Labels are still used by professionals to describe differences and abnormalities in behaviour and academic skills. The label `learning disability' has advantages and disadvantages in terms of the different ways it is interpreted and experienced by society, teachers, parents and the child himself. The mother, as an important person in the child's life, has perceptions and experiences of the concept that she communicates to others. The perception and meaning that the mother attaches to the label impacts on her thoughts, words and behaviour and on the child himself. The aim of the study was to investigate the mother's perception, experience and handling of her child's label of learning disability. The research took the form of a qualitative analysis where data was collected using interviews. From the empirical study it would seem that the mother's interpretation, experience and involvement in the labeling of learning disability has an influence on the learner's perception of his learning disability and whether he internalized the label and behaves accordingly. Mothers need to be given enough information so as to develop realistic perceptions about learning disability to equip their children with the necessary skills to overcome their learning problems and so fulfil their places in society. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.(Guidance & Counselling)

Thesis (M.Ed. (Voorligting))--Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 2002.

In this research, a cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample of working adults (N = 550) from different race, gender, age, qualification, job level and tenure groups in various South African organisations, with the intention of developing a psychosocial model of career wellbeing for the working adult in the South African context. To identify the elements and nature of the model, the relationship dynamics between the constructs of occupational passion, psychological career resources, psychosocial career preoccupations and the outcome of career satisfaction were examined. The mediating effect of psychological career resources and psychosocial career preoccupations on the relationship dynamics between occupational passion and career satisfaction was determined. The moderating effect of certain sociodemographic variables (race, gender, age, qualification, job level, and tenure) on the relationship dynamics between the research constructs was measured. In addition, an evaluation of the differences manifested by individuals from various sociodemographic backgrounds (race, gender, age, qualification, job level, and tenure) regarding the research constructs added to an understanding of the manifested model. Correlation and inferential statistical analyses (multi-level mediation modelling, regression analysis and tests for significant mean differences) indicated that career management practices should consider harmonious passion to be an important intrinsic motivational antecedent in explaining the variance in individuals’ career satisfaction as it can facilitate the development of important psychosocial resources. These resources include flexible career preferences, well-crafted career plans and actions to achieve career goals, career harmonisers (i.e. self-esteem, behavioural adaptability and emotional literacy) and a strong need to be upskilled and employable (career adaptation needs). These elements manifested as the core elements of the psychosocial career wellbeing profile. Job level and race were further indicated as important sociodemographic variables in explaining levels of career satisfaction. Differences between race, gender, age, qualification, job level and tenure groups, for the constructs of occupational passion, psychological career resources, psychosocial career preoccupations and career satisfaction, also need to be considered in the career wellbeing profile. Theoretically, the results advanced career theory by empirically validating the core elements of the career wellbeing profile. These may be applied to inform career management practices and consequently enhance the career wellbeing of working adults. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

Labels are still used by professionals to describe differences and abnormalities in behaviour and academic skills. The label `learning disability' has advantages and disadvantages in terms of the different ways it is interpreted and experienced by society, teachers, parents and the child himself. The mother, as an important person in the child's life, has perceptions and experiences of the concept that she communicates to others. The perception and meaning that the mother attaches to the label impacts on her thoughts, words and behaviour and on the child himself. The aim of the study was to investigate the mother's perception, experience and handling of her child's label of learning disability. The research took the form of a qualitative analysis where data was collected using interviews. From the empirical study it would seem that the mother's interpretation, experience and involvement in the labeling of learning disability has an influence on the learner's perception of his learning disability and whether he internalized the label and behaves accordingly. Mothers need to be given enough information so as to develop realistic perceptions about learning disability to equip their children with the necessary skills to overcome their learning problems and so fulfil their places in society. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.(Guidance & Counselling)

