The general aim of the present thesis was to investigate the determinants of car users’ switching to public transport when driving to work. Since the quality of services is particularly low in medium-sized cities, making the car a much more attractive option, the studies focus on car-use in such cities. Four studies were conducted. In the first (Paper I), an Internet survey addressing what people using their cars to commute to work in a medium-size city believe would make them reduce their car-use as well as what improvements to public transport services they believe would make them use those services was conducted. The results showed that, the further to work and/or bus stops - the more the participants desired increased frequencies and shorter travel times, but less often lower fares. In the second study (Paper II), using a web-based experimental simulation, participants were given the task of planning their travel to and from work, including the performing of additional activities in accordance with predetermined agendas. The main results of this were that shorter travel times and good access to bus stops led to greater bus use while constraints imposed by a busy daily agenda led to greater car-use, in particular if car costs were low. In the third study (Paper III) a scale for measuring satisfaction with travel was developed. A new measure of travel-related subjective well-being (SWB), a 9-item self-report Satisfaction with Travel Scale (STS), was developed. The results showed that STS is reliable and differentiates between changes in travel conditions. In the fourth study (Paper IV) which attributes other than time and cost contribute to the preference of car over bus in the choice of travel mode was investigated. Using STS, developed in Paper III the effect of different travel modes on satisfaction with travel was studied. The conclusions of this thesis are that a public transport system must appear attractive, not only to its present users, but also to prospective users who currently use their cars. To appear attractive, it must not be too expensive and must have timetables and routes that allow users to travel in an efficient manner. One measure that can be used to force commuters out of their cars is higher car-use costs; however, car-use costs may need to be substantially higher than the cost of using public transport in order to be effective. As the present research has indicated, the perceived difficulty of using public transport is also an important factor. Raising car-use costs will thus be insufficient unless changes are made to public transport services. A factor complicating this is activity patterns, which are often complex. As has been indicated in the present research, the more complex the activity pattern - the more the car is used as a means of transport.

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

This thesis shows that citizens whose policy concerns are higher on political elites' agendas are more likely to be satisfied with democracy and to vote in elections. It develops a theoretical framework to explain the influence of the previously neglected variable priority congruence on democratic satisfaction and turnout and provides empirical evidence for it. The thesis thereby makes significant contributions to our knowledge about the ingredients of democratic legitimacy. Previous research shows that political representation, as measured by proximity between citizens' and elites' policy positions, is linked to democratic satisfaction. In this thesis, it is argued that congruence in priorities has a similar effect because citizens are likely to perceive elites who emphasise their concerns as responsive to societal needs and public opinion. The empirical analyses suggest that democratic satisfaction is indeed influenced by priority congruence, yet less so amongst more politically sophisticated individuals as well as in younger democracies and countries with lower levels of democracy and governance. These differences are probably due to variation in citizens' expectations towards elite behaviour and the democratic system. Elite attention to citizens' concerns moreover influences their decision to turn out in elections. If voters' issue priorities are salient in the campaign, they are likely to perceive the election to be more important. Moreover, they will find it easier to evaluate parties and make their vote choice. These mechanisms are shown to be less relevant amongst partisans, since party attachment mobilises voters and facilitates their vote choice. Again, previous policy-based explanations of turnout focus on positions, largely ignoring priorities. The hypotheses are tested through statistical analysis of data from voter and candidate surveys as well as media content analyses. The data come from all 27 European Union countries in 2009, whereby several hypotheses are only tested in Germany due to data availability.

En enkätstudie utfördes utifrån en regressionsdesign. Studien utfördes i syfte att redogöra förklaringsvärdet hos religiös orientering i subjektivt välmående för religiösa svenskar. Stickprov gjordes med ett internetbaserat klusterurval. Enkäten publicerades på fem slutna grupper för olika religiösa tillhörigheter på sociala medier. För att mäta religiös orientering gjordes en översättning på I/E-R som mätte religiös orientering i tre dimensioner. För att mäta subjektivt välmående användes SWLS. Två frågor mätte deltagares regelbundna religiösa aktivitet. En forced-entry multipel regressionsanalys gav ett signifikant förklaringsvärde för prediktorerna inre och yttre tro på 12 procent. Deltagarnas regelbundna religiösa aktivitet uppmättes vara enhetligt högt. Deltagarnas välmående uppmättes vara i den övre gränsen av vad som klassas som normalt välmående. Slutsatsen drogs att religiös aktivitet motverkade dysfunktionella effekter på välmående utan att leda till högre än normalt välmående. I tillägg gjordes slutsatsen att teori om religiös orientering är för kulturellt kontextkänslig för att vara tillförlitlig i det svenska samhället. Framtida forskning uppmanas till att kontrollera för sociala tillgångar och vilken specifik religion deltagare tillhör. / An electronic survey was performed to conduct a regression study. The study was conducted with the specific goal to find the explanatory value in religious orientation for subjective well-being for religious Swedes. Samples were drawn from internet based clusters. The survey was made available on five different closed groups for religiously active members on social media. I/E-R was translated and used to measure religious orientation on three dimensions. Subjective well-being was measured using SWLS. Two single items measured regular religious activity. A forced-entry multiple regression analysis showed an explanatory value of 12 percent for the predictors intrinsic and extrinsic belief. Regular religious activity was measured to be uniformly high. Subjective well-being was found to be in the upper levels of normal well-being. The conclusion drawn was that religious activity inhibited dysfunctional behavior and thus brought about a healthy well-being. In addition it was concluded that the cultural sensitivity in the religious orientation scale made measurements unreliable in the Swedish society. Future research is encouraged to control for social recourses when testing for effects on well-being as well as to control for what specific religion is practiced.

