Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

In this research four models derived from Terror Management Theory (TMT) were tested by using structural equation modeling.. These models were developed for testing different theoretical alternatives in relation to psychological mechanisms explaining the subjective well-being as an outcome of fear of death. The first two models were based on the original Terror Management Theory. The first supposed that death anxiety as a catalyst motivates individuals in two defenses: developing culturally committed personalities by validation of cultural worldview and thus enhancing self-esteem. The second indicated that every individual had two options in the face of death: enhancing their self-esteem or committing to cultural worldview, in turn, improves the well-being of the individual. The last two models were identified by taking attachment as an alternative variable. In the third model, attachment styles of the individuals were presented as a third defense mechanism in addition to self-esteem and cultural worldview in TMT. They were assumed as mediator variables in the model between fear of death and subjective well-being. The last model treated attachment as a mediator between fear of death and distal defenses of self-esteem and cultural worldview. The results indicated that only the last model was entirely supported.. The lack of support for the first two models might be an indicator of the invalidity of the model in cultures that are not individualistic. For the last two models, the results suggested that attachment was crucial in understanding the relationship between fear of death and subjective well-being from a TMT perspective.

本研究以已婚社會工作員為對象，瞭解已婚社會工作員的工作與家庭衝突對其家庭生活滿意度的影響。研究透過兩種管道進行資料的蒐集：一種是由台灣社會工作專業人員協會與台灣兒童暨家庭扶助基金會協助樣本的提供；另一種是使用線上問卷，共回收154份有效問卷。本研究有幾點發現：首先，已婚社會工作員面臨了工作與家庭的衝突，且工作干擾家庭的情況較嚴重。其次，已婚社會工作員在家庭生活滿意度的不同構面中，以家務處理滿意程度最低。再者，已婚社會工作員不會因性別的不同在工作與家庭衝突和家庭生活滿意度兩方面有所差異。在工作特質變項上，已婚社會工作員的工作年資愈少、擔任第一線社工員、每週工作時數和每月加班時數愈多者，工作與家庭衝突的情況愈嚴重。在工作投入與勝任感方面，已婚社會工作員對社工專業愈投入，其家庭干擾工作的程度愈低，亦不會因此產生工作干擾家庭的感受；當已婚社會工作員愈難獲得合適的工作作息且愈無法勝任工作時，工作與家庭衝突的程度愈高；而已婚社會工作員對社工專業愈投入者，其家庭生活滿意度愈高。此外，已婚社會工作員的工作與家庭衝突程度愈高，家庭生活滿意度就會愈低。最後，針對研究結果，研究者提出以下建議：已婚社會工作員應瞭解自我角色的情況，在家務處理上取得配偶和家人的支持，並學習有效的時間管理與適度的自我調適；實務界則應正視社會工作員的工作壓力負荷量大的問題。 / This research takes married social workers as research subject to understand how the conflict between work and family affects their family life satisfaction. Our data was collected from two measures. Some are provided by the Taiwan Association of Social Workers and the Taiwan Fund for Children and Family while the rest comes from 154 effective questionnaires collected by an online survey. Through this research, we discovered the followings. First, married social workers do encounter work-family conflicts and their family lives are rather interfered by their work. Second, in terms of different factors of the family life satisfaction, married social workers stand at the lowest level in the satisfaction of house work management. Furthermore, married social workers, regardless of sex, share the same experience regarding work-family conflicts and the family life satisfaction. In terms of the variable of job characteristics, the work-family conflict is much more severe if married social workers have less years of job experience, act as frontline social workers, or have more weekly work hours and overtime hours per month. On the aspect of work devotion and job competency, as they devote more to become professional social workers, their family lives are less likely to be interfered by their work, and thus they don't have the feeling of interference. If they have more trouble balancing between work and rest and become less competent in their jobs, the work-family conflict would be more serious. Meanwhile, if more devotion is put into becoming professional social workers, the family life satisfaction would be higher. In addition, when married social workers suffered from more severe work-family conflicts, their family life satisfaction becomes lower. This research provides several suggestions based on the research result. Married social workers should know more about their roles in work, gain supports from their spouses and family members on housework management and learn better skills on time management and self-adjustment. In practical view, the problem of work stress and overload in social workers should be emphasized.

