abstract: Envy may be an emotion shaped by evolution to resolve large resource disparities in zero-sum ancestral environments. Previous research has found evidence for two types of envy: benign envy, which drives greater effort and self-improvement; and malicious envy, which drives hostility toward the better-off target. We predicted that perceived resource scarcity would stoke either type, moderated by individual differences. Specifically, we predicted that high self-esteem would steer people toward benign envy and self-improvement, whereas narcissism would spark malicious envy. After completing the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI-16), participants were randomly assigned to either read an article detailing severe cuts to university financial aid budgets (scarcity) or an article summarizing various forms of financial aid (control). Each article ended with the same envy-inducing paragraph about a particularly affluent scholarship-winner, after which participants completed a measure of both envy types, capturing feelings, appraisals, and behavioral tendencies. Results show that self-esteem predicts less malicious envy, while narcissism and scarcity predict more. Self-esteem and narcissism interact such that self-esteem dampens the effect of narcissism on malicious envy. Self-esteem predicted benign envy when narcissism was low, but not when it was high. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2011

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M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Humour serves various intrapersonal and interpersonal functions. The affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive and self-defeating humour styles are employed by individuals throughout their interactions and can influence their and others’ intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. Humour styles have been related to positive attributes, such as self-esteem and optimism. Individual differences in the type of humour style displayed could furthermore be influenced by an individual’s cultural background. Self-esteem can be understood as an overall evaluation of one’s worth or value. Differences in self-esteem have been found between cultures but it is yet unclear how culture could influence the relationship between humour styles and self-esteem. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the role that culture could play in the relationship between humour style and self-esteem. In this study culture was conceptualised as self-construal which is determined by an individual’s cultural context of individualism or collectivism. This study involved 962 first year psychology students from the University of Johannesburg. The population in this university is multicultural with students of various race and culture. The Sense of Humour Questionnaire, Humour Styles Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Self-Construal Scale were used. A correlational analysis and moderated multiple regression analyses were employed to determine the extent to which independent and interdependent self-construal influenced the relationship between each of the four humour styles and self-esteem. All four humour styles correlated as expected with self-esteem. Affiliative and self-enhancing humour styles correlated positively and aggressive and self-defeating humour styles correlated negatively with self-esteem. Neither independent nor interdependent self-construal statistically significantly influenced the relationship between the affiliative, self-enhancing, or aggressive humour styles and self-esteem. Both independent and interdependent self-construal statistically significantly moderated the relationship between self-defeating humour style and self-esteem although the effect sizes were low. Excessive use of self-defeating humour has been associated with low self-esteem and emotional neediness...

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The aim of this study was to establish if there is a relationship between Self-Esteem, Network Orientation and the student-supervisor working alliance and if that working alliance in turn influences the perception of thesis work as being stressful. Student throughput and retention at universities is a worldwide problem creating issues for public reputation and financial viability. Successful completion of a thesis is an important part of a Masters degree, but has been identified as the most stressful element of the course. Understanding of the student-supervisor working-alliance may shed some light on ways in which universities may increase throughput and retention. Permission to conduct the study and ethics clearance was obtained from the Senate Research Committee of the University of the Western Cape and all relevant ethics principles were adhered to. An incentivized, online survey using established measures of Self-Esteem (Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale), Network Orientation (Network Orientation Scale), Working Alliance (The Working Alliance Inventory) and Perceived stress (The - Perceived Stress Scale) was conducted with a sample of 73masters-level students in the Community and Health Sciences Faculty of a Historically Disadvantaged University. The survey had a response rate of 24.5% (n=83/ 338) after 4 follow-up mailings. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to establish the predictive relationships between these variables. Self-esteem and Network Orientation were found to be reciprocally determining; and both could significantly predict working alliance as independent criterion variables. When combined, Self-Esteem dominated Network Orientation as a significant predictor of Working Alliance controlling for Race. The findings indicated that the perception of thesis work as stressful was found to be a function of Network Orientation controlling for Race, Working Alliance and Self-Esteem. More notably Network Orientation only had an influence on Perceived stress in the presence of Working Alliance that suggests a mediative relationship

