Tertiary institutions in South Africa are being called to account for the quality of education that they provide. Evidence suggests that staffs at all levels are working longer hours than in the past in order to adhere to the above-mentioned requirement. Non-academic personnel in universities are the key performers to establish service quality. They know that they have to support academic staff in their main roles of research and teaching at institutions of higher education. Different support personnel groups within a university experience distinct problems. The nature of the support personnel's work is continuous and demanding. Support personnel must deal with the dilemmas inherent in simultaneously administering, supervising instruction, being accessible, delegating and accepting responsibility. Multiple personal and professional qualities seem to be needed to carry out the job successfully. Not surprisingly, then, support personnel in tertiary institutions can be extremely prone to experience burnout and occupational stress. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between burnout, strain and job characteristics and to determine whether dispositional optimism moderates the effect of job characteristics on burnout. A stratified random sample (N = 334) was taken of personnel working in universities in the North-West province. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey, the Health subscales of ASSET and the Life Orientation test (revised edition) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that work overload and certain task characteristics (for example, no possibilities for independent thought and action) caused personnel to experience exhaustion as well as cynicism, which resulted in strain. On the other hand, certain task characteristics (for example, variety in work, adequate management and job security) were all linked to higher professional efficacy, which, in turn, resulted in less experienced strain. Exhaustion and cynicism, both of which are dimensions of burnout, were also significantly correlated. Dispositional optimism, however, was related to lower exhaustion and professional efficacy, which resulted in less experienced strain and burnout. Therefore, it seems that optimism moderates the effects of job characteristics on exhaustion. Recommendations were made for future research / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Universities worldwide are developing a disturbing imbalance with their environments. In recent years, academic working conditions in South African universities have changed dramatically as a result of the country's post-apartheid policies and the accelerating globalisation of knowledge. Academic staff are continually confronted with an overload of job demands without corresponding increases in job resources. These prolonged job stressors that academic staff are subjected to over lengthy periods of time coupled with inadequate job resources can lead to the development of a pathogenically defined construct, namely burnout. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationships between burnout, strain, job characteristics and dispositional optimism in universities in the North-West Province. A cross-sectional design was used. The study population (N = 279) consisted of academic staff of universities in the North-West Province. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS), The Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R), Job Characteristics Scale (JCS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQI9) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means, standard deviations and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to confirm the structure of the measuring instruments and to test theoretical models. The results showed that the stressors of overload was associated with high levels of exhaustion and low professional efficacy. Job resources (i.e. social support, task characteristics) were related to low levels of exhaustion and cynicism and higher levels of professional efficacy. Exhaustion and low professional efficacy were significantly related to physical and psychological health problems. Exhaustion and cynicism were negatively related to optimism, whereas professional efficacy were positively related to the latter. Optimism moderated the effects of a lack of resources on exhaustion and the effects of job resources on professional efficacy. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

This project examined dispositional optimism and its influence on the three subscales of marital adjustment (consensus, satisfaction, and cohesion) by gender. Data for this study came from Wave 2 and 3 of the National Survey of Families and Households. The Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) was used to examine both actor and partner effects of dispositional optimism on the marital adjustment subscales using the program AMOS. Results indicate that wives’ optimism seem to influence their own later marital satisfaction as well as their husbands’ later marital satisfaction. However, husbands’ optimism appeared to influence neither their own nor their wives’ later satisfaction. These results imply that wives’ optimism matters for marital satisfaction, whereas husbands’ does not.

