<p>The general aim of this thesis was to study the transition process from dependency towards anatomy and psychological empowerment among teenagers with type 1 diabetes. Thirty-two teenagers (18 female/14 male) aged 13-17 took part in conversational interviews. The interviews followed a semi-structured question guide. Data comprised 31 tape recorded interviews (one informant did not want to be tape recorded). The research design was based on a phenomenological and life world perspective including two different analysis methods.</p><p>The transition towards autonomy among teenagers with type 1 diabetes was elucidated in a phenomenological approach (paper I). Through the teenagers’ narratives about their daily life experiences with type 1 diabetes there emerged the over-riding theme “Hovering between individual actions and support of others”. This theme illustrates the main problem related to diabetes management - duality in dependence and independence. The themes “growth through individual self-reliance” and “growth through confirmation of others” seem to facilitate the transition process from dependency towards autonomy. Experiences of the Empowerment Education Programme (EEP) were studied by a qualitative content analysis (paper II). From the teenagers’ descriptions the over-riding theme was formulated as “Sense of community”, and this covered the categories of social fellow feeling, collaborative learning, and community of interests. A synthesis of the findings illustrates that individual self-reliance, confirmation of others, and sense of community are closely related to individual inner resources, trust in others, and the feeling of belonging, which are all suggested as specific goals of empowerment and fulfilment of psychological empowerment. A model was created to explain the relation between psychological empowerment and growth through individual self-reliance, confirmation of others, and sense of community. Professional nursing care might start from the unique situation and context the individual experiences and exists in. Social meetings with like-minded youth were highly appreciated among the teenagers. The teenagers showed their willingness to transform themselves towards becoming more independent in self-management, and the teenage years may be the right period to empower and coach the teenagers towards autonomy and prepare them for adulthood living with type 1 diabetes.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine the role that self-determination played in the transition process for young African American women with disabilities who exited high school with a special diploma and participated in a local transition program. Factors under study included the young women's autonomy, self-regulation, psychological empowerment, and self-realization (Wehmeyer, 1996). This examination of the perceptions of the transition process of young African American women with disabilities involved in-depth interviews with five young women and their parent or guardian. Additionally, The Arc's Self-Determination Scale (ASDS) and the Parent Self-Determination Practice Survey (PSDPS) were administered to determine the level of self-determination of the young women as well as the level of parental promotion of self-determination. Results showed that the young women were able to use self-determination in a variety of settings. Three of the five student participants demonstrated high levels of self-determination as measured by the ASDS when compared to the normative sample. Also, the parent or guardian of the young women provided multiple opportunities for the young women to practice self-determination in their homes and employment settings. Furthermore, the young women discussed several factors that they perceived to be strengths and challenges to using self-determination throughout and beyond the transition process. The findings have implications for school systems, social service agencies, and parents and guardians.

