Part-time vs. full-time students -- Age range of 23 to 51 years -- Business and social work majors -- Self-efficacy -- Work apprehension.

In this research practicum we were concerned with the measurement and implications of factors which influence the meaning of work for white American women. The present study was a pilot study for the second part of a research project proposed by the Human Interaction Research Institute (H.I.R.I.). John Marks, Ph.D., was co-director of the first part of the project and is the director of this study. Part I of the "Meaning of Work" project examined alternative life styles and corresponding career choices made by young men. This study identified values, aspirations, backgrounds, and characteristics of men who were grouped as "hippies", "surfers", "bikers", and "straights". Part II of the project will investigate the factors which influence the choices women make in working outside or inside the home, or in not working. The second part of the research plan will closely parallel the procedures and plans of the first part, "The Meaning of Work for Men". Included in the second part will be the personal and situational factors which determine women's choices of employment or homemaking careers or of non-employment. There were three objectives for this pilot study: (1) to develop instruments (an appropriate interview form and a corresponding data sheet for analysis purposes), (2) to generate hypotheses in relation to the unique meanings which work holds for American women, and (3) to develop instructions and standards for the persons employing the interview and data forms. It was anticipated that products of this pilot study would be utilized in the formal study. This report will include the following areas: (1) the review of pertinent literature, (2) the method, including the development of instruments, the trial interviews, and their analyses, (3) the results of the coding of the interviewed responses, (4) the proposed hypotheses, and (5) the discussion of our analysis of the instruments and process.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 K34 / Master of Science

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)

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by Coursework and Research Report in the field of Organisational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, on 8 February 2016 / The aim of the current study was to investigate two possible mechanisms that might facilitate thriving in the workplace, namely implicit person theories and psychological capital. These variables were chosen because of their potential to operate in accordance with Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden and build hypothesis, with implicit person theories working to broaden thought-action repertoires, and psychological capital working to build personal resources. The study employed a quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, and cross sectional design. A sample of 226 working adults living in South Africa volunteered to participate in the study. They completed four online questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire; the Thriving at Work Scale; the Implicit Person Theories Scale; and the Psychological Capital Questionaire-24 (PCQ-24). To test the hypothesis that implicit person theories and psychological capital jointly facilitate the experience of workplace thriving, a series of correlations, regressions, and mediation analyses were conducted. The results indicated that psychological capital does indeed mediate the relationship between implicit person theories and workplace thriving.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Organisational Psychology / Stratified Systems Theory classifies roles within organisations according to varying discontinuous levels or layers of work (Stamp, 1981). These levels are differentiated according to the time frames within which employees typically see results, the level of responsibility they are expected to take on, as well as the complexity of the work they are engaged in (Jaques, 2007a). The aim of the current study was to contribute towards existing literature on managerial derailment by investigating whether there is an association between the level of work and the risk of derailing behaviour, and if the degree of fit between an individual’s level of work and their current and future cognitive capability is associated with the risk of derailing behaviour. Derailing behaviour is conceptualised as destructive actions that have a detrimental effect on the career progression or success of an individual (Freedman, 2005). Archival data was made available to the researcher from a single large, international telecommunications organisation based in South Africa. Participants who had been assessed using the Modified Career Path Appreciation (MCPA) as well as the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) were included in the study. The final sample (n=252) consisted of managers working at various levels of the organisation who had been assessed for the purposes of either selection or development during 2015. Overall, the research hypotheses were not supported. Contrary to what was expected, a higher level of work was not associated with a greater risk of derailing behaviour. In fact, a greater number of derailers were evident at a lower level of work when compared to a slightly higher level of work. Furthermore, contrary to what was hypothesised, those whose level of work exceeded their current or future capabilities did not display a greater risk of derailing behaviour than those who achieved fit with their environment. On the contrary, a greater risk of derailing behaviour was found for those whose current or future capabilities exceeded that required by their level of work. No differences in the types of derailing behaviour reported were found to be associated with the level of work an individual is operating at, the degree of fit they experience between their current capability and their work environment, or the degree of fit they experience between their future capability and their work environment. All the analyses conducted reinforced the same finding that participants in the sample were more likely to report a high risk of displaying derailers falling into the ‘moving against’ category, regardless of these factors. / GR2017

“A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MA by coursework and Research Report in the field of Organisational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 26 May 2017” / The aim of the study was to investigate associations of employee psychological well-being, job satisfaction, psychological well-being and organisational commitment among public service employees in Botswana. The study was cross-sectional in nature. A total of 138 participants were recruited but only the responses of 129 participants were used in the final analysis after excluding the responses of 9 participants due to missing data. Of the 129 participants, there were 73 female participants and 55 male participants. The participants were recruited from Gaborone, Botswana and they voluntarily participated in the study. The instruments that were used to collect data were the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12), the Overall Job Satisfaction Scale, and the Organisational Commitment Scale. Data were analysed using Pearson‟s Product-Moment correlation, simple regression and chi-square test of association. The results of the study showed that significant relationships were between psychological well-being and job satisfaction, and between job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Additionally, psychological well-being significantly predicted job satisfaction but not organisational commitment. Directions for future studies could focus on investigating the intricate relationships between the variables to assess their impact on employee and organisational performance, and to guide the utilisation of wellness programmes in the workplace. / MT2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of The Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 1992 / The present study was conducted within the area of leadership research and examined aspects of management-subordinate dyads in the insurance industry. The aim of the study was to explore the proportion of variance of three dependent variables explained by the dimensions of the quality of Leader-Member Exchange between managers and subordinates, subordinate's perceived self-efficacy, and an interaction term comprising these two dimensions. The three dependent variables compnsed subordinate job satisfaction, and two measures of subordinate performance, namely the employee rating scale and a work output measure which overcame previous research's limitations. Research was conducted on a sample of broker-consultants (CN = 130). Results suggested that the leadership variable (leader-member exchange) explained a significant proportion of the variance of jab satisfaction but not in terms of job pertormance measures. Contrary to expectations, the addition of a self-efficacy variable and the t.,iC7 ...i-l10n term did not explain a dditional variance within the leadership model in terms of work performance and job satisfaction, with respect to self-efficacy and the interaction term. The limitations of the study in terms of leadership research will be considered. Theoretical and practical implications of the study will also be considered.