The aim of this project is to develop a robust methodological translation of the insights of 'culturalist' theoretical positions in communications studies as an alternative through which to approach contemporary media research. The focus is on engagements with alcohol advertising. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, as internationally, there is a significant body of publicly-funded research examining how alcohol advertising affects audiences. However, this thesis contends that important questions need to be asked about the adequacy of these (dominantly positivist) investigations. A review of local research identifies that in theoretical and methodological terms the majority of these studies are riddled with tensions and contradictions. In addition, when located within the context of wider developments in contemporary communication studies, an important epistemological gap is highlighted as requiring attention and debate. Comparison of this local review with international studies highlights similar concerns, particularly around 'effects' driven research, the adequacy of dominant positivist models, and the need to examine epistemological alternatives that can encompass meta, meso, and micro forms of enquiry. A discursive-theoretical approach is then argued as an epistemological alternative that is highly congruent with contemporary communication studies, which, if more robustly translated through methodology and method, could provide a very solid 'culturalist' alternative framework for media research. Taking a contrastive, multi-voiced, context-based approach, the present research focuses on connections, divergences, or disjunctions between different participants' interpretations of, and responses to, themes, ideas and positions they perceive as existing in the ad-texts, and themes and ideas on offer about alcohol in the wider social context. Using a methodology I describe as 'Discursive Sonar', this research highlights the socially located, interpretative complexity of advertising engagements. By unpacking that complexity, this project identifies how, and why, media engagements vary for different participants (including that of the reflexively engaged participant researcher). By locating the interactions between participants and ad-texts within the context of wider struggles over meanings around alcohol in Aotearoa/New Zealand the research shows ways in which both ad-texts and participants reflect, employ, and debate those wider struggles. I contrasted and compared individual participant interactions with the content and themes they identify in response to the ad-texts, with what producers intended those texts to communicate, and also with the views of the other participants. Through these analyses key textual 'mechanisms' become apparent as determining why and how engagements can be closely shared or variable between people and groups. Focusing on diversity and variance in engagements highlights cultural shifts around how alcohol is understood in Aotearoa/New Zealand, as well as significant alterations in views between the generations involved in the project. Focusing on commonalities across engagements identifies how 'interpretative communities' can be produced through textual responses, which are in turn engendered in response to commonly held constructs such as gender and age. This project succeeds in two ways. As well succeeding in significantly developing existing 'operationalisation' of discursive theory, it also constructs a viable discursive framework through which to approach media research. It is suggested that further development of this alternative might move us beyond the barriers of abstraction and effects in media research to examine the ways in which media and other dominant discursive forms interact, and are interacted with, to shape choices in our social worlds.

It is becoming widely recognised that shiftwork has significant implications for the health, safety and quality of life of shiftworkers. To date, little research has been carried out on how individuals cope with the problems caused by shiftwork and how effective coping strategies maintain their health and well-being. It has been proposed, by Monk (1994), that there are a number of aspects of a shiftworker's life which are important in determining the ability of an individual to cope with shiftwork. These factors are an individual's circadian rhythms, sleep patterns, and social and domestic situation. Further literature also suggests that workplace factors and coping style are an important part of tolerating shiftwork. The primary aim of the present study was to determine which factors are important in predicting the physical and mental well-being of Air Traffic Services staff working on shifts. It was hypothesised that individuals who are evening types, have few social, domestic, sleep, and work place difficulties will be physically and mentally healthy. In addition, it was hypothesised that the use of engagement strategies in dealing with shiftwork related problems will relate to better physical and mental health. To test the hypotheses, 183 Air Traffic Services staff from Melbourne centre, Australia were surveyed by questionnaire. The results of the regressions showed that physical health was predicted by variables from each of the five areas considered; circadian typology, the social and domestic situation, work place factors, sleep patterns and coping style. Mental well-being was best predicted by a single domestic variable, which is the extent to which shiftwork caused domestic problems and the two coping variables of engagement and disengagement. The results support the suggestion that in order for an individual to be able to tolerate shiftwork they must have strategies in place to help them deal with the effect of shiftwork variables on a range of factors in their lives. An additional aim of the present study was to determine the reliability of a questionnaire for use with Air Traffic Services staff. This was due to a lack of suitable questionnaires for use in this occupational context. Overall the items in the questionnaire were found to have acceptable reliability, although the collection of sleep data by subjective reporting is not recommended.

