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<p> In many organizational settings, companies use the team concept in order to accomplish organizational goals in a timely and efficient manner. In manufacturing settings, organizations use the team concept to complete tasks such as building products in bulk quantities, as well as provide safety to employees. In this type of setting, every team has a team leader who is responsible for providing support to the team members (coworkers) and ensuring that the team accomplishes organizational goals. In many organizations, there is a disparity in teams. Some teams are successful in completing organizational goals and have high team morale, while other teams struggle in meeting goals and have low team morale. Many possible factors play in to explaining why there are disparities in teams. One possible explanation for disparity in teams is empathy. The research study conducted was an exploratory qualitative case study involving interviews with 14 team leaders of an automotive factory in the United States. The purpose of the case study was to examine the role of empathy used by team leaders with their coworkers. The results from the data collection found the following themes: reciprocation, offering supportive behaviors, better work culture, relationship building, increased team morale, increased involvement in running the business, recognition, determining factors for deciding to use empathy, and connection with coworkers.</p>

There are those who are ardent advocates of the thesis that religion and its tenets are beneficial to personality formation and integrated behavioral functioning. There are also those who promulgate the view that religious notions are detrimental to personality structure and healthy integration.

This study investigates the interrelationships among religious orientation, church attendance, and certain personality variable of female neuropsychiatric patients.

This thesis examines the belief systems of Episcopal priests.

M.A. / The title of this dissertation reads as follows: Graphology and Personality: A Correlational Analysis. The aim of this dissertation is to introduce a different projective technique (as of yet not very widely used) into the psychological arena of assessment. Graphology is a projective technique that allows the analyst to delve into the personality of the individual. Very shortly, graphology can be defined as the assessment or analysis of a person’s handwriting. When a child first attempts to learn his “A,B,C” at school, he/she is guided by what is known as the copybook. This book is a set guideline used to teach children how to write. The child is taught to model the letter in exactly the same way as depicted in the copybook. However, as the child grows and develops psychologically, so will the way he/she learnt the A,B,C develop into a more freely created skill. It is this ‘freedom’ of expression that allows the graphologist to delve extensively into the personality. The flexor and extensor muscles of the hand manually create the expression of handwriting, but the psychological expression stems from the psychological processes within the mind. These psychological processes are the starting points that lead to the distinct representation of handwriting by every single individual. Handwriting is therefore an actual expression of the mind and not just of the hand. Thus, one can use handwriting as a measure to determine personality, as once the individual has developed sufficiently, he/she will have a distinctive handwriting different to everyone else. Graphology is an analysis tool or projective technique, not limited to only certain areas of personality but to all areas of personality. This would include the intellectual sphere and consciousness of the person, the day-to-day workings and sociability of the individual, as well as the biological demands, such as physical activity, sexual urges, materialistic motivation and financial cravings, to name but a few aspects. What makes graphology such a proficient test, is the fact that within the dynamics of human nature, the same trait lends itself to different interpretations according to other characteristics that would reinforce, confirm or contradict the same. The dissertation thus introduces the many faceted areas of graphology and applies it to the personnel arena; i.e. the individual ‘tested’ for this dissertation is applying for a position as sales person. Graphology is then used to determine whether the individual has the specific character traits needed to be a successful sales person. In determining the proficiency of this test, the graphological test was compared to the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA). The PPA is a widely used test to determine personality traits, with specialisation in personnel recruitment. Consequently, the results were very similar to the results of the PPA, which claimed that the individual could be a successful sales person. However, the graphological assessment did offer slightly more in-depth insight into the personality traits, which could have a negative impact on this person’s work situation. In conclusion, the graphological assessment tool proved to be more efficient and effective in determining the character of the individual specifically within the sales person position. The aim of this dissertation is to prove that graphology is a highly effective and efficient tool that can be used in many areas (not just for personnel assessment), to determine character traits. The dissertation starts with the introduction into the field of graphology, including the hypothesis statement and the objectives of the study. This is then followed by a short historical narration of the Projective Technique. This includes the definition of a projective technique and the types of projective techniques. Graphology as a tool is introduced in this chapter, pertaining particularly to the test criteria, as well as placing graphology within the psychological context. The advantages and disadvantages are also highlighted. The next chapter introduces the origins of handwriting, going as far back as the primitive cave drawings. The chapter then moves through the ages pursuing the development of handwriting up until its development into the 20th century. The dissertation then delves into the evolution of graphology as a science and how beneficial this science could be within the psychotherapeutic process. This process is called grapho-therapy and can be shortly outlined as changing character traits by manipulating and charging handwriting features. The most important part follows this chapter, namely the methodology. This chapter illustrates the testing procedure and its scientific basis. The chapter describes many different formations of letters, the various connections between letters, the diacritics in writing, etc. The ensuing chapter is the actual comparison of the graphological assessment to the Personal Profile Analysis. The results show great similarity, depicting the graphological test as a viable tool and means of assessment. The graphological analysis however, goes one step further to show that there are subtle differences in the interpretation of the behaviour traits. The PPA is coded and the results are printed by means of a computer programme, whereas the graphological assessment is done manually and thus subtleties are picked up, that can have a very detrimental effect on the final results. In the case study of chapter 5, the individual was said to be gregarious by both the PPA, and the graphological analysis. However, the graphological analysis goes one step further to draw attention to the fact that this character trait is not genuine. The PPA claims it is genuine, but the graphological assessment shows how it is actually a falsity within the character of the individual. This is where the computer is unable to determine a disingenuous trait from a real one. For the computer a trait is a trait. However, the handwriting cannot lie – the same trait lends itself to different interpretations according to other characteristics that would reinforce, confirm or contradict the same. A computer cannot determine these subtle differences, as the human eye is able to. The last section of this dissertation discusses the possible recommendations and the actual conclusion. The recommendations are in the form of suggestions for further studies, to highlight the importance graphology can present to many professionals wanting to utilise it in their respective fields.