The broad objective of this thesis is to study the patterns of objective and subjective well-being among the immigrants in Europe. The main part of the thesis consists of three single-authored empirical chapters. The first chapter analyzes the longitudinal patterns of relative poverty among the foreign-born in Sweden. The second chapter examines the mechanisms of occupational attainment, occupational mobility and long-term occupational cost of migration among Senegalese immigrants in France, Spain and Italy. The third chapter analyzes life satisfaction and income satisfaction among immigrants in Germany. At the most general level, the results in the empirical chapters suggest that the objective well-being improves with duration of stay at destination, even if very gradually for some immigrant groups, while, on the other hand, there is a ceteris paribus negative relationship between the subjective well-being and duration of stay. A number of other findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the processes associated with the well-being among immigrants. / L'objectiu general d'aquesta tesi és estudiar les pautes del benestar objectiu i subjectiu dels immigrants a Europa. La part principal de la tesi consisteix en tres capítols empírics d'autoria única. El primer capítol analitza les pautes longitudinals de pobresa relativa entre els nascuts a l’estranger a Suècia. El segon capítol examina els mecanismes d’obtenció d’ocupació, la mobilitat i cost professional a llarg termini de la migració entre els immigrants d’origen senegalès a França, Espanya i Itàlia. El tercer capítol analitza la satisfacció general amb la vida i la satisfacció amb els ingressos entre els immigrants a Alemanya. Els resultats en els capítols empirics suggereixen, a nivell general, que el benestar objectiu millora a mida que creix la durada de l’estada en el lloc de destí, tot i que de manera molt gradual per alguns grups d’immigrants, mentre que, d’altra banda, hi ha una relació ceteris paribus negativa entre el benestar subjectiu i la durada de l’estada. Diversos resultats contribueixen a una comprensió més matisada dels processos associats amb el benestar entre els immigrants.

Although emotional labour has been studied extensively among work populations such as doctors, detectives and adventure tourism guides, there has been no known research on the psychology of actors and acting within an emotional labour framework. This investigation had two purposes. The first was to extend what is currently known about two emotional labour strategies: surface acting, the regulation of observable expressions of emotions, and deep acting, the regulation of felt emotions, to include actual actors. The dependent variables used in this study were job and life satisfaction. The second purpose was to examine whether having a sense of community moderated the relationship between surface acting, deep acting and the dependent variables. Responses from 89 professional, amateur and community theatre actors were analysed. Pearson’s correlation coefficients showed a significant relationship between surface acting and the dependent variables. Hierarchical regression results showed a significant moderation effect for sense of community on the relationship between deep acting and life satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

This thesis investigates the relationship between labour market statuses and well-being in the UK working age population, and the moderating role of the Great Recession. Research on the relationship between labour market statuses and well-being outcomes identifies negative associations with unemployment and economic inactivity. These findings are typically presented as independent of macroeconomic conditions, but to what extent does this assumption hold? The central proposition of this thesis, is that economic crises moderate the way in which labour market statuses affect well-being, thereby changing the value of statuses, not just their prevalence. The main research question addressed is ‘for the UK working age population, to what extent did labour market and employment statuses contribute to the greater or lesser effects of the economic crisis (2007/8–2011) on well-being, compared to the pre-recession ‘boom’ period (2003/4–2006/7)?’I make use of a national panel data series from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society. Firstly, after critiquing the reliance on subjective well-being (SWB) measures, confirmatory factor analysis is used to develop a measure of positive psychological health, representing a single dimension of well-being. This is then compared to a measure of SWB in a series of latent growth models to investigate individual trajectories over the study period. Secondly, multilevel models are used to estimate the relationship between five labour market and employment statuses and positive psychological health, comparing the pre-recession and recession periods. Finally, a dynamic structural equation modelling approach is used to investigate selection and causation in the relationship between labour market status and positive psychological health. Aggregate positive psychological health was associated with a recession period decline, in contrast to SWB which remained stable. Labour market statuses were found to moderate the impact of recession. People who were economically inactive were associated with the largest declines in positive psychological health during the recession period, compared to the pre-recession period, followed by those in standard employment. In contrast, the relationship between non-standard employment and unemployment and positive psychological health remained constant over time. Finally, despite evidence of selection into labour market statuses, the findings show a strong causal impact of statuses on positive psychological health. The findings provide a different take on those hardest hit by recession, showing that some of the most vulnerable to low psychological health were most exposed to the impact of recession by virtue of their labour market status. The protective value of standard employment was also diminished relatively. Evidence in favour of a causal interpretation suggests policy makers should use employment and welfare policy to prevent an accumulation of welfare issues.

