Burnout is a prevalent problem in South Africa, affecting individuals and organisations in various industries. The study of burnout in South Africa is important in order to solve the burnout problem. Valid and reliable measurement instruments are necessary to conduct studies on burnout. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was developed as a result of criticism against the most popular burnout measure, namely the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory measures burnout in terms of three factors, namely personal burnout, work-related burnout and client-related burnout. Although the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory is a unique tool for the measurement of burnout, very little attention has been paid to determining the psychometric properties of this instrument. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory can be used as a valid and reliable measure for burnout in South Africa. The research methodology followed a quantitative survey research approach. A non-probability snowball sample of 215 respondents completed the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Data obtained was used to conduct an exploratory factor analysis and internal reliability analysis. The study proved that the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory can be used in South Africa to measure two factors with high internal reliabilities, namely exhaustion (á=0.935) and client-related burnout (á=0.913). It is recommended that additional items based on withdrawal should be added to the work-related burnout scale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Such additional items might possibly lead to confirmation of the original three-factor model in a South African context. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Background: Brand personality is based on the notion that brands possess personalities similar to that of human personalities. It is a common measure for describing consumers’ brand perceptions, and brands with loyal customers often have distinctive personalities. Since Aaker (1997) introduced the first brand personality scale, researchers have noticed increasing difficulties in comparing results from different studies. Geuens, Weijters & De Wulf’s (2009) proposed a solution to this problem by developing a brand personality scale that is claimed to be universal. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the extent to which the proposed universal brand personality scale (UBPS) can be validated in a Swedish context. Methodology: This descriptive study is of quantitative nature and applied a cross-sectional design. An online questionnaire was sent out to collect data on 12 brands from 193 respondents. These provided 2205 brand impressions that were processed by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Parameters such as content validity, fit indices, composite reliability and construct validity were chosen to determine the overall fitness of the model. Conclusion: The results indicated reasonable support for validation of Geuens, Weijters & De Wulf’s (2009) brand personality scale in a Swedish context.

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In this study, data from the survey Vetenskap- och Folkbildningsundersökningen 2021 on belief in conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, superstition and racist ideas was analyzed using a multiple causes, multiple indicators structural equation model. It was found that viewing stances on the selected survey questions as a manifestation of these 4 belief systems (belief in conspiracy theories, belief in alternative medicine, superstition, and racism) is supported by the data, and that the belief systems are statistically significantly correlated. Among other results, it was also found that, when controlling for background variables such as size of place of residence, gender, education level and age, persons with a university education believe in conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, superstition and racist ideas to a lesser extent than persons with lower formal education, while sympathizers of the Sweden Democrats hold these beliefs to a greater extent than sympathizers of other parties.

To provide quality education to all students, including ELLs, teachers need professional development designed and enacted according to best practice. However, a common problem for professional development is that teachers' practices often do not change. Implemented through the partnership collaboration with university, education, and public school faculty, the professional development designed in this study focused on educating teachers about needed content and engaging them in ways that would increase the likelihood they would enact such practices in their classrooms (Desimone, 2009; Opfer & Pedder, 2011; Penuel et al., 2007). The professional development program comprised six courses that adhered to the Utah State Office of Education's standards for the education of the teachers of ELLs. The study examined the teachers' beliefs and their classroom practices. A total of 197 teachers were surveyed on their beliefs toward teaching ELLs, and a subset of 23 teachers' classroom practices were videotaped. Factor analyses were conducted on the pre- and post-survey. The videos were coded using a protocol based on the SIOP model (Echevarria et al., 2013), and latent variables were created to measure the change of the survey score and practice score. The analysis revealed that teachers' beliefs or knowledge in particular changed from when they began the course of second language acquisition to the time they completed it. In addition, teachers' practice changed from the time they started the professional development program to the time they completed it. However, even though teachers' beliefs and practices changed, there was no correlation found between the belief change and the practice change. This study adds to the literature that educating teachers about second language learning and research-based practices (Baker et al., 2014) using professional development that attends to teachers' practices as well as their beliefs (Desimone, 2009; Opfer & Pedder, 2011; Penuel et al., 2007) resulted in positive changes in teacher's beliefs and practices for teaching ELLs. Future research should add a variable of teacher's beliefs about the context of their teaching practice into the study for this can be a confounding variable that affects the correlation between the change of beliefs and the change of practices.

