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The aim of this study was to examine how pre-school aged children view the existence and importance of Santa Claus. How they define him and why he’s important to them. Theory used is based on earlier research and literature regarding both the relevance of how believing in mythical creatures affects a child’s development and the importance of cultural heritage, in which Santa Claus plays a significant role. Piaget’s theory on cognitive development and Vygotsky’s cultural historical dialectic theory are the key developmental psychology theories used in this thesis. I have examined Santa Claus not only from a historical and cultural perspective but also give some insight pertaining to his existence, mainly from a filosofical point of view. Despite the fact that Santa Claus plays an important role in children’s lives and is also an integral part of our culture, very few studies on him have been carried out. A study conducted by a group of American scientists Woolley, Boerger, and Markman (2004) which examined factors that influenced preschool-age children’s belief in a novel fantastical entity, proved to be of significance when establishing children’s views on Santa Claus’s existence. The results showed that involving a mix of mundane and magical properties and presenting children with hard evidence, such as presents, was enough for children to believe in his existence. Research was conducted using both small group- and individual focused semi-structured interviews. The twenty children that participated were 6 years old, ten girls and ten boys. Five girls and five boys participated in the individual interviews. For the small group interviews five pairs were randomly picked so that each pair consisted of one girl and one boy. These children were not the same as those who participated in the individual interviews. All were given the option of drawing Santa Claus at Christmas. The analysis method used for analyzing the data was theory guided content analysis. Results showed that the children’s definitions of Santa Claus were that of the Santa Claus portrayed in stories and the media. His importance was based on his role of delivering gifts at Christmas. Piaget’s cognitive development- and Vygotsky’s cultural historical dialectic theory support the results of this study in regards to the role and importance of Santa Claus in a child’s development.

Målet med denna avhandling var att kartlägga skillnader i lagstiftning och journalistkårens etiska regler om källskydd mellan Finland och Sverige. För att kartlägga skillnaderna jämförde jag svensk och finsk källskyddslagstiftning, journalistkårens egna etiska regler i de båda länderna och fyra mediebolags källskyddsregler. På ett mera allmänt plan diskuterar jag i avhandlingen källskyddslagstiftningens historia, journalistiska källor, anonyma källor och behov av källskydd samt källskyddets för- och nackdelar utgående från tidigare forskning. Min jämförelse visar att svensk lagstiftning är striktare, mera omfattande och tydligare angående källskydd än den finska lagstiftningen. Enligt svensk lag är källskyddet journalistens skyldighet. Brott mot källskydd kan leda till fängelsestraff för journalisten. I Finland är källskydd journalistens lagstadgade rättighet, men finska journalister är inte skyldiga att ge källskydd. I Finland är det inte straffbart för journalister att bryta källskyddet. Jämförelsen av branschens etiska regler visar också en klar skillnad. Den svenska journalistkårens publicitetsregler och yrkesetiska regler omnämner överhuvudtaget inte källskydd. De finska journalistreglerna har däremot ända sedan de publicerades för första gången 1968 poängterat skyddet av nyhetskällor. Min tolkning är att den svenska lagstiftningen definierar och reglerar källskydd så strikt och tydligt att det inte finns behov för branschregler om källskydd. Samtidigt orsakar den finska lagstiftningens svagare källskydd, som lämnar större utrymme för tolkningar, ett större behov inom journalistkåren att själv reglera hur och när källskydd ska användas.

Publication bias is one of the central threats to the validity of scientific research. In research of mindfulness-based interventions publication bias has been examined mostly in meta-analyses with statistical methods that have several limitations. This study examined how meta-analyses and systematic reviews that have examined publication bias have succeeded in their assessments. A rough estimate of publication bias and suggestions for further meta-analyses were made based on the examination. The study was conducted in the form of a literature review. It was found that there are significant limitations in examinations of publication bias, the most central of which being limited sample sizes, strong heterogeneity of studies and suboptimal method choices in meta-analyses and systematic reviews. The conclusions about publication bias also seemed overly optimistic in some cases. These limitations made it difficult to estimate the magnitude of publication bias. Regardless of that, there was evidence for the existence of publication bias, although in general it did not seem to lower the effect sizes of mindfulness-based interventions to zero. In future, publication bias should be assessed with methods less sensitive to the issues raised in this study. In addition, there is a need for pre-registered, good-quality replication studies of mindfulness-based interventions.

The idea that fandom is connected to maladaptive development or cognitive deficits seems to underlie psychological studies on celebrity adoration. These studies often describe fandom as celebrity worship and offer hypotheses that seem to be at least in part based on stereotypes. I review the psychological study of fandom that is based on the idea of three types of celebrity adoration between which the adoration ranges from what is perceived as harmless to such that can be described as pathological. I review results that both support and contradict the suggested model and finally, ask if celebrity adoration should be perceived as a personality based coping mechanism rather than a maladaptive state. Celebrity adoration would seem to entail both a cognitive component and lower psychological well-being. In addition, both personality and personality based coping mechanisms are associated with celebrity adoration. I suggest that one explanation to celebrity adoration could be found from personality and psychological well-being. In this context celebrity adoration could be understood as a personality based coping mechanism that is facilitated by stress-related cognitive deficits.