The 'model minority' label given to Chinese populations in New Zealand and other Western countries have made it difficult to truly comprehend the difficulties faced by some Chinese ethnic minorities. Despite comparable rates and types of mental health problems to their European counterparts, identifiable barriers have led to Chinese ethnic minorities underutilising mental health services. The present study investigated the mental health service utilisation in native- and foreign-born Chinese youth in New Zealand, paying particular attention to barriers to service utilisation and viable solutions for these difficulties. It consisted of three individual projects and explored the views of Chinese community and mental health professionals and Chinese university students, comparing their perspectives to university students of other ethnicities. Findings showed that despite a willingness to seek help from their family and mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists, school counsellors), respondents identified a myriad of obstacles to the help seeking of Chinese youth. These included physical barriers (e.g., financial and transport constraints), personal barriers (e.g., stigma, problems accepting their difficulties), service barriers (e.g., paucity of knowledge regarding mental health problems and available services) and family barriers (e.g., obstruction from family members). Family and service barriers distinguished the difficulties faced by Chinese in comparison to European youth, particularly with regards to the adherence of professionals to stereotypes of Chinese youth, a unique finding of this study. In order to reduce such barriers, the Chinese university students and professionals advocated for greater education regarding mental health problems and services in the Chinese community, education for Chinese parents regarding adolescent issues, an increase in the number of practicing Chinese professionals that is coupled with improved cross-cultural training for non-Chinese professionals, as well as individual assessment and treatment approaches with Chinese youth and their families. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

Do Christian missionaries who exhibit good person-job fit, (‘aligned’ with host nation colleagues and ‘in harmony’ with expatriate colleagues), experience more positive work attitudes? Personjob fit was conceptualized in terms of competencies. Perspectives on what competencies the role of missionary requires were obtained from 3 groups of subject matter experts: host nation colleagues, missionaries, and mission agency leaders. In Study I, subject matter experts (host nation colleagues, n=22, missionaries, n=25, and agency leaders, n=23) rated the ‘Universal Competency Framework’ (SHL) 20-level competencies. Host nation colleagues differed significantly on 3 of the competencies, suggesting that in this sample, the perspective of expatriates on the role of a missionary was not fully aligned with that of host nation colleagues. In Study 2, a sample of 130 current overseas missionaries self-assessed their performance and provided their own ratings of the importance of the competencies used in Study 1. Measures of Person-Job fit (Demands-Abilities fit, Supplies-Values fit and Perceived Performance) were regressed against outcome variables (job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life). Results indicated that a person’s fit with the job as described by both host nation colleagues (Alignment) and other expatriates (Harmonization) is positively associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life. These results offer support for competencies as an effective method of describing missionary roles. Possible implications for enhancing the effectiveness and well-being of missionaries, and other aid and development workers, are discussed.

Studies of expatriate adjustment have traditionally focused on corporate expatriate assignments where foreign employees are often the only expatriate, or one of a handful in a host organisation. Multicultural not-for-profit organisations such as United Nations organisations have largely been ignored. It was hypothesised that classic predictors of expatriate adjustment – Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Acculturation Style, and novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment would predict Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw prematurely from the assignment. 181 expatriates representing 38 countries from all economic levels completed an online survey investigating their experiences on assignment to a United Nations Organisation in Rome, Italy. Black & Stephens (1989) classic scales of Expatriate Adjustment, Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Cognitions to Withdraw were employed along with Acculturation Style, Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment measures designed for this study. Qualitative data was also collected around expatriates’ cognitions to withdraw from their assignment and reasons to stay in order to gain a richer understanding of the expatriate experience. The best predictors of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw for United Nations expatriate employees in Rome were classic predictor Culture Novelty and novel predictors Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment. Structural Equation Modelling indicated the best fitting model of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw demonstrated moderate fit (!2 = 1045.19, df = 486, p =.000, TLI = .80, CFI = .82, RMSEA = .08) with Culture Novelty predicting General and Interaction Adjustment; Economic Adjustment predicting General Adjustment; and Adjustment Stage predicting General, Interaction and Work Adjustment. General Adjustment was the only significant predictor of Cognitions to Withdraw. Qualitative analysis suggested that the classic adjustment measures used did not adequately capture the experiences of these expatriates and that caution should be taken in generalising the literature to not-for-profit populations. Furthermore the outcomes of this study suggest that the inclusion of novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment as predictors of expatriate adjustment could be warranted for future research. Sample size and adequacy of measures both limited the extent to which analysis could be conducted and results generalised. More research into the expatriate experience in the not-for-profit sector is desperately needed.

