The general aim of this study was to research the relationship between psychosocial functioning and emotional intelligence in a sample of 69 employees in different organisational settings in South Africa. Each respondent completed the Personal Multi-Screening Inventory (PMSI) and the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). The research findings indicated that there are significant relationships between subscales of the PMSI and subscales of the MSCEIT, in that the ability to manage emotions is associated with low levels of Helplessness, Stress and Frustration, and high levels of Expectation, Satisfaction and Achievement, whereas the ability to perceive emotions is associated with low levels of Satisfaction and Achievement. A relatively high level of the ability to perceive emotions is also associated with Helplessness. It is recommended that employee wellness interventions in the workplace be enhanced through emotional intelligence mediation of negative psychosocial functioning. The study is concluded with recommendations for further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The general aim of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between employee wellness (specifically sense of coherence, burnout, sources of job stress and work engagement) and career anchors, and to determine whether gender, race, employment and age groups differed in terms of the employee wellness and career anchors variables. The study was conducted among a random sample of 90 employees in a typical South African work context. The data was collected by means of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ), Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI), Sources of Job Stress, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Career Orientations Inventory (COI). Supporting evidence indicates significant associations between employee wellness and the career anchors variables. The results also showed significant differences between the career anchors of males, females, blacks, whites, permanent staff, contract staff and age groups. The findings contribute valuable new knowledge to the wellness and career literature and organisational practices related to employee wellness and career decision making. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of the research was to explore the challenges faced by both employer and employee when the later undergoes active cancer treatment from a systemic perspective. A qualitative research was conducted using a case study of six sessions with both employer and employee. The study revealed that the employer and employee defined their relationship and boundaries as a system. The research project made a great impact on the researchers’ map regarding cancer or any other symptom, the person with cancer and the employer. In the researcher’s old map, before the research project, cancer implied a very threatening disease which rendered both the employer and the employee helpless and powerless. Through the research project the researcher discovered the significance of not having preconceived ideas as according to this study both the employer and employee had the freedom to punctuate their challenges in relation to the latter undergoing active treatment. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

The context of this research is the coping and wellness of call centre agents in a characteristically high-stress work environment. The purpose of the study was to construct a psychological coping profile by investigating the relationship between individuals‘ wellness-related dispositional attributes and their resiliency-related behavioural capacities which has been under researched in a call centre work environment. A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach was followed. The population comprised predominantly of a non –probability sample of (N=409) predominantly early career permanently employed black females employed in call centres in Africa. Correlation and multivariate statistics highlighted cognitive (cynicism and hardy-control), affective (managing own emotions) and conative (hardy-commitment) behavioural elements that should be considered in the psychological coping profile of call centre agents. Age and gender were also shown to be significant moderators of the relationship between the wellness-related attributes and the resiliency-related capacities. The main findings are reported and interpreted in terms of an empirically derived psychological coping profile. The findings may provide valuable pointers for the design of wellness intervention practices which add to the body of knowledge concerned with employee wellness in call centres / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenology study was to explore and describe the meaning employees attribute to the lived experiences of returning to work after cancer treatment. Semi-structured interviews were held with eight participants and a thematic data analysis method was used. The results indicate that cancer survivors experience various challenges that make it difficult to function as they did before the diagnosis when they return to work. A critical hermeneutical reflection against the literature followed the structural analysis and resulted in a contextual framework that incorporated the individual and organisational perspective on the various influences involved in supporting cancer survivors to maintain their wellbeing when they return to work. Four phases, repression, comprehension, activation and reintegration, were identified when they tried to cope/adjust on their return to work. The corresponding forms of organisational support they expected through these phases were labelled motivation, information, navigation and stabilisation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com.

The purpose of the