Work environments for health care providers in acute care hospitals have become increasingly demanding due to the impact of economic constraints, the rapid advancement of treatment modalities, and value systems changes among clients, as well as among heath care providers. In Japan, health care industries also face severe economic constraints. Because Japan has socialized medicine, the government controls reimbursements. Due to the dramatic growth in health care expenditures, the Japanese government has imposed regulations that reward shorter lengths of hospital stays with higher reimbursement. As a result, only patients whose conditions are critical and require complicated nursing care are now hospitalized. Consequently, the acuity levels of patients have increased every year. Under such conditions, administrators are charged with keeping the organization financially solvent so that they can remain in business, while continuing to improve the quality of their services. Although systems research in health care settings has received considerable attention in North American countries, there has been little research in this area in Japan, where systematic leadership training for nurse managers is also still in a developmental stage. Research on organizational effectiveness has shown positive correlations between managers' leadership styles and employees' psychological well-being or self-efficacy.The purposes of this study were: 1) to test Laschinger's Work Empowerment Theory with incorporation of leadership behaviors in acute care hospitals in Japan, and 2) to investigate how leadership behaviors might mitigate burnout and empower staff nurses working in acute care hospitals in Japan. It was expected that employees who perceived a high level of Structural Empowerment would demonstrate high Psychological Empowerment and low burnout level. If employees perceived high leadership behaviors in their immediate supervisors, their Psychological Empowerment was expected to be higher and their burnout level was expected to be lower.The following four instruments were used: 1) Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II); 2) Psychological Empowerment Scale; 3) Nurse Manager's Action Scale; and 4) Maslach Burnout Inventory. The questionnaire was distributed to 1,377 staff nurses working on 50 inpatient care units in two acute care hospitals in Japan. Participant response rates for all units were equal or greater than 50%. Psychometric evaluation of the instruments was performed. Construct validity and reliability were established for all instruments at the individual level. At the group level, construct validity and reliability for two instruments (Structural Empowerment and Nurse Manger's Action Scale) were confirmed, but not for two others (Psychological Empowerment and Maslach Burnout Inventory).Results suggested that the Work Empowerment Theory also fits Japanese nurses, but there was little effect of leadership behaviors on staff nurses' perceived empowerment. A group level analysis indicated that leadership behaviors did not influence Psychological Empowerment or Burnout, but influenced Structural Empowerment.

<p>The primary objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the impact of psychological empowerment and job satisfaction on organizational commitment amongst employees in a multi-national organization. For the purpose of this study a quantitative, non-probability convenience sampling design was used to assess the three variables. The sample consisted of (N = 120) permanent employees were employed in the following departments namely: Administration, Engineering, Production, Quality and Commercial.</p>

Organizations in South Africa as in the rest of the world are under tremendous pressure to improve their performance and increase their competitiveness in the continuously changing world of work. Psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important concepts to consider when dealing with the changes in the world of work. Psychological empowerment refers to the experience of empowerment among employees. Empowerment heightens employees’ sense of personal control and motivates them to engage in work which in turn results in positive managerial and organizational outcomes (Conger & Kanungo, 1988;Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997; Siegall & Gardner, 2000). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment have both shown to be important outcomes of psychological empowerment.The primary objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the impact of psychological empowerment and job satisfaction on organizational commitment amongst employees in a multi-national organization. For the purpose of this study a quantitative, non-probability convenience sampling design was used to assess the three variables. The sample consisted of (N = 120) permanent employees were employed in the following departments namely: Administration, Engineering,Production, Quality and Commercial.A biographical questionnaire, The Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire (MEQ),Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire(OCQ) were administered to gather data. The MEQ consists of 12 statements and measures psychological empowerment on four cognitions namely; meaning, impact, self-determination and competence. The JDI measures job satisfaction on five job facets namely, pay, promotions, supervision, co-workers and the work itself. The OCQ measures organizational commitment and consists of 15 statements. Each statement attempts to extract the employee’s feelings towards organizational policies, goals and values, their willingness go the extra mile, and whether they are proud to be associated with the organization. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.The Product Moment Correlations Coefficient was computed to determine the extent to which the variable investigated is related to each other. The ANOVA was used to determine whether there are differences in psychological empowerment based on biographical characteristics and also to assess differences amongst the variable. The T-test was utilized to assess whether there is a difference based on gender. For the biographical information namely gender, race and tenure results indicate significant statistical differences in organizational commitment. A statistically significant relationship was also found between psychological empowerment and organizational commitment. However, the strongest relationship was found between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore results, indicate that employees at the multi-national organization are relatively satisfied with the nature of the work that they perform, with the supervision that they receive, as well as with their co-workers. Opportunities for promotion and compensation appeared to be however, the main sources of dissatisfaction. With regards to organizational commitment employees express below average belief in the organization’s goals and values, willingness to exert extra effort on behalf of the organization and desire to maintain membership of the organization.With the exception of gender, the relationship between race and tenure with job satisfaction was found to be significant. With the exception of race, the relationship between gender and tenure with psychological empowerment was found to be significant.Results indicated a significant and direct relationship between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction.A limitation of this research is that the sampling composition and research design prevent the results to this study to be generalised to other organizations and it is recommended that a stratified random sampling design be utilised for future research. / Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS)

Titel: Psykologiskt Empowerment: En kognitiv resa genom relationer och arbetskontext Författare: Niklas Hansson och Niklas Johansson Handledare: Pia Ulvenblad och Ingemar Wictor Nyckelord: Psykologiskt Empowerment, PE, Arbetskontext, Relationer Syfte: Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen kring psykologiskt empowerment (PE), genom att studera kopplingen till relationer och arbetskontext. Problemformulering: Hur kan uppfattad nivå av PE kopplas till arbetskontext och relationer? Metod: En kvalitativ metod har använts och fyra fallstudier har gjorts på organisationer med varierande branschtillhörighet, vilket gjorts för att maximera skillnaderna mellan fallen. Primärdata kommer från individuella intervjuer, vilka kompletterats med tillhörande frågeformulär och som gjort upplevda nivåer av PE kvantifierbara. Teoretisk referensram: Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av klassiska PE-teorier tillsammans med beståndsdelarna av konceptet, för att forma basen. Detta kombineras med nyare PE-teorier kopplade till både arbetskontext och relationer, men även kortfattat vilka beteendemässiga utfall som kopplas till PE. Författarna har valt att fokusera mindre på eventuella utfall kopplat till PE, då dessa funnits i tidigare forskning, men inte kan negligeras helt, då det kan tyckas absolut väsentligt att på något sätt ta upp vad som är positivt och negativt kopplat till konceptet Slutsats: Både arbetskontext och relationer tycks kunna kopplas till uppfattad nivå av PE. Här har positiva uppfattningar kring psykologiskt klimat och allmänna relationer kunnat kopplas till organisationerna med högst uppfattad nivå av PE i jämförelse med organisationerna där nivån av PE uppfattats lägre. Dock behövs mer kvantitativ forskning för att kunna göra statistiska generaliseringar rörande sambandet mellan PE och dessa aspekter, samt i hur stor utsträckning det här sambandet påverkar den individuella uppfattningen av PE. / Title: Psykologiskt Empowerment: en Kognitiv Resa mellan Arbetskontext och Relationer Authors: Niklas Hansson and Niklas Johansson   Supervisors: Pia Ulvenblad and Ingemar Wictor   Keyword(s): Psychological Empowerment, PE, Work context, Relations   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to extend the understanding of psychological empowerment (PE), by studying its connection to work context and relations.   Research problem: How could perceived level of PE be connected to work context and relations?   Method: A qualitative approach has been chosen and four case studies have been conducted in organisations in different industries, which were done in order to maximise the differences between the cases. Primary data are collected from personal inerviews, which have been conducted together with a complementing questionnaire, which has made the levels of PE quantifiable.   Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework consists of classical PE-theories, in order to form a solid theory base for the concept of PE. These classics are presented together with more modern theories regarding PE in connection to certain aspects of relations and work context. A brief summary of expected outcomes of PE is also included, in order to provide the reader with some of the positive effects which are related to PE. The authors have chosen to put less emphasis on outcomes, since these are to be found in previous research. However, it cannot be neglected, since the reader should be provided with a comprehensive overview of what effects PE could have; both positive and negative ones.   Conclusion: Both work context and relations appear to be connected to perceived levels of PE. Positive perceptions regarding these two aspects have been detected in a wider extent within organisations which have been showing higher levels of perceived PE than those with lower levels. However, quantitative studies need to be conducted in order to make statistical generalisations regarding such connections and in which extent this connection affects PE at the individual levels.

