Over the past five decades, universities across the globe have been subjected to powerful forces of change that have impacted their definition, governance and funding structures, and managerial practices. In South Africa, the reform process was amplified by the country’s apartheid legacy and the political and socio-economic realities. Consequently, the transformation has resulted in the corporatisation of universities and the re-engineering of the academic profession into a managed profession that brought about a changed work environment with less secure conditions of employment, more expectations and increased work pressure, with diminished autonomy. The changed and changing South African higher education environment has had and continues to have its effects on academic employees’ well-being, health and morale. Limited research has investigated the sense of purpose and meaning and psychological health of academic employees. Moreover, there is an absence of empirical studies that have reported on the development and evaluation of a brief group-based meaning-centred intervention that focuses on both the sense of purpose and meaning, and psychological health of academic employees. The primary aim of the study was to first explore the meaning and/or meaning frustration embedded in the academic employee experience, in order to develop and empirically assess a brief group-based meaning-centred intervention in a higher education setting. The intervention was articulated from a logotherapy perspective of Viktor Frankl’s system of psychotherapy. An intervention mixed methods design, consisting of four interdependent phases, was used to pursue the aim of the study. The phase one qualitative single case study was used to explore and describe the sense of meaning and/or meaning frustration embedded in academic employees’ experiences. This was used as a means of developing and supporting the intervention that was implemented in the phase three quantitative quasi- experimental single-group pre/post test study. Phase two was thus an applied phase where the intentional mixing of the qualitative and quantitative phases took place. Likewise, phase four was an applied phase since it was used to draw conclusions based on the integration of the phase one findings and the phase three results. The results of the quantitative study indicated that the majority of academic employees who participated in the study had a sense of definite purpose and meaning (MPIL-post = 114.59, SDPIL-post = 18.04) and psychological health, despite the changed and changing HE landscape. The main finding suggests that a logotherapy brief group-based intervention, with a strong cognitive restructuring component, may have a positive impact on the sense of purpose and meaning of academic employees, whilst reducing the presence of symptoms of depression, post traumatic stress, binge eating and panic. The experience of purpose and meaning in work, and adaptive psychological coping, was related to academic employees’ sense of making a difference in students’ development, the appreciation they have received from students, their freedom of choice, their view of work as a calling, the unique benefits of working in HE, meaning beyond the meaning in the moment (ultimate meaning) and making a difference in colleagues’ (staffs’) lives. Llimitations in the study are noted and recommendations are made to formalise existential analysis as a research method of meaning informed organisational assessment. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Counselling Psychology)

Объект исследования: отношение к смерти. Предмет исследования: взаимосвязь отношения к смерти с экзистенциальной исполненностью человека. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, двух глав, заключения, списка литературы (65 источников) и приложения, включающего в себя процентное распределение респондентов относительно их демографического положения, процентное распределение респондентов относительно их отношения к смерти, бланки применявшихся методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 114 страниц, на которых размещены 9 рисунков и 12 таблиц. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируется и конкретизируется гипотеза, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме отношения к смерти, экзистенциальной исполненности, психологического благополучия. Представлены разделы, посвященные исследованию отношения к смерти, а также отношения к смерти в связи с экзистенциальной исполненностью человека. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Вторая глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам: опросник Отношение к смерти» И.Ю. Кулагиной, Л.В. Сенкевич; опросник «Отношение к смерти» К.А. Чистопольской и соавт.; «Диагностика экзистенциальной исполненности: оригинальная русскоязычная версия теста экзистенциальных мотиваций» разработанная В.Б. Шумским, Е.М. Уколовой, Е.Н. Осиновым и Я.Д. Лупандиной.; «Шкала психологического благополучия К. Рифф» в адаптации Л.В. Жуковской, Е.Г. Трошихиной. Также в главе представлен сравнительный и корреляционный анализ результатов исследования. Выводы по главе 2 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутой гипотезе, обоснована практическая значимость исследования и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики. / Subject of study: the relationship of attitudes towards death with the existential fulfillment of a person. