| 1. |
- Holmquist, Sofie, 1987-
(författare)
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Analyzing self-report data : assessing basic psychological needs in education and at work
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aims of this thesis were 1) to investigate how to measure and model basic psychological needs in higher education and work contexts, specifically in Swedish-speaking populations, and 2) to analyze the psychometric properties of basic psychological needs self-report instruments.The thesis consists of four studies and a summary. The main concepts studied were the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as conceptualized in the Self- Determination Theory (SDT).The first study identified subgroups of early career psychologists characterized by their ratings on self- efficacy, psychological flexibility, and basic psychological need satisfaction. The results show that the groups differed in self-rated health, well-being, and intention to leave their profession. Higher basic psychological need satisfaction, self-efficacy, and psychological flexibility were associated with better self-rated health and well-being.The second study was an extensive psychometric evaluation of the need satisfaction and frustration scale (NSFS) in a large sample of Swedish workers. The analyses supported measurement invariance longitudinally and for gender, as well as the nomological validity of the scale. The dimensionality analyses supported a six-dimensional structure of the NSFS that takes small cross-loadings into account in an exploratory structural equation modeling representation. However, poor discrimination between need satisfaction and need frustration was present for some items.The third study translated a revised Swedish version of the NSFS, adapted to the educational domain, and validated it in a sample of Swedish university students. Dimensionality analyses supported using the NSFS as a three-dimensional measure of students' need for autonomy, need for competence, and need for relatedness. In support of nomological validity, each need uniquely contributed to predicting perceived stress and academic burnout. However, unexpectedly, autonomy did not provide incremental value beyond competence and relatedness in predicting life satisfaction and academic engagement.The fourth study translated and adapted the basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration scale (BPNSFS) to Swedish and the educational domain (BPNSFS-ED). This study also investigated the coherence between the BPNSFS-ED and the NSFS. Factor analyses showed support for using the scale as a six- dimensional measure of students' needs satisfaction and need frustration. The coherence between the BPNSFS-ED and the NSFS was moderate, and the BPNSFS-ED appears to be a more SDT coherent measure of students’ basic psychological needs.The main contribution of this thesis was providing researchers with a validated self-report instrument to assess basic psychological needs in Swedish education. The results also highlight challenges with measuring and modeling basic psychological needs and question whether items from well-used basic needs self-rating scales properly tap into the concept of need frustration. Finally, the results show that the need for autonomy seems to differ between basic psychological needs instruments which calls for mindfulness when choosing an instrument to measure basic psychological needs, and when comparing results across studies. Based on the results of this thesis, the BPNSFS-ED self-report instrument appears to be a good choice for researchers interested in assessing basic psychological needs in Swedish education.
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| 2. |
- Folkersen, Lasse, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic and drug target evaluation of 90 cardiovascular proteins in 30,931 individuals.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature metabolism. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2522-5812. ; 2:10, s. 1135-1148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Circulating proteins are vital in human health and disease and are frequently used as biomarkers for clinical decision-making or as targets for pharmacological intervention. Here, we map and replicate protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) for 90 cardiovascular proteins in over 30,000 individuals, resulting in 451 pQTLs for 85 proteins. For each protein, we further perform pathway mapping to obtain trans-pQTL gene and regulatory designations. We substantiate these regulatory findings with orthogonal evidence for trans-pQTLs using mouse knockdown experiments (ABCA1 and TRIB1) and clinical trial results (chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5), with consistent regulation. Finally, we evaluate known drug targets, and suggest new target candidates or repositioning opportunities using Mendelian randomization. This identifies 11 proteins with causal evidence of involvement in human disease that have not previously been targeted, including EGF, IL-16, PAPPA, SPON1, F3, ADM, CASP-8, CHI3L1, CXCL16, GDF15 and MMP-12. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the utility of large-scale mapping of the genetics of the proteome and provide a resource for future precision studies of circulating proteins in human health.
