Given the prevailing ethical crisis and subsequent collapse of a number of modern organizations, the lapse in leader ethics as a determining factor of the proliferation of corrupt practices has come to dominate leadership discourse. Ethical leadership has been linked not only to avoiding organizational destruction but to fostering healthy, productive organisations. In line with this, the current study aimed to assess the role of employee perceptions of ethical leadership in promoting employee engagement, via the mediating mechanism of employee perceptions of psychological safety.. Having distributed an email survey to administrative employees of a technological goods producer, Kalshoven et al.’s (2011) Ethical leadership at Work scale, Carmeli and Gittel’s (2009) psychological safety scale and the 17-item version of Utrecht’s employee engagement scale (Schauefeli & Bakker, 2003) were completed by 139 participants. Using structural equation modelling, the findings supported the linkage between ethical leadership and employee engagement and confirmed the role of psychological safety in mediating this relationship.

Psychological safety is a concept mentioned throughout the literature as a necessary component in the process of change in group counseling. Despite its frequent mention, no study has examined the characteristics of psychological safety. The purpose of this study was to lay the groundwork for a definition of the concept of psychological safety using self reports of group leaders and group members on a constructed Likert format psychological safety questionnaire of three attributional categories: self, other members, and leader. The study utilized group members (n = 44) and group leaders (n = 4) participating in laboratory groups as a part of a counseling related masters curriculum. The questionnaires were filled out on the first, eighth (middle), and fourteenth (last) sessions. Hierarchies for characteristics and attribution were constructed by using a summing procedure of the Likert responses. Results on the attribution of psychological safety by group members showed a consistent pattern over the three time measures. Group members reported leaders as the most attributed to facilitating psychological safety, other members as second, and self as least attributed to facilitate psychological safety. Group leaders showed no apparent agreement between groups, but each group leader attributed psychological safety consistently over time within one's own group. Results on the characteristics of psychological safety yielded a comprehensive list of characteristics, arranged in hierarchical format, as reported by both group members and leaders. Results indicated that psychological safety has some core concepts in each of the attributional categories. For group members, the characteristics of "warmth and support" and "active listening" were stable across every attributional category and time measure. For group leaders, "self disclosing feelings", "warmth and support", and "responding in an emotional, feeling manner" were reported in every time measure and attributional category. Characteristics that had a negative effect on psychological safety and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

Simulation is considered a safe space for learning as no patient harm could occur. However, learner safety is equally significant to consider. Despite increased interest in simulation psychological safety, evidence synthesis to support the effectiveness of interventions remains lacking. This systematic review seeks to determine what interventions are effective for establishing and maintaining psychological safety within the three phases of simulation with healthcare learners. A Joanna Briggs Institute systematic review of effectiveness was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Articles published from 2011 to 2022 and their references from six databases were searched. Eight articles were included in the analysis. Psychological safety interventions were grouped into two categories: (1) single or (2) multidimensional. Single interventions were more likely to improve learner psychological safety. Several interventions can be used during all phases of simulation to foster a psychologically safer simulation learning environment.

There are many leadership theories that dominate the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, however there is a lack of understanding as to which leadership processes may be most appropriate for action teams in high stress environments. Previous research has articulated leadership behaviors, but has largely ignored the temporal processes of leadership, and how it changes throughout the operating team’s tenure. The proposed study investigates two types of leadership, namely shared and autocratic leadership, that take place during critical steps of the perioperative process and relates these leadership behaviors to team dynamics and psychological processes. Specifically, this study builds upon other studies by testing how leadership behaviors are related to levels of psychological safety and the optimization of teamwork and communication among team members. We were also interested in understanding if the surgeon’s perception of past performance of their team has an impact on the amount of trust the leader has in his/her team and if this in turn, has an impact on the type of leadership utilized during the team’s tenure. As an exemplar environment, we explored these dynamics in the operating theater, which is a high stakes environment requiring both technical and non-technical skills, such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Results show that the correlation between the surgeon’s perceived past performance of the team and the trust the surgeon has in his/her team and the relationship between team’s trust and teamwork and communication were significant at the alpha =.1 level. All other relationships were non-significant. / M.S. / In the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, many leadership theories have been developed, however, there is a lack of understanding as to which type of leadership is best for teams who work in high-stress environments, such as the operating room. This study looks at two types of leadership: shared leadership and autocratic leadership. Shared leadership is when all team members emerge and have a leadership role, whereas autocratic leadership is when one person makes all the decisions without consulting other team members. Previous research has articulated leadership behaviors, but has largely ignored the temporal processes of leadership, and how it changes over time throughout the surgical procedure. This study builds upon other studies by testing how leadership behaviors are related to levels of psychological safety and the optimization of teamwork and communication among team members. We were also interested in understanding if the surgeon’s perception of past performance of their team has an impact on the amount of trust the leader has in his/her team and if this in turn, has an impact on the type of leadership utilized during the team’s tenure. As an exemplar environment, we explored these dynamics in the operating theater, which is a high stakes environment requiring both technical and non-technical skills, such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Results show that the relationship between the surgeon’s perceived past performance of the team and the trust the surgeon has in his/her team is significant and the relationship between the trust the surgical team members have in each other and the amount that they communicate with each other is also significant.