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of references (65 sources) and an appendix, which includes the percentage distribution of respondents in relation to their demographic status, the percentage distribution of respondents in relation to their attitude to death, forms of the methods used. The volume of the master's thesis is 114 pages, which contain 9 figures and 12 tables. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the development of the problematics, sets the goal and objectives of the study, defines the object and subject of the study, formulates and concretizes the hypothesis, indicates the methods and empirical base, as well as the stages of the study, scientific novelty, theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter includes a review of foreign and domestic literature on the topic of attitudes towards death, existential fulfillment, and psychological well-being. Sections devoted to the study of attitudes towards death, as well as attitudes towards death in connection with the existential fulfillment of a person, are presented. The conclusions on the first chapter are the results of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It presents a description of the organization and methods of the study and the results obtained by all the methods used: questionnaire Attitude towards death” I.Yu. Kulagina, L.V. Senkevich; questionnaire "Attitude towards death" K.A. Chistopolskaya et al.; "Diagnosis of existential fulfillment: the original Russian version of the test of existential motivations" developed by V.B. Shumsky, E.M. Ukolova, E.N. Osinov and Ya.D. Lupandina.; "Scale of psychological well-being K. Riff" adapted by L.V. Zhukovskaya, E.G. Troshikhina. The chapter also presents a comparative and correlation analysis of the results of the study. Chapter 2's conclusions include the main findings of the empirical study. In the conclusion, the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work are summarized, as well as conclusions on the hypothesis put forward, the practical significance of the study is substantiated, and possible prospects for further development of this issue are described.

Text in German, summaries in English and German / Alter und Altern gilt in Deutschland derzeit als eines der wichtigsten Zukunftsfelder wissenschaftlicher Forschung. Dabei liegt ein besonderes Augenmerk auf der nachberuflichen Lebensphase, dem so genannten dritten Lebensalter. Eine Gesellschaft des um 20-30 Jahre verlängerten Lebens bei meist guter Gesundheit ist kulturgeschichtlich ein neues Phänomen für das es keine Vorbilder gibt, so dass der jetzigen Generation der „jungen Alten“ eine gestalterische Aufgabe für sich und die Nachfolgegenerationen zukommt. Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Thema Altern zunächst aus humanistischer und daran anschließend aus biblisch-theologischer Sicht. Diese beiden Kapitel enthalten grundlegende Aussagen zum Thema Altern aus unterschiedlichen Disziplinen und beziehen diese, wo möglich, aufeinander. Sie bilden die Grundlage und Voraussetzung für das Folgekapitel, in dem Bedeutung, Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von Biografiearbeit als praktisch-theologisches Bildungsangebot in der pastoralen Begleitung von Menschen in der nachberuflichen Lebensphase untersucht werden. Dabei wird offensichtlich, dass sowohl gerontologische Literatur als auch biblische Texte Biografiearbeit an einschneidenden Wendepunkten des Lebens als eine wichtige Voraussetzung für gelingendes Leben darstellen. Der Person und der Professionalität der Anleiterin kommen in dem Prozess biografischer Selbstreflexion mit älteren Menschen eine tragende Rolle zu. / Old age and the process of aging is currently one of the most important fields for future scientific study and research. Special focus is centered on the post-career phase. A society where life is prolonged for an extra 20 to 30 years, most of which are spent in reasonably good health, is culturally speaking a recent phenomenon for which there are no historical models. It follows, that the current generation bears a great responsibility in shaping and moulding this stage in their lives not only for themselves but also for future generations. This dissertation concentrates on the theme of aging, first from a humanistic point of view, and secondly by focusing on biblical and theological aspects. Both of these chapters contain fundamental and important statements regarding the subject of aging as seen from different disciplines, and, wherever possible, with reference to each other. They build the basis and prerequisite for the following chapter in which the significance and possibilities as well as the limits of biography work is researched in view of pastoral care and training for elderly people in the post employment phase of their life. It becomes obvious, that not only gerontological literature but also biblical texts depict biographical work as an important prerequisite for a life experienced as being successful, especially at drastic turning points in life. A vital part in biographical reflection with elderly people is played by the person and professionalism of the instructor. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)