Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-120).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-89). Also available via the World Wide Web.

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Forskning om välmående utifrån hedoniskt och eudaimoniskt perspektiv har bidragit med teorier om välmående. Dock har få fenomenologiska studier gjorts i ämnet. Positiv psykologi vill stärka den psykiska hälsan hos individer, så också denna studie som undersökt de gemensamma komponenterna i människors upplevelse av att må bra. Sextio kvinnor, 30 män, 18 år och äldre från fem delar av världen skrev berättelser, svarade på kvalitativ online enkät eller intervjuades. Berättelserna analyserades inspirerat av strukturell fenomenologisk metod med kvantitativa inslag som resulterade i fyra teman (a) interaktion, (b) rörelse, (c) återhämtning, (d) yttre och inre balans. Dessa gav en holistisk bild av att må bra med återhämtning och delar ur yttre och inre balans som nya inslag från existerande välmåendemodeller. Resultatet kan ge insikter om välmående, användbart inom arbeten med människor. Vidare kan resultatet prövas och bidra till ett självrapporteringsformulär om en individs välmående ur ett helhetsperspektiv.

This choreographic research identifies and examines triggers that can induce flow, as defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, through a creative process and performance, illuminating a type of experience that supports awareness of flow characteristics in a dance environment. The methodology documents qualitative phases of self-reflection, interviews with current performing artists, and discussions with dancers that assisted in identifying key flow triggers, informing movement explorations that culminated in a new dance piece and performance. Flow triggers identified through this process were imagery, environment, awareness of audience, and touch, which were explored with the aid of aerial hammocks to create a tactile experience for the dancers in the work. By exploring flow triggers within the creative process the performers experienced and reflected upon flow characteristics, often applying personal triggers to find deeper focus within the dance. This study may inform artists and educators interested in a flow experience in their creative process.

abstract: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion suggests that positive emotions should broaden thought and behavior repertoires in order to develop lasting resources. In the social domain, this means deploying a variety of affiliative strategies in order to build cooperative relationships. A functionalist perspective on positive emotion suggests that different positive emotions should have distinct effects on these affiliative mechanisms. This study elicited awe, amusement, pride or a neutral control in pairs of same sex strangers. They then completed an open-ended "getting to know you" conversation, which were recorded and coded for affiliative behaviors—smiling, laughter, mimicry, and asking questions. After, they rated their perception of the other as complex and how much they liked each other. Then they played the prisoner's dilemma game. Results indicate that there was a significant mediated effect such that being in the pride condition predicted greater smiling, and smiling predicted cooperation on the prisoner's dilemma. This was true both when an individual's own smiling was predicting their cooperative behavior and when their partner's smiling was predicting their cooperative behavior. However, these effects were only seen in female dyads, not male dyads. There was also a significant mediated effect such that pride led women to ask more questions, which led partners to like each other more. Additionally, awe led to greater mimicry in men, which in turn led to greater cooperation. In women, awe led to greater perception of the other as complex. Overall, these results indicate that there are broaden and build effects of positive emotions, but these are specific to both the emotion and the sex of the interaction members. This is also the first study to demonstrate both an actor and a partner effect of smiling on cooperation in a prisoner’s dilemma. An important area for further inquiry will be the interaction of emotion and sex in predicting social behavior. While sex differences in responding to threats have been characterized by the “tend and befriend” versus “fight or flight” action patterns, a similar approach may also need to be developed for sex differences in response to opportunities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

M. Comm. / The assessment and measurement of positive psychology have been largely survey driven, given the way in which this domain’s focus areas have been operationalised. The disadvantage of using surveys in the measurement of positive psychology is that measurement is to an extent ‘disembodied’ in this approach, meaning that positive psychology is reduced to a mental activity – something which implies the negation of the physical. The purpose of the study was therefore to explore to what extent an alternative instrument, the Positivity Projective Technique (PPT), based on embodiment theory, serves as a valid projective technique for eliciting positivity. Data were collected by means of a sentence completion technique (SCT) whereafter it was quantitatively (to a limited extent) and qualitatively analysed by means of a content analysis. The results were similar to, but greater in number than, the variables proposed by formal theories/models of positivity. Given the results, the PPT seems to be a valid projective technique of positivity and may be applied for positive developmental purposes within individual, organisational and consumer contexts.

The impact of a leader on his or her followers has been a topic of much research and therefore organizations, including the financial services sector in South Africa, are placing more and more emphasis on what this leadership construct looks like. Research suggests that Authentic Leadership might be a new kind of leadership approach that the world is looking for. This study aims to establish the possible relationship between an authentic leader and the impact the leader’s behaviour has on the performance of his or her employee. The study further attempts to establish if satisfaction can play a mediating role in the relationship between authentic leadership and the performance of an employee. The research used two established research instruments, namely the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), as well as a section of Freese and Schalk’s (2008) psychological contract questionnaire relating to satisfaction specifically. Respondents were also requested to indicate their most recent performance rating. The study was conducted within the financial sector based in the Eastern and Southern Cape with a total population of 1077 employees across all business units, job grades, race, age, education and gender. The study established a significant positive relationship between authentic leadership and employee performance. A further significant positive relationship was established between authentic leadership and satisfaction. However, no relationship could be established between satisfaction and performance, thereby indicating that satisfaction was not a mediator of the relationship between authentic leadership and employee performance. In conclusion, recommendations for management practice and for further research are made.

Unfavourable socio-economic and psychosocial changes, globally and locally, have forced communities to place an increasing number of adolescents in foster care, or take the necessary steps to accommodate them in orphanages. The drastic interventions had many unsettling consequences. South African orphanages were inundated with orphaned and removed children, and foster care was a constructive alternative. Research results have shown that, for children to develop normally, they have to be cared for in cordial and constructive family structures (Republic of South Africa, Department of Social Development, 2009). The present study was exploratory and aimed to explore the challenges faced by foster mothers who were fostering the adolescents at the time of interviewing, as well as coping strategies employed by foster mothers in their task of fostering. The target areas were Mamelodi and Atteridgeville Townships in the Tshwane/Pretoria Region. Twenty foster mothers were selected from a list of foster mothers received from social workers and semi-structured interviews were conducted with these 20 respondents. Respondents? narratives were translated from Setswana and North Sotho to English. Data was transcribed and analysed by means of Thematic Network Analysis. Four core themes were extracted, namely Crisis, Structure, Relationships, and Resilience and Spirituality. These themes were discussed and linked to the tenets of Positive Psychology and literature sources, and communicated to social workers, foster mothers and legislators. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

Correctional Officers are responsible for responding to emergency/crisis situations in correctional settings. Research shows that their work is characterized by numerous psychological stressors that vary by degree and intensity, which can lead to compromised job performance and, ultimately, job burnout. Despite the increased attention directed to the problem of occupational stress in first responders among other professions over the past several years, virtually no investigations have focused on correctional officer resilience. The purpose of this study was to: (a) identify whether select positive personal variables (i.e., hope, optimism, social support) are associated with increased resilience, (b) determine the extent to which individual resilience acts as a protective factor against job burnout, (c) ascertain whether resilience serves as a significant mediator between hope, optimism and social support and reduced burnout, and (d) utilize the findings to make suggestions for future interventions and research in this area. By identifying specific individual characteristics that increase resilience and protect correctional officers against job burnout, it is expected that more efficacious approaches can be identified to enhance stress reduction and management.