This study investigates the role that African traditional beliefs and practices play in defining psychological problems, determines how these beliefs and practices manifest in a counselling relationship and explores how Western based forms of counselling manage these manifestations in counselling. This investigation is in the context of the on-going debate on the relevance of Western Psychological counselling in South Africa and the rest of Africa, including my experience during my internship to register as a Counsellor. It explores the impact of conducting counselling with clients whose worldviews are different from those of the counsellor and focuses on the impact of the client’s worldviews on psychological well-being, psychological ill health and the resolution of psychological problems. Psychological well-being, ill health and counselling were discussed from a Western perspective. The study found that the client participants defined their psychological problems in terms of their African traditional beliefs and practices. They communicated their presenting psychological problems in ways that created possibility of miscommunication between themselves and their counsellors, for example by using figurative language. There was also a clear distinction between how psychological problems are managed from an African traditional perspective (ritualistic) and a Western perspective (talking therapy). The study recommended the creation of specific departments in Universities to embark on research aimed at establishing foundational structures on which to build an African Indigenous Psychology as an alternative to Western Psychology. More comprehensive research on African people’s attitudes is, suggested, on what traditional Africans think of psychological counselling. Another recommendation accruing from the limitation on sampling in this study is that future studies should be conducted with larger and more diverse samples; moreover, data should be gathered on a wider variety of demographics and cultural belief systems and practices. To counter prejudice and ignorance, the counsellor ‘to be’ should study African culture and customs during their BA Honours studies. On-going training and workshops on cross-cultural issues from various cultures should be part of the counselling profession. More emphasis should be placed on prevention and therefore more mental health clinics in the rural areas need to be opened and general education on psychological issues and cultural integration be initiated. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The researcher selected a quantitative cross-sectional design to test the concurrent validity of learning potential and psychomotor ability by evaluating the relationships between mining machine operators’ learning potential and psychomotor ability as well as their work safety behaviour. Work safety behaviour was considered indicative of their capability to operate a moving machine. The utilization of measuring instruments capable of measuring their learning potential and psychomotor ability and measuring safety behaviour by means of their safety score cards provided the required measurement data. The study involved a quantitative investigation into the relationship between learning potential and psychomotor ability as independent variables and safety behaviour as dependent variable. De Vos, Strydom, Fouche and Delport (2002, p.79) defined quantitative research as “based on positivism, which takes scientific explanation to be nomothetic. Its main aims are to measure the social world objectively, to test hypotheses and to predict and explain human behaviour. A quantitative study may therefore be defined as an inquiry into social or human problems based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers and analysed with statistical procedures in order to determine whether the predictive generalization of the theory holds true.” The aim of the study was to determine the learning potential and psychomotor ability of mining machine operators as well as compare the following sub-groups (based on the biographical variables): age, years’ experience, educational level and gender. The respondents’ work safety behaviour was measured and the relationship between the two measures of the independent variables (learning potential and psychomotor ability) and work safety behaviour determined. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / (M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

The researcher selected a quantitative cross-sectional design to test the concurrent validity of learning potential and psychomotor ability by evaluating the relationships between mining machine operators’ learning potential and psychomotor ability as well as their work safety behaviour. Work safety behaviour was considered indicative of their capability to operate a moving machine. The utilization of measuring instruments capable of measuring their learning potential and psychomotor ability and measuring safety behaviour by means of their safety score cards provided the required measurement data. The study involved a quantitative investigation into the relationship between learning potential and psychomotor ability as independent variables and safety behaviour as dependent variable. De Vos, Strydom, Fouche and Delport (2002, p.79) defined quantitative research as “based on positivism, which takes scientific explanation to be nomothetic. Its main aims are to measure the social world objectively, to test hypotheses and to predict and explain human behaviour. A quantitative study may therefore be defined as an inquiry into social or human problems based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers and analysed with statistical procedures in order to determine whether the predictive generalization of the theory holds true.” The aim of the study was to determine the learning potential and psychomotor ability of mining machine operators as well as compare the following sub-groups (based on the biographical variables): age, years’ experience, educational level and gender. The respondents’ work safety behaviour was measured and the relationship between the two measures of the independent variables (learning potential and psychomotor ability) and work safety behaviour determined. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)