This master thesis aims to identify work-related factors making Belgian nurses consider leaving their job voluntary and to compare the work-related factors across different generations. The purpose of this master thesis has a descriptive nature of research. The research approach chosen is a deductive approach and the research design chosen is a quantitative research design. Cluster sampling in combination with simple random sampling was used as sampling technique. 128 nurses were surveyed from April to May 2016. Nurses who reported to leave the organization due to retirement reasons, temporary employment contract or maternity leave were excluded from the study as this study investigates the voluntary turnover intention. A total of 68 nurses were included in the study which indicates an overall response rate of 53 %. Numerous of the findings in this master thesis are consistent with previous studies on turnover intention of different generations in other western-countries than Belgium. The work-related factor workload was most often reported by Belgian nurses with no intention to leave their job. Belgian nurses with an intention to leave their job indicated most often the work-related factor (non-)financial benefits. The generation-specific findings indicated both similarities and differences between the work-related factors selected. It was observed that Baby Boomers with an intention to leave their job selected most often variables related to the work-related factors (non-)financial benefits, supportive organization and workload. The variable lack of recognition appeared among Baby Boomers with an intention and no intention to leave their job. Surprisingly was the often selected variables lack of direct and/clear feedback on performances and unsupportive supervisor among Baby Boomers with professional turnover intention. Further, it was observed that Generation Xers with an intention to leave their job selected most often variables related to the work-related factors supportive organization, communication, (non-)financial benefits, work content and workload. The variables inadequate opportunity for advancement/professional growth and imbalance work-life appeared among Generation Xers with an intention and no intention to leave their job. Generation Yers with an intention to leave their job selected most frequently variables related to the work-related factors (non-)financial benefits, workload and commitment. The variables inadequate salary and opportunities elsewhere appeared among nurses with an intention and no intention to leave their job. Surprisingly was the often selected variable inadequate salary among Generation Yers with professional turnover intention.

The process of persuasion, the changing of a person’s attitudes, has often been applied to health communications designed to promote healthy behavior. Manipulation of aspects of the persuasive message can influence persuasion and the likelihood of attitude change. For a long time, the existing persuasion research had yet to examine how different types of message framing and intervention targets directly and in interaction with one another act as predictors of health attitude change. Therefore, this thesis addressed this lapse using an online survey to assess participants’ attitude towards the health issue of hypertension after reading a health message. This health message was manipulated in how it framed the problems of high blood pressure and how it prescribed changes in behavior to have healthy blood pressure levels. It was hypothesized that negative message framing, the interrogative verb mood and a facilitation target would have greater influence over attitude and behavioral intention compared to their alternatives. The same pattern of results was expected for elaboration save for the hypothesis that an inhibition intervention target would result in greater elaboration than a facilitation target. This thesis may further the field of psychology’s understanding of persuasion as well as help create a better informed and healthier society.

Breastfeeding is the gold standard of infant feeding and its benefits extend beyond the mother and child. Multiple organizations recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant’s life. Exclusive breastfeeding rates nationally and in the state of Kentucky fall below the Healthy People 2020 goals. A mother’s intention to breastfeed has been shown to impact actual breastfeeding behavior. The current state of the measurement of intention was explored through a literature review. A majority of the measures were single item scales. The reliability and validity of the scales should be further tested in diverse populations. The purposes of this dissertation were to: a) explore the role of breastfeeding intention on duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and b) determine the common modifiable factors among women who breastfeed exclusively for at least four months. English speaking mothers 18 years of age and older were asked to participate if they had delivered a healthy infant in the last 72 hours and if they intended to feed their baby some amount of breast milk (n = 84). Mothers were followed for 16 weeks or until they weaned their infant, whichever came first. Social support, breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding intention were measured at baseline. Breastfeeding support and breastfeeding self-efficacy were measured at four and 16 weeks. Results indicated that mothers with stronger intention to breastfeed were more likely to breastfeed exclusively for a longer period of time. Mothers who breastfed their infant exclusively for 16 weeks were asked to participate in one of two focus group meetings (n = 15). The following five themes emerged from the data: 1) knowledge, 2) peer experience, 3) support, 4) perseverance, and 5) the public.