Current recommended cutoffs for determining measurement invariance have typically derived from simulation studies that have focused on multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, often using continuous data. These cutoffs may be inappropriate for ordered categorical data in a longitudinal setting. This study conducts two Monte Carlo studies that evaluate the performance of four popular model fit indices used to determine measurement invariance. The comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were all found to be inconsistent across various simulation conditions as well as invariance tests, and thus were not recommended for use in longitudinal measurement invariance testing. The standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) was the most consistent and robust fit index across simulation conditions, and thus we recommended using ≥ 0.01 as a cutoff for determining longitudinal measurement invariance with ordered categorical indicators.

Successful educational systems are established, maintained, and cultivated on a foundation of trust. Effective communication among colleagues is widely accepted as a characteristic of groups who establish and maintain high levels of trust. Despite the importance of the relationships between interpersonal communication skills and levels of organizational trust in postsecondary educational settings, there is very little published on this topic. Further, no published research was located that examined relationships between measures of mindfulness in communication with levels of organizational trust in postsecondary educational settings. This study examined relationships between measures of competent and mindful communication with levels of organizational trust among coworkers, with supervisors, and with the organization in a postsecondary academic library. Study participants included 116 out of 150 non-student library employees of a postsecondary academic library on a large suburban private university campus. The research survey was comprised of four different instruments: the SocioCommunicative Orientation Scale (SCO; Richmond & McCroskey, 1990); the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS; Martin & Rubin, 1995); the Mindfulness in Communication Scale (MCS; Arendt et al., 2019); and the Workplace Trust Survey (WTS; Ferres & Travaglione, 2003). The functioning of each instrument was examined by confirmatory factor analysis. Satisfactory model fit for each instrument was obtained. Structural equation modeling revealed that self-reported levels of communication responsiveness predicted levels of trust in coworkers (p = .02). Perceived levels of mindfulness in communication of coworkers predicted levels of trust in coworkers (p < .001), and perceived levels of mindfulness in communication of supervisors (p < .001) predicted levels of trust in supervisors. This research suggests that perceptions of mindfulness in communication among coworkers and with supervisors are associated with levels of organizational trust within postsecondary academic settings in important ways. Further research is necessary to increase understanding of the relationships between mindfulness in communication and organizational trust in educational environments.

Despite the existence of extensive literature regarding risk management, there still seems to be lack of knowledge in identification of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in this area. In this research Grounded Theory is implemented to identify CSFs in Risk Management Systems (RMS). Factor analysis and one-sample t-test are then used to refine and rank the CSFs based on the results of a survey which has been performed among Risk Management practitioners in various types of Swedish corporations. CSFs are defined from three different perspectives: (a) the factors that have influence on the inclination and readiness of corporation for implementing RMS. (b) the factors that are important during the design and implementation of RMS in corporation and can significantly affect the success of RMS design and implementation and (c) the factors that are crucially important to successfully run, maintain and administrate RMS after the closure of the project of RMS design and Implementation. This systematic approach towards understanding the taxonomy of the success dimension in RMS is important for re-enforcing effective risk management practices.

The reasons why some countries suffer from high levels of violence are still poorly understood despite the important attention they have received in academia. One of the potential drivers explaining spatial and temporal differences in organised conflict is the culture surrounding violence. This paper specifically attempts to explain: How does a culture of violence impact the likelihood and intensity of organised conflict? I build a theoretical framework which describes a culture of violence constituted of (at least) four dimensions. I propose that a society with a stronger culture of violence is more likely to experience armed conflict and less likely to have non-violent conflicts. I also hypothesize a positive effect on conflict intensity. I perform an exploratory factor analysis to investigate the dimensions of a culture of violence and use zero-inflated Poisson regressions to test its effect on organized conflict. The exploratory factor analysis reveals the existence of not four but at least five dimensions of culture of violence. A culture of violence does not appear to influence the likelihood of conflict. However, when conflict does occur, culture of violence seems to increase the intensity of conflicts. Unfortunately, this paper does not find sufficient support to reject the null hypotheses.

Quality of life refers to the way in which the person perceives their daily experience, considering in this process the social and cultural component. This implies that to know the perception of the quality of life it is necessary to consider in its measurement the scope of physical, psychological, social, environmental and personal health. Along these lines, one of the instruments that is limited to this approach is the Barnes and Olson Quality of Life Scale (ECVOB). Objective. The purpose of the study was to determine the validity based on the internal structure and reliability of the ECVOB in schoolchildren and university students in Lima. Method. The study design is instrumental. The Spanish version of the ECVOB was used on a sample of 1239 students from Lima between males (57%) and females (43%) aged between 14 and 26 years (M age = 22.45; SD age = 3.75). The evidence of validity of the internal structure was evaluated through a confirmatory factor analysis. Results. The findings suggest a partial restructuring of the original seven-factor model proposed by Olson and Barnes. Conclusion. The new structure of the ECVOB is a valid and reliable measure in schoolchildren and university students in Lima.