Employees in the workplace face many challenges that cause stress. Despite these stresses many cope and remain positive. This study investigated positive psychological functioning among civil servants and explored how they functioned despite stressors in the work environment. The constructs of locus of control, sense of coherence, engagement and their relationship to the burnout construct (viewed as the opposite end of the wellness continuum) were used to examine this behaviour. Results showed that high sense of coherence, locus of control and engagement scores resulted in low burnout scores. Internal control and meaningfulness were found to be significant predictors of engagement. Employees will therefore be engaged in their work only if and when they display and/or are allowed to exhibit emotional meaningfulness in their work and their relationships, and when they behave and make decisions from an internal motivation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MA (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the relationship between locus of control (measured by the Locus of Control Inventory), work engagement (measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) and sense of coherence (measured by the Orientation to Life Questionnaire); (2) determine whether coping and non-coping individuals (measured by a coping scale) differ significantly regarding these variables, and (3) the strategies they employ to deal with change in their lives (determined by means of structured interviews). A survey design, and correlational and inferential statistical procedures were used to achieve the quantitative research objectives. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the research data obtained from the open-ended questions on coping strategies. A convenience sample (n = 69) of individuals employed in the manufacturing sector participated in the study. The quantitative results revealed a significant relationship between the three variables and that copers and non-copers differ significantly regarding their coping. The qualitative data analysis indicated that copers and non-copers differ in terms of the coping strategies they employ to deal with change. The study represents original research which contributes new knowledge and insights for organisational employee wellness practices aimed at helping employees cope more positively with organisational change in the South African organisational context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Knowledge management literature identifies numerous barriers that inhibit employees' knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing practices via information and communication technologies (ICTs). Presently, there is a significant gap in the literature that explains what factors promote common knowledge sharing barriers. To bridge this gap, this study examined two research questions: 1) What are the potential factors that contribute to the commonly accepted barriers to knowledge sharing?, and 2) How do these factors impact employees' use of ICTs for knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing? Literature review of 103 knowledge management articles identified three major barriers to knowledge sharing practices (lack of time, poor communication skills, and lack of trust) and three underlying factors that promoted these barriers (role conflict, role ambiguity, and locus of control). A six-stage content analysis study of the 103 knowledge articles identified 199 references to the observed contributors. To address the second research question, a causal knowledge sharing model was developed and seven hypotheses proposed. A survey consisting of 41 questions was distributed to 1,368 full-time analysts from a variety of industries, and 314 useful responses were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results confirmed that role conflict, role ambiguity, and locus of control predicted knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing behaviors via ICTs. Moreover, type of ICTs used was found to moderate the strength of these predictors.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the role that specific factors play in the quality of life (QL) for women with recurrent breast cancer.

In this study, six research questions were addressed: (1) Does a teacher who has a spiritual calling have a different motivation (self, interaction, task) to his/her work than a teacher who does not have a spiritual calling? (2) Does a teacher who feels a spiritual calling have a different locus of control (internal, external) than a teacher who does not have a spiritual calling? (3) Does a teacher who has a spiritual calling have a different degree of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) than a teacher who does not have a spiritual calling? (4) Does a teacher who has a spiritual calling have a different sense of voluntary commitment in the longevity of his/her work experience than a teacher who does not have a spiritual calling? (5) Is there a different concentration of teachers who have a spiritual calling in public or parochial schools? (6) Does the public or religious school affiliation make a difference in research questions #1 through #4? A Teacher Motivation Inventory was compiled using The Orientation Inventory by Bass, Rotter's Internal/External Locus of Control, Maslach Burnout Inventory by Maslach, Jackson, and Schwab, a Researcher-made Spiritual Calling Inventory, and longevity questions. Tukey HSD post hoc comparisons test and Chi-square Test of Independence were used. This study was conducted in the spring of 1994 in public, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish elementary schools. Teachers who scored in the upper third on the Spiritual Calling Inventory were categorized as having a spiritual calling to teaching. Teachers who had a spiritual calling had a significantly more internal locus of control, were less likely to depersonalize students, had greater personal accomplishment and were more likely to choose teaching again than those not having a spiritual calling. A spiritual calling had a significant relationship to some very meaningful, attractive qualities in a teacher's personal attitude toward a teaching career.

The study investigated the relationships between perceived contingency of parental rewarding and punishing behaviors and locus. of control. Scores on Levenson's Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance locus of control scales were correlated with scores on Yates, Kennelly, and Cox's (1975) Perceived Contingency of Rewards and Punishments Questionnaire. Few significant correlations were obtained. Maternal non-contingent reward related negatively and significantly to internality for males. Paternal non-contingent reward related positively and significantly to males' perception of control by powerful others. And paternal contingent reward related negatively and significantly to females' perceptions of control by chance. Results are discussed relative to learned helplessness research interpretations.

To determine the relationship among learned helplessness, locus of control, and academic achievement, data from 86 sixth graders were gathered and intercorrelated. Contingency of teacher-administered rewards and punishments as perceived by school children, and helpless behavior of students as judged by their teachers were measured. The Children's Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale was used to measure locus of control orientation. A positive relationship between academic achievement and locus of control was found. The contingency of reward scale was found to be predictive of academic achievement and helpless behavior. Virtually no significant relationships were found between any of the other variables and the contingency of punishment scale. Helpless behavior was found to be predictive of low academic success and an external locus of control.

Patients with chronic kidney failure, given that it is impossible to undergo transplantation, have to be treated by lifelong hemodialysis (HD) via extracorporeal circulation machine 3 times a week in hospital; or by peritoneal dialysis (PD) performed by patients at home. There were a number of studies comparing quality of life between HD and PD, but there have been fewer studies covering other psychological variables. The aim of this study was to examine whether HD and PD patients differ in social support, locus of control, coping and depressive symptoms. 143 HD patients (average age 65,56; 48,3 % men, 51,3 % women) and 48 PD patients (average age 63,79; 66,7 % men, 33,3 % women) were approached by random selection. Social Integration Survey (SIS) was applied to examine social support. Locus of control was depicted on visual analog scale. Coping strategies were mapped by a short version of COPE questionnaire - Brief COPE, which was translated to Czech language for this purpose. Beck's depression inventory (BDI - II) was used to evaluate incidence of depressive symptoms. Based on data statistical analysis there was no difference proved in social support, coping strategies, locus of control and depressive symptoms among HD and PD patients. Although HD and PD differ and cause diverse advantages and...

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