The current investigation was designed as an evaluation of a worksite health promotion program with the goal of examining its effectiveness in terms of physical and attitudinal changes over the course of a 12-month evaluation. Because of the call for counseling psychologists to examine health through an interdisciplinary lens, the study examined variables from a variety of disciplines including health psychology, vocational psychology, occupational health, and positive psychology. Using a pretest-posttest design, employees completed measures of job satisfaction, career optimism, perceived stress, optimism, absenteeism, and Presenteeism (on the job productivity). In addition, health screening information was compared from the onset to the completion of the evaluation to determine if health factors improved at the organizational level over time. Results indicated that employees did not significantly improve in terms of health indicators (e.g., cholesterol levels, weight loss), levels of job satisfaction, career optimism, or perceived stress. In addition, results revealed no significant relationship between initial optimism levels and either health or psychological outcomes. Potential explanations for the lack of significant results is discussed including the economic climate in which the evaluation occurred, as well as cultural and organizational issues that may have contributed to a lack of improvement in wellness.

Magister Artium - MA / The variables in this study are explored from a positive psychology paradigm, which is largely concerned with effecting psychological health and well-being of employees. The aim of this study will be to examine the impact of job resources, job demands on work engagement and burnout of employees within the public sector.Both survey and data analysis will be employed to guide the investigation. Standardised questionnaires will be used for the two different constructs, using the responses of employees on a composite questionnaire. Pearson correlation analysis and analysis of variance will be used to determine the relationship between the constructs of the study.The contribution of this study to the existing theory and literature is the exploration and inclusion of job resources and job demands and its relationship with burnout and work engagement. Various studies have reported that work engagement is important for organisations because it is related to job satisfaction, organisational commitment, low turnover intention and employee performance.The strengths in conducting the research could assist organisations to determine the level of engagement of employees in their current jobs. It may also assist organisations to implement interventions to address and manage burnout of employees in order to deal more effectively with symptoms. Furthermore it may be useful for organisations in order to act timeously to prevent those employees who are already showing signs of burnout from becoming sick as well as to increase work engagement. In addition, support those who are suffering from ill-health or decreased well-being caused by chronic occupational stress.

University students in South Africa today face a variety of issues with academic and relationship problems, career development issues, depression and anxiety being the most common. This negatively impacts their pass rates and personal success. Research into positive psychology has increased considerably over the past few years. Seligman‟s PERMA model has played a pivotal role in assisting in the understanding of what constitutes a flourishing life. The proposed study aimed to explore and describe the impact of five interventions, based on each of the aspects of the PERMA model, on Student Counselling clients. The research sample consisted of 10 participants seeking Student Counselling, Career and Development Centre Services at NMMU. Purposive sampling was uses to source participants. The researcher facilitated a six-week group programme which was developed by the researcher. In this programme, the participants were introduced to the aspects of the PERMA model. The participants implemented interventions in between sessions and journals of their experiences provided qualitative data on their experiences. The Beck Depression Inventory II and the Satisfaction With Life Scale were utilized as pre and post intervention measure. ATLAS.ti software programme and descriptive statistics were utilized for qualitative and quantitative data analysis respectively. Key findings included benefits such as an overall decrease in depressive symptoms and an increase in life satisfaction following the interventions. The negative impact of academic concerns on life satisfaction was also noted. Moreover, participants reported that they enjoyed both the content and the interactive nature of the group sessions. In conclusion, implementing positive psychology group interventions on students is promoted as a result of the emerging benefits.