M.A. / The present study was conducted in order to construct a personality inventory that is cross-culturally valid for the South African population with at least a Grade 12 level of education. The Basic Traits Inventory was developed on the basis of the five-factor model of personality, which measures personality in terms of five broad domains, most commonly known as: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (McCrae & John, 1992). The five factors of Basic Traits Inventory bear the same name as those in the five-factor model, and are each divided into five facets, except Neuroticism, which has four facets. The factors and their facets were defined after a study of the literature, and the items of the inventory were generated in order to represent these definitions. After performing an item-sorting procedure, some items were revised or removed. The final format of the Basic Traits Inventory consisted of a single list of 173 items, which were all grouped according to their respective facets, and presented together for each factor. Three comparison groups were formed in order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Basic Traits Inventory, namely: Race (Black and White), gender, and language (English, Afrikaans, and Indigenous African). The sample consisted of 1510 participants, made up mostly of second year psychology students and their parents, with a mean age of 37.52 (range = 17 to 75). There were 566 men and 914 women (30 unspecified) in the sample. The language groups were designated as follows: Afrikaans (n = 558); Indigenous African (n = 73); and English (n = 822). The race groups compared in the present study consisted of 1121 White participants and 114 Black participants. The internal consistency reliability coefficients were calculated for the factors and facets of the Basic Traits Inventory. The reliability coefficients of each of the five factors in the total group were all satisfactory: Extraversion (á = 0.89); Neuroticism (á = 0.94); Openness to Experience (á = 0.90); Agreeableness (á = 0.88); and Conscientiousness (á = 0.94). The five factors also demonstrated satisfactory reliability in each of the comparison groups. The facets Liveliness, Straightforwardness, and Modesty each had low reliability coefficients across all comparison groups. Openness to Values demonstrated low reliability in all groups except for the Black group and Indigenous African language group. Excitementseeking and Prosocial tendencies had low reliability coefficients in the Black group and Indigenous African language group. These facets will have to undergo revision in future versions of the Basic Traits Inventory. In a factor analysis, five factors were extracted using a maximum-likelihood factor analysis with Promax rotation (k = 4) for each of the comparison groups. The resultant factor structures were compared by rotating the structures of the comparison groups to a target structure, and calculating Tucker’s phi for each of the factors and facets in the structure. The White group, women, and English language group were designated as the respective target groups for the race, gender, and language groups. The factor structures of all comparison groups demonstrated satisfactory fit with the theoretical structure of the Basic Traits Inventory, with exception of the Black group and Indigenous African language group. Positive affectivity was the only facet that did not fit the theoretical structure of the Basic Traits Inventory for all comparison groups. In the Black group, the five factors that were extracted in the factor analysis were identifiable as the five factors expected from the theory. There was some overlap between Openness to Experience and Agreeableness, but most of the facets had primary salient loadings on their posited factors. The eight facets that did not perform as expected were: Positive affectivity, Anxiety, Order, Openness to Actions, Openness to Values, Modesty, and Prosocial tendencies. In the Indigenous African language group, there was a clear overlap between the Agreeableness and Openness to Experience factors. Agreeableness was the only factor that did not emerge clearly for the Indigenous African language group. Most of the Agreeableness facets loaded on the Openness to Experience factor, or on a fifth factor that could not be identified. This factor consisted of the following facets: Positive affectivity, Tendermindedness, Compliance, Openness to Values, and Depression. In the factor congruence analyses, for the race groups Agreeableness was the only factor that had a congruence coefficient less than 0.90. Six facets had congruence coefficients below 0.90, namely Positive affectivity, Openness to Actions, Openness to Values, Modesty, Tendermindedness, and Prosocial tendencies. For the gender group, all facets and factors had congruence coefficients of above 0.90, suggesting that the constructs measured by the Basic Traits Inventory manifest in the same way for men as they do for women. For the language groups, a comparison between factor structures of the English and Afrikaans language groups demonstrated good structural agreement, with Prosocial tendencies and Modesty the only facets with congruence coefficients less than 0.90. There was poor agreement between the factor structures of the Indigenous African and English groups, as well as between the Indigenous African and Afrikaans groups. In both comparisons, Conscientiousness was the only factor with all its facets having a congruence coefficient of above 0.90. The results indicated a relatively stable five-factor structure for the Basic Traits Inventory. However, due to the small size of the Black group (n = 114) and Indigenous African Language group (n = 73), it was recommended that more research be done with larger samples in order to verify the structure of the Basic Traits Inventory (Comrey & Lee, 1992). Suggestions for future research included replication of the analyses conducted with a larger, more representative sample, translation of the Basic Traits Inventory into Afrikaans and Indigenous African languages, the development of a shortened version of the Basic Traits Inventory, as well as studies investigating the convergent and divergent validity of the inventory. In conclusion, on the basis of the encouraging results, it seems that it would be worthwhile to continue the development of the Basic Traits Inventory.

