This research worked toward a general aim of analysing the role of salutogenic functioning as moderator variable in coping and noncoping. A sample of forty-one community service doctors (N = 41) employed in KwaZulu-Natal hospitals was obtained. According to the literature, salutogenic properties are expected to act as generalised resistance resources. Based on this assertion, it was assumed that: degree of salutogenic functioning = degree of coping = degree of stress and burnout. The results demonstrated high levels of stress and depersonalisation burnout. Salutogenic functioning tended to be low, especially for sense of coherence. The results indicated, no significant relationship between stress/burnout and salutogenic functioning. Salutogenic functioning was unable to differentiate between copers and noncopers. These results contradicted the literature assertion that high scores on salutogenic functioning correlate with low scores on stress/burnout. It was concluded that variables other than personality moderated for the high levels of stress and burnout in the sample. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

The question the researcher set out to answer during this research is: How is a caring concern maintained by the (student nurse) as caregiver? It stemmed from unresolved plausible hypotheses stated during a previous qualitative study into the phenomenon caring, from media reports on the "poor care" rendered in health institutions in South Africa, and a concern about the Tylerian rationale in nursing education. The theory generation required was achieved through Wertz's Empirical Psychological Reflection and existential phenomenology. Heidegger's theory of"Care as the essence of being" constituted a central concept in this research. A linguistic epistemology and expanded definition of the term empirical were also pertinent in this research. The literature review focussed on the methodology, ontology (caring and maintenance) and epistemology, serving a purpose towards bracketing. A purposive sample of informants was extracted according to students' performance on the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). Sixteen qualitative research interviews were conducted. Analysis was conducted through open coding, categorisation and axial coding. At the idiographic level, twelve individual psychological profiles were constructed serving the purpose of imaginative variation. At the nomothetic level four major themes emerged, namely: The Caring Phenomenon (Contextualisation); Factors Eroding a Caring Concern; Factors in the Maintenance of a Caring Concern; and Core Experiences. The dialogue among the four intra-psychic processes of Care, will, meaning attribution and conscience accounts for all events encountered in the data. This dialogue results in either reason or intuition, displaying caring and the maintenance of a caring concern. Positing will and conscience as thesis and antithesis, the resulting synthesis postulates the basic ethical concepts of autonomy, authority, responsibility and accountability as existentially inherent to being and existence, and to the maintenance of a caring concern. The final manifestation of the object ofintention, maintenance, is proposed as an anthropological model. When extended to the fields of (nursing) education, human motivation and the teaching of (nursing) ethics, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, the self-science curriculum and life-skills training become imperative to (nursing) curricula. It is also proposed that human caring be studied as a manifestation of human motivation. / Health Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie ondersoek handel oor die psigometriese verwantskappe tussen verskeie konseptualiserings van psigologiese optimaliteit. Die konsepte selfaktualisering (vanuit 'n humanistiese raamwerk), gevoel van koherensie en aangeleerde vernuftigheid (vanuit 'n behavioristiese en salutogenesis paradigma) is vir die doeleindes van hierdie ondersoek gekies. Die gekose meetinstrumente, naamlik die Persoonlike Orientasievraelys vir selfaktualisering, die Lewensorientasievraelys vir gevoel van koherensie en die Selfkontroleskedule vir aangeleerde vernuftigheid, is op 'n steekproef van 200 middelvlakbestuurders in 'n semi-staatsdiensorganisasie afgeneem. Pearsonkorrelasiekoeffisiente is bereken en 'n faktorontleding is gedoen. Daar is verskeie beduidende korrelasies verkry tussen die subskale van die Persoonlike Orientasievraelys en die Lewensorientasievraelys, maar slegs enkele beduidende korrelasies tussen die Persoonlike Orientasievraelys en die Selfkontroleskedule. Die Lewensorientasievraelys en die Selfkontroleskedule het egter beduidend gekorreleer. Die faktorontleding het getoon dat selfaktualisering aan die een kant, en gevoel van koherensie en aangeleerde vernuftigheid aan die ander kant as twee verskillende konstrukte van psigologiese optimaliteit beskou kan word. / The relationships between various conceptualisations of psychological optimisation are investigated. The concepts of self-actualisation (from a humanistic paradigm), sense of coherence and learned resourcefulness (from a salutogenesis paradigm) are relevant. The measuring instruments were the Personal Orientation Inventory (POl), the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) and the Self Control Schedule (SCS). They were administered by means of random sampling of 200 middle level managers in a semi-government organisation. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated and a factor analysis was done. Several significant correlations were obtained between the subscales of the POl and the OLQ, but limited correlations were found between the POl and the SCS. However, significant correlations between the OLQ and the SCS were apparent. The factor analysis demonstrated that self-actualisation on the one hand and sense of coherence as well as learned resourcefulness on the other hand may be regarded as two seperate constructs of psychological optimisation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / Thesis (M.Com.)--Universiteit van Suid Afrika, 1994.

