Self-regulating Physical and Mental Activities: Intensive Longitudinal Intervention Studies of Physical Fitness and Happiness

Being active is a primary necessity in life, but it is also an essential part of what makes life worth living. This thesis explored goal pursuit activities people might not experience as pleasant in the moment, but where the self-chosen activities are still considered good and worthwhile. We hypothesized that online self-regulation interventions would be effective in increasing effortful physical and mental activities and that a distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic conceptions of wellbeing would be evident in different stages of goal pursuit. Three papers, building on data from two studies, are presented. In Paper I, the effect of an online intervention for increasing physical activity, named Lifestyle Tool, was tested in a longitudinal study spanning three months. In Paper II, using global measures from a second study, we investigated the reciprocal effects of different wellbeing dimensions and goal pursuit stages before and after an intervention week. In Paper III, we used the experience sampling measures from the second study, and tested the assumption that HWB and EWB reflect two different dimensions of wellbeing and examined differences in emotions from goal pursuit interventions indicating discriminant validity. The results showed that online interventions helped participants self-regulate physical and mental activities. Furthermore, a duality between hedonic wellbeing (HWB) and eudaimonic wellbeing (EWB) were evident in the goal pursuit process: while EWB ignited and sustained wellbeing in effortful goal pursuits, HWB was more related to the outcome phase, rewarding goal achievement. Congruent findings from different analyses also supported convergent and discriminant validity of HWB and EWB as separate constructs. Interventions that help people self-regulate benefit actions viewed as good and conducive to physical and mental health, even though they are not always experienced as pleasant

Striving for wellbeing: The different roles of hedonia and eudaimonia in goal pursuit and goal achievement

Goals are central to theories of happiness and previous research has shown that successful goal pursuit typically leads to a boost in wellbeing. Taking these ideas further, the current study adopts the distinction between hedonic wellbeing (HWB) and eudaimonic wellbeing (EWB) and suggests that it is the former that increases when goals are achieved. By contrast, EWB is hypothesized to have a causal effect on the initiating and upholding of goal pursuits. In a short-term, longitudinal intervention study, 185 participants (78.8% women): 69 students and 116 participants from a sample representative of the Norwegian population were asked to set a personal goal. Every night throughout the next week, participants received one out of three different mental exercises (i.e., mental contrasting, process simulation or positive fantasizing) to support active goal pursuit. A path model found that EWB, and not HWB, predicted subsequent goal effort directly (b = .33, p < .001) and goal achievement indirectly (fully mediated by goal effort; b = .14, p = .001). Further, the model showed that goal effort (b = .17, p < .001) and goal achievement (b = .13, p = .001) caused an increase in post-intervention measures of HWB but not in EWB. A multilevel linear growth model revealed elevated levels of HWB for all intervention groups after the goal pursuit week (b = .24, p < .001), while EWB in general did not change during the study period. However, EWB unexpectedly increased for those in the positive fantasizing condition. The present finding indicates that it is the eudaimonic part of wellbeing that ignites and sustains goal pursuit processes, at least when they take some effort. By contrast, HWB is less involved in goal pursuit initiatives and more related to the outcome phase. Results are discussed with reference to several wellbeing theories

Fra sivil til soldat : Hvordan sosialiseres rekrutter inn i Garden?

En rekruttskole er et veldig spesielt sted, og militærleirer er svært interessante sett med sosiologiske briller. Likevel finnes det svært få samfunnsvitenskapelige studier på feltet i Norge. Basert på kvalitative intervjuer og observasjon ønsker jeg å bidra med ny og viktig informasjon og kunnskap om dette merkelige stedet og personene involvert. Jeg vil gjennom denne oppgaven beskrive og forklare hvordan en militært kunnskapsløs ungdom går fra å være sivil til soldat på veldig kort tid. Hva er det som preger han? Hvorfor går det så fort? Fordi Gardens rekruttskole skiller seg fra vanlige, sivile organisasjoner på mange måter vil ikke alle aspektene ved etablerte organisasjonsteorier være like relevante eller korrekte. Det største avviket mellom den sosialiseringen som foregår på Terningmoen leir i Elverum og sosialiseringen beskrevet av blant andre Feldman (1988) og Van Maanen og Schein (1979), er teorienes tidsestimat. Der etablerte sosialiseringsteorier tilsier at nyansatte trenger rundt et år for å bli sosialisering inn i organisasjonen, går det mye fortere på Terningmoen. Det er flere årsaker til dette, men rekruttenes forventninger, fellesskapsfølelsen, sanksjonsmulighetene og de militære lederne fremstår som de viktigste. Rekruttenes sosialisering virker å være svært sterk og rask, kanskje for sterk og rask. Jeg har derfor stilt spørsmålet om det virkelig er snakk om en sosialisering, eller om rekruttene kun blir «rollefisert». Dette begrepet innebærer at rekrutten opplever at han er varig sosialisert inn i Garden, men at sosialiseringen ikke er like total. Rekruttenes sosialisering blir påvirket av Gardens organisasjonskultur, samtidig som den også er med på å reprodusere kulturen. Sosialiseringen virker ikke å være nøye planlagt, men konsekvensene er at rekruttene får en konform rolleatferd og at Gardens organisasjonskultur reproduseres. Det er vanskelig å si om dette er hensikten eller ikke, men slik situasjonen er i dag, er Gardens organisasjonskultur langt fra ideell for å skape det sosiale mangfoldet stortingsmeldinger og -proposisjoner tilstreber. Garden og Forsvaret er opptatt av tradisjon, men lar seg i for stor grad lede av tradisjonelle antakelser og «det bare er sånn»-argumentasjon. Hvis forandring virkelig er ønskelig, mener jeg at de tradisjonene som ikke er hensiktsmessige, bør avskaffes eller dempes. Dette vil kunne «myke opp» Gardens image, noe som igjen vil kunne påvirke rekrutteringen