This study tested the relationship of the personality variable of hardiness to the organisational outcomes of job satisfaction, performance and intention to turnover. These relationships were also tested via two alternative transactional models, with a sequential and simultaneous structure for the appraisal and coping processes. Employees (N = 297) from a range of large New Zealand organisations completed a questionnaire on hardiness, appraisal, coping, affect and the three distal outcomes. Bivariate correlations revealed significant positive relationships between hardiness and job satisfaction, hardiness and performance, and a significant negative relationship with intention to turnover. Structural equation modelling results revealed that the direct relationship between hardiness and job satisfaction was the strongest path, which indicates that the higher an employees level of hardiness the higher their likely level of job satisfaction. The simultaneous model provided best fit to the data, revealing a positive path from hardiness through challenge appraisals to positive affect, and a negative path through threat appraisal and emotion-focused coping. This study concludes that higher levels of hardiness are associated with more positive situational appraisals and more effective coping responses.

This thesis explores the relevance of Bio Data verses Personality for predicting Cultural Competence among Industrial and Organisational Psychology and Human Resource Management professionals and students in New Zealand. It also explores the relevance of the model (D.W. Sue, 2001) of Cultural Competence currently in use by the New Zealand Psychologists board and also the relevance of a four factor model of Cultural Intelligence (Early & Ang, 2003). The sample consisted of 113 participants drawn from a population of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and Human Resource Management professionals and students. A questionnaire which measures the predictors of the Big Five Personality Factors (Goldberg, 1999), and Bio Data, and the criterion variables of Cultural Intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003) and questions constructed specifically for this thesis was distributed online. The criterion variables were based on an existing three part (Awareness, Knowledge and Skills) Multidimensional Model for Developing Cultural Competence by D.W. Sue (2001). The results of this research were obtained through exploratory factor analysis and subsequent multiple regression analysis. A new model was constructed to represent the tested predictor and criterion relationship. Results suggest that overall Personality is a better predictor of Cultural Competence, with the Personality Factor of Agreeableness being the highest weighted Personality Factor. D.W Sue’s (2001) Multidimensional Model for Developing Cultural Competence maintained its three part structure in the analysis and consequently seems relevant to the unique socio-cultural, organisational and professional setting of the tested group. Ang and colleagues (Ang, Van Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay & Chandraseker, 2007) Cultural Intelligence Scale maintained its four part factor structure and was reliable for this thesis.

This research endeavors to understand people's experience of working in a highly engaged team, and specifically to understand the aspects of the work environment that contribute to their engagement. As participants' own perspectives and views are central to gaining a rich insight, a qualitative approach is taken. Twenty-five participants from a large government agency who had worked in highly engaged teams took part in five focus group discussions. The discussions were analysed following thematic analysis techniques, and a thematic network of three interrelated layers was developed to explain the findings. This thematic network focuses more on people's experiences of working in an engaging environment and the feelings associated with these experiences, whereas the literature focuses more on describing engagement and the aspects of the environment which contributes to engagement. At the base of the engagement model, developed from this research, are the seven aspects of the workplace that contribute to people's engagement: leadership; challenging and or varied work; access to knowledge; latitude and responsibility; social atmosphere; safety, trust and support; and respect. Above this are the feelings people connect with working in this environment: feeling at ease and relaxed, having a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and being valued or validated. The top layer of the model is the overall sense of what working in an engaging environment is about: feeling good in one's self. Three further observations are made. Firstly, the team is an important aspect in people's engagement, and a duality exists where the person and the team simultaneously influence each other. Secondly, engagement is an active process; it changes over time, has a lifecycle over people's careers, actively transfers between people and exists within a reinforcing loop. Lastly, engagement within this organisation, refers to a connection to the work or workplace: people were interested, participated, enjoyed and were connected to their work, but maintained a separation. There was no sense of merging one's identity with the work as noted within some of the literature on engagement.