In this quantitative study, undertaken in a South African information and communications technology (ICT) company, dimensions of organisational culture (measured by the South African Culture Instrument) were correlated with the dimensions of work engagement (measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Survey), to determine whether employees’ perceptions of organisational culture are related to their levels of work engagement. Structural equation modelling confirmed the factorial model of both measuring instruments, with most fit indices indicating the data to be a good or acceptable fit to the hypothesised model. Correlational analyses revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between each of the dimensions of organisational culture and work engagement respectively. Regression analyses showed that leadership, management processes, and goals and objectives make the strongest statistically unique contribution in predicting the dimensions of work engagement. Since work engagement has been shown to relate to several positive work outcomes, it makes sense for organisations to increase levels of work engagement by improving their organisational culture. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / MCom (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Psigonefrologie behels die studie von psigologiese faktore wat 'n rot speel by eindstadiumnierversaking. Nierversaking word beskou as 'n lewensbedreigende siekte, wat die lewensverwogting von die pasient verkort indien hy nie behandeling ontvang nie. Nierversaking kan ingedeet word in drie stadiums: Die pre-dialise, diatise, en oorplantingstadiums. Die onderskeibaorheid von hierdie stadiums is die gevotg von verski lie in mediese behandelingsmetodes. Nie een hiervon bring genesing nie, maar vertig simptome van die uremiese sindroom, verleng die tewensverwagting von die pasient, en is veronderstel om sy lewenskwaliteit te verbeter. DepresS,ie en angs, is algemene simptome wat by nierpasiente voorkom. Die redes hiervoor, is die pasient se psigologiese reaksie teenoor nierversaking, dialise, en/of 'n oorplanting. Verder moet hy ook die newe-effekte van die mediese behandeling trotseer. Aanpassings moet ook gemaak word in terme von beroep~ en sosiate funksionering. Nie net het eindstodiumnierversaking 'n psigososiate impok op die nierposient nie, maar word die gesonde moat ook daardeur be"invtoed. Daarom ervoar meeste egpore gesamentlik die impok von nierversaking op hulle huwelik- en gesinslewe. Vir optimale oanpassing by nierversaking moet egpore sekere oanpassingstoke bemeester, soos om nierversoking as 'n gedeetde probteem te hanteer, oan te pas by die rot von pasient en versorger. die verskillende behoeftes oan nobyheid en afstand tussen pasient en versorger, en die verwisseting in beroepsrolle hanteer, asook effektiewe kommunikasie met mekoar en die mediese span doarstel, en mekaor deurlopend instrumenteel en emosioneel ondersteun ten einde die huweliksverbintenis in stand te hou. Die resultate von hierdie ondersoek dui doarop dat huweliksverondertikes, soos 'n afnome in ontsponningsaktiwiteite en seksuatiteit, en gelykmakende rolle 'n belangrike rot speel om oanpassing by nierversaking te vergemaklik. Daarmee soam is gevind dat godsdiens 'n belangrike oanpossende funksie vir egpore het. Deurgoans speel'n ondersteuningsisteem, wat uit famitie en vriende, onder nierpasiente, die mediese span en 'n sielkundige bestoan 'n vernome rol om die egpoar met oanpassing te help. Uiteindelik blyk dit moonttik te wees vir egpare om hulle huwetiksverhouding in stand te hou, of setfs konstruktief te herstruktureer, asook groter huwelikstevredenheid te ervoar, ondanks die bedreiging von eindstadiumnierversaking. Meeste egpore ervoar die moeilike tydperk dan ook met 'n verdieping in hulle huwelik- en geloofslewe. / Psychonephrology is the study of psychological factors which are evident in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). ESRD is regarded as a life-threatening disease, which shortens the life-expectancy of a patient if he does not receive treatment. ESRD can be divided into three stages: the pre-dialysis, dialysis and transplant stages. These stages are signified by differences in medical treatment methods. None of these leads to a cure but all alle.viate symptoms of the uremic syndrome, increase the life-expectancy of the patient and are supposed to improve his quality of life. Depression and anxiety are general symptoms found in end-stage renal patients. The reasons for this are the patient's psychological reaction to renal disease, dialysis and/or transplant. Patients must also endure the side effects of medical treatment. Adjustment in vocational and social functioning is also evident. ESRD not only has a psycho social impact on the patient but also affects the healthy spouse. This is why most married couples together experience the impact of ESRD in their marital and family life. For optimal adjustment to ESRD couples need to master certain adaptational tasks, such as treating ESRD as a shared problem, adopt the roles of patient and caregiver, manage the various needs of closeness and distance between patient and caregiver and change of career roles, as well as effectively communicating with each other and the medical team, and instrumentally and emotionally support eac~ other in order to maintain the marital bonds. The results of this investigation show that marital variables, such as a decrease in recreation and sexuality and role equality, are important to ease the adjustment to ESRD. It was also found that religion has an important adaptational function for the married couples. A support system of family, friends, other renal patients, the medical team and a psychologist are also important to aid the couples' adjustment. Lastly it should be possible for renal couples to maintain, or even to positively reconstruct their marital relationship, and to experience marital satisfaction in the face of the threat of ESRD. Apparently most couples experience this ordeal as a time of intensification of their married and spiritual life. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / The establishment of choice set from which consumers identify their preferred product and/brand choices arouses some interest among researchers, specifically within the context of international marketing. This curiosity about the influence of a product’s place of origin (country-of-origin: COO) on the establishment of consumer choice sets chiefly emanates from the growth of international trade and globalisation. The gap within the knowledge base surrounding consumer behaviour with respect to the purchase of foreign and domestic brands, specifically within Africa created the potential for research. As part of the evolution of COO research, this study looks into the construct of consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and its relationship with product selection and consideration. The aim behind the study can be summed up in the following objectives: firstly, to identify the moderating effects of consumer demographic variables on ethnocentric tendencies; secondly, to determine consumer attitudes towards foreign convenience goods; and, thirdly to establish the association between consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and brand selection for a consideration set. A structural model was developed illustrating the relationships (assumed) between consideration and CE. This resulted in the developed of five hypotheses. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted within Durban. A research instrument was developed combining ethnocentrism research and the concept of consideration. Within the study, an explanation of the research methodology utilised was provided. 500 questionnaires were distributed in order to obtain primary data for the purpose of the study. A presentation of the results obtained was provided. An analysis of the collected data was also provided using SPSS 21.0 with the aid of graphs and the appropriate inferential statistics. The research hypotheses were tested using an independent sample Kruskal-Wallis test and a Mann-Whitney U-test. A Spearman’s correlation test was used to test the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and brand consideration. The chi-square test was used to test for the existence of variances within the responses provided by the respondents. The study revealed that only race had a significant relationship with consumer ethnocentrism while other demographic characteristics did not. Ethnocentric tendencies were strongest among Black South Africans. An association was also discovered between consumer ethnocentrism and the consideration of convenience products. The study, therefore, provides a better understanding into South African consumers’ selection of convenience products as influenced by consumer ethnocentrism. The theoretical and practical implications from the research findings have also been discussed within the report with the provision of suggestions regarding future research.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Recent research in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention suggests that for more effective interventions to be developed, it is necessary to understand, consider, and address the social context in which high risk sexual behaviours occur, and particularly to understand how issues of gender are implicated in the perpetuation of these behaviours. Based on the broad theoretical premise that social discourses play an integral role in the production and maintenance of gender and sexual identity, and in line with research suggesting that more attention needs to be paid to the role that men and masculinity play in HIV transmission through sex, this pilot study employed a social constructionist framework to explore constructions of masculine sexuality, high risk sexual behaviours, HIV/AIDS and the relationships between these, amongst a small sample of 10 young adult Xhosa speaking males that reside in or around Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa. The findings of this study indicate that the participants generally construct their gender and sexual identities in ways that are highly consistent with social discourses that construct men as dominant over women. There was also strong evidence that, for the participants, their sexual identity represented a primary source of their identity as men. This sexual identity appeared in itself to be constructed primarily along patriarchal lines, and maintained by pervasive reference to what is normative for men within their social contexts, thereby setting up a self perpetuating loop. The data revealed a number of dimensions to this sexual identity, such as the role that sexual success and prowess plays in maintaining and enhancing a sense of self and public esteem, that provided participants with logical motivations for engaging in high risk sexual behaviours (although participants did not necessarily construct them as such) such as having multiple sexual partners, casual sex, non-use of condoms and, importantly, sexual coercion: 70% of the participants indicated that they either do not use condoms consistently or don’t use them at all while 80% reported having sexually coerced at least one partner. There is strong evidence to support the suggestion that the content of the participants’ masculine sexual identity is inextricably linked both to the social gender discourses present in the social context, and their sexual behaviour. There was also evidence to suggest that this link represents a psychological motivation for behaviour that is often more powerful than the participants’ cognitive awareness of the risk of contracting HIV and their own personal morality put together.