Does the Stereotypicality of Mothers’ Occupation Influence Children’s Communal Occupational Aspirations and Communal Orientation?

Career development is a lifelong process that starts in infancy and is shaped by a number of different factors during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Even though career development is shaped through life, relatively little is known about the predictors of occupational aspirations in childhood. Therefore, in the present work we investigate how the stereotypicality of a mother’s occupation (female-dominated/communal vs. non-femaledominated/agentic) influences her young child’s communal occupational aspirations and communal orientation. We conducted two studies with young children. Study 1 included 72 mother–child dyads recruited from childcare centers in Northern Norway (children’s age range: 4½–6years). Study 2 included 106 mother–child dyads recruited from Norwegian elementary schools (children’s age range: 6 to 13years). Results from Study 1 showed that the stereotypicality of mothers’ occupation was related to their children’s communal occupational aspirations and children’s communal orientation. In contrast to our predictions and results from Study 1, the stereotypicality of mothers’ occupation was not significantly related to children’s communal occupational aspirations nor their communal orientation in Study 2. In both studies, we found no relationship between mothers’ gender attitudes or share of child care and children’s communal occupational aspirations. The results are discussed in terms of parents’ influence on children’s development of occupational aspirations

Mothers’ Domestic Responsibilities and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of Gender Essentialist Beliefs About Parenthood

The present work investigates how the increased domestic responsibilities created by the Spring 2020 lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway and gender ideologies relate to the well-being of mothers with elementary school children. In June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online study including current and retrospective measures with 180 mothers (Mage = 39.96 years, SD = 6.11) of elementary school children across Norway. First, in line with earlier research on the strain of the pandemic on parents, and especially mothers, we found that Norwegian mothers’ well-being during the lockdown significantly declined compared to before the lockdown (both measured retrospectively). Furthermore, mothers’ well-being after the Spring 2020 lockdown did not immediately return to pre-lockdown levels. Finally, we predicted that gender ideologies (i.e., essentialist beliefs about parenthood) would exacerbate the negative impact of increased domestic responsibilities (i.e., childcare and housework) on mothers’ well-being (i.e., higher standard-higher stress hypothesis). As predicted, for mothers who more strongly endorsed the belief that mothers are instinctively and innately better caretakers than fathers, perceptions of increased domestic responsibilities were associated with lower well-being post-lockdown. These findings point to the specific challenges mothers face in times of crisis, and the importance of addressing and confronting seemingly benevolent ideologies about motherhood that place additional burdens on women

Sommer i Folkehallene

Basert på besvarelser fra 1112 barn og 403 foresatte til yngre barn som besøkte Sommer i Folkehallene sommeren 2023, ser vi at flesteparten av barna deltar i faste fritidsaktiviteter og i sport/idrett, men med høyere deltakelse blant de med høyere sosial status. Størstedelen av barna har gode jevnalderrelasjoner, men samtidig har en tiendel som regel ikke eller aldri noen å være med på fritiden. 62 prosent av de eldre barna bruker tilbudet fordi de har lyst å være med venner, mens 42 prosent er motivert av å prøve nye aktiviteter. Turn er den mest populære aktiviteten. De aller fleste besøkende er svært tilfredse med tilbudet. Foresatte savner et nettsted eller en mobilapp som samler aktivitetstilbud til barn og unge.Sommer i FolkehallenepublishedVersio

The Impact of COVID-19-Induced Changes at Schools on Elementary Students' School Engagement

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of schools in many countries. Emerging research documents the negative effects of the pandemic and particularly of the shutdown of schools on children's well-being. The present research extends this research by investigating how structural changes made in schools upon reopening to align with COVID-19 restrictions were related to children's emotional school engagement and subjective well-being. An online questionnaire with elementary school children and their parents conducted in Norway in June 2020 (N = 93 parent–child dyads; 46 boys, 47 girls; mean age children = 9.70 years, SD = 1.81) assessed structural changes in schools and children's coping with these changes, emotional school engagement, subjective well-being, self-reported performance in school, and demographics. Results showed that neither receiving a new teacher nor being assigned to a new (smaller) group were associated with negative outcomes. However, children who did not like their new group showed reduced emotional school engagement and subjective well-being, indicating that specific students particularly suffered from the pandemic-induced restrictions. The relationship between liking one's group and SWB was mediated by emotional school engagement. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed

What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.publishedVersio

What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children