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| 3. |
- Bäckström, Pontus, 1983-
(författare)
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Exploring mechanisms of peer effects in education : Frame factor analyses of classroom instruction
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Despite a vast international literature, previous research into compositional effects and peer effects in education has remarked on the lack of consensus within the field. To date, peer effects in education and students’ different opportunities to learn in school have been studied separately. In this thesis, it is argued that these perspectives need to be synthesized.In the thesis, Frame Factor Theory is employed as a theory of peer effects in classroom instruction. According to the theory, one mechanism generating peer effects is the steering and limiting effect that class composition has on teachers’ instruction. It is argued that this perspective also needs to be synthesized with the Opportunity to Learn-perspective, to widen our understanding of why different students meet different instruction and thus are given different opportunities to learn. The theoretical perspectives and empirical models are evolved through three empirical studies included in the thesis. The theoretical development and the empirical results from each study is discussed in an integrative essay in the thesis.The results indicate that class composition affects the presence of limitations on instruction and content coverage in instruction, both of which is related to students’ opportunities to learn and individual students’ achievement. Implications for future research and educational policy is discussed.
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| 4. |
- Inzunza, Miguel, 1970-
(författare)
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Suitability in law enforcement : Assessing multifaceted selection criteria
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- When selecting applicants for professions with job descriptions involving complex human interaction, identifying suitable candidates is essential. This strongly applies in police selection, because police officers must act appropriately at all times, deal with difficult and sometimes dangerous work situations, and come into contact with people who are in highly emotional states, such as anxiety, fear, excitement, and shock. However, suitability is a broad and vague concept that cannot be even defined without understanding the value of various personal skills and qualities for specific duties, ways that such skills are manifested during life as an officer (potentially both on- and off-duty), and appropriate ways to assess them.The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the personal skills and qualities that are relevant to suitability for the police profession with a special focus on the concept of empathy, and to investigate how it can be conceptualized and measured in the context of selection. Two of the four studies focused on different perspectives regarding the personal skills and qualities of a good police officer, while the other two focused on theoretical aspects and practical measurement of empathy.Mixed methods were used, in acknowledgement of the value of using different forms of data collection, material, and analytical methods to achieve valid information.The results and findings support several of the personal skills and qualities that have been identified in previous research and also can be found as criteria in police selection. Empathy should be considered in the selection process, but it is also important to ensure that there is an alignment between the definition of the concept and practical outcomes in police work. The findings indicate that empathy could be conceptualized in a relevant way using a social cognitive neuroscience (SCN) approach. In particular, a modified, Swedish 4-factor version of the Empathy Assessment Index (based on recent theoretical advances in SCN) appears to have considerable potential for further development.Future studies will focus on areas identified as requiring further research, such as the development of this instrument by adding complementary measures focusing on manifestations of empathy and other relevant qualities in actual work-related situations. Other aspects that require further attention include the definition, assessment, and impact of social desirability in selection contexts.
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| 5. |
- Strömbäck Hjärne, Marcus, 1979-
(författare)
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A fair score? : group independent validity arguments for college admission tests
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to investigate fair use of test scores for admission to higher education. In this thesis, fairness is narrowed down to an instrumental definition relating to a fair interpretation of test scores. The focus is on the use of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) for admission decisions. The main questions targeted are whether the scores generated from an adaptation with extended time for test takers with dyslexia are fair and whether the SweSAT-scores may disadvantage students with an immigrant background.The thesis is based on validity theory and an established argument-based validity concept is used to link the results to crucial aspects of fairness. This thesis adds explicit fairness-related issues in some detail to this already established framework used for validity research related to the SweSAT. This approach involves some propositions about fairness, each of which can be investigated empirically which, to some extent, has been conducted in separate studies in this thesis.The individual studies contain a variety of results. In the first study, sub-scores of the SweSAT was found to have differential values for certain groups of test takers. This could cause unfairness if the sub-scores are used for admission decisions, but it also indicates that the internal structure of the test is inconsistent across groups. In the second article, the SweSAT was found to be speeded, meaning that the time limit is affecting the test score, and that test takers with dyslexia generally benefit from being given extra time to complete the test. It could not be ruled out that the extra time causes a beneficial experience of lower speededness compared to the rest of the test population, who take the test with no extra time. In the third article, we discover, to our surprise, that immigrant groups generally perform worse than expected in higher education when the expectations are based on their SweSAT and upper secondary school grades. In other words, the instruments used does not create an unintentional obstacle for immigrants in general since the ability of these groups to complete higher education is overestimated when grades and SweSAT-Scores are used for selection. However, in the final article, test items that may cause an unfair disadvantage for immigrant students was identified.In summary, the results contribute to expanding and, to some extent, strengthening the validity of using the SweSAT for admission. However, certain fairness issues have been noted.
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