The two most significant domains in the lives of employed individuals are work and home, which can influence each other in both a negative and a positive way. However, there has been a lack of empirical research investigating the positive interaction between the work and home domains, as well as the possible antecedents and outcomes associated with it, including job resources and work engagement. The objectives of this study were to test a structural model that includes job resources, positive work-home interaction (WHI) and work engagement, and to determine the mediating role of positive WHI in the relationship between job resources and work engagement for police officers in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 468) were taken of employees in the South African Police Service in the North West Province. The Job Demands-Resources Scale, the positive WHI scale of the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were administered. Structural equation modelling showed that people who receive sufficient job resources (including organisational support, possibilities for advancement, growth opportunities and contact with colleagues) experience positive WHI that leads to work engagement. In addition, job resources help to enhance work engagement. These results provided evidence for the partial mediating role of positive work-home interaction in the relationship between job resources and work engagement. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The mining industry is one of the largest employers in South Africa in an attempt to thrive in a continuously changing environment and in line with the modem organisation's focus on the various dimensions of employee well-being, mining organisations need the services of engaged workers. The objective of this research was to establish the relationship between work engagement and demographic characteristics, job characteristics and work-home interaction of employees working in the mining industry. A random sample of 320 employees was taken from various mining companies in the Gauteng and North West Provinces. The job characteristics, UWES and SWING questionnaires were used as measuring instruments. Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the data Exploratory factor analysis with target rotations confirmed the construct validity of the measuring instruments. Chi-square and t-tests indicated positive relationships between work engagement and race, autonomy, social support, instrumental support, task characteristics, positive work-home interference and positive home-work interference. Logistic regression analyses revealed that race, autonomy, task characteristics and positive home-work interference were significant predictors of work engagement. Recommendations were made for further research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

The two most significant domains in the lives of employed individuals are work and home, which can influence each other in both a negative and a positive way. However, there has been a lack of empirical research investigating the positive interaction between the work and home domains, as well as the possible antecedents and outcomes associated with it, including job resources and work engagement. The objectives of this study were to test a structural model that includes job resources, positive work-home interaction (WHI) and work engagement, and to determine the mediating role of positive WHI in the relationship between job resources and work engagement for police officers in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 468) were taken of employees in the South African Police Service in the North West Province. The Job Demands-Resources Scale, the positive WHI scale of the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were administered. Structural equation modelling showed that people who receive sufficient job resources (including organisational support, possibilities for advancement, growth opportunities and contact with colleagues) experience positive WHI that leads to work engagement. In addition, job resources help to enhance work engagement. These results provided evidence for the partial mediating role of positive work-home interaction in the relationship between job resources and work engagement. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The mining industry is one of the largest employers in South Africa in an attempt to thrive in a continuously changing environment and in line with the modem organisation's focus on the various dimensions of employee well-being, mining organisations need the services of engaged workers. The objective of this research was to establish the relationship between work engagement and demographic characteristics, job characteristics and work-home interaction of employees working in the mining industry. A random sample of 320 employees was taken from various mining companies in the Gauteng and North West Provinces. The job characteristics, UWES and SWING questionnaires were used as measuring instruments. Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the data Exploratory factor analysis with target rotations confirmed the construct validity of the measuring instruments. Chi-square and t-tests indicated positive relationships between work engagement and race, autonomy, social support, instrumental support, task characteristics, positive work-home interference and positive home-work interference. Logistic regression analyses revealed that race, autonomy, task characteristics and positive home-work interference were significant predictors of work engagement. Recommendations were made for further research. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