Cette recherche avait pour objectif d’explorer les variables psychologiques impliquées dans l’Usage Problématique des Jeux Vidéo (UPJV) chez les adolescents, puis de façon secondaire les Réseaux Sociaux (RS) et le Téléphone Portable (TP). Ainsi, 1423 collégiens et lycéens d’Ile de France ont été inclus, dont 92,1% ont joué aux jeux vidéo au cours de l’année écoulée avec un sex ratio proche de 1. Les joueurs sont plus nombreux à avoir déjà consommé de l’alcool, présentent un score de symptomatologie dépressive plus faible, une « recherche de sensation » et une « émotionnalité » plus élevées que les non joueurs. Ceux avec un UPJV (17,7%) sont plus jeunes, ont joué plus précocement, jouent plus de temps, davantage sur ordinateur et dans une guilde. Ils possèdent de plus mauvais résultats scolaires, un usage excessif des Jeux d’Argent et Hasard (JAH) plus fréquent et commencent à boire plus jeunes. Leurs scores d’« urgence positive », de « manque de persévérance » sont plus élevés et celui d’« activité » plus faible. Le score à l’usage excessif des JAH est corrélé positivement au temps passé sur les jeux vidéo et au score d’UPJV. Ce dernier est corrélé positivement aux scores de symptomatologie anxio-dépressive, de « timidité » et d’impulsivité, puis négativement à ceux de satisfaction de vie, d’« activité » et de « sociabilité ». Les jeunes possédant un RS (85,9%) ou un TP (93,2%) sont plus souvent des filles et ont plus de risques liés à la consommation de substances. Malgré certaines limites de notre étude, nos résultats apportent des données nouvelles sur l’UPJV, les RS et le TP. / The aim of this research is to explore the psychological variables primarily involved in the Problematic Use of Video Games (PUVG) in adolescents and secondarily in Social Networks (SN) and Mobile Phones (MP). Thus, 1423 high school and college children from Ile de France region were recruited of which 92.1% had played video games in the past year with a sex ratio of 1. Players are more likely to have consumed alcohol, have lower scores on depressive symptoms, and higher "sensation seeking" and "emotionality" than non-players. Those with PUVG (17.7%) are younger, started playing earlier in life and play for more time, often on computers and in a guild. They have worse academic performances, gamble excessively and frequently and start drinking younger. Their scores on “positive urgency”, and “lack of perseverance” are higher while those on “activity” are lower. Scores on excessive gambling are positively correlated to time spent playing video games and PUVG. The latter, is positively correlated with scores on anxious-depressive symptomatology, “timidity” and impulsivity while it is negatively correlated with life satisfaction, “activity” and “sociability.” Youngsters on SN (85.9%) or MP (93.2%) are more often girls and are associated with substance use. Despite some limitations of our study, our results provide new data on PUVG, SN and MP.

Bakgrund: Mer än hälften av nyexaminerade revisorsassistenter lämnar revisionsyrket inom tre år. Revisionsbranschen präglas av en intensiv högsäsong som påverkar välmåendet negativt hos många revisorer. Välmåendet påverkas av balansen mellan arbetet och fritiden, arbetstillfredsställelse och livstillfredsställelse. Försämring bidrar enligt tidigare forskning till personalomsättning. Eftersom revisionsbyråerna investerar mycket i revisorsassistenterna har de incitament att behålla sina anställda. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att utforska hur före detta revisorsassistenter resonerar kring det subjektiva välmåendet och hur det, i förhållande till andra aspekter, bidragit till valet att lämna revisionsyrket innan auktorisation. Metod: Studien tillämpar en intervjumetod med en huvudsaklig deduktiv ansats. Primärdata har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med elva före detta revisorsassistenter som har arbetat på Big 4-byråer. Empirin har analyserats tematiskt. Slutsats: Studien indikerar att det finns flera anledningar till att revisorsassistenter byter yrke. Det har visats finnas missnöje med låg lön i samband med hög arbetsbörda och många arbetstimmar under högsäsongen. Yrken som kräver samma yrkeserfarenhet ger dessutom högre lön för mindre arbete. Studien indikerar även att revisionsyrket används som ett insteg till andra karriärmöjligheter. / Introduction: More than half of newly graduated audit assistants leave the audit profession within three years. The audit industry is characterized by an intense peak season that adversely affects the well-being of auditors. Well-being is affected by work-life balance, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Declined well-being contributes to turnover, according to prior research. As the audit firms invest a lot in the audit assistants, there are incentives to keep their employees. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore how former auditor assistants reason about their subjective well-being and how, in relation to other aspects, it contributed to the choice to leave the audit profession before authorization. Method: The study applies an interview method with a mainly deductive approach. Primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with eleven former audit assistants who have worked at Big 4 firms. The empirical data was analysed thematically. Conclusion: The study indicates that there are several reasons why audit assistants change professions. The study finds dissatisfaction with low salary in connection with high workload and many working hours during the peak season. In addition, occupations that require the same professional experience provide higher pay for less work, which contributes to changes in profession. The study also indicates that the audit profession is used as an entry to other career opportunities.

