Purpose: The aim of this research is to investigate if positive attitudes influence the intentions to purchase groceries online. In order fulfil the purpose and test the relationship between attitudes and intentions, the Theory of Planned Behaviour is used as the underlying theoretical model. Background: The e-commerce market in Sweden is regarded as one of the most developed e-commerce markets in Europe, however the grocery market is still striving for an online breakthrough. One of the largest obstacles for the online grocery market is the lack of consumer adoption. Previous research has emphasized the importance of understanding consumer attitudes and its influence on the consumers’ intention to adopt an e-commerce behaviour. Existing theories recognize a gap within positive attitudes’ and their influence on the intentions to adopt e-commerce. Method: An explanatory strategy and a deductive approach were applied in order to test the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Three hypotheses were developed based on the model. The empirical study was based on a quantitative approach and the data collection was made possible through an online survey targeted towards adults in Sweden. Furthermore the analysis of the data was done in SPSS through factor analysis, correlation matrix, descriptive variables and multi linear regression analysis, this provided answers for the hypotheses with a 95% confidence interval. Findings and conclusion: The analysed empirical findings presented overall positive attitudes, as well as a strong correlation between positive attitudes and intentions within online grocery shopping. This answers the research question and fulfils the purpose of examining the influence that positive attitudes have on intentions within the field of online grocery shopping. This research successfully tests the Theory of Planned Behaviour and suggestions for further research is to examine the underlying factors in a qualitative study.

The relationships among counseling expectations, attitudes toward seeking psychological help, psychological distress, and intention to seek counseling have only been examined in one previous study (Vogel, Wester, Wei, & Boysen, 2005). The primary purpose of the current study was to replicate and address the limitations of the Vogel et al. (2005) study. First, a mediation analysis of attitudes on the relationship of expectations and intention to seek therapy was performed. Next, path analyses were used to test a model of the relationship among counseling expectations, attitudes toward seeking psychological help, psychological distress, and the intent to seek counseling, for men and women separately. In the hypothesized model, two separate paths were predicted to impact intentions to seek psychological help. First, three distinct expectations about counseling (personal commitment, facilitative conditions, and counselor expertise) were expected to influence attitudes toward seeking psychological help, which in turn, predicted intention to seek counseling. Second, psychological distress was expected to relate to the intent to seek therapy. Because the hypothesized model for both genders did not fit the data, exploratory path analyses were completed. In the final path model for men, additional paths from the expectancy factors personal commitment and counselor expertise to intent to seek therapy resulted in a well-fitting model. For women, an additional path between psychological distress and attitudes improved the model significantly. Impact of these findings for research and practice are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

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

The mining industry has been under enormous pressure in the past few years. particularly with issues around production and costs. As far as human capital is concerned. the gold industry has seen a high degree of shrinkage in personnel. In order to be able to cope with the continuous challenges faced by the mining industry, mining organisations need leaders of the highest standards. Due to the challenge of increasing productivity levels, empowerment is required within the gold mining industry. The correct application of empowerment may increase efficiency and effectiveness inside an organisation. Having employees with the appropriate levels of organisational commitment facilitates the change management process and ensures its successful implementation. Organisations value commitment among their employees because it is typically assumed to reduce withdrawal behaviours, such as lateness, absenteeism and turnover. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between leader empowering behaviour, organisational commitment and turnover intention within the mining industry. The research method consists of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. An availability sample (N = 388) was taken from mining employees. The Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire (LEBQ), Affective Organisational Commitment Scale (AOC), Turnover Intention Scale (Tl) and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The statistical analysis was carried out with the help of the SPSS program as well as the AMOS program. / Contents: Leader empowering behaviour -- Organisational commitment -- Turnover intention -- Work performance -- Productivity / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Gold mining in South Africa has played a significant role in the economic development of the country over the past 120 years. The continued focus on productivity, recruitment and consolidation in the South African gold mining industry will result in a decline in production. Much of the decline can be attributed to natural attrition as the industry has moved from a mass employer of limited, contract, unskilled labour, to an employer of more permanent, mostly semi-skilled or skilled labour. The objective of this research was to investigate the reliability of measuring instruments of social support, role overload (qualitative and quantitative), job satisfaction and turnover intention for employees in the mining industry. Further objectives included empirically determining whether social support has a moderating effect on the relation between role overload and job satisfaction and turnover intention. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A random sample was taken from a South African mining company (N=250). Gender and age were included as control variables. Individuals on Paterson grading E band to C Upper (managers) were part of the sample. Five measuring instruments were administrated. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results obtained for the five scales proved the measuring instruments to be reliable. The results show that when an employee feels that his/her work is more than he/she can accomplish in the time available (quantitative role overload), the employee will most probably also feel that his/her work requires skills, abilities and knowledge beyond that of their own (qualitative role overload). It is also indicated that social support from the supervisor increases the employee's positive attitude or pleasurable emotional state towards his/her job or job experience (job satisfaction), as well as heightens the probability of social support from colleagues. Furthermore, the more positive the employee's attitude towards the job, the less the intention to stop working will be (turnover intention). This intention to stop working will also be less when social support from the supervisor is more and/or when the employee experiences less feelings that his/her work is more than he/she can accomplish in the time available. Turnover intention was predicted by social support from supervisor. Job satisfaction was predicted by role overload (quantitative) and social support from supervisor. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.