Suicidal behaviour is a serious public health problem throughout the world. International as well as South African data suggests that young adults in their twenties are at high risk for suicidal behaviours. The identification of depression as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour is well established and accumulating empirical evidence indicates that certain personality traits may increase individual vulnerability to suicidality. However few studies have controlled for the influence of depression on the relationship between personality traits and suicidal behaviour. The central aim of this study was to establish whether a relationship exists between personality and suicidal ideation, which includes Negative Ideation (suicide ideation) and Positive Ideation (protective factor against suicidal behaviour) in a sample of 83 university students aged 22 to 29 years. The impact of depression on the relationship between personality traits and suicide ideation was considered as a potential confounder and controlled for in the assessment of the relationship. The prevalence rate of suicide ideation was also assessed. Data from the participants was collected through the administration of three self-report inventories: the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Inventory, (PANSI), the NEO-PI-R personality inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The prevalence rate of suicide ideation of the sample was determined by utilizing the frequencies calculated with regard to the PANSI Negative Ideation (suicide ideation) and Positive Ideation (protective factor against suicidal behaviour) scales respectively. Findings indicated that about 1 in 6 young adults had recently thought about killing themselves. Spearman’s correlations were employed to investigate the relationship between suicide ideation and personality traits, depression and suicide ideation, and depression and personality, respectively. In addition, Spearman’s partial correlation was employed in order to factor out the influence of depression on the relationship between personality and suicide ideation. Analysis of the correlations revealed the following. A weak to moderate positive significant correlation between Negative Ideation (suicide ideation) and Neuroticism (r = 0.318, p = 0.003), and a weak to moderate inverse significant correlation between Negative Ideation and Extraversion (r = -0311, p = 0.004), and Conscientiousness (r = -0.384, p = 0.000), respectively. A weak to moderate inverse significant correlation between Positive Ideation (protective factor against suicidal behaviour) and Neuroticism (r = -0.347, p = 0.001), a moderate positive correlation between Positive Ideation and Extraversion (r = 0.504, p <.000), and a weak to iii moderate positive correlation between Positive Ideation and Conscientiousness (r = 0.382, p = 0.000) were found. BDI scores were significantly correlated with higher Negative Ideation scores (r = 0.611, p <. 000) and inversely related to Positive Ideation scores (r = -0.458, p <.000). This indicates a moderate positive association between depressed mood and suicide ideation and a moderate inverse association between depressed mood and Positive Ideation. BDI scores also correlated significantly with Neuroticism (r = 0.574, p <. 000), Extraversion (r = -0.397, p = 0.000) and Conscientiousness (r = -0.474, p <.000). This indicates a moderate positive association between depressed mood and Neuroticism, and a weak to moderate inverse association between depressed mood and Extraversion and Conscientiousness, respectively. However, when the impact of depression was statistically removed from the relationship between personality and suicide ideation, Negative Ideation (suicide ideation) was no longer significantly correlated with any of the NEO-PI-R domains. Positive Ideation was only significantly correlated with Extraversion when the influence of depressed mood was controlled (r = 0.395, p = 0.000). The finding on the prevalence rate of suicide ideation among young adults is of relevance to the South African context as data in this regard is not well documented. Findings on the association between suicide ideation and Neuroticism, Extraversion and Conscientiousness, respectively, suggest that selected personality traits may increase individual vulnerability to suicidality and demonstrates the significance of understanding the role of personality in suicidal behaviour. In addition, the present study has added to this area of research by considering the influence of depression on the relationship between suicide ideation and personality. The non-significant association between personality traits and suicide ideation when the influence of depression was factored out suggests that personality interacts with depression in increasing vulnerability to suicidality. The present study is also distinguished by considering personality as possibly being a protective factor against engaging in suicidal behaviour. Findings suggest that selected personality traits may make independent contributions in protecting against suicide ideation. In order to further investigate the utility of personality traits as protective factors against suicidal behaviours or as markers of risk for suicidal behaviours and targets of intervention, future multivariate research is imperative.