本論文試圖設計一套讀者如何理解（強納生•史威夫特的）《一個謙遜提議》為諷刺文的認知過程。此認知過程包含兩個步驟：（A）推論出作者是諷刺的，（B）推論出作者意圖諷刺某真人。本論文分三部分來處理（A）與（B）。 第一部分（第2至5章）處理（A），而（A）又可細分為：（a）判斷《謙遜提議》似乎為錯，（b）推論出作者意圖它為錯，（c）推論出作者意圖讀者發現它為錯。然而，（a）阻礙了（b）與接下來的（c），因為《謙遜提議》在讀者眼中是似乎為錯，而非應該為錯。因此，讀者有困難去最終詮釋《謙遜提議》為一諷刺文。然而，當讀者閱畢《謙遜提議》後若能感到極度被娛樂（feels extremely amused），他將比較容易有（b）與（c）的反應，因為他會推論出作者在開玩笑。 第二部分（第6至7章）試圖設計一個娛樂（amusement）的認知理論與一個幽默（humor）的認知理論。我定義「娛樂」為一種情緒，成因是一個人在認知上評價「幽默」為愉悅的。而我定義「幽默」基本上是對失諧（incongruity）的反應。幽默可以是：（1）知覺到失諧；（2）知覺到失諧，並解困之；或（3）知覺到失諧，並求甚解地解困之。 第三部分（第8章）則處理由（A）到（B）的認知過程。讀者於此階段理解到《謙遜提議》裡的虛構第一人稱是一個隱喻，隱喻對象為某個針對愛爾蘭問題提出殘暴荒謬解決辦法的真實權貴。 終其此論文，我試圖拆解作者的《謙遜提議》（為一諷刺文），並藉由讀者的各種可能詮釋（《謙遜提議》是一個好計畫、偽善謊言等等）來重組之。有時，作者已死，而其身分不可辨認。於論文結論，我將運用此（對《謙遜提議》的）詮釋不穩定性，來解釋針對2004年台灣319（槍擊）案反應的意見分歧。 / This thesis aims to design a cognitive process of how the reader comprehends Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” as a satire. This cognitive process includes two steps: (A) to infer that the author is satirical, (B) to infer that the author intends to satirize some real person. This thesis is cut into three parts to tackle (A) and (B). The first part (Chapters 2-5) is on (A), and (A) is subdivided into: (a) to judge that AMP1 seems to be false, (b) to infer that the author intends it to be false, (c) to infer that the author intends the reader to find it false. However, (a) impedes (b) and the sequential (c), because AMP is seemingly false, not normatively false, in the eyes of the reader. The reader thus has the difficulty to eventually interpret AMP as a satire. However, when the reader feels extremely amused after reading AMP, he will more easily fulfill (b) and (c), because he will infer that the author is joking. The second part (Chapters 6-7) aims to design a cognitive theory of amusement and that of humor. I define amusement as an emotion, caused by the cognitive appraisal of the humor as pleasant. And I define humor as basically a reaction to incongruity. Humor can be: (1) the perception of incongruity, (2) the perception of incongruity and its resolution, or (3) the perception of incongruity and its resolution with comprehension. The third part (Chapter 8) is on the cognitive process from (A) to (B). The reader in this stage comprehends that the fictional speaker in AMP is a metaphor of some bigwig in reality who proposes an outrageous solution to the Irish problems. Throughout this thesis, I try to demolish the author’s AMP (that it is a satire) and restructure it with the reader’s interpretations (that AMP is a good plan, a hypocritical lie, etc.). Sometimes, the author is dead and his identity is unrecognizable. At the end, I will apply this interpretative instability (to AMP) to the dissension over the Taiwan 319 (gunshot) incident in 2004. ------------ 1 Herein Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” will be referred to as AMP.

<p>Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka sambandet mellan elevers attityder, subjektiv norm, upplevd kontroll, intentioner, rättfärdiganden, motivation samt självvärdering i relation till benägenhet att fuska eller att avstå från att fuska. <em>The theory of planned behavior </em>(Ajzen, 2006) har använts som teoretisk modell för en enkätundersökning med 122 elever i grundskolans årskurs 9 och i gymnasieskolans årskurser 2–3. Resultatet av studien visar att intentionen att utföra ett beteende, som i denna studie är fusk, är den viktigaste prediktorn för beteendet i fråga. I föreliggande studie har även kunnat styrkas att rättfärdigande av eget fusk har en avgörande roll vad gäller beteende och intention. De övriga variablerna har en viss betydelse med inte i lika hög grad som intention och rättfärdigande.  Resultatet av studien har diskuterats utifrån intentionen och rättfärdigandets starka samband med beteendet.</p>

Globalisation radically changed the way in which talent is sourced, organised and managed. The chemical industry as competitor in the global landscape is increasingly faced with challenges to attract and retain talent. The success and global competitiveness of the chemical industry largely depends on its employees, their ideas and intellectual resources. Highly talented employees are targeted by competitor companies and head hunters with substantial financial incentives and benefits. Leadership plays a vital role in creating a stimulating, empowered and challenging work environment that will attract and retain employees. Employees need to experience a sense of meaning, have the resources to do their jobs and most importantly, need to be empowered beyond being asked to meet performance goals. The aim of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between leadership empowerment behaviour, psychological empowerment, work engagement and turnover intention in a chemical industry. The study secondly examined whether leadership empowerment behaviour affected turnover intention via psychological empowerment and thirdly the study investigated if leadership empowerment behaviour affected work engagement via psychological empowerment. A random cross-sectional design with paper-based surveys as the primary method of data collection was used to accomplish the research objectives. The measuring battery for this study consisted of the Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire (LEB), the Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire (MEQ), the Work Engagement Scale (WES) and the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS). The simulation and statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences IBM SPSS version 21 and Mplus. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) which is theory driven was used in the study. The results showed that a significant relationship existed between leadership empowerment behaviour, psychological empowerment, work engagement and turnover intention. Regression analysis indicated that leadership empowerment behaviour had significant predictive value towards psychological empowerment and work engagement. The results showed that leadership empowerment behaviour did not affect turnover intention via psychological empowerment, but rather had a direct effect on employee’s turnover intention. The results further showed that psychological empowerment did have an indirect effect on the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and work engagement. The results indicated that it would be worthwhile if organisations develop leader’s competence and skills to empower their workforces. This would lead to higher levels of psychological empowerment, work engagement and retention of talent. Recommendations for future research were made. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Education in South Africa plays an important role in the economy and in the future of the people of our country. There is a major shortage of suitably qualified teachers, not only in South Africa but worldwide. Other problems that exist within the teaching profession are teacher strikes, large number of learners in classes, violence, depression, anxiety, to name a few. Many teachers leave the profession as they are faced with all these different problems. It is therefore necessary to recruit and retain qualified teachers. Some teachers find pleasure from all these stressors and they can be described as engaged in their work. Hence, a shift towards a positive psychology mind-set is needed for teachers to stay in the teaching profession. Social support can be regarded as a positive mechanism between co-workers to show concern for each other's fee lings and to encourage good work performance. Social support is therefore a key factor in retaining teachers. The psychological conditions (psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety and psychological availability) are included in this study to examine how teachers experience themselves at the school and how psychological conditions influence their work engagement. The more social support colleagues receive, and the more engaged they are in their work, the more likely they are to stay in the profession. The general objective of this study was to investigate teachers' intention to stay in the teaching profession. A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. A quantitative approach was followed by selecting a convenience sample of participants (N=233) in the Gauteng East di strict. The measuring instruments that were administered include the Work Experiences Scale and the Work Engagement Scale (May, Gilson & Harter, 2004), and the Intention to Stay Scale (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2007). The statistical analysis was carried out by using the SPSS programme (SPSS, 2009). Statistically significant relationships were found between social support, psychological conditions, work engagement and intention to stay. The results confirmed that social support and work engagement were significant predictors of intention to stay. The relationship between social support and work engagement was mediated by psychological conditions. Some of the recommendations include that schools should implement formal or informal support groups to maintain productivity as well as to create an environment that is safe. These support groups will make teachers more available to each other in order to discuss different challenges and initiatives. Regarding the recommendations for future research it came about that qualitative research would show the potential to identify vital factors that have not been recognised by this study where only certain questionnaires were used to find data amongst teachers. To conclude, this study suggests that social support and work engagement are vital constructs to consider when conducting research on the intention to stay of employees, and that psychological conditions plays a role in the relationship between social support and work engagement. Therefore, these dimensions also seem to have an influence on teachers' work and their intention to stay in the teaching profession. / M.Com, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Globally, employees are experiencing extensive change in the workplace. Downsizing, right-sizing or restructuring have become familiar terms in difficult economic conditions and imply that rationalising of jobs is inevitable. Organisations attempt to reduce costs, which in turn places pressure on employees to modify their jobs and seek alternative employment. This increases their intention to leave (Iyo & Brotheridge, 2004). The researcher is interested in determining how satisfied employees are with their life in general, in their jobs, and whether the constructs at hand can lead to an intention to leave. This is information that an organisation might value due to high turnover costs. Employability and autonomy are linked to the above concepts. With reference to the above formulation of the problem statement, the general objective of this research is to determine the relationship between the psychological contract, employability, autonomy, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and the intention to leave of security employees in the Vaal Triangle. The primary objective of this research is to determine the relationship between the psychological contract, employability, autonomy, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and the intention to leave of security employees in the Vaal Triangle. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Constructs were measured by means of the psychological contract (employer obligations, employee obligations), a biographical questionnaire, employability questionnaire, autonomy questionnaire, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and intention to leave questionnaires. The research method for each of the two articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. An exploratory factor analysis, as well as Cronbach alpha coefficients, was computed to access the reliability. Validity of the different product moment correlation coefficients and regression analysis were used to examine the relationship between the constructs employed in this research. Significant differences are found between various individual characteristics and the scores of the psychological contract (employer obligations, employee obligations and the psychological contract), the individual characteristics, employability, autonomy, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and intention to leave. Conclusions are made, limitations of the current research are discussed and recommendations for future research and the organisation are put forward. / MCom, Labour Relations Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Students’ intention to stay within the higher education system is decreasing by the year, and even though more students are enrolling at universities annually, the percentage of students completing their studies is not satisfactory. The low completion rate is a concern not only in South Africa, but worldwide. Trends are identified as to why students do not complete their