There is an ongoing need for educational psychologists, researchers, policymakers, educators, and parents to continue to identify and understand the academic and nonacademic factors that influence academic achievement. Recent studies have documented the steady decline in the academic performances of students from Grades 7 to 9. The purpose of this study was to examine the statistical relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction in relationship with caregivers, mindsets of intelligence, and academic achievement among secondary school students in the Commonwealth of Dominica. This study was grounded in the self-determination theory and mindsets of intelligence theory. A non-experimental correlational design using survey methodology was used for this study. Participants were 143 3rd year secondary school students ages 11 through 15. The participants’ academic achievement, mindsets of intelligence and their basic psychological needs satisfaction in relationship with their caregivers, were measured. The data were analyzed using standard multiple regression. The results of the study found a significant inverse relationship between the relatedness component of psychological needs satisfaction and academic achievement. Additionally, higher mindset of intelligence scores significantly predicted higher scores in math, English, and science in the participants first and second years of secondary school. The positive social change implications of this study may equip policymakers, teachers, and parents with the relevant information needed to design and implement programs aimed at improving the academic achievement of secondary school students

Studiens syfte var att undersöka om (a) självbestämmande motivation medierar sambandet mellan behovstillfredsställelse och idrottsrelaterad utbrändhet. Samt om (b) kontrollerad motivation medierar sambandet mellan behovstillfredsställelse och idrottsrelaterad utbrändhet. Föreliggande studie är en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie och datainsamling genomfördes via tillgänglighetsurval. Totalt deltog 138 Crossfit deltagare i åldrarna 19 - 58 år (M= 32.19, Sd= 9.02). Baserat på studies syftet skapades två hypoteser som vidare testades i varsin medieringsanalys. Medieringsanalys 1 kunde inte bekräfta hypotesmodell 1 då resultatet påvisar en icke signifikant indirekt effekt mellan behovstillfredsställelse och idrottsrelaterad utbrändhet via självbestämmande motivation. Å andra sidan kunde medieringsanalys 2 bekräfta hypotesmodell 2 eftersom resultatet visar en signifikant indirekt effekt mellan behovstillfredsställelse och idrottsrelaterad utbrändhet via kontrollerad motivation. Resultatet tydliggör förståelsen av att kontrollerad motivation inom Crossfit anses bidrar med lägre grad av behovstillfredsställelse och ökar risken för utveckling av idrottsrelaterad utbrändhet. / The purpose of the study was to investigate if (a) self-determining motivation mediates the correlation between psychological need satisfaction and athletic burnout. Also, if (b) controlled motivation mediates the correlation between psychological need satisfaction and athletic burnout. The current study is a quantitative cross-sectional study. Data was collected by accessibility sampling. There were 138 Crossfit participants who participated in the ages 19 - 58 (M= 32.19, Sd= 9.02). Based on the purpose of the study were two hypotheses created and tested in two separated mediation analysis. Mediation analysis 1 in the study could not accept hypotheses 1, based on the result which indicated no significant indirect effect between psychological need satisfaction and athletic burnout through self- determination motivation. Opposite, mediation analysis 2 could accept hypotheses 2 based on the result which indicated a significant indirect effect between psychological need satisfaction and athletic burnout through controlled motivation. The results illustrate the understanding of controlled motivation in Crossfit because it contributes lower psychological need satisfaction and higher the risk of developing athletic burnout.