1 Military Hospital offers health service to employees of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), South African Army (SAA), South African Air Force (SAAF), South African Navy (SAN), and the South African Military Health Services (SAHMS). Most of the SANDF employees who suffer Thoracic Spinal Cord Injuries (TSCI) are injured during their term of service in the SANDF. Individuals with spinal cord injury experience challenges related to work, family, finances, loss of independence and societal attitudinal barriers (Crewe&Krause, 2002). Some individuals adjust well to these challenges and are able to move forward in a functional and productive manner (Livneh&Antonak, 1997; 1994). This research investigated how certain thoracic spinal cord injured (TSCI) individuals managed to adjust to their rehabilitation process. The research focused on the contribution of positive emotions to the rehabilitation process. Positive psychology focuses attention on the sources of psychological wellness, such as positive emotions and positive experience. It also focuses on individual differences in human strengths and virtues, positive institutions and what makes life worth living (Lyubomirsky&Abbe, 2005). The current study aimed to investigate how fortigenic qualities contribute to positive rehabilitation experiences for individuals with thoracic spinal cord injury. A qualitative design using in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews was selected to explore the rehabilitation experiences of TSCI individuals. One of the basic tenets of qualitative research is the existence of multiple realities. An individual’s reality is derived from factors such as age, sex, class, ethnicity, abilities and disabilities and the way in which these factors affect life experiences (Hammersley&Atkinson, 1998). A sample of 3 respondents was selected. The respondents were members of the South African National Defence Force. The respondents were males aged between 25 and 40 years old who had been living with disability for two to three years. The TSCI individuals were interviewed to gain a better understanding of their rehabilitation experiences. The ideas that emerged from this research interview conversations were analysed through the use of an interpretive thematic analysis The findings indicate that positive emotional states facilitated positive behavioral practices such as taking initiative and adapting and coping with the challenges that come with the disability. The study demonstrated that participants’ repertoire of positive emotions acts as a remedy for negative emotions. Thus, positive emotional states were shown to influence behavioral repertoires and impact on motivation to improve the self. These factors lead to a drive to rehabilitation. Positive qualities such as gratitude, humour, optimism and resilience impacted on the ways in which the respondents created meaning about life events. This resulted in broader behavioural repertoires that led to more explorative and adaptive behaviours. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Psychology / unrestricted

According to the Minority Stress Model, racist or discriminatory experiences can have negative downstream effects on mental and physical health. For example, perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with increased negative emotion and distress, including feelings of guilt and shame; such characteristics may contribute to the development of psychache, or unbearable psychological pain. In turn, subjective vitality, which is considered a dynamic indicator of physical (e.g., feeling energetic, alert) and psychological (e.g., thriving, purposefulness) well-being, may be eroded. Yet, adaptive individual-level cognitive-emotional mechanisms may buffer the negative effects of discrimination on well-being. One such protective factor is mindfulness, or the nonjudgmental awareness of moment-to-moment experience, which can ameliorate stressful reactions to challenging situations and emotional pain. At the bivariate level, we hypothesized that discrimination and psychache would be positively related, and that both variables would be negatively related to mindfulness and vitality. At the multivariate level, we predicted that psychache would mediate the relation between discrimination and vitality, such that experienced discrimination would be associated with greater psychache and, in turn, to less vitality. We also hypothesized that mindfulness would moderate all linkages, reducing risk. Our sample of U.S. college students (n=2,106) was collected from a Northeastern urban university and was primarily female (n=1,571, 74.7%) and Hispanic (n=1,289, 61.2%; Black: n=454, 21.6%; Asian: n=363, 17.2%). Participants completed self-report measures, including the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Subjective Vitality Scale, Psychache Scale, and General Ethnic Discrimination Scale. Bivariate correlations and moderated-mediation analyses were conducted, in each ethnic/racial group, covarying age and sex. In bivariate analyses, all variables were significantly related in hypothesized directions (p<.05). ANOVAs revealed that ethnic groups varied significantly on discrimination (F(2, 1772=8.35, p<.001), vitality (F(2, 1806)=5.28, p<.01), and mindfulness (F(2, 1779)=9.70, p<.001). Blacks (M=35.95) and Asians (M=36.10) reported greater discrimination than Hispanics (M=32.29), t(1775)=3.66, p<.05; t(1775)=3.81, p<.05. Hispanics (M=4.81) reported higher vitality than Asians (M=4.55), t(1809)=.26, p<.05. Blacks (M=125.79) reported greater mindfulness than both Hispanics (M=122.95) and Asians (M=120.19) (t(1782)=2.83, p<.05; t(1782)=5.60, p<.05). In mediation analyses, the total effect of discrimination on vitality was significant (Asian: t=-2.36, p<.05; Black: t=-2.87, p<.01; Hispanic: t=-5.14, p<.001), and the direct effect was nonsignificant when psychache was added (Asian: t=.42, p=.68; Black: t=-.23, p=.82; Hispanic: t=-.02, p=.98), indicating mediation. In moderated-mediation analyses, the linkage between discrimination and psychache was weakened by mindfulness (Black: a2=-.005[-.009, -.002], t=-2.77, p<.01; Hispanic: a2=-.003[-.005, -.001], t=-2.38, p=<.01; Asian: a2=-.008[-.012, -.003], t=-3.48, p<.001). Among Asians, mindfulness also buffered the association between psychache and vitality (b2=-.001[-.002, -.001], t=-3.60, p<.001). Across racial/ethnic groups, we found that, for college students who experienced discrimination, psychological pain may be exacerbated, with consequent deleterious impact on vitality. Yet, for all groups, mindfulness weakened the discrimination-psychache linkage and, for Asians, who reported the lowest mindfulness levels, weakened the psychache-vitality linkage. Our findings suggest the benefits of mindfulness for psychosocial functioning in the context of ethnic/racial discrimination. Interventions to reduce psychache (e.g., cognitive restructuring) and enhance mindful awareness (e.g., meditation, acceptance and commitment therapy) may promote physical and mental vitality indicating wellbeing, in college students experiencing discrimination.