The world of work has changed dramatically in the last decade and constant change has become the new normality. Employees are affected by possible re-organisation, retrenchments and downsizing which affects their behaviours and attitudes at work. Leaders have the responsibility of leading their followers through these difficult times to the best of their ability. A positive leader is seen as someone who recognises and focuses on the strengths and accomplishments of his or her employees. When a leader is positive and has a positive leadership approach, it may influence their followers’ feelings of psychological empowerment, work engagement and satisfaction with life. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between positive leadership, psychological empowerment, work engagement and satisfaction with life of employees in a chemical industry. A cross-sectional survey design was used with a convenience sample (n = 322). The measuring instruments used were the Positive Leadership Measure, the Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire, the Work Engagement Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test whether the measures of the constructs were consistent with the understanding of the nature of the constructs and to test whether the data fitted the hypothesised measurement model. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to examine the structural relationships between the constructs. The results show that there are statistically significant relationships between positive leadership, psychological empowerment, work engagement and satisfaction with life. Positive leadership has an indirect effect on work engagement and satisfaction with life via psychological empowerment. The implication of the results is that the work related aspects of positive leadership, psychological empowerment and work engagement has a positive effect on the non-work related aspect of satisfaction with life. Practical implications and directions for future research are offered. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Globalisation radically changed the way in which talent is sourced, organised and managed. The chemical industry as competitor in the global landscape is increasingly faced with challenges to attract and retain talent. The success and global competitiveness of the chemical industry largely depends on its employees, their ideas and intellectual resources. Highly talented employees are targeted by competitor companies and head hunters with substantial financial incentives and benefits. Leadership plays a vital role in creating a stimulating, empowered and challenging work environment that will attract and retain employees. Employees need to experience a sense of meaning, have the resources to do their jobs and most importantly, need to be empowered beyond being asked to meet performance goals. The aim of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between leadership empowerment behaviour, psychological empowerment, work engagement and turnover intention in a chemical industry. The study secondly examined whether leadership empowerment behaviour affected turnover intention via psychological empowerment and thirdly the study investigated if leadership empowerment behaviour affected work engagement via psychological empowerment. A random cross-sectional design with paper-based surveys as the primary method of data collection was used to accomplish the research objectives. The measuring battery for this study consisted of the Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire (LEB), the Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire (MEQ), the Work Engagement Scale (WES) and the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS). The simulation and statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences IBM SPSS version 21 and Mplus. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) which is theory driven was used in the study. The results showed that a significant relationship existed between leadership empowerment behaviour, psychological empowerment, work engagement and turnover intention. Regression analysis indicated that leadership empowerment behaviour had significant predictive value towards psychological empowerment and work engagement. The results showed that leadership empowerment behaviour did not affect turnover intention via psychological empowerment, but rather had a direct effect on employee’s turnover intention. The results further showed that psychological empowerment did have an indirect effect on the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and work engagement. The results indicated that it would be worthwhile if organisations develop leader’s competence and skills to empower their workforces. This would lead to higher levels of psychological empowerment, work engagement and retention of talent. Recommendations for future research were made. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Disertacijoje analizuojamas darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas – būsena, apimanti meistrystės (sugebėjimo atlikti darbus) ir energijos, skatinančios atlikti darbus, patyrimą. Šiai būsenai vertinti sudarytas lietuviškas psichologinio įgalinimo klausimynas. Analizuojama, kas yra būdinga darbuotojo psichologinio įgalinimo būsenai, kokioms sąlygoms esant darbuotojai tampa stipriai psichologiškai įgalinti, kokį vaidmenį psichologinis įgalinimas atlieka darbuotojų nuostatoms ir darbinei elgsenai, kokie yra specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo ypatumai. Lietuvoje šis tyrimas yra vienas pirmųjų psichologinio įgalinimo tyrimų. Tyrimo eigoje buvo išanalizuoti bei patvirtinti šie ginamieji teiginiai: a) psichologinio įgalinimo būseną charakterizuoja penkios dimensijos: prasmė, entuziazmas, sprendimų priėmimas, autonomija ir pasitikėjimas kompetencija, b) svarbiausi darbuotojo psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuojantys veiksniai yra įgalinantis tiesioginio vadovo elgesys, organizacijos lygmens veiksniai ir kognityviniai darbo reikalavimai, c) darbuotojai, kurie jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti, yra labiau patenkinti darbu, rodo daugiau iniciatyvos, jų darbo atlikimas yra geresnis, d) ir specialistai, ir vadovai jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti, jei dirba iššūkius keliantį darbą, kur tenka panaudoti visas turimas žinias ir įgyti naujų. / Psychological empowerment of employees (state of mastery and energy to do one‘s job) is analyzed in this dissertational research. In order to evaluate this state a Lithuanian psychological empowerment questionnaire was created. The characteristics of psychological empowerment, the antecedents of psychological empowerment, the role of psychological empowerment, and the characteristics of managers’ and specialists’ psychological empowerment were analyzed. This research is one of few pioneering studies of psychological empowerment in Lithuania. While implementing the dissertational research, main statements to be defended were explored and confirmed as well: i) the state of psychological empowerment is characterized by five dimensions: meaning, enthusiasm, decision making, autonomy, and confidence in one’s competence, ii) empowering leader behavior, structural empowerment, and cognitive job demands are the main antecedents of psychological empowerment, iii) state of psychological empowerment predicts greater job satisfaction, job performance, and demonstrating effort at work, iv) both managers’ and specialists’ psychological empowerment is predicted by challenging work, that is ability to use current and gain new skills.

Disertacijoje analizuojamas darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas – būsena, apimanti meistrystės (sugebėjimo atlikti darbus) ir energijos, skatinančios atlikti darbus, patyrimą. Šiai būsenai vertinti sudarytas lietuviškas psichologinio įgalinimo klausimynas. Analizuojama, kas yra būdinga darbuotojo psichologinio įgalinimo būsenai, kokioms sąlygoms esant darbuotojai tampa stipriai psichologiškai įgalinti, kokį vaidmenį psichologinis įgalinimas atlieka darbuotojų nuostatoms ir darbinei elgsenai, kokie yra specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo ypatumai. Lietuvoje šis tyrimas yra vienas pirmųjų psichologinio įgalinimo tyrimų. Tyrimo eigoje buvo išanalizuoti bei patvirtinti šie ginamieji teiginiai: a) psichologinio įgalinimo būseną charakterizuoja penkios dimensijos: prasmė, entuziazmas, sprendimų priėmimas, autonomija ir pasitikėjimas kompetencija, b) svarbiausi darbuotojo psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuojantys veiksniai yra įgalinantis tiesioginio vadovo elgesys, organizacijos lygmens veiksniai ir kognityviniai darbo reikalavimai, c) darbuotojai, kurie jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti, yra labiau patenkinti darbu, rodo daugiau iniciatyvos, jų darbo atlikimas yra geresnis, d) ir specialistai, ir vadovai jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti, jei dirba iššūkius keliantį darbą, kur tenka panaudoti visas turimas žinias ir įgyti naujų. / Psychological empowerment of employees (state of mastery and energy to do one‘s job) is analyzed in this dissertational research. In order to evaluate this state a Lithuanian psychological empowerment questionnaire was created. The characteristics of psychological empowerment, the antecedents of psychological empowerment, the role of psychological empowerment, and the characteristics of managers’ and specialists’ psychological empowerment were analyzed. This research is one of few pioneering studies of psychological empowerment in Lithuania. While implementing the dissertational research, main statements to be defended were explored and confirmed as well: i) the state of psychological empowerment is characterized by five dimensions: meaning, enthusiasm, decision making, autonomy, and confidence in one’s competence, ii) empowering leader behavior, structural empowerment, and cognitive job demands are the main antecedents of psychological empowerment, iii) state of psychological empowerment predicts greater job satisfaction, job performance, and demonstrating effort at work, iv) both managers’ and specialists’ psychological empowerment is predicted by challenging work, that is ability to use current and gain new skills.