The role of the nonprofit sector in the Czech Republic has gained in importance during the last decades. The number of nonprofit organizations and employment in the third sector is growing. On the other hand, directors of nonprofit organizations have to face problems with high fluctuation of their staff. I assumed that motivation of nonprofit employees is different from employees working in for profit sector. The aim of the thesis is to analyze influences of the nonprofit sector's characteristics on the motivation of nonprofit workers in the social field in the Czech Republic. The main contribution of my research is that results and recommendations of my work should help directors of nonprofits retain experienced employees. It was confirmed in my research that satisfaction with pay does not have an influence on the intention of nonprofit workers to leave their organization. In accordance with a theoretical approach, a mission of the nonprofit organization has a key role in the motivation to work in the nonprofit sector. Surprisingly, the most important factor for decision to stay with the organization is feeling of appreciation. Recognition of work performance from supervisors and colleagues even override the dissatisfaction with pay. There are several low-cost strategies to reward employees such as regular verbal recognition for best employees, or vouchers for cultural and sport activities, wellness, and other nonmonetary benefits. It was proved that family friendly policies are strongly valued by nonprofit workers as well.

In this dissertation, I investigate two key questions: 1) What are the specific conditions under which economic inequality undermines democratic legitimacy; and 2) How does inequality map onto individuals’ perceptions of fairness and subsequently affect satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions? I first argue that individuals’ perceptions of distributive unfairness are key factors whereby economic inequality undermines democratic legitimacy. Inequality - and subsequent perceptions that the economic distribution is unfair - undermine political support by signaling that the democratic process is not functioning properly and by challenging people’s normative expectations about what democracy should do in practice. I next draw from a diverse literature on social and political psychology, as well as governance quality, to derive new hypotheses about how people form their fairness judgments and use them to evaluate democracy. Right-leaning and upper-class individuals should be less upset with inequality in the first place, but even when these individuals perceive distributive unfairness, they should be less likely to express political dissatisfaction as a result. Additionally, the context in which individuals form their fairness perceptions should condition the relationship between fairness judgments and political support. In a context of good governance, individuals should be less likely to perceive inequality as unfair, and subsequently less likely to express political dissatisfaction for any perceived distributive unfairness in society. Governance quality provides alternative evidence that democracy is in fact functioning properly and should allay citizens’ concerns about inequality and distributive unfairness, at least when it comes to evaluating democratic legitimacy. To test my theory and hypotheses, I take a mixed-methods approach that combines large-N analysis of public opinion data and original survey experiments. To contextualize my quantitative results, I draw on motivating examples from original open-ended surveys, newspapers, and elite interviews. In the first empirical chapter, I conduct a multilevel analysis of data from 18 Latin American and show that perceptions of distributive unfairness are negatively correlated with trust in government and satisfaction with democracy, yet good governance significantly mitigates this negative relationship. In the second empirical chapter, I use original survey experiments in Argentina, Mexico, and the US to show that perceptions of distributive unfairness are key causal factors linking inequality to political dissatisfaction. In the third empirical chapter, I use a second set of survey experiments to investigate how governance quality moderates the relationship between inequality and political support. When individuals are presented with information about declining corruption, they are less likely to perceive their country’s income distribution as unfair, and less likely to link inequality to political dissatisfaction.

