The aim of this study was to explore the validity of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in an African context. This 240-item self-report questionnaire that measures 24 character strengths (Peterson & Seligrnan, 2004), was developed in a western individualistic context, and it cannot be assumed to be valid in African contexts without prior scientific evaluation. The current study, a first step in the evaluation of its validity in an African context, focussed on psychometric properties such as reliability, mean scores and variance, criterion-related validity, confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses, as well as translatability. In a cross-sectional survey design an availability sample of African students (N=256) completed the original English version of the VIA-IS and other criterion-related measures of psychological well-being and health, during facilitated group sessions. The latter scales were the Affectometer 2 (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Fortitude Questionnaire (Pretorius, 1998), the Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, et al. 1985), and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Translation of the VIA-IS into Setswana and back-translation were conducted and evaluated by a research evaluation committee. Results indicated that mean scores of the VIA-IS subscales are relatively aligned with those in a western context. Twenty of the twenty-four VIA-subscales showed satisfactory Cronbach alphas reliability indices above .70. The VIA-IS satisfies criterion-related validity as indicated by positive correlation with life satisfaction, positive affect, fortitude and sense of coherence, and negative correlation with negative affect and symptoms of ill-health. The VIA-IS was found to be translatable with preservation of original meaning, but in some instances technical terms had to be borrowed. Second order confirmatory and exploratory principal component factor analyses on the 24 strengths yielded three significant factors, and not six as theoretically expected, in this African group. The three emic virtue clusters are 1) Wisdom, knowledge and courage, 2) Horizontal and vertical relatedness and 3) Integrity in a group context: temperance and justice. This clustering of virtues reflects a socio-centric, collectivistic African cultural value system. It is concluded that the VIA-IS may have merit in an African context, but is not completely valid in its original form with its hypothesised six value clusters. With modifications and adaptations a more valid version may be developed for an African context. Studies on randomly selected, larger African samples are recommended. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The aim of this study was to explore the validity of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in an African context. This 240-item self-report questionnaire that measures 24 character strengths (Peterson & Seligrnan, 2004), was developed in a western individualistic context, and it cannot be assumed to be valid in African contexts without prior scientific evaluation. The current study, a first step in the evaluation of its validity in an African context, focussed on psychometric properties such as reliability, mean scores and variance, criterion-related validity, confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses, as well as translatability. In a cross-sectional survey design an availability sample of African students (N=256) completed the original English version of the VIA-IS and other criterion-related measures of psychological well-being and health, during facilitated group sessions. The latter scales were the Affectometer 2 (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Fortitude Questionnaire (Pretorius, 1998), the Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, et al. 1985), and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Translation of the VIA-IS into Setswana and back-translation were conducted and evaluated by a research evaluation committee. Results indicated that mean scores of the VIA-IS subscales are relatively aligned with those in a western context. Twenty of the twenty-four VIA-subscales showed satisfactory Cronbach alphas reliability indices above .70. The VIA-IS satisfies criterion-related validity as indicated by positive correlation with life satisfaction, positive affect, fortitude and sense of coherence, and negative correlation with negative affect and symptoms of ill-health. The VIA-IS was found to be translatable with preservation of original meaning, but in some instances technical terms had to be borrowed. Second order confirmatory and exploratory principal component factor analyses on the 24 strengths yielded three significant factors, and not six as theoretically expected, in this African group. The three emic virtue clusters are 1) Wisdom, knowledge and courage, 2) Horizontal and vertical relatedness and 3) Integrity in a group context: temperance and justice. This clustering of virtues reflects a socio-centric, collectivistic African cultural value system. It is concluded that the VIA-IS may have merit in an African context, but is not completely valid in its original form with its hypothesised six value clusters. With modifications and adaptations a more valid version may be developed for an African context. Studies on randomly selected, larger African samples are recommended. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Syftet med den här studien är att ta reda på vilken kunskap och vilka värderingar som finns i klädesbutiker angående kemikalier i kläder och om ekologiska alternativ. Jag vill även undersöka på vilket sätt information kan påverka butikerna till att agera i linje med en hållbar utveckling. Särskilt vill jag undersöka hur butikernas företagskultur påverkar deras strategiska arbete. Jag har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning och intervjuat 13 butiksinnehavare i centrala Malmö. Först träffade jag intervjupersonerna i deras butiker, några månader senare ringde jag upp var och en för att se om de tänkt något på det vi samtalat om eller till och med gjort några förändringar.De flesta av intervjupersonerna visste mycket lite om vad det finns för regler gällande kemikalier i textil, de hade dock viss kunskap om ekologiska kläder. Kunden, leverantören, media, producenten samt stat och kommun identifierades som aktörer som kunde påverka företagaren i sitt agerande. Flera av de intervjuade ifrågasatte om kvalitet och stil var lika bra i ekologiska kläder och de trodde att de ekologiska kläderna var dyrare. De flesta var tveksamma till om kunden ville betala mellanskillnaden. Några av dem misstrodde dessutom ekologiska märkningar. Intervjupersonerna tyckte att priset, stilen och kvaliteten på kläderna var viktiga, ett par av dem ansåg att miljöspekten var överordnad. Det fanns en viss vilja till förändring bland intervjupersonerna men med den följde krav på att de ekologiska kläderna överensstämde med butikernas överordnade mål. Butikernas företagskulturer tillsammans med människorna i butikerna, deras attityder och värderingar, påverkade butikernas strategiska miljöarbete. Att få information om kemikalier som kan finnas i kläder hade olika effekt på företagarna men det visade sig att det krävs mer än kunskap för att förändra deras agerande i linje med en hållbar utveckling.Nyckelord: Klädbutiker, kemikalier i kläder, ekologiska kläder, företagskulturer,miljöstrategiskt arbete, kunskap, värderingar och agerande.Abstract / The purpose for this study is to find out which knowledge and values there are in clothing stores about chemicals in clothes and about ecological alternatives. I also would like to see in what way information can affect the stores to act in a sustainable way. Especially I want to investigate how the stores corporate culture affects their strategic work. I have done a qualitative survey and I interviewed 13 storeowners in the center of Malmo. First I met the people I interviewed in their stores, a couple of months later I followed up with telephone interviews.The store owners knew very little about rules in the area of chemicals in textile, however they had some knowledge about ecological clothing. The customer, the deliverer, media, the producer, the state and communes are identified as important actors that could affect the corporate owner and the actions. The people in the survey questioned if the quality and style could be as good when the clothes were ecological and they thought that they were more expensive, most of them didn´t believe that the customers were willing to pay for the difference. Some of those I have talked to were mistrusting ecological markings. The people I talked to felt that the price, the style and the quality of the clothes was important, a few viewed the environmental impact as the most important. They had some will to change but it was followed with demands that the ecological clothes and there head goals were compatible. The corporate cultures together with the people in the stores, there attitudes and values, affected the strategic environmental work of the stores. The information affected the store owners in different ways but it is required more than knowledge to change their actions against a more sustainable way.Keywords: Clothing stores, chemical in clothes, ecological clothes, corporate cultures, environmental strategic work, knowledge, values and action.

Shifting from traditional deficit-based psychological research, the current study aimed to broaden the understanding of post-adoption development through a strength-based approach and further explore the recently developed Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Character Strengths among a particularly resilient population of young children-internationally adopted Chinese children. Archival longitudinal data of parents' descriptions about their adopted Chinese children's positive characteristics were analyzed from two time points two years apart. Data on 179 children ages 4 - 5 years old (M = 59.67 months SD = 6.60 months) in Time 1 from 172 families were analyzed with content analysis coding procedures. Overall, the profile of character strengths among young Chinese adoptees was very comparable to that of a general sample of young children assessed in a previous research study: Both samples had 11 of the 24 character strengths from the VIA Classification represented among 10% or more of the children, while the remaining character strengths were rarely represented in the children's data. The five most prevalent character strengths for Chinese adoptees were Love, Kindness, Humor, Zest, and Social Intelligence. The biggest difference between adopted Chinese children from this study and non-adopted children was that Zest and Social Intelligence were represented at much higher rates. There were no significant changes over time in all but one of the prevalence rates for character strengths (i.e., Love decreased from Time 1 to Time 2) and for the more broadly categorized virtues (i.e., Courage increased from Time 1 to Time 2). The two most prevalent virtues, Humanity and Courage, were associated with lower levels of externalizing and internalizing problems, respectively, which may point to the positive traits particularly related to this population's marked resilience. Results serve to provide a broader understanding of post-adoption development and offer the first longitudinal data on character strengths among young children.

