The relationship between stress and wellness has been superficially studied in the past. The aim of this research is therefore to explore the relationship between stress and wellness. To discover this relationship a quantitative, structured questionnaire research method is used. The literature review illustrates the relationship between stress and wellness with specific regard to educators. These constructs are considered individually and then in correlation with each other. Throughout the review a critical approach is adopted to demonstrate various downfalls with the current research in the areas of stress and wellness. The participants were selected using a representative, non-probability sampling strategy from Sivananda Further Education and Training College in KwaZulu-Natal. The participants for the research totalled 71 employees (46 educators and 24 administration staff). A biographical questionnaire, the Occupational Role Questionnaire and the Perceived Wellness Survey were used to collect the data. The data was then analysed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, factor analyses and bivariate correlations in SPSS. The results predominantly suggest that the stress levels for the staff at Sivananda FET College are in the normal range while the wellness levels are generally above average. There is also evidence of there being 19 significant relationships between the dimensions of stress and wellness. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doelstelling van hierdie navorsing is om te bepaal of warmte, empatie en kongruensie as openinggespreksvaardigheid met die verbaal aggressiewe klient enige waarde het en om te bepaal in watter mate maatskaplike werkers vaardig is in die hantering van die aggressiewe klient. Volgens die bevindinge van hierdie ondersoek waaraan vier en twintig maatskaplike werkers deelgeneem het, blyk dit dat daar groot gebreke in die hantering van die aggressiewe klient is en dat maatskaplike werkers nie altyd oor die nodige vaardighede beskik om die uitdaging wat die aggressiewe klient bied, te hanteer nie. Die navorsing kan as 'n voorbeeld van die werkwyse van maatskaplike werkers beskou word en dui daarop dat daar in hulle opleiding ten opsigte van die hantering van aggressie sekere leemtes is. Daar aanbeveel dat hierdie aspek verder ondersoek word. word / The aim of this research was to determine whether conversational skills such as warmth, empathy and congruency have any positive effect when dealing with verbally aggressive clients and to what degree social workers are equipped to deal with aggressive clients. According to the findings of this research in which twenty four social workers participated it would appear that there are serious shortcomings in the way in which they deal with aggressive clients and that they do not always have the skills required to meet the challenges posed by aggressive clients. This research outlines the way in which social workers operate and would seem to indicate that there are serious shortcomings in their training when it comes to dealing with aggressive clients in interview situations. It is recommended that this matter be further investigated. / Social Work / M.A. (Sosiale Wetenskappe (Geestesgesondheid)

Thesis (MTech (Human Resources Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Absenteeism has proven to be a global problem in the workplace, which is further exacerbated by multifaceted factors that cause absence. It is pervasive, inevitable and has an undesirably negative impact on the operations and service delivery of an organisation, if not managed properly. Generally, absenteeism disrupts the work environment and negatively affects the organisation and employees’ morale. A literature search was conducted on the causes, costs, impact, measurements, consequences and strategies of absenteeism in the workplace. Literature on job satisfaction as a concept was also conducted on personal and organisational sources, both content and process theories, and consequences of job satisfaction. The researcher also conducted a survey questionnaire with a sample of employees at DTVET to ascertain their perceptions regarding absenteeism and job satisfaction status within the department. The aim of the study was to identify the main causes of high absenteeism and to determine the status of job satisfaction levels in DTVET. The study identified the causes of absenteeism among DTVET employees, and discovered that reasons are attributed to: work overload; lack of employee health programmes; lack of resolution of employees’ problems; headache problems; inconsistent application of absenteeism procedures; lack of autonomy; lack of an effective performance reward system; backache problems; sick leave entitlement mentality; stomach upsets; and, finally, colds and flu. Findings also revealed that DTVET employees mostly derive their job dissatisfaction from: work overload; bureaucratic processes; benefits; pay; lack of recognition for work well done; and lack of promotion opportunities. This finding also supports Robbins’s (2003:82) conclusions that the consequences of job dissatisfaction may lead to employees missing work, this may also be expressed in various forms i.e. employees complaints, insubordination, steal organisational property, reduce effort, chronic absenteeism, increase error rate, lateness etc. Realistically, absenteeism in the workplace will never be eradicated, however, with proper management interventions, absenteeism rates can be reduced to acceptable levels.