The ever-changing global business environment of today is presenting organisations with numerous challenges and in some instances result in economic and ethical meltdowns. The mining industry, in particular, is faced with a volatile market and consequently mining companies are experiencing increasing financial turmoil coupled with human capital problems resulting in labour unrest and often inoperativeness. As these challenges gain momentum, the mining industry will need to respond through a restructure of operations. Although the mining industry has been faced with a need to restructure before, it has not been faced with this challenge recently. Therefore, only a small portion of management teams holds the skills to respond effectively. For the mining industry in South Africa to adequately address these challenges, leadership will play a pivotal role. Consequently, organisations need a new kind of business leader and leadership should be examined from an authentic perspective. Authentic leadership has been associated with various positive outcomes such as trust in supervisor, psychological safety and work engagement. Both employees and organisations should support one another in order to remain viable. Trust is an important component of effective leadership and building relationships. In order for employees to feel secure and able to adapt to change, organisations should develop an environment which fosters trust and psychological safety and which, in turn, will lead to increased work engagement. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between authentic leadership, trust in supervisors, psychological safety and work engagement. In addition, another objective was to examine if trust in supervisor and psychological safety had an effect on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement. An available sample of 244 employees was taken from the mining industry in the Free State province. The questionnaires were distributed to employees across all levels in a mining organisation. All of these employees were given the choice to participate in the research. The measuring instruments utilised were the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Workplace Trust Survey and Psychological Safety Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Raykov’s rho coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations coefficients, Mplus and bootstrapping were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that authentic leadership had a statistically significant positive relationship with trust in supervisor as well as psychological safety. Authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant positive relationship with work engagement. The results indicated that authentic leadership had a statistically significant indirect effect on work engagement via trust in supervisor. Authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant indirect effect on psychological safety via trust in supervisor. Furthermore, authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant indirect effect on work engagement via psychological safety. Various recommendations were made for the mining industry as well as for future research. Organisations should understand the impact of authentic leadership on outcomes such as trust, psychological safety and work engagement. Organisations should select leaders who display the four dimensions of authentic leadership as well as implement structured leadership programmes or interventions. Recommendations for future research included utilising longitudinal research designs or diary studies as well as expanding the study to other organisations, industries, and provinces; also including additional sources of data over and above supervisors and subordinates. Future research may also employ a mixed method approach and include other related leadership constructs in the data collection. / MCom (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