[...] Le sujet de cette thèse intervient dans le cadre du projet DEFI et vise à caractériser la notion d'Efficience Inventive en Conception afin d'élaborer des moyens de mesure de cette dernière. L’objectif étant à terme d’aboutir à l'adoption d’indicateurs aidant les entreprises à situer leurs capacités inventives en R&D. Par la suite, les entreprises ayant adopté ces indicateurs pourront, le cas échéant, entamer des actions d'évolution de leurs pratiques afin que la valeur de ces indicateurs évolue dans le sens recherché. Aux vues de la diversité des typologies d’entreprises et l’ampleur d’un tel sujet, notre recherche est focalisée sur les projets de conception de produits au sein des départements R&D de l’industrie automobile. Afin de mener cette recherche et définir les indicateurs de l’efficience inventive, nous avons étudié dans un premier temps les critères inhérents à la conception inventive. Selon nos travaux, la mesure de la performance inventive est corrélée à l’efficience inventive et doit considérer son efficacité par des caractéristiques ciblées, l’étude des connaissances impliquées et des ressources consommées. Notre mesure de l’efficience inventive est aussi basée sur l’analyse des flux des connaissances en jeu tout au long du processus d’innovation technologique, et particulièrement dans la phase de pré-développement. Elle analyse la relation entre ce qui est reçu et ce qui est appliqué ou consommé par rapport à l’inventivité. La mesure de l’inventivité est alors basée sur l’évaluation de l’idéalité, la nouveauté et l’utilité de ce qui sort du processus de conception de produit. L’ensemble des méthodes d’évaluation développées dans ce travail pour chaque critère d’inventivité, et l’efficience inventive, sont intégrés dans un système d’évaluation concret nommé IDPMS (Inventive Design Performance Measurement System) destiné à aider les directeurs des projets de la conception de produit et R&D à observer la performance inventive des équipes projet, et tenter d’améliorer les activités inventives. Donc, ce travail se catégorise dans le domain des sciences de l’ingénieur. Depuis plus de deux décennies, notre laboratoire (le LGéCo) travaille à la construction, d’abord théorique, puis déclinée en méthodes et outils, de nouvelles approches destinées à accompagner les mutations industrielles de l’ère de la qualité vers l’ère de l’innovation. A cet égard, cette thèse fournira un chaînon manquant : celui qui concerne l’évaluation, et la mesure de ce qui caractérise l’amont de l'innovation afin d’aider les entreprises à entrer, par rapport à ces dernières, en logique de performance. / [...] This thesis was defined in the DEFI project to characterize the notion of efficiency in Inventive Design, and develop the metrics of inventive-design. The objective of this proposal is to define inventive performance indicators to enhance the creative capacity in the automotive industry. The research is focused on the NPD projects of R&D department, which are known as the responsible of technological evolutions. In this respect, the main elements of design performance, and the main criteria of inventiveness are studied and merged together. The inventive performance of a R&D team is concerned with the efficiency of their activities to create inventive designs when they apply existing knowledge, and/or use creative resources. This analyzes the relationship between what is received and what is applied or consumed to achieve higher inventiveness degree. The measures of inventiveness are based on the evaluation of novelty, resourcefulness, and usefulness of what comes out from design activities. All the evaluation methods developed in this work are integrated into a concrete system as IDPMS (Inventive Design Performance Measurement System), and an initial version of the IDPMS application is developed, by which R&D and project managers can observe the inventive performance of their NPD projects. So this work is categorized in Engineering Science for specifying performance indicators of inventive design activities. In recent years, our laboratory (LGeCo) focused on developing theoretical methods, then appropriate tools to accompany the industrial changes from the era of quality to the era of innovation. In this regard, this thesis provides the missing link of this effort by evaluating the main characteristics of inventions in engineering level to help companies enter into a logic performance along their innovation projects.