A study of the available literature on Workplace Well-being, Positive Organisational Capital and Workplace Trust revealed that enormous potential existed for further research. This is a relatively new field with limited literature and research evidence available. It became very clear from the beginning that the relationships between these constructs could successfully be researched. It was therefore decided to embark on an academic research journey in order to contribute to the existing knowledge available on these constructs within the South African business scenario. This quantitative research was used to obtain more clarity about the relationships between the three constructs and to gather the responses from the research population. This research group consisted of 228 managers from the manufacturing operation of a motor vehicle production company and 224 managers from their National Dealership network. The research sample consisted of 452 managers. Three questionnaires were integrated to develop the composite Workplace Wellbeing Questionnaire and consisted of i) Workplace Well-being questionnaire developed by Parker and Hyett (2011), ii) PSYCAP Questionnaire developed by Luthans, Youssef and Avolio (2007), and iii) Workplace Trust Survey developed by Ferres (2001). The managers (n = 452) responded to a 91–item electronic questionnaire. Seven research questions were formulated and covered areas such as: The content, validity and portability of the measuring instruments; The configuration of the various constructs; Relationships between some of the variables; The effect of demographical data on the research variables and; The building of a research model. The content and the structure of the measuring instruments were assessed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA). These assessments showed that the original measuring instruments are not portable to a culture which is different to the one where they were originally developed. The relationships between the variables were determined by: Pearson product moment correlation; Multiple Regression co-efficient; ANOVA and Cohen’s d Test. The relationship between aspects of Workplace Well-being (Job satisfaction) and trust is a significant finding; so are some aspects of PSYCAP (sense of achievement and optimism) and Trust and Well-being. Trust has shown a definite relationship with Work- place well-being. A structural equation model was built to test the relationships between the elements of Workplace Well-being, PSYCAP and Workplace Trust. No satisfactory fit of the model on the data was obtained, although strong correlations between some of the variables existed. The significance of the findings of this study and the contribution that it makes to the existing theory is seen in the importance of the portability of measuring instruments. Recommendations in this regard have been made in Chapter 5. Various findings have also highlighted the relationships between Workplace Well-being, PSYCAP and Work-place Trust. The importance of future research topics has been recommended and a proposal has been made to consider a longitudinal well-being research study.

M.Com. (Business Management) / The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between employees’ perceptions of their leaders’ attitudes in terms of being caring, and employee retention in an insurance organisation in South Africa. The employee turnover rate in 2012 for this organisation was 24%. Non-managerial employees for the national insurance company were surveyed. The psychometric instrument used to measure the data was the Survey of Perceived Organisational Support (SPOS). Analysis of data revealed a significant difference between the employee’s perceptions of their leaders’ attitudes toward their subordinates, and employee retention. However, the age of the employees and the number of months employed by the organisation indicated a correlation. This will allow organisation leaders to be better equipped and more proactive rather than reactive in terms of employee retention actions and plans

Orientador: Maria Alice Ornellas Pereira / Banca: Eliana Mara Braga / Banca: Renata Curi Labate / Resumo: Tendo em vista que o processo de cuidado desempenhado pela enfermagem propicia a vivência de emoções de muitas ordens podendo gerar sofrimento psíquico, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo compreender a percepção de sofrimento psíquico no trabalho, elaborada pelos profissionais da enfermagem. Trata-se de pesquisa de natureza qualitativa. Empregou-se a técnica de entrevista semiestruturada e foram ouvidos doze auxiliares de enfermagem que desempenham atividades na unidade de um Hospital de Clínicas. Os dados obtidos foram analisados a partir da análise temática tendo como referencial teórico de Christophe Dejours. Da análise das narrativas produzidas emergiram três temas: Gratificação, Angústia e Impotência. A discussão dos temas evidenciou que os sujeitos têm sentimento de gratificação no desempenho de suas funções, sentem-se úteis e se reconhecem no processo do cuidado. Por outro lado, alguns sujeitos ouvidos relataram o sofrimento em função do mal-estar e tensão causados pelo conflito entre o desejo de realização do trabalho com qualidade, empenho e comprometimento, e a frustração por não conseguirem, devido a questões pessoais, sociais, administrativas e técnicas. O sentimento de impotência surgiu diante da falta de autonomia, falta de participação na tomada de decisões que envolvem responsabilidade no trabalho. Assim como foi evidenciado as dificuldades vividas a partir da escassez de recursos humanos e materiais, também foi apontado o conflito na equipe como fator gerador de dificuldades no campo laboral. A investigação aponta que o distanciamento do profissional às questões pertinentes ao seu próprio mundo mental, dos aspectos intrínsecos que lhes dizem respeito à ausência de percepção e elaboração dos seus sentimentos, pode dificultar o fluir dos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Considering that the process of care developed by nursery makes possible the experience of emotions of many orders being able to generate psycho suffering, this research had as target to comprehend the perception of psycho suffering at work, built by nursery professionals. It's a research of qualitative nature. It was applied the technique of semi-structured interview and twelve nursery professionals that develop activities in a Unit of a Clinic Hospital were listened. The data resulted were analyzed considering the thematic analysis having as theoretical reference Christophe Dejours. From the analysis of the narrations emerged three themes: Gratification, Anguish and Impotence. The discussion of the themes put in evidence that the indivuduals have feeling of gratitude on the development of his functions, feel useful and recognize themselves on the care process. On the other hand, some of the interwied related the suffering in reason of a bad feeling and tension caused by the conflict between the desire of the work done with quality, effort and commitment, and the frustration for not getting it, because of personal, social, administrative and technical questions. The feeling of impotence came in reason of the absence of autonomy, lack of participation at making decisions that involve responsibility at work. As much as it has become clear the difficulties lived in face of a lack of human and material resources, it has also been pointed a conflict in the team as a factor generator of difficulties in the labor field. The investigation shows that the distance of the professional to the questions pertinent to their mental world, from the intrinsic aspects that say about themselves to the absence of perception and elaboration of their feelings can make difficult the flow of the subjective processes of development. Other important aspect... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Dissertation submitted for partial fulfillment for the degree Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 2002. / This study examines the distribution of the behavioural dimensions measured by the Style Analysis Instrument. Research previously conducted in the USA is compared with the South African data collected. The distribution of the dimensions, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance (DISC) in the South African genders and the Afrikaans, Black, English and Indian population groups is investigated. Data were collected from three organisations that process the Style Analysis questionnaires, and analysed to ascertain significant differences between the various groups, and correlations between the various behavioural dimensions. Significant differences were found between the USA sample and the SA sample, while lesser differences were found within the SA subgroups. Based on the research of Warburton and Suiter, which established that a disparity between the Adapted Style, i.e. the behavioural style of the individual in the workplace, and the Natural Style, i.e. the inherent behavioural style of the individual, is a predictor of stress in the workplace, an investigation was conducted to discover which South African gender or population group experiences the most stress in the workplace. Overall, the female gender and the Black population group manifest the highest stress indicators within the South African context.