There is an apparent lack of in-depth knowledge about the processes that may underlie the interaction between work and home life, and their relationships with employee health and well-being. Work and home has traditionally been considered as separate domains, but during the past decade of democracy, transformation developments (eg, Affirmative Action, Employment Equity) changed the nature of the labour market and economy. This facilitated the increase in the number of working single-parent, dual-earner families, and of women participating in the workforce, which in turned influenced the work-home interaction of employed individuals. Furthermore, various researchers regard burnout and engagement as important constructs to consider in the well-being of employees. The level of a person's wellbeing subsequently affects his/her functionality in both the work and home spheres. Thus, there is a need to identify ways which both the individual and the organisation can apply to increase personal well-being and the balance between work and home life. South Africa has 11 different national languages, and only 8,3% of the population actually speak English at home. Language differences should therefore be taken into account when administering questionnaires. Studies in South Africa generally report race, education, language, and understanding of English as the main factors which impact on construct and item comparability of psychometric tests. There is consequently an obvious need to translate research instruments before they are administered to individuals from different language groups. If language differences are not taken into account, invalid conclusions regarding the constructs under study could be made, with serious implications for culturally diverse settings such as in South Africa. The objectives of this research were to translate the Survey Work-Home Interaction Nijmegen (SWING), Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and Utrecth Work Engagement Scale (UWES) into Afrikaans and Setswana, and to investigate the construct validity, construct equivalence and reliability of these instruments. Furthermore, differences between demographic groups regarding work-home interaction and well-being were investigated. Finally, a structural model was tested, which included job characteristics, negative and positive work-home interference (WHI) and well-being (burnout and engagement). A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (N = 685) were taken from police stations in the North West province. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to determine the construct validity and equivalence of the measuring instruments and to test the structural model. The results indicated that work-home interaction can be described as a four-dimensional construct consisting of negative WHI, positive WHI, negative home-work interference (HWI), and positive HWI. This factor structure was equivalent across all three language groups and all the scales were reliable. A four-factor model was confirmed for burnout and included exhaustion, cognitive weariness, cynicism and professional efficacy. A one-factor model was found for engagement. Both translated instruments were found to be equivalent for the three language groups. Furthermore, a second order factor analysis revealed that the underlying structure of well-being consists of two negatively related and equivalent factors, namely burnout (exhaustion, cognitive weariness and cynicism) and an enlarged engagement construct (engagement and professional efficacy). Members reported more negative WHI than negative HWI, and more positive HWI than positive WHI. Statistically significant differences exist between demographic groups regarding work-home interaction based on language, gender, marital status. parental status and education. Statistically significant differences of wellness exist between demographic groups based on language and educational level. The results of the structural equation modelling revealed that job demands were directly and positively associated with negative WHI and burnout, while job resources were directly and positively associated with positive WHI and work engagement. This also indicates the partial mediating effect of WHI between job characteristics and wellness. In addition, a lack ofjob resources was associated with higher levels of burnout. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Major changes that emphasise the importance of a balanced work and family life have occurred within organisations. Inability to manage this integration between the work and home domains can affect the performance of organisations and the wellbeing of their employees. In order to measure work-home interaction and wellbeing, it is important to use valid, equivalent and reliable instruments. However, there is a lack of empirical research when investigating work-home interaction, burnout and work engagement in the earthmoving equipment industry in South Africa. Furthermore, the earthmoving equipment industry is a multicultural environment and construct equivalence across subgroups therefore becomes important when measuring work-home interaction, burnout and work engagement across different cultural or language groups. It also seems relevant to consider differences in the work-home interaction and work wellness levels between important demographic groups in the earthmoving equipment industry. It appears as if burnout and engagement can be seen as part of the total wellness continuum; and that job characteristics may be related to burnout and engagement through negative and positive work-home interaction. However, little information was found that included these factors in a structural model for the earthmoving equipment industry. The objectives of this research were to test the psychometric properties of the Survey Work- Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING), the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES); to determine if various demographic groups differ with regard to work-home interaction and wellbeing; and to test a structural model that includes job characteristics, work-home interaction and wellbeing for employees in the earthmoving industry. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 528) were taken from employees in the earthmoving equipment industry in Gauteng, the Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the North West Province. Structural equation modelling confirmed a four-factor model of work-home interaction which measures negative work-home interference, positive work-home interference, negative homework interference and positive home-work interference. This factor structure was equivalent across language, ethnicity, gender, education, marital status and parental status. All four factors were reliable. The participants reported more negative WHI than negative HWI, and more positive HWI than positive WHI. It was found that statistically significant differences that are based on age, gender, language, ethnicity, a partner's contribution to household income and the different business units exist between the demographic groups. The results confirmed a four-factor structure of burnout (exhaustion, cognitive weariness, cynicism and professional efficacy) and a two-factor structure of work engagement (including vigour and dedication). These structures were equivalent across language and education groups, and all scales were reliable. SEM analyses supported a two-factor structure for the wellness construct, consisting of burnout (exhaustion, cognitive weariness and cynicism) and engagement (vigour, dedication and professional efficacy), which was equivalent for the language and education groups. Statistically significant differences that are based on age, gender, language and the different business units were found between the demographic groups. Structural equation modelling showed that job demands are associated with negative WHI and consequently with burnout, providing support for a full-mediation effect of negative WHI. Job resources were associated with negative WHI and consequently with burnout, providing support for partial mediation of negative WHI between job resources and burnout. Job resources were also associated with positive WHI and consequently with engagement, providing support for partial mediation of positive WHI between job resources and engagement. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

In an ever-changing world, people are constantly faced with the challenge of simultaneously managing multiple roles in their work as well as their home-sphere. It therefore becomes increasingly important to maintain a balance in these two life spheres. Unfortunately, a gap exists between the positive and negative side of work-home balance as most research focuses on the negative side. Recently, a much needed instrument was develop in the Netherlands, namely the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING), which measures both the direction of influence (work→home and vice versa) and the quality of influence (negative vs. positive). The objectives of this study were to validate the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen (SWING) for workers of the earthmoving equipment industry in a South African context, to determine its construct equivalence and bias for different language groups, and to determine differences regarding work-home interaction between different demographic groups. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 330) were taken of workers in the earthmoving equipment industry across South Africa. The SWING and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Item bias analyses, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach alpha coefficients, MANOVAs, ANOVAs and T-tests were used to analyse the data. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the SWING consists of four factors, namely Negative Work-Home Interference, Negative Home-Work Interference, Positive Work-Home Interference and Positive Home-Work Interference. All four factors showed acceptable internal consistencies. No evidence was found for uniform or non-uniform bias of the items of the SWING for different language groups. Exploratory factor analysis with target rotations confirmed the construct equivalence of the work-home interface construct. There were also no differences regarding work-home interaction between different demographic groups, except for a practically significant difference (medium effect) between males and females with respect to negative Work-Home Interaction levels. Recommendations were made for further research. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