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The empirical study of grace, a relational virtue nestled within the fields of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality, has had a relatively slow start. Since research on experiences of grace is in the beginning stages, the purpose of the current study was to provide rich, context-based, qualitative data to describe (a) mainline Protestants' experiences of, and beliefs about, grace (e.g., common grace, justifying/saving grace, sanctifying grace, accepting grace), (b) how mainline Protestant Christians experience the interplay between divine grace and forgiveness (i.e., self-forgiveness, other-forgiveness), and (c) how mainline Protestant Christians experience the interplay between divine grace and humility. Interviews were conducted with 28 community adults who were affiliated with a mainline Protestant church. Results indicated that mainline Protestant Christians have varying beliefs about divine grace and how it is related to both the present moment and the afterlife. Divine grace was often defined as, or associated with, other relational virtues (e.g., forgiveness, love), and participants occasionally defined grace as a gift. Divine grace was further described as being instrumental in mainline Protestant Christians' experiences of (a) self-forgiveness, (b) other-forgiveness, (c) acknowledgement of personal weaknesses and limitations, and (d) connecting with others who are different. I conclude by discussing my findings in light of the present literature on divine grace.

Yes / This study aimed to understand which character strengths are most important for people living with dementia and therefore which strengths-based psychological interventions could be most meaningful and acceptable. A participatory design, utilising Delphi methodology, was incorporated into an iterative three stage framework: (1) literature reviewed for Positive Psychology (PP) interventions and patient public involvement to define the character strengths; (2) modified Delphi (N = 10) identified which character strengths are most important for living with dementia; (3) focus groups (N = 14) explored which PP interventions are most acceptable and meaningful. Qualitative data from the focus groups was analysed using thematic analysis. Love, kindness and humour were deemed the most important character strengths for living with dementia. Qualitative data from the focus groups was captured in three superordinate themes: (1) lack of opportunity not capacity; (2) key considerations of PP interventions for people living with dementia; and (3) potential benefits of PP interventions. Love, kindness and humour come naturally to people with dementia, but people may lack social opportunities to use these strengths. Therefore, a PP intervention promoting positive emotion, social relationships and connection to one's values appears most meaningful and acceptable as this may provide a social context to use and maintain these strengths.

This paper analyzes and compares the effectiveness of the correctional systems in the United States of America and Europe, with some emphasis on Scandinavia. To make the comparison, I looked at previous research on the correctional systems in the United States and Europe. I reviewed articles from PsycInfo EBSCO Host and Google Scholar. The main points of comparison used are recidivism rates and rehabilitation services offered by the prisons in different countries. The results of this comparison show that countries that offer better rehabilitation services in the prison system, like Scandinavian countries, have lower recidivism rates than the United States, where the focus is on punishment rather than rehabilitation. Research has been done before on countries individually, but there is not enough research comparing correctional systems among nations. The purpose of this paper was to expand the available literature comparing these different correctional systems.