Organisations world-wide, but most especially in South Africa, are exposed to radical change in the economic, political, social, demographical and technological arenas. They are also exposed to the effects of the world economy, structural reforms and international competition which lead to transformations in the labour market. Consequently job insecurity became more wide spread as organisations engaged in downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring; or all three simultaneously, in an attempt to survive these difficult economic conditions. This changing world of work is perhaps most evident in changes in the psychological contract. 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. This violation of the psychological contract is likely to have dire consequences such as a reduction in work engagement, because it erodes the notion of reciprocity, which is crucial in maintaining well-being. Long-ten job insecurity will M e r more impact an employee's overall life situation since economic as well as other highly valued aspects of life will be perceived as being under threat. Thus job insecurity has the potential of becoming more stressful than job loss in that the coping process may be inhibited by the uncertainty of the event. Although the experience of job insecurity is a reality in the South African context as well as worldwide. Only a limited number of programmes were implemented in the past to address the problem. Furthermore, there is a lack of research regarding the causal (dispositional and situational) factors in job insecurity and the relationship with the psychological forces (sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism) in the financial industry in South Africa (Gauteng). The objective of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between job insecurity and psychological well-being which was measured in the form of sense of coherence, work locus of control and dispositional optimism. The research method proceeded by using a cross-sectional research design with a survey technique to collect data from a stratified, random sample of employees within various job levels of a financial institution in Gauteng. The measuring battery consisted of four questionnaires namely the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), The Work Locus of Control Scale (WLOC) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) Questionnaire. The data analysis were conducted with help of the a SAS-programme to perform statistical analysis regarding reliability and validity of the measuring instruments, descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation coefficients and regression analyses. Conclusions were drawn from the findings and recommendations were made for the organisation and future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether young black adults who participate in sport differ in psychological well-being and psychosocial development from those who do not participate actively in sport. An availability sample of 293 students between 20 and 35 years old from three tertiary institutions in South Africa completed self-report measures of psychological well-being and psychosocial development. Reliability and validity of instruments were acceptable for use in this particular group. Students who participate actively in sport had significantly lower levels of negative affect, somatic symptoms, symptoms of depression and pessimistic life orientation, and significantly higher levels of positive affect, sense of coherence and self-efficacy beliefs. They also manifested higher levels of purpose and autonomy. Educational and policy implications of findings are indicated. Key words: Sport participation, physical activity, psychological well-being, psychosocial development, students, and young black adults / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of a shortened version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) in an African context. This self-report questionnaire, referred to as the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory -Revised Form (ZTPI-RF) consists of 20 items representing the five subscales of the original scale, namely: Past-Positive, Past-Negative, Present-Hedonistic, Present-Fatalistic and Future. The ZTPI-RF was completed by participants (N=1050) from urban (n=451) and rural (n=599) areas in the North-West Province of South Africa, together with a number of measures of psychological well-being. These scales, which were included for criterion-related validity purposes, were the Affectometer 2 (short version) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993) and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Results regarding the reliability and construct validity of the ZTPI-RF and its subscales were unsatisfactory. Qualitative data was also obtained, and analyzed by means of direct content analysis to help establish a picture of how time perspective prevails in an African context, and to determine whether time perspective is associated with psychological well-being. Qualitative results showed that participants from an African context were strongly oriented toward the present and that social support played the most prominent role regarding participants' attitude toward the present. It was concluded that the ZTPI-RF is, in its current form, not reliable for the determination of time perspective of individuals from an African context, and that a longitudinal qualitative approach might be best suited to obtain information about the nature and dynamics of time perspective in an African context. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

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

While it is a presumably accepted fact that rural and farming communities represent an important sector in the life of every nation due to their contribution to food security and nutrition, there is limited available empirical knowledge on their lives. This study intended to explore the health profile of the rural and farming communities in South Africa, and to explore the relationships between the physical and psychological health, the needs and quality of life facets of a specific group of farm workers and to provide guidelines for intervention in the said areas. This objective was achieved through a literature review, empirical study and suggested guidelines for bio psychosocial health promotion. The end product of this study is presented in three separate, but related manuscripts or articles. A holistic conceptual framework was adopted in the literature review and is described in manuscript 1. This overview focused on life on farms and in rural areas through both the social and natural sciences lenses in a parallel and integrative manner. The needs domain was conceptualised in its broad and narrow uses, and health was broadly defined in terms of the World Health Organization's (WHO, 1999:6) conceptualisation. The term "rural" was narrowly described