It is important for organisations to develop their employees. However, organisations will not be able to keep a competitive advantage by merely focussing on the development of their employees’ weaknesses. Employees should also be provided with sufficient job resources and opportunities to develop and/or use their strengths, as this could lead to positive work-home interaction (WHI), and work engagement. The general objective of this research study was to test a structural model of job resources, an organisational strength-based approach (SBA), individual strength-oriented behaviour (SOB), and work engagement, and to investigate if positive WHI mediates between job resources, organisational SBA, individual SOB, and work engagement among South African employees. This study was conducted in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the outcomes of following a SBA, both from an organisational and the employees’ standpoint within the South African context. A cross-sectional research approach was used. An availability sample (N = 699) of employees from various occupational groups in South Africa was used. Structural equation modelling was used to test the structural model and to determine the indirect effect of positive WHI. The results confirmed that there exists a significant relationship between the job resources that are provided by the organisation and the employees experiencing increased work engagement levels. Furthermore, the results indicated that there is a significant relationship between following an organisational SBA and more employee work engagement. The results showed that there is also a significant relationship between the employees’ applying individual SOB and work engagement. The results confirmed that there is a significant relationship between the job resources that are provided by the organisation and positive WHI. However, the results showed that there was not a significant relationship between following an organisational SBA and positive WHI. Furthermore, the results indicated that there exists a significant relationship between the employees’ applying individual SOB and positive WHI. The results indicated that positive WHI was only a mediator in the relationship between information and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,11 (p < 0,00; 95% CI [0,07, 0,14]), and in the relationship between colleague relationships and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,04 (p < 0,01; 95% CI [0,01, 0,07]). The results also confirmed that positive WHI was a mediator in the relationship between individual SOB and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,05 (p < 0,00; 95% CI [0,02, 0,08]). The knowledge gained from following a SBA will assist individuals in becoming aware of their talents, and of developing them into strengths. This study will also assist organisations in gaining a better understanding of an organisational SBA, and this variable’s relationship with positive WHI and work engagement. This study adds value to the field of positive psychology; more specifically, to the limited research on following a SBA, and possible outcomes within the South African context. Recommendations were made to be applied in practice, as well as for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

It is important for organisations to develop their employees. However, organisations will not be able to keep a competitive advantage by merely focussing on the development of their employees’ weaknesses. Employees should also be provided with sufficient job resources and opportunities to develop and/or use their strengths, as this could lead to positive work-home interaction (WHI), and work engagement. The general objective of this research study was to test a structural model of job resources, an organisational strength-based approach (SBA), individual strength-oriented behaviour (SOB), and work engagement, and to investigate if positive WHI mediates between job resources, organisational SBA, individual SOB, and work engagement among South African employees. This study was conducted in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the outcomes of following a SBA, both from an organisational and the employees’ standpoint within the South African context. A cross-sectional research approach was used. An availability sample (N = 699) of employees from various occupational groups in South Africa was used. Structural equation modelling was used to test the structural model and to determine the indirect effect of positive WHI. The results confirmed that there exists a significant relationship between the job resources that are provided by the organisation and the employees experiencing increased work engagement levels. Furthermore, the results indicated that there is a significant relationship between following an organisational SBA and more employee work engagement. The results showed that there is also a significant relationship between the employees’ applying individual SOB and work engagement. The results confirmed that there is a significant relationship between the job resources that are provided by the organisation and positive WHI. However, the results showed that there was not a significant relationship between following an organisational SBA and positive WHI. Furthermore, the results indicated that there exists a significant relationship between the employees’ applying individual SOB and positive WHI. The results indicated that positive WHI was only a mediator in the relationship between information and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,11 (p < 0,00; 95% CI [0,07, 0,14]), and in the relationship between colleague relationships and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,04 (p < 0,01; 95% CI [0,01, 0,07]). The results also confirmed that positive WHI was a mediator in the relationship between individual SOB and work engagement, with an indirect effect of 0,05 (p < 0,00; 95% CI [0,02, 0,08]). The knowledge gained from following a SBA will assist individuals in becoming aware of their talents, and of developing them into strengths. This study will also assist organisations in gaining a better understanding of an organisational SBA, and this variable’s relationship with positive WHI and work engagement. This study adds value to the field of positive psychology; more specifically, to the limited research on following a SBA, and possible outcomes within the South African context. Recommendations were made to be applied in practice, as well as for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013