This study examined the results of a career course on the students' cognitions. Decision making, career indecision, irrational beliefs, vocational identity, and consistency of Holland typology (Holland, 1985a) have all been associated with anxiety. It was postulated that a career intervention would have an impact on irrational beliefs (Ellis, 1962) and consistency of type (Holland, 1985a). Bandura (1977) states that change in confidence, or self-efficacy expectations, is associated with lowered anxiety. / One hundred thirteen students were administered the pre-test. The study used the vocational identity scale of My Vocational Situation (MVS) (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980) and the College Major Questionnaire (CMQ) (Baumgardner, 1976), a cognitive measure, to divide the class into four groups. / Six other instruments were administered, both at pre- and post-tests. They were the Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI) (Shorkey & Whiteman, 1977), the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985b), another measure of vocational consistency (Barak & Rabbi, 1981), a self-generated goal and a measure of certainty/satisfaction with career choice. Post-test changes in scores were examined. / Self-efficacy was measured at pre-test and post-test, to examine whether self-efficacy expectations had an impact on outcomes, and whether the intervention had an impact on self-efficacy. An outcome-specific form adapted from Bandura (1977), and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (Tipton & Worthington, n.d.), were utilized. Both pairs of measures were then correlated with the outcome measures. / The four groups were compared using ANOVA for change scores on measures of irrational beliefs, consistency, and certainty/satisfaction (CertSat), and for level of goal achievement at post-test. Of the six hypothesized effects, only changes in CertSat were significant. / Other data supported associations between cognitive therapy, cognitive psychology, and career development. A pattern of significant correlations between RBI and MVS and between RBI and CMQ suggested that persons who espouse more irrational beliefs are more likely to score lower on vocational identity and to think more analytically about their major choices. / Neither the two forms of self-efficacy nor the two forms of vocational consistency gave reliable correlational evidence of measuring the same psychological constructs at either pre- or post-tests. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: B, page: 0590. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.