Theoretical concepts: The central topic of my thesis is the life satisfaction of the elderly, although this concept is perceived very subjectively. Moreover, it varies even in one person at different life stages and it depends on various circumstances and events that accompany people on their life journeys. However, experiencing satisfaction always requires the saturation of one's needs, physical ones as well as mental, social and spiritual ones. Most of the times, one is able to provide for their needs, or at least affect them, through their activities and their will, but the older ones grows, the more one becomes dependent on others in this respect. This task is usually taken in part by one's family members who are willing to help and take care of their close relative, but there also arise situations where one has to entrust themselves into the hands of health professionals, especially nurses. The nurses' tasks do not just include staffing surgeries, but it is necessary for them to pay attention to the individual needs of their clients. Importance of both these components of care is entirely equivalent, because treatment success depends largely on the psychological state, defined by the satisfaction of the clients' life needs, and, on the other hand, the measure a patients' well-being is strongly influenced by the state of their health depending on successful treatment. Professional care that their clients receive is often linked to the placement of the elderly in some health institutions; possibly there may be a situation when an elderly person stays in their home and receives care from field medical staff for only a few hours a day. In any case, the objective of such care, through whatever methods it is provided, should be to achieve the highest possible degree of satisfaction of elderly individuals. Objectives of the thesis: To find out about subjective evaluation of life satisfaction of the elderly depending on their age To find out about subjective evaluation of life satisfaction of the elderly depending on their sex To find out about subjective evaluation of life satisfaction of the elderly depending on institution type Hypotheses: H1: Men are more satisfied than women H2: Satisfaction of the elderly decreases as they grow older H3: The most satisfied are the elderly who use the services of ADP Methods: The method of quantitative research was used in the practical part. For this purpose, the reduced SQUALA standardized questionnaire was used. It had been transferred to interview form due to the age of the target group of the elderly. The obtained data was processed with Microsoft Office Excel and some calculations were made with the Statistica programme. Answers from one hundred respondents were obtained as part of the survey; the respondents came from South Bohemia, particularly from the Český Krumlov and České Budějovice regions. Three types of health care institutions were contacted: a home care agency, retirement homes and hospital aftercare wards. Fifteen elderly persons were obtained for cooperation in the home care agency, 39 persons in retirement homes and 46 persons in hospitals. Results: The results of the survey show that satisfaction of the elderly is most affected by the type of health institution used, i.e. by the environment in which they are provided with health care. Definitely the most satisfied are the people who use the services of the home care agency. On the other hand, age or sex did not play a significant role when evaluating life satisfaction. Conclusion: The importance of this thesis may lie mostly in the opportunity to use the acquired knowledge, regarding the satisfaction of the elderly and the factors that influence this satisfaction, to improve the quality of care provided by nurses and other health staff.

The theoretical part of this thesis will define the concept of life and job satisfaction, as well as factors affecting life satisfaction and it´s measurement methods. In relation to life satisfaction, thesis will also investigate issues of personality and the teaching profession. The practical part will be focused on the degree of life and job satisfaction of selected sample of second grade elementary school´s teachers, but not only the overall level of life satisfaction, but also the satisfaction of teachers in various areas of life. Linkage between different areas of life and overall life satisfaction will be also examined in this thesis. The relationship of these two phenomena to demographic data and finally the relationship between life satisfaction and personality factors.