This research examines parents’ perceptions of quality on early childhood services as they support families in the care and education of children. Data were collected from parents of under school-aged children using interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. Data analysis has enabled a determination of: the link between parents’ perceptions of quality and early childhood professionals’ views as expressed in the literature; parents’ satisfaction with services and the evaluation processes used by them; opportunities available to parents to engage with service staff to influence the quality of the services provided; and parents’ knowledge and use of the information services provided by the National Childcare Accreditation Council to assist them in their decision making regarding early childhood services. Results showed that communication between parents and staff is problematic. An accretion model of communication is developed to enhance the quality of early childhood services by promoting shared understanding and values between parents and staff, enabling parents to take part in decision making and minimising perceptions of threat to staff’s professional integrity / University of Western Sydney

Background: Little is known about the relationship between women's birthing experiences and the development of trauma symptoms. This study aimed to determine the incidence of acute trauma symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women as a result of their labor and delivery experiences, and identify factors that contributed to the women's psychological distress. Method: Using a prospective, longitudinal design, women in their last trimester of pregnancy were recruited from four public hospital antenatal clinics. Four to six weeks postpartum, telephone interviews were conducted with participants (n = 499) and explored the medical and midwifery management of the birth, perceptions of intrapartum care, and the presence of trauma symptoms. Results: One in three women (33%) identified a traumatic birthing event and reported the presence of at least three trauma symptoms. Twenty-eight women (5.6%) met DSM-IV criteria for acute posttraumatic stress disorder. Antenatal variables were not found to contribute to the development of acute or chronic trauma symptoms. The level of obstetric intervention experienced during childbirth (beta = .351, p <.0001) and the perception of inadequate intrapartum care (beta = .319, p <.0001) during labor were consistently associated with the development of acute trauma symptoms. Conclusions: Posttraumatic stress disorder following childbirth is an under-recognized phenomenon. Women who experienced both a high level of obstetric intervention and were dissatisfied with their intrapartum care were more likely to develop trauma symptoms than women who received a high level of obstetric intervention or women who perceived their care to be inadequate. Such findings should prompt a serious review of intrusive obstetric intervention during labor and delivery, and the psychological care provided to birthing women.

This study is concerned with the satisfactions and dissatisfactions that primary teachers in the Australian Capital Territory experience in their working lives. Its aim is to identify those aspects of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction by considering relationships between the independent variables. A modified form of Holdaway's Satisfaction with Teaching and Employment Conditions Questionnaire was administered to three hundred and seventy-five teachers. The Likert-type scale and open responses produced data which was analysed in relation to personal variables. Factor analysis was used to determine clustering of items and to investigate relationships between the variables. A number of hypotheses were tested to ascertain the areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The findings indicate that teacher satisfaction is linked with intrinsic aspects of their work such as relationships with students, advancement and personal growth. Teachers are most dissatisfied with those aspects of their lives over which they have little control and see the present attitudes of society towards their function and role as an area of serious concern. Statistically significant differences in satisfaction were found between open-space and traditional schools, large and smaller schools, men and women teachers, VII and between teachers working in upper and lower primary classes. The relative distribution of resources between primary and secondary schools is a source of dissatisfaction and the lack of parity in working conditions highlights this inequity. Teacher stress is discussed as an area of growing concern in the ACT and some links with the system's degree of autonomy and community involvement are suggested.

The main aims were to: explore whether there is a relation between doctors’ ability to identify patients’ worry and wish for information and self-efficacy with regard to communicating with patients about difficult matters; describe which cues doctors consider when estimating patients’ worry and wish for information, and investigate whether there is a relation between patients’ satisfaction with doctors’ care and patients’ psychosocial function. Eleven doctors and 69 patients (of which 36 patients participated in the longitudinal study) with carcinoid tumours participated. Doctors’ self-efficacy, and ability to identify patients’ worry/wish for information were investigated at patients’ first admission. Doctors were interviewed about which cues they considered when estimating patients worry/wish for information. Patients’ satisfaction with care (CASC SF 4.0) and psychosocial function (EORTC QLQ-C30, HADS) were measured longitudinally, during the first year after diagnosis. Doctors reported higher self-efficacy when showing good ability to identify patients’ wish for information, than when showing less good ability, overestimated patients’ worry and underestimated patients’ wish for information. Doctors considered patients’ verbal behaviour and body language together with knowledge and experience when estimating patients worry and wish for information. Patients who met doctors showing good ability to identify their wish for information, reported a higher cognitive function than patients who met doctors showing less good ability. At all assessments patients expressed high satisfaction with doctor’ care and patients’ satisfaction did not change over time. Patients’ satisfaction with doctors’ care were related to their psychosocial function shortly after the first three admissions to specialist care. Patients with carcinoid tumours in some respects reported a worse HRQoL than the general Swedish population. Fatigue, diarrhoea, limited possibilities to work/pursue daily activities, and worry that the illness will get worse were among the most prevalent, and worst, aspects of disease- and treatment related distress.