studies. This study seeks to focus on perceived social support, the students’ academic fit, the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability as well as the students’ engagement levels, and then to investigate if these constructs will influence their intention to stay. The proposed engagement model of May, Gilson, and Harter (2004) originally designed by George Kahn (1990), was used to determine whether social support and academic fit correlates positively with the psychological conditions, which may lead to engagement and increase a student’s intention to stay. A quantitative research design was used to investigate the universal challenge at hand, and it was descriptive in nature in order to gather specific information from the first-year students. A crossectional design was used. The research method consists of a literature review and an empirical study, presented in one research article. A convenience sample was used, and a total of 304 students completed the questionnaires. These questionnaires were based on the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Psychological Conditions Scale, Academic Fit Scale, the Work Engagement Scale and the Intent to Leave Scale. Structural equation modelling methods were used, and implemented in AMOS to test the measurement and structural models. The fit-indices used to test if the model fit the data included the absolute fit indices such as Chi-square statistic, the Standardized Root Mean Residual (SRMR), and the Root-Means-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). The incremental fit indices which were used included the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and the Comparative Fit Index. It was found that social support did not have an impact on the psychological conditions of meaningfulness and availability, but it had a direct and indirect (via academic fit) effect on intention to stay. This implies that the amount of support students receive has an influence on their intention to stay, and also increased their sense of belonging in their field of study. Academic fit was positively associated with the psychological conditions of meaning and availability, which means that if the student’s personality and field of study is aligned the student will feel that the course is meaningful to him, and he will invest more energy in his studies. Academic fit had direct effects on students’ intention to stay, which means that students who feel they belong in their field of study will also be more likely to stay at the educational institution. It was also found that if students experience a sense of psychological meaningfulness and availability they will be more engaged in their studies, which impact their intention to stay / MCom, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Globally competitive industries need to keep up with the rigorous technical innovations to ensure that they reach their targets in terms of customer satisfaction. In order to do this, businesses need to ensure that they have the correct skills and capabilities in order to meet their demands. Organisations encounter difficulties as they constantly need to replace lost skills, and once these skills have been replaced, they need to spend additional money to train and equip new employees adequately to perform the jobs that they are employed to do. These days, many companies find themselves in financial turmoil which emerges from large turnover rates. There has been a severe exodus of skilled employees in the utility industry. During the past twelve months, this industry has lost 1 479 critical skills. Scarce skills are expensive to retain and it is important that employee well-being take top priority to keep up with changing labour demographics. This upkeep relates to huge emphasis being placed on customer satisfaction. In order to keep customers happy, companies first need to keep their employees happy. Efforts made by the organisation to improve situational circumstances for its employees, will promote positive individual and organisational outcomes. Two dimensions contribute greatly to a positive employment relationship which is conducive towards promoting positive individual and organisational outcomes, namely a fulfilled psychological contract and fairness in allocating monetary rewards. Money should not be used as a Band-Aid; not everything can be remedied with money. However, money is important, although it is not the most important factor. Fulfilment of the different dimensions of the psychological contract, including, but not limited to opportunities for personal growth and career advancement, and a management-supportive work environment are vital towards establishing and maintaining a positive employment relationship. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of psychological contract breach, job satisfaction and turnover intention in the utility industry and to determine the outcomes thereof. A mixed method approach was used to gather data. In the qualitative study, managers and staff (N = 15) were interviewed and a thematic content analysis was performed. In the second phase of the study, the quantitative part, questionnaires were distributed to employees (N = 251) across all levels of the organisation. The measuring instruments used were the Psychological Contract Inventory, Job Satisfaction Scale and Turnover Intention Scale. The results of Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that a total of 60% of participants made reference to the importance of money. Emphasis was also placed on other aspects, where 53% of participants made mention of leadership being an important driver of job satisfaction. Other themes also regarded as important toward curbing skills loss were the importance of personal excellence and the need for effective communication as drivers of job satisfaction. Article 2 (Chapter 3) found that a fulfilled balanced psychological contract displayed a strong, positive relationship with job satisfaction and that job satisfaction had a negative impact on turnover intention. These findings support the negative impact of psychological contract breach on job satisfaction and, in relation to this, job dissatisfaction positively impacted turnover intention. It was further found that psychological contract breach of the balanced contract had an indirect positive impact on turnover intent via job satisfaction. Recommendations for future studies were made. / MCom (Labour Relations Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014