Attitude measurement problems are discussed within the context of a contemporary movement in the field of education. A restricted definition of the alienation construct is suggested as a theoretical framework within which research in this area could be conducted. Construction and validation data on an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward work are reported. Pre and posttest scores (using the above measure as well as the Rotter I-E Scale) of two high school Career Education programs were compared. Neither program produced significant mean attitude change in terms of these measures. However, change detected by increase in the variance on the I-E measure was significant in one program. Also, correlational data between the attitude scores and scores on two different course achievement tests indicate that the attitude and achievement variables are associated. A model for research connected with the implementation of future innovative Career Education programs is suggested.

As the workforces of industrialized countries around the world continue to age, research is needed to better understand how policies regarding retirement, and exit from the workforce, impact older workers. In particular, it is important to identify mechanisms that can be used to understand and promote the retention of older workers. Work ability (WA), a construct that has been predominately studied in Scandinavian and European countries, has been studied in this context, and identified as a predictor of exit from the workforce. Using the Job Demands-Resources model (JDR; Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001) as the theoretical basis, the goal of the present study was to compile and synthesize the existing literature on WA, quantitatively analyze its antecedents and outcomes (via meta-analysis), and assess potential moderators to these relationships. To my knowledge, this is the first quantitative synthesis of the WA literature. In total k = 158 studies including n =149,758 workers were included in this meta-analysis. Results showed that WA was related to a number of antecedents including job demands (r) = [-.15, -.30], job resources (r) = [.19, .25], and personal resources (r) = [.14, .45]; as well as to several outcomes including job satisfaction (r) = .23, job performance (self-rated) (r) = .23, and exit behaviors (r) = [-.19, -.36]. Moderator analyses showed that when assessing the relationship between WA and some correlates (e.g., disability, retirement), studies that used the Work Ability Index (WAI) found stronger relationships with WA than studies that used measures of perceived WA. Additionally, studies that included workers from certain occupations (e.g., blue collar jobs) found weaker relationships between WA and some of its correlates (e.g., physical job demands, job control) compared to studies of workers in other occupation groups (e.g., white collar jobs). The mean age of the sample also moderated the relationships between WA and some of its correlates. Specifically, studies that consisted of older workers found stronger relationships between WA and certain correlates (e.g., job control, physical job demands), whereas for other correlates (e.g., musculoskeletal disease, disability) studies consisting of younger workers found stronger relationships with WA. This study contributes to the existing literature by synthesizing findings from existing work, identifying gaps in the existing literature, and determining how various measures of WA impact the relationships between WA and its correlates. In addition, this study helps to identify factors that can be considered in interventions aimed at retaining older workers and extending working careers.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Increasingly complex technology in modarn times has changed the nature of many work activities. Hechanisation and automation have served to emphasise the importance of mental workload to productivity, physicaI and mental health. The study uses a simulated routine office stocktaking task to compare subject and experiences of mental workload between traditional pen and paper methods and the more recently developed computer techniques. An analysis is also made of assessments of difficulty by subjects free to adopt a working method of their choice (ie. in a flexible environment) and subjects whohave no freedom of working method (ie. a rigid externally imposed working strategy). Also included is an analysis of the cognitive strategies adopted during task performance and across the different treatmerrt conditions. Research findings are of particular relevance to the design of jobs in the modern office environment where human-computer interaction is becoming increasingly prevalent, the effective design of man-machine systems, and to the genera: field of workload research. / AC 2018