The happiness of managers is an important research theme for several reasons. Managers spend most of their working day with people, are constantly interacting with various social systems and are role models for happiness in organisations. Furthermore, happiness (in terms of feeling and functioning well) is associated with mental health and positive organisational outcomes. The prevalence of positive mental health is relatively low, with less than a third of the population experiencing high mental health. Research about happiness is necessary given that gains in mental health predict declines in mental illness. Two conceptualisations of happiness, namely authentic happiness (Seligman, 2002), and flourishing (Keyes, 2005) include dimensions of feeling and functioning well. No studies have been conducted regarding the happiness of managers in South Africa. Therefore, research is necessary to investigate the factors associated with happiness, as well as the pathways to managers’ happiness. Psychological need satisfaction is an important pathway through which social-contextual variables impact happiness of people. The aim of this research was to investigate the state of, antecedents and outcomes of happiness of managers in the agricultural sector in South Africa. A cross-sectional design with managers in the South African agricultural sector (N = 507) was used. The Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale, Organisational Commitment Scale, Antecedents Scale, Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, Work Engagement Scale, Mental Health Continuum Short Form, Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-being, Work-role Fit Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire and Turnover Intention Scale were utilised. Cronbach alpha coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlations, multiple regression analysis, descriptive statistics and mediational analysis (Omnibus procedure) were applied. Structural equation modelling was used to test a structural model of orientations to happiness and its relation to various organisational outcomes. The results of study 1 showed that orientations to happiness (i.e. pleasure, meaning and engagement) had strong direct effects on subjective well-being, job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour. Orientations to happiness impacted job satisfaction indirectly through subjective well-being. Subjective well-being had a strong direct and positive effect on job satisfaction. Orientations to happiness and subjective well-being affected organisational commitment indirectly through their effects on job satisfaction. Concerning happiness as flourishing at work, the results of study 2 showed that 3% of the managers were languishing, 48.5% were moderately flourishing, while 48.5% were flourishing. Task characteristics, supervisor relations, availability of resources impacted job satisfaction, emotional and psychological well-being of managers. Remuneration was associated with job satisfaction, emotional and social well-being. Task characteristics, supervisor relations, personal resources and remuneration satisfied the psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, which impacted job satisfaction, work engagement and flourishing of managers positively. The results of study 3 showed that factors contributing to meaningful work (work role fit, good co-worker relations, meaningful tasks and work beliefs) had direct effects on psychological need satisfaction, purpose and meaning in life, organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention. Work role fit, co-worker relations, task characteristics and career orientation (as a work belief) impacted meaning and purpose in life indirectly through competence satisfaction. Purpose in life impacted turnover intention negatively via psychological need satisfaction, while meaning in life impacted organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention via competence and relatedness satisfaction. Recommendations for future research were made. / PhD, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The happiness of managers is an important research theme for several reasons. Managers spend most of their working day with people, are constantly interacting with various social systems and are role models for happiness in organisations. Furthermore, happiness (in terms of feeling and functioning well) is associated with mental health and positive organisational outcomes. The prevalence of positive mental health is relatively low, with less than a third of the population experiencing high mental health. Research about happiness is necessary given that gains in mental health predict declines in mental illness. Two conceptualisations of happiness, namely authentic happiness (Seligman, 2002), and flourishing (Keyes, 2005) include dimensions of feeling and functioning well. No studies have been conducted regarding the happiness of managers in South Africa. Therefore, research is necessary to investigate the factors associated with happiness, as well as the pathways to managers’ happiness. Psychological need satisfaction is an important pathway through which social-contextual variables impact happiness of people. The aim of this research was to investigate the state of, antecedents and outcomes of happiness of managers in the agricultural sector in South Africa. A cross-sectional design with managers in the South African agricultural sector (N = 507) was used. The Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale, Organisational Commitment Scale, Antecedents Scale, Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, Work Engagement Scale, Mental Health Continuum Short Form, Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-being, Work-role Fit Scale, Work-Life Questionnaire and Turnover Intention Scale were utilised. Cronbach alpha coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlations, multiple regression analysis, descriptive statistics and mediational analysis (Omnibus procedure) were applied. Structural equation modelling was used to test a structural model of orientations to happiness and its relation to various organisational outcomes. The results of study 1 showed that orientations to happiness (i.e. pleasure, meaning and engagement) had strong direct effects on subjective well-being, job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour. Orientations to happiness impacted job satisfaction indirectly through subjective well-being. Subjective well-being had a strong direct and positive effect on job satisfaction. Orientations to happiness and subjective well-being affected organisational commitment indirectly through their effects on job satisfaction. Concerning happiness as flourishing at work, the results of study 2 showed that 3% of the managers were languishing, 48.5% were moderately flourishing, while 48.5% were flourishing. Task characteristics, supervisor relations, availability of resources impacted job satisfaction, emotional and psychological well-being of managers. Remuneration was associated with job satisfaction, emotional and social well-being. Task characteristics, supervisor relations, personal resources and remuneration satisfied the psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, which impacted job satisfaction, work engagement and flourishing of managers positively. The results of study 3 showed that factors contributing to meaningful work (work role fit, good co-worker relations, meaningful tasks and work beliefs) had direct effects on psychological need satisfaction, purpose and meaning in life, organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention. Work role fit, co-worker relations, task characteristics and career orientation (as a work belief) impacted meaning and purpose in life indirectly through competence satisfaction. Purpose in life impacted turnover intention negatively via psychological need satisfaction, while meaning in life impacted organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention via competence and relatedness satisfaction. Recommendations for future research were made. / PhD, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012