Fairness, forgiveness and grudge-holding are concepts which underlie many aspects of our interpersonal relationships. Fairness is the foundation of our day-to-day communication with others and forgiveness is concerned with a positive strategy used to manage negative emotional experiences of underserved [i.e. undeserved] unfair treatment. Grudge-holding results as an accumulation of negative feelings, which are associated with the original experience of unfairness. Two experimental studies investigated children’s perceptions of, feelings about, and reactions towards the unfair behaviour of a mother and a friend, by individually inviting the children to scenario-based interview sessions, which included three imaginary tasks. The children were asked to judge the fairness of a mother and a best friend’s treatment towards a child protagonist and to report their associated feelings, after listening to a scenario that described an interaction between a child and a mother and an interaction between a child and a friend. They further responded to three scenario-based experimental tasks, regarding their willingness to grant forgiveness, as opposed to expressions of hostility. In the first study, the children’s willingness to forgive, as a result of unfairness, was explored with 82 local primary school children in Palmerston North, New Zealand, whose ages ranged from 8- to 11-years-old, in addition to 50 parents of these participating children. The parents also completed a questionnaire about their approaches to their children’s common misbehaviours. The study found that the children were typically willing to grant forgiveness to a mother, even though she had been unfair. Their forgiveness tendencies were not related to aspects of parental disciplinary behaviour. However, an examination of the children’s verbatim responses through the use of thematic analysis revealed the complex nature of the relationship between parent and child concerning tolerance for mistakes. In the second study, I explored on whether the children’s repeated exposure to unfairness would contribute to their display of grudge-holding against a mother or a best friend in the scenarios and this investigation involved 55 local primary children, whose ages ranged from 8- to 12-years-old, in Wellington, New Zealand. The children participated in individual scenario-based interview sessions, which included three imaginary tasks over the two time periods, one week apart from each other. The children’s levels of grudge-holding was measured by analysing the possible increase in hostility, which the children expressed from Time 1 to Time 2. The study showed that a repeated experience of unfairness had a noticeable effect on the children’s level of hostility towards the person who was unfair and especially towards the best friend. The children’s verbatim comments also suggested some evidence of accumulated negativity in their responses to an unfairness experience. Thus, this study proved to be a suitable paradigm for operationalising grudge-holding in children.

Rural experiences are under-represented in the end-of-life care literature. In addition, population projections indicate that the numbers of older rural people are increasing. In an attempt to better understand their needs, this study considers how older people experience end-of-life (EOL) care in a rural New Zealand setting. Having responded to local media and community notices, seven participants, who in the last eighteen months had cared for someone over the age of 65 with a terminal illness, spoke about their experience of rural EOL care. Their stories were then transcribed and analysed, using narrative analysis. Participants spoke about similar issues, but from different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives. Positioning themselves primarily as carers, rather than as rural people, the participants’ stories nevertheless reflected their social location for caring, as they talked about exhaustion and needing 24 hour support; limited access to specialist palliative care services; and the difficulties of caring for people with complex needs. At the same time they spoke of the joys and rewards of caring. The ambivalence and conflict evident in the stories indicates the participants’ location in a particular place and time in the history of dying. Caught between two paradigms of care, these participants vacillate between the desire for the empathic, compassionate care of yesteryear and the best that modern medical technology can offer. Discussing when to continue and when to stop medical intervention produced the most conflicting perspectives. However, all agreed that having time to form therapeutic relationships is a key component of EOL care. Overall, the stories demonstrate that the multiple and complex experiences of older rural people render stereotypical assumptions about rural life and dying at home problematic. However, as this study demonstrates, simply talking with people provides access to and understanding of their lived realities. Incorporating this kind of approach in future rural EOL care planning will move us closer to achieving contemporary goals of positive ageing and dying well.