Research demonstrating the positive effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) has led to a growing interest in the use of mindfulness across a range of populations and psychological difficulties. This thesis explores the feasibility and benefits of mindfulness in relation to self-esteem and psychosis. Paper one is a systematic review exploring the relationship between mindfulness and self-esteem. The review had two main aims: to synthesise and critically appraise studies exploring the association between mindfulness and self-esteem, and studies investigating the impact of MBIs on self-esteem. Thirty-two studies were identified and quality assessed to guide interpretation of results. All cross-sectional studies found significant positive correlations between dispositional mindfulness and self-esteem, whilst improvements in self-esteem were found in the majority of MBI studies. Despite largely positive findings, the review highlighted the need to interpret these with caution due to methodological weaknesses. Priorities for research were identified, with further investigations needed to assess the impact of mindfulness as an intervention for low self-esteem. Paper two is an empirical paper investigating the feasibility of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for psychosis. Sixteen participants, with experience of psychosis, completed an 8-week MBCT group. A repeated measures design was used to explore psychological wellbeing and clinical outcomes following MBCT, including clinical functioning, mindfulness, psychotic symptoms, recovery, beliefs about self, others and voices; and to provide a preliminary exploration of changes in the way a person construes their self, others and their experience of psychosis, following MBCT, using repertory grids. Findings from this feasibility and pilot study were promising, indicating that MBCT groups for psychosis are feasible. Preliminary outcome data highlighted potential areas of change for further investigation in a large scale controlled trial, with possible improvements in participants’ self-reported ability to act with awareness and in recovery, and with some evidence of changes in construing following MBCT. The study demonstrated the feasibility and potential benefits of MBCT groups for people experiencing psychosis, and provided a platform for future research. Paper three is a critical reflection of the papers presented and the research process as a whole. Areas of strengths and weaknesses are highlighted, with an evaluation of the decisions made throughout. The implications for clinical practice are discussed as well as areas for further research.

Prior research has established that individual differences in self-esteem moderate reactions to self-relevant events. Although all people generally favour positive outcomes to negative outcomes, low self-esteem (LSE) people exhibit more affective extremity in response to artificially-contrived events than high self-esteem (HSE) people. That is, LSE people exhibit more positive affective reactions to positive outcomes and more negative affective reactions to negative outcomes than HSE people. Two competing theoretical models have been proposed to account for the self-esteem differences in mood extremity in the laboratory setting—the defensive-styles hypothesis and the life-events composition hypothesis. Evidence from two studies, the Mood-Diary Study and the Role-Playing Study, provide support for the first hypothesis by demonstrating that (a) esteem-related differences in the cognitive interpretations and causal attributions for positive and negative self-relevant events exist for naturally-occurring events as well as laboratory-contrived feedback, (b) LSE subjects claimed that these events had a greater impact on their mood and that they considered them to be more personally important than did HSE subjects, and finally, (c) LSE subjects were more variable in their moods across time than their HSE counterparts. Although esteem-related differences in mood variability were predicted for both differences in the extremity and frequency of mood changes, the differences were obtained only on the frequency of change measure. Although the evidence for the defensive-styles model was substantial, there was also some evidence for the life-events composition model, which essentially postulates that the lives of HSE and LSE which essentially postulates that the lives of HSE and LSE individuals differed markedly. Finally, an exploratory investigation of the relationship between self-esteem, self-complexity, and mood indicated that the two individual difference variables were positively correlated and that both were related to the frequency of change in mood but not mood extremity. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Two studies tested a theory of how trait self-esteem moderates behavioral and cognitive persistence in the face of failure. Three primary hypotheses were examined. First, that high self-esteem (HSE) individuals persist more than low self-esteem (LSE) individuals when their initial attempts to reach a goal fail, but subsequent or repeated failures lead HSE individuals to reduce behavioral persistence and pursue goal alternatives more quickly than LSE individuals. Second, that when no goal alternatives are available, HSE individuals behaviorally persist more than LSE individuals. Third, despite reductions in behavioral persistence, LSE individuals do not "give up" on the failed goal but continue to persist cognitively, in the form of aversive ruminations about the failed goal. In a factorial experiment, persistence was examined as a function of self-esteem, degree of failure, and the availability of goal alternatives. As hypothesized, HSE participants behaviorally persisted more than LSE participants after a single failure, but less after repeated failure. However, selfesteem differences in behavioral persistence did not emerge when goal alternatives were unavailable. Partial support was received for the hypothesis that LSE individuals engage in more ruminative persistence than HSE individuals-LSE participants showed higher levels of ruminative persistence on one of two measures of ruminative persistence. The findings regarding behavioral persistence were conceptually replicated, and the hypothesis regarding ruminative persistence received stronger support, in a longitudinal field study in which HSE and LSE participants initially listed their goals and reported on their behavioral and ruminative persistence regarding these goals 5 months later. HSE participants exhibited better calibration between perceptions of goal failure and behavioral pursuit than LSE participants, indicating that increasing perceptions of goal failure were associated with reductions in behavioral pursuit more for HSE than LSE participants. Although they reduced behavioral pursuit relative to HSE participants, LSE participants continued to persist cognitively, by ruminating about their goals more than HSE participants. Discussion focuses on the need to revise traditional views of HSE individuals that emphasize their tenacious persistence and views of LSE individuals that emphasize their tendency to give up in the face of failure. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The role of self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt on depression is ambiguous, while studies simultaneously investigating shame and guilt suggest that both emotions have strong unique effects on depression, it is however not yet clear which psychological processes cause shame and / or guilt to be related to depression. This study tested the hypothesis that shame but not guilt will be associated with depression, and that this relationship will be fully mediated by self-esteem and rumination. A sample of 246 university students (mean age = 20.39 years; SD = 1.89), completed a survey questionnaire with measures of shame, guilt, self-esteem, rumination and depression. Path analysis was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that shame but not guilt had a strong unique effect on depression, and that self-esteem and rumination fully mediated this relationship. However, guilt had a significant but weaker relationship with depression, and self-esteem and rumination did not mediate the relationship. Recommendations for future research and limitations of this study are also presented. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

Submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Applied Master of Arts (MA) Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 1996. / In recent years, the rate of unemployment in South Africa has been steadily increasing. In 1990, it was 28 %. This percentage excluded the TBVC states and employment in subsistence agriculture which is characterised by a cyclical form of employment. In 1993 and 1994, a number of industries closed and retrenchment took place in some companies as a rationalisation strategy. This resulted in retrenchment of more than 50 000 workers excluding more than 21 000 retrenched before January 1993. The level of unemployment among Blacks is six times higher than that of whites which is 6.4 % according to the South African Living Standard and Development (Democracy in Action, 1996). In general, more women are unemployed than men. Unemployment has been linked to a number of negative psychological consequences and physical health effects including loss of self-esteem, severe depression, loss of social status, alcohol abuse, suicide, minor psychiatric morbidity and the probability of being identified as a psychiatric patient or a client. In this study the researcher focuses on unemployment and its psychological correlates: depression and low self-esteem. The aims of the study were to determine the existence of any statistically significant relationships between unemployment, depression and low self-esteem and to determine whether depression and low self-esteem are significantly related to such personal variables as age, gender, duration of unemployment and marital status. The researcher administered the questionnaires to unemployed respondents seeking employment in Unemployment Insurance Fund Offices in Johannesburg and employed respondents working at Ngwelezane Hospital, Empangeni and Portnet, Richards Bay. The study failed to find a statistically significant relationship between unemployment and either depression or low self-esteem. Both unemployed and employed respondents had similar depression and self-esteem scores. About 20.5 % and 10.3 % of unemployed and employed respondents respectively were not depressed. About 78.2 % and 89.5 % of unemployed and employed respondents respectively were mild to moderately depressed. Only 1.3 % on the unemployed respondents were severely depressed. About 41.1 % and 33.3 % of unemployed and employed respondents respectively had low self-esteem. About 58.9 % and 64.1 % of unemployed and employed respondents respectively had mild to moderate self-esteem. Only 1.3 % of the employed respondents had high self-esteem. Personal variables such as age, gender, duration of unemployment and marital status were not found to be statistically significantly related to depression and self-esteem scores obtained by the unemployed respondents. Both unemployed and employed respondents gave their experiences of being unemployed in terms of thoughts, feelings and acts. Their experiences are not different from those highlighted by other researchers with the exception of thoughts of prostitution. Their experiences ranged from loss of trust, hopelessness, helplessness, boredom, financial hardships, dependency, frustration, stigma, poverty, loss of confidence, loss of friends, unhappiness, inability to meet children's needs and to pay for their school tuition, thoughts of house breaking and stealing, to optimism and hopefulness. The researcher made the following recommendations: • Further longitudinal studies on psychological effects of unemployment that include all racial groups should be conducted. • Self-help groups that are coordinated by such mental health professionals as psychologists and social workers should be designed in the communities in order to cater for the needs of the unemployed groups. • Counselling and psychotherapy should be provided in the form of crisis intervention and brief short-tern psychotherapy to help individuals and families with debilitating symptoms associated with unemployment. • Vocational guidance material should include material on job-seeking skills. / Human Sciences Research Council

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