Tertiary institutions in South Africa are being called to account for the quality of education that they provide. Evidence suggests that staffs at all levels are working longer hours than in the past in order to adhere to the above-mentioned requirement. Non-academic personnel in universities are the key performers to establish service quality. They know that they have to support academic staff in their main roles of research and teaching at institutions of higher education. Different support personnel groups within a university experience distinct problems. The nature of the support personnel's work is continuous and demanding. Support personnel must deal with the dilemmas inherent in simultaneously administering, supervising instruction, being accessible, delegating and accepting responsibility. Multiple personal and professional qualities seem to be needed to carry out the job successfully. Not surprisingly, then, support personnel in tertiary institutions can be extremely prone to experience burnout and occupational stress. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between burnout, strain and job characteristics and to determine whether dispositional optimism moderates the effect of job characteristics on burnout. A stratified random sample (N = 334) was taken of personnel working in universities in the North-West province. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey, the Health subscales of ASSET and the Life Orientation test (revised edition) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results. The results of the study showed that work overload and certain task characteristics (for example, no possibilities for independent thought and action) caused personnel to experience exhaustion as well as cynicism, which resulted in strain. On the other hand, certain task characteristics (for example, variety in work, adequate management and job security) were all linked to higher professional efficacy, which, in turn, resulted in less experienced strain. Exhaustion and cynicism, both of which are dimensions of burnout, were also significantly correlated. Dispositional optimism, however, was related to lower exhaustion and professional efficacy, which resulted in less experienced strain and burnout. Therefore, it seems that optimism moderates the effects of job characteristics on exhaustion. Recommendations were made for future research / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Universities worldwide are developing a disturbing imbalance with their environments. In recent years, academic working conditions in South African universities have changed dramatically as a result of the country's post-apartheid policies and the accelerating globalisation of knowledge. Academic staff are continually confronted with an overload of job demands without corresponding increases in job resources. These prolonged job stressors that academic staff are subjected to over lengthy periods of time coupled with inadequate job resources can lead to the development of a pathogenically defined construct, namely burnout. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationships between burnout, strain, job characteristics and dispositional optimism in universities in the North-West Province. A cross-sectional design was used. The study population (N = 279) consisted of academic staff of universities in the North-West Province. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS), The Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R), Job Characteristics Scale (JCS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQI9) were used as measuring instruments. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means, standard deviations and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to confirm the structure of the measuring instruments and to test theoretical models. The results showed that the stressors of overload was associated with high levels of exhaustion and low professional efficacy. Job resources (i.e. social support, task characteristics) were related to low levels of exhaustion and cynicism and higher levels of professional efficacy. Exhaustion and low professional efficacy were significantly related to physical and psychological health problems. Exhaustion and cynicism were negatively related to optimism, whereas professional efficacy were positively related to the latter. Optimism moderated the effects of a lack of resources on exhaustion and the effects of job resources on professional efficacy. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Organisations world-wide, but most especially in South Africa, are exposed to radical change in the economic, political, social, demographical and technological arenas. They are also exposed to the effects of the world economy, structural reforms and international competition which lead to transformations in the labour market. Consequently job insecurity became more wide spread as organisations engaged in downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring; or all three simultaneously, in an attempt to survive these difficult economic conditions. This changing world of work is perhaps most evident in changes in the psychological contract. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills, and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment, and job security. This violation of the psychological contract is likely to have dire consequences such as a reduction in work engagement, because it erodes the notion of reciprocity, which is crucial in maintaining well-being. Long-ten job insecurity will M e r more impact an employee's overall life situation since economic as well as other highly valued aspects of life will be perceived as being under threat. Thus job insecurity has the potential of becoming more stressful than job loss in that the coping process may be inhibited by the uncertainty of the event. Although the experience of job insecurity is a reality in the South African context as well as worldwide. Only a limited number of programmes were implemented in the past to address the problem. Furthermore, there is a lack of research regarding the causal (dispositional and situational) factors in job insecurity and the relationship with the psychological forces (sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism) in the financial industry in South Africa (Gauteng). The objective of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between job insecurity and psychological well-being which was measured in the form of sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism. The research method proceeded by using a cross-sectional research design with a survey technique to collect data from a stratified, random sample of employees within various job levels of a financial institution in Gauteng. The measuring battery consisted of four questionnaires namely the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), The Work Locus of Control Scale (WLOC) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) Questionnaire. The data analysis were conducted with help of the a SAS-programme to perform statistical analysis regarding reliability and validity of the measuring instruments, descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation coefficients and regression analyses. Conclusions were drawn from the findings and recommendations were made for the organisation and future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Organisations world-wide, but most especially in South Africa, are exposed to radical change in the economic, political, social, demographical and technological arenas. They are also exposed to the effects of the world economy, structural reforms and international competition which lead to transformations in the labour market. Consequently job insecurity became more wide spread as organisations engaged in downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring; or all three simultaneously, in an attempt to survive these difficult economic conditions. This changing world of work is perhaps most evident in changes in the psychological contract. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills, and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment, and job security. This violation of the psychological contract is likely to have dire consequences such as a reduction in work engagement, because it erodes the notion of reciprocity, which is crucial in maintaining well-being. Long-ten job insecurity will M e r more impact an employee's overall life situation since economic as well as other highly valued aspects of life will be perceived as being under threat. Thus job insecurity has the potential of becoming more stressful than job loss in that the coping process may be inhibited by the uncertainty of the event. Although the experience of job insecurity is a reality in the South African context as well as worldwide. Only a limited number of programmes were implemented in the past to address the problem. Furthermore, there is a lack of research regarding the causal (dispositional and situational) factors in job insecurity and the relationship with the psychological forces (sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism) in the financial industry in South Africa (Gauteng). The objective of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between job insecurity and psychological well-being which was measured in the form of sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism. The research method proceeded by using a cross-sectional research design with a survey technique to collect data from a stratified, random sample of employees within various job levels of a financial institution in Gauteng. The measuring battery consisted of four questionnaires namely the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), The Work Locus of Control Scale (WLOC) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) Questionnaire. The data analysis were conducted with help of the a SAS-programme to perform statistical analysis regarding reliability and validity of the measuring instruments, descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation coefficients and regression analyses. Conclusions were drawn from the findings and recommendations were made for the organisation and future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The new world of work has an enormous impact on the work-life of employees. Retrenchment, early retirement, unemployment and the demand for better performance are the result of massive restructurings, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions. The old Psychological contract, as well as lifelong employment, is becoming obsolete in a changing world of work. This leads to increased job insecurity in the workplace. There is substantial evidence in the literature that job insecurity is damaging to psychological health. Job insecurity in not only damaging the individual but impacts negatively on the organisation. Job insecurity leads to mistrust, lack of commitment and general dissatisfaction. In the end it will have a definite impact on organisational performance. The empirical objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, psychological well-being and the relationship with future literacy. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (n =. 459) was used. The sample was subjected to a specific programme of future literacy training (Map Your Life). Questionnaires were completed prior to the training programme. The reliability and construct validity of the measuring instruments acceptable. (Cronbach alpha coefficients adhere to the cut-off point of > 0,70) with the exception of the Dispositional Optimism Questionnaire (Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0,64). Future literacy is an unknown concept and it was necessary to conceptualise the concept. No instrument to measure future literacy existed and it was necessary to compile such an instrument. A questionnaire consisting of 18 items was compiled to measure future literacy. Factor analysis revealed two factors that measured future literacy. Factor One was named Positive Mindset Towards Future Possibilities and Factor Two, Anticipating, Planning and Preparing for Future Changes. The Cronbach alpha for Factor One was 0,76 and 0,8 1 for the second factor. Results indicated statistical signiticant correlations (of a medium effect) between job insecurity, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and work locus of control. Self-efficacy and dispositional optimism correlated negatively with job insecurity, indicating that job insecurity decreases as self-efficacy and dispositional optimism increases. The results also indicated a significant negative correlation (medium effect) between job insecurity and future literacy. This implies that as job insecurity decreases future literacy increases. The negative correlation between future literacy and job insecurity indicates that candidates who are future literate experience less job insecurity. When candidates with high and low scores on future literacy were compared with one another, candidates who scored low on all the scales of future literacy experienced high levels job insecurity. Candidates who demonstrated high levels of future literacy experienced significantly lower job insecurity. Black employees experienced significantly higher levels of future literacy when compared to White employees. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, work locus of control and future literacy predicted job insecurity when controlling for biographical variables. Limitations and recommendations regarding future research, as well as recommendations for the organisation were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

In response to public opposition to the insanity defense, the Guilty But Mentally Ill(GBMI) verdict was enacted with the intention of limiting the number of insanity acquittals and alleviating the public’s concerns. Prior research suggests, however, that many jurors are making verdict decisions with limited knowledge of the dispositional consequences of the GBMI and NGRI verdicts. Further, jurors may erroneously assume that the GBMI verdict is a compromise between a NGRI and guilty verdict, which mitigates punishment. In reality, the dispositional consequences of a GBMI verdict are equivalent to or more restrictive than a guilty verdict. The current study examined the impact of informing jurors of the dispositional consequences of the GBMI and NGRI verdicts. In addition, it explores whether mock jurors’ attitudes toward the insanity defense, individuals with mental illness, and perceptions of the defendant’s dangerousness strengthens or attenuates the impact of informing mock jurors of dispositional consequences. Participants (N = 488) read a case summary of an apparently mentally ill male defendant charged with first-degree murder. Half of the participants were informed of the dispositional consequences of GBMI and NGRI verdicts, while the other half of participants received no such information. Then, they were asked to choose individual verdicts and complete a questionnaire that assessed attitudes toward the insanity defense, attitudes toward individuals with mental illness, and perceptions of the defendant’s dangerousness. Results indicate that informing participants of dispositional consequences of the GBMI and NGRI verdicts increases the likelihood that the NGRI verdict is selected over the GBMI verdict. In addition, participants who had more favorable attitudes toward the insanity defense and perceived the defendant as less dangerous selected the NGRI verdict over the GBMI verdict at an even higher rate when they were informed of dispositional consequences. The implications for educating jurors in trials that include the GBMI verdict option are discussed.

Using the 2004 General Social Survey, I illuminate how dispositional optimism as a form of emotional capital enhances personal network range while also contributing to public goods through the formation of heterophilous ties. Network size and diversity are conceptualized as outcomes of optimistic functioning, which is marked by sociability, positive emotion, and problem-focused coping. I find that optimism is linked to substantial leverage in overall, non-kin, and extended network sizes on par with several years of education. Moreover, optimism yields more types of network heterophily than does educational attainment. I discuss limitations of the current study while also identifying future directions for research on emotional capital in the creation of social capital.