L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier les ressources psychologiques qui favorisent l’épanouissement pour une insertion professionnelle rapide. Nous avons mené une démarche comparative entre deux moments : en amont et en aval de la transition université-emploi. L’objectif étant de voir comment ces ressources se développent-elles tout au long de la transition. La recherche s’est déroulée en Tunisie. La population étudiée concerne les jeunes diplômés de l’enseignement supérieur qui se caractérisent par un faible taux d’employabilité et un fort taux de chômage. Ces étudiants poursuivent des études en Sciences Humaines et Sociales, en Lettres, en Sciences Economiques et en Droit. Deux groupes sont considérés dans cette population : un groupe d’étudiants en fin de parcours universitaire (en amont de la transition) et un groupe de diplômés en insertion professionnelle (en aval de la transition). Nous avons procédé à une méthodologie mixte articulant une étude qualitative exploratoire basée sur l’analyse de discours, et une étude quantitative. Nous avons procédé à la validation des outils de mesure psychométriques dans le contexte tunisien, tels que l’échelle d’épanouissement (Diener, 2010), l’échelle d’adaptabilité de carrière, version courte (CAAS-SF) (Maggiori, Rossier, & Savickas, 2017), l’échelle de « connaissance de ses forces » (Govindji & Linley, 2007) et l’Inventaire des forces de caractère (VIA-72). Des analyses de corrélation, de régression linéaire et hiérarchique et une modélisation par équation structurelle par la méthode PLS ont été conduites. Les résultats des deux études révèlent que l’épanouissement joue un rôle considérable dans le développement de l’adaptabilité de carrière et dans une insertion professionnelle rapide. Les ressources psychologiques sont mobilisées différemment en amont et en aval de la transition. Les forces de l’optimisme agissent positivement en amont de la transition. Les forces de la sagesse, les forces de la tempérance et le comportement proactif favorisent une insertion professionnelle rapide. En prenant appui à la fois sur ces résultats et sur la revue de la littérature, nous proposons des actions à mener au niveau institutionnel pour promouvoir l’épanouissement et le comportement proactif au sein des structures universitaires. Nous discutons l’élaboration de dispositifs d’appui à la transition université-emploi dans le cadre d’une collaboration régionale méditerranéenne transculturelle et multidisciplinaire. / The purpose of this work is to study the psychological resources that promote the development for fast reemployment. We applied a comparative approach between two phases: the before and after of University to Work Transition (STWT). The goal is to see how these resources develop throughout the transition. The research took place in Tunisia. Our study focuses on young gradudates of higher education suffering from low employability and high unemployment rate that complicates their reemployment. These students pursue studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Literature, Economics, and Law. Two groups are considered: A group of students at the end of their university studies (before the transition) and a group of graduates in a reemployment period (after the transition). We made use of a mixed methodology articulating an exploratory qualitative study based on discourse analysis, and a quantitative empirical study. We have validated psychometric scales in the Tunisian context, such as the scale of Flourishing (Diener, 2010), the scale of Career Adpatability Short Version (CAAS-SF) (Maggiori, Rossier, & Savickas, 2017), the "Strenghts Knowledge" scale (Govindji & Linley, 2007) and the Character Strengths Inventory (VIA-72). Correlation, linear and hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modeling using the PLS method were conducted. The results of both studies reveal that flourishing plays a significant role in developing career adaptability and rapid reemployment. Psychological resources are mobilized differently before and after the transition. The strengths of optimism contribute positively before the transition. The strenghts of wisdom, the temperance and proactive behavior promote rapid reemployment. Based on both results and the literature review, we propose a set of actions to be taken at the institutional level to promote the development and proactive behavior within academic structures. We discuss the development of support schemes for university-employment transition as part of a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary Mediterranean regional collaboration.

The aim of this study is to discover to what extent and in what way Peterson and Seligman’s (2004) twenty-four character strengths are present in Winnie the Pooh storybooks, and how they are depicted. Character strengths are a well-known theory in positive psychology and the analysis of children’s literature is a respected genre. A qualitative examination of the text was conducted using content and thematic analyses to extract examples of the strengths. The exemplars were coded and recoded before being subjected to a peer and supervisor review. The excerpts indicated that all strengths are depicted in the text, but Pooh is the only character to exhibit them all. A discussion of the findings revealed that no single strength could be deemed more prominent as they are intrinsically interconnected. It is recommended that the findings be reworked into a training manual for guardians to foster character strengths in young children. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)