The ever-changing global business environment of today is presenting organisations with numerous challenges and in some instances result in economic and ethical meltdowns. The mining industry, in particular, is faced with a volatile market and consequently mining companies are experiencing increasing financial turmoil coupled with human capital problems resulting in labour unrest and often inoperativeness. As these challenges gain momentum, the mining industry will need to respond through a restructure of operations. Although the mining industry has been faced with a need to restructure before, it has not been faced with this challenge recently. Therefore, only a small portion of management teams holds the skills to respond effectively. For the mining industry in South Africa to adequately address these challenges, leadership will play a pivotal role. Consequently, organisations need a new kind of business leader and leadership should be examined from an authentic perspective. Authentic leadership has been associated with various positive outcomes such as trust in supervisor, psychological safety and work engagement. Both employees and organisations should support one another in order to remain viable. Trust is an important component of effective leadership and building relationships. In order for employees to feel secure and able to adapt to change, organisations should develop an environment which fosters trust and psychological safety and which, in turn, will lead to increased work engagement. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between authentic leadership, trust in supervisors, psychological safety and work engagement. In addition, another objective was to examine if trust in supervisor and psychological safety had an effect on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement. An available sample of 244 employees was taken from the mining industry in the Free State province. The questionnaires were distributed to employees across all levels in a mining organisation. All of these employees were given the choice to participate in the research. The measuring instruments utilised were the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Workplace Trust Survey and Psychological Safety Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Raykov’s rho coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations coefficients, Mplus and bootstrapping were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that authentic leadership had a statistically significant positive relationship with trust in supervisor as well as psychological safety. Authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant positive relationship with work engagement. The results indicated that authentic leadership had a statistically significant indirect effect on work engagement via trust in supervisor. Authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant indirect effect on psychological safety via trust in supervisor. Furthermore, authentic leadership did not have a statistically significant indirect effect on work engagement via psychological safety. Various recommendations were made for the mining industry as well as for future research. Organisations should understand the impact of authentic leadership on outcomes such as trust, psychological safety and work engagement. Organisations should select leaders who display the four dimensions of authentic leadership as well as implement structured leadership programmes or interventions. Recommendations for future research included utilising longitudinal research designs or diary studies as well as expanding the study to other organisations, industries, and provinces; also including additional sources of data over and above supervisors and subordinates. Future research may also employ a mixed method approach and include other related leadership constructs in the data collection. / MCom (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

The face of the workplace has changed dramatically over the past decade and most organisations have to survive in a fiercely competitive global economy. The impact of the changing world of work is most evident in changes in the psychological contract (agreement) between employees and organisations. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment and job security. It is in view of the above work complexities that employee engagement has become a focus area. in particular, to understand the mediating effects of certain psychological conditions in relation to work engagement. "Why do some employees stay engaged at work, even whilst being challenged with consistent change and greater job insecurity and why do others' disengage at work?" The objective of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of three psychological conditions, namely psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, and psychological availability on employees' work engagement. A survey research design was used with a questionnaire as data-gathering instrument. Stratified random samples (N=171) were taken from employees of a multinational oil company. The Work Engagement Scale and the Work Experiences Scale were administered. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of the variables in this study. The results confirmed that psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest positive relation with engagement. The relation of work role fit with engagement was fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. Cognitive, emotional and physical resources had the strongest effect on psychological availability. Feelings of self- consciousness impacted on psychological availability, implying that someone who is less self-conscious is psychologically more available to engage at work. It was therefore confirmed that psychological meaningfulness fully mediated the effects of work role fit on engagement and psychological availability fully mediated the effects of resources and self-consciousness on engagement. Limitations in the research are identified and 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, 2007.

The face of the workplace has changed dramatically over the past decade and most organisations have to survive in a fiercely competitive global economy. The impact of the changing world of work is most evident in changes in the psychological contract (agreement) between employees and organisations. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment and job security. It is in view of the above work complexities that employee engagement has become a focus area. in particular, to understand the mediating effects of certain psychological conditions in relation to work engagement. "Why do some employees stay engaged at work, even whilst being challenged with consistent change and greater job insecurity and why do others' disengage at work?" The objective of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of three psychological conditions, namely psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, and psychological availability on employees' work engagement. A survey research design was used with a questionnaire as data-gathering instrument. Stratified random samples (N=171) were taken from employees of a multinational oil company. The Work Engagement Scale and the Work Experiences Scale were administered. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of the variables in this study. The results confirmed that psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest positive relation with engagement. The relation of work role fit with engagement was fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. Cognitive, emotional and physical resources had the strongest effect on psychological availability. Feelings of self- consciousness impacted on psychological availability, implying that someone who is less self-conscious is psychologically more available to engage at work. It was therefore confirmed that psychological meaningfulness fully mediated the effects of work role fit on engagement and psychological availability fully mediated the effects of resources and self-consciousness on engagement. Limitations in the research are identified and recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

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