, this study tests whether the Steps-to-War theory adequately captures the causal mechanisms driving the onset of the war. The findings reveal that the process that resulted in the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war closely followed the steps of the Steps-to-War theory, starting with a territorial dispute which triggered an enduring rivalry, in a context of a disbalance of defensive alliances. Later in the conflict, Ukraine engaged in an arms race, which further added to the security dilemma of the dyad. This study contributes to the theoretical studies of causal mechanisms of war, as well as understanding the processes and dynamics behind Russo-Ukrainian War
Er hægt að mæla ánægju í parasamböndum?
No full textInngangur: Náið parasamband er eitt mikilvægasta lífsmarkmið mannsins. Rómantísk parasambönd geta til að mynda stuðlað að heilbrigðri hegðun og spornað gegn þróun geðraskana. Fyrir vikið hafa sálfræðingar þróað ýmiskonar parameðferðir til að styðja við farsæl sambönd. Hins vegar skortir áreiðanleg og réttmæt mælitæki til að meta ánægju í samböndum sem gerir það að verkum að hlutlægt mat á meðferðarárangri parameðferða er þrautinni þyngri. Valentínusarskalinn var hannaður við Stokkhólmsháskóla með það að leiðarljósi að mæta slíkum hindrunum með nýju mælitæki sem ætlað er að meta sambandsánægju á stuttan og einfaldan máta. Valentínusarskalinn hefur þegar verið þýddur yfir á íslensku og má nota hann að kostnaðarlausu (sjá https://osf.io/fb72s/). Efniviður og aðferðir: Próffræðilegir eiginleikar kvarðans voru kannaðir í tveimur rannsóknum. Fyrri rannsóknin (n = 851) kannaði þáttabyggingu kvarðans með leitandi þáttagreiningu ásamt því að meta endurprófunaráreiðanleika og viðmiðstengt réttmæti (e. criterion related validity). Í seinni rannsókninni (n = 527) var þáttabygging staðfest með staðfestandi þáttagreiningu, auk athuganna á stöðugleika kvarðans (e. invariance) og viðmiðstengdu réttmæti (e. criterion-related validity). Niðurstöður: Niðurstöðurnar styðja við einvíðleika (e. unidimensionality) Valentínusarskalans. Kvarðinn hefur góðan innri áreiðanleika (ω = ,76 og α = ,75) og góðan endurprófunaráreiðanleika (ICC3 = ,80). Að auki kom í ljós jákvæð fylgni milli Valentínusarskalans og annarra mælinga á sambandsánægju og jákvæðum geðhrifum, og neikvæð fylgni milli Valentínusarskalans og mælinga á geðrænum kvillum. Ályktanir: Niðurstöður rannsóknanna styðja einvíðleika Valentínusarskalans og undirstrika notagildi hans við mat á sambandsánægju. Niðurstöður benda þó jafnframt á þörf á frekari rannsóknum og þörf er á réttmætisathugun í íslensku þýði