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / South Africa has been a democratic country for more than ten years, and still transformation is not visible in many areas. Psychological services are inaccessible and unaffordable for the larger part of South-Africans. The B.Psych degree was specifically implemented to address this problem. The course aims to give graduates access to registration as counsellors at the HPCSA in order to bring psychological services to people more easily. This study thus explores the employment patterns of registered counsellors in South Africa. These counsellors have been trained to deliver services within the primary health care sector because most people use services within this sector. Only eight percent of registered counsellors in South Africa are working within this sector. Most registered counsellors are working in the education sector or the private sector. Counsellors that are working in the education sector are primarily delivering educational services and not psychological services. Counsellors that are working in the private sector are contributing to making services inaccessible and unaffordable to many people. The absence of workers in the primary healthcare sector is mainly because there is little employment for registered counsellors within this sector. The findings of this study are in accordance with the findings of Kotze (2005) that accessibility to psychological services did not significantly change with the implementation of the B.Psych course.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The main objective of this study was to investigate interpreting practices within the psychiatric hospital San Marco1, in the Western Cape. More specifically, the aim was to determine what factors might lead to the obstruction of accuracy by asking employees that act as official and unofficial interpreters to report on certain issues relating to interpreting practices. The second objective of the study was to gain some understanding of what interpreters experience when doing interpreting especially since unofficial interpreters (nurses, cleaners and administrative staff) are often used to act as interpreters within South Africa’s public health services and this may not only have implications for accuracy but also for interpreters’ own mental health. A cross-sectional qualitative interview design was used. The research participants consisted of eight employees of San Marco, (including two administrative clerks/ interpreters, two bilingual security guards, and four bilingual nurses), and two bilingual psychiatrists, who, though not being employees of San Marco, yet have experience in interpreting while working as psychiatrists within psychiatric institutions in South Africa. Participants were asked to respond to semi-structured questions. In addition, participants took part in a structured task in which they were asked to translate and back-translate commonly-used diagnostic questions. Content analysis was used to analyse data collected from semi-structured interviews and participants’ translations and back-translations were checked for inaccuracies. The analysis of interviews revealed the following information: • not all of the participants who act as interpreters are in fact functionally bilingual in the context with which they work • none of the interpreters are trained in interpreting; and • a clear distinction could be drawn between interpreters who have training in mental health compared to those who lack training in mental health or psychiatry. Furthermore participants’ translations of the nine questions were approximately right. Participants’ translations conveyed more or less the same messages as what was intended with the original English questions. In fact the translations were fairly accurate for untrained interpreters. However, participants were not always specific as to what they were asking about. Interpreters need to translate questions in such a way that it is diagnostically specific in order for the clinician to make an accurate diagnosis. It is crucial that patients have a clear understanding about what the interpreter are asking them and this was not always evident in participants’ translations. The abovementioned results may for obvious reasons lead to the obstruction of accurate interpretation however it should not be attributed to a lack of competence on the interpreters part but should rather be attributed to challenges in a health system which has inherited a history of discrimination and continues to discriminate against certain patients, even when clinicians and interpreters alike may be doing their best not to discriminate. The problem is structural rather than individual, and needs to be addressed as such, and in the context of competing demands in public health care. Although the interviews did reveal valuable information regarding the obstruction of accuracy it should be kept in mind that an analysis of actual recorded interpreting sessions between the clinician, patient and interpreter is necessary for a more in depth understanding of the obstruction of accuracy as investigated in this study and such a study is currently in the planning phase.