for the purposes of the current study, i.e. according to the typical descriptive aspects of population dynamics, geographic, economic and other social considerations. Although studies from elsewhere in the world were used to provide a clearer picture of rural contexts, the focus was on available local South African literature. The literature review suggested a situation of serious disparities in the lives of the rural communities in comparison to their counterparts living in urbanised settings in South Africa. They suffer poor socioeconomic status, poor access to services, physical infrastructure problems, food insecurity and nutritional problems, physical and mental health problems, and violence and violations of their human rights. Manuscript 2 reports on an empirical, mixed-methods investigation that was conducted on a convenience sample of 52 farm workers (18-60 years) from three farms near Potchefstroom, in the North West Province. All participants completed quantitative measures and interviews were conducted with a random sample of 25 participants. As a conceptual framework, health was defined comprehensively in terms of physical, psychological and social dimensions (World Health Organization, 1999). Psychological well-being was defined on a continuum from symptoms of stress to a focus on strengths, capacities, mental well-being or psychological health (Wissing & Van Eeden, 2002, 1997; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Frederick, 1997) and measured with the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) Scale (Antonovsky, 1987), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), the Affectometer 2 (AFM) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (Goldberg & Hiller, 1979) the Need Satisfaction Scale (NSC) (La Guardia et al., 2000), and the Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS) (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). Quality of life was operationalised in terms of the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) (Frisch, 1994). Physical health was operationalised in terms of standardised measures of blood pressure heart rate body mass index, waist-hip ratio and a nutritional intake measure, the Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (QFFQ) (Vorster et al. 2000). Participants reported relatively poor states of physical health nutritional deficiencies poor mental health and poor quality of life. In manuscript 3 specific guidelines for the promotion of the bio psychosocial health of farm workers were suggested to address the specific and identified problems in an integrated manner. The guidelines were grouped into operational and administrative/bureaucratic interventions. Recommendations were also made for further exploration of the relationship between the farm workers' context and the bio psychosocial health indicators. Farm workers suffer problems of physical and psychological distress as well as shortages of health care providers, lack of the necessary health infrastructure and other social and physical infrastructure amenities. For successful and sustainable interventions health professionals and health workers, policy makers and bureaucrats, human rights activists and rural/farm employee organisations as well as the broader social movement and other interested/affected parties need to jointly contribute to health programmes aimed at addressing the challenges facing rural communities in general, and farm workers in particular. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The rapid rate of urbanisation, which is characteristic of the current South African context, could have important consequences for the psychological and physiological health of individuals (Malan et al., 2008; Vorster et al., 2000). Communities in transition face challenges that influence every component of human functioning (Choabi & Wissing, 2000; Malan et al., 2008; Van Rooyen et al., 2002; Vorster et al., 2000). Self-efficacy and collective efficacy are among constructs that have been shown to contribute to psychological well-being, and can serve as buffers that could make this process of adaption easier for communities in the process of urbanisation (Bandura, 1997; Karademas, 2006; Sui, Lu, & Spector, 2007). Previously, a variety of studies have focused on self-efficacy and collective efficacy in other Western and Eastern contexts. There is however little information on the impact that these constructs have within an African context, and• especially on the well-being of individuals finding themselves in these communities in transition. As it has been demonstrated that contextual and cultural factors may influence the manifestation of psychological well-being (Cohen, Inagami, & Finch, 2008; Temane & Wissing, 2008; Wissing, & Temane, 2008; Wissing, Wissing, Du Toit, & Temane, 2006), more context-specific research is called for. Increased knowledge of self-efficacy and collective efficacy and how it manifests the African context could help with the promotion of the psychological well-being of groups in transition. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the differential influence of self-and collective efficacy on the psychological well-being of :individuals within a community in transition. Participants were selected from a traditionally more collectivistic South-African cultural context. The research sample consisted of 1050 Setswana-speaking participants from both urban and rural areas. They completed measures including Community Collective Efficacy Scale (abridged) (CCES) (Carroll, Rosson, & Zhou, 2005), the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) and the Affectometer 2 (short version) (AFM) (Kammann & Flett, 1983). The SWLS and AFM were used to measure the psychological well-being on cognitive judgemental and affective levels respectively. Descriptive statistics shed some light on the levels of self efficacy, collective efficacy and psychological well-being within this community. Correlation analysis was done to test the relationship between self-efficacy, collective efficacy and psychological well-being, and regression analysis was conducted to show the degree to which self-efficacy and collective efficacy successfully predict the levels of psychological wellbeing in rural and urban contexts. Available literature (e.g., Klassen, 2004) suggests that collective values and shared beliefs would be more important to individuals within rural areas because of assumed traditional collectivistic orientation, and that individuals from urban areas will take on more individualistic values as urbanisation takes place. To test this assumption, it was hypothesized that collective efficacy would be a better predictor of psychological well-being than self-efficacy in the rural context, and that self-efficacy will be a better predictor of psychological well-being than collective efficacy in the urban context. The results indicated that although the group as a whole experience slightly lower psychological well-being than that reported in previous studies, it seemed that psychological well-being might actually increase as urbanisation takes place. Satisfaction with life (SWL) seemed to be more strongly associated with urbanisation than affective well-being. The rural group's considerably lower SWL could possibly be explained by the perception of these individuals that people living in an urban environment have a better quality of life. While the level of self-efficacy reported for the group as a whole was found to be comparable, albeit lower than results from previous studies, there were no relevant studies with which to compare our participant group's level of collective efficacy. Individuals living in an urban setting reported higher levels of self-efficacy and collective efficacy compared to the rural group This might indicate that individuals who move from a rural to an urban setting do not necessarily adopt individualistic values at the cost of their collectivistic cultural orientation, and in fact have more confidence in their individual and conjoint capabilities to achieve their goals. It was found that a significant relationship seemed to exist between self-efficacy, collective efficacy and the measures of psychological well-being, which suggests a dynamic interplay between these two constructs. Results showed that these individuals' beliefs in their individual ability, self-actualization and personal identity are important for their maintained well-being, and is strongly linked to their shared beliefs in the group's conjoint capabilities. Results from the regression analysis showed that, in contradiction to the above hypothesis, self-efficacy had a significant influence on the prediction of psychological well-being for the group as a whole as well as in the rural context. Interestingly, collective efficacy had a significant influence on the variance in psychological well-being in the urban area. The effect of efficacy .beliefs on affective well-being seemed to stay the same irrespective of the context, while collective efficacy gained importance in the prediction of SWL in the urban context. This indicates that individuals from the urban context might attach even more value to their collective orientation when they move from the traditional collectivistic setting to a more individualised setting where collectivism is not a given anymore and they have to consciously work towards it. In conclusion it can be said that efficacy beliefs remain important factors in the prediction of psychological well-being for individuals irrespective of the process of urbanisation or in which context they find themselves. The practical implication is that raising either self-efficacy or collective efficacy will lead to increased psychological well-being and possibly better adjustment during the urbanisation process. Although these results provided some answers, a number of questions were raised about widely held assumptions regarding the cultural orientation of individuals and the effect of urbanisation on cultural value systems. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This research was aimed at determining the psychometric properties of the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI; Boyle, Borg, Falzon & Baglioni, 1995) and in doing so enabling the possible development of a much needed, more culture sensitive inventory for the measurement of teacher stress as it manifests in the South African context. A review of international literature revealed that the stress associated with the teaching profession is a well-known phenomenon, and has received increasing recognition and research attention in recent years (e.g., Brown, Howcroft & Jacobs, 2010; Chaplain, 2008; Ngidi & Sibaya, 2002; Olivier & Venter, 2003; Schwarzen & Hallum, 2008; Sharplin, O‘Neill & Chapman, 2011; Vandeyar, 2005). However, only a few studies on teacher stress in the South African context could be found. The studies that were done within the South African teaching context (Ferreira, 2008; Lund & Fisher, 2006; Møller, 2007) did report various and specific challenges that add to the stressors South African teachers need to overcome in order to maintain psychological well-being. Furthermore, these studies mostly implemented scales that were developed within a Eurocentric context, and thus did not incorporate cultural and contextual factors that are known to impact directly on both the construction and experience of psychological well-being (Temane & Wissing, 2008; Wissing & Temane, 2008; Wissing, Wissing, Du Toit, & Temane, 2006) and stress. The need for a teacher stress scale which will be valid in the South African context became apparent. Therefore, the aim of this study is to validate the TSI for use in a South African context. A cross-sectional design for data collection was used as part of the Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood pressure in Africans (SAPBA) study. The research sample consisted of urban Caucasian (n=209) and African (n=200) teachers subsiding in the North-West Province of South Africa. The TSI, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) were administered to all participants, together with physiological measures of stress that were taken under controlled circumstances. Based on the results from the exploratory factor analysis and item analysis that was conducted separately on the different ethnic groups, it was decided to omit items 1, 3 and 6 due to evidenced problematic psychometric properties in this study population. A further factor analysis that was conducted on the total study group showed sufficient communalities and yielded a two-factor model, with a robust factor structure and satisfactory reliability indices for both extracted factors, namely (1) General circumstance related stress and (2) Learner related stress. Satisfactory criterion-related validity was determined by correlating the TSI with other measures of psychological health, the GHQ and the MHC-SF, as well as physiological measures of health. In conclusion, the TSI proved to be a useful, brief self-report questionnaire for the assessment of occupational stress within this cohort of South African teachers. If replicated within a sample more representative of the South African context, the findings of this study will allow the impact of different sources of teacher stress to be determined and compared within the South African context. It further holds promising possibilities for influencing public policy with regard to the education system in South Africa and to contribute to the exploration of teacher stress in this context, with the aim of contributing to the psychological well-being of South African teachers. Further psychometric evaluation is however necessary before the TSI can be considered to be a valid instrument in the broad South African context. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether social support moderates the relationship between stress and psychological well–being. The inverse relationship between the experience of stress and psychological well–being is supported on the one hand (Chang, 1998; Skok, Harvey, & Reddihough, 2006), while social support’s reducing effect on psychological distress has also been reported (Cohen & McKay, 1984; Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991). It is possible that social support may interact with the influence of stress on well–being in such a way as to moderate the relationship. Social support was conceptualised in terms of Pretorius’ (1998) model, which describes social support as a resource of fortitude, and originates from various sources, namely, positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others. Although social support is considered to be a well–researched phenomenon, an empirical study exploring its effect on the influence of stress on well–being in an African context is yet to be conducted. A sample of 459 participants completed the Setswana versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) to measure the experience of stress, the Affectometer 2 (AFM; Kammann & Flett, 1983) to measure the affective component of wellbeing, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) to measure the cognitive component of well–being, and the Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ; Pretorius, 1998) to measure social support. Data were collected in a quantitative, crosssectional survey, with random sample selection. After data exploration by using descriptive statistics and inter–scale correlations, stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships and to explore moderation effect of social support. Results showed inverse relationships between the experience of stress, as operationalised by the GHQ subscales, and psychological well–being, operationalised by positive and negative affect (AFM–PA and AFM–NA) and satisfaction with life (SWL). Receiving social support from various sources, namely positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others, was found to moderate relationships between the experience of stress and the affective components of psychological well–being. Social support from family moderated most effectively of the three sources of support. It was found that social support, particularly familial support, had a protective effect on the maintenance of psychological well–being when experiencing psychological distress. It is thus a possible protective factor to be developed and encouraged in psychological interventions with individuals from this population in particular. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study examined the relationship between race and mental health among Canadian adults. The purpose was to assess how social organization contributes to the racial distribution of mental health. The study defined mental health as a multi-dimensional construct that includes negative, positive, and subjective facets. The empirical analysis compared East Asians, South Asians, Blacks, Aboriginals, and mixed race persons to Whites on major depression, psychological distress, psychological well-being, and self-rated mental health. Separate comparisons were made for women and men because the relationship between race and mental health could be conditional on gender. Using individual-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 1.2 and aggregate data from the 2001 Canadian Census, the study hypothesized that racial differences in mental health could reflect differences in stress exposure, socioeconomic status, social embeddedness, and neighborhood environment. The main assumption was that higher stress exposure, economic hardship, social isolation, and neighborhood disadvantage could compromise the mental health of racial minorities. The study also examined whether social support and coping behaviors protected racial minorities from these health-damaging effects. The findings do not present a straightforward or a consistent set of conclusions. Although there is a good rational to believe that racial minorities should have worse mental health than Whites, this is not always or even mostly the case. Only Aboriginal women have a consistent disadvantage. For the most part, racial minorities have similar mental health as Whites, and even have an advantage in a few instances. Since the analysis covered the negative, positive, and subjective dimensions of mental health, it provides robust evidence to support this conclusion. However, the findings also demonstrate that low socioeconomic status and insufficient social resources can indeed have health-damaging effects. These factors explain some of the observed disadvantages in mental health that racial minorities experience or suppress an advantage among them. / Graduate / 0347 / 0631

There is a lacuna in the literature regarding the measurement of community collective efficacy, especially in an African context. Previously, a variety of studies have used and validated self-efficacy measures in Western social contexts (Chen, Gully & Eden, 2001; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993; Carroll, Rosson & Zhou, 2005). Findings from cross-cultural psychology indicate that human behaviour is not acontextual (Devonport & Lane, 2006; Karademas, 2006; van de Vijver & Leung, 1997). Thus, this study was an attempt to explore the validation of a community collective efficacy scale in an African cultural context. A sample of 1050 Setswana-speaking participants was drawn from both urban and rural areas. The participants came from a relatively more collectivistic cultural context. Measuring instruments such as the Community Collective Efficacy Scale (Carroll, Rosson & Zhou, 2005), the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale ( Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993), the New General Self-Efficacy Scale ( Chen, Gully & Eden, 2001), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993) the Affectometer 2 (short version) (AFM) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) were used in this study. Criterion-related validity of the CCES was established. Construct validity was determined by conducting confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses on the community collective efficacy scale. Results indicated a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.72 for the CCES and an acceptable inter-item correlations. Criterion-related validity was satisfactory. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit and exploratory factor analysis yielded only one factor on the items used. The results of the study indicated that overall, the CCES may be a valid measure of community collective efficacy in the sample selected for the study based on parameter estimates. Future studies should further validate this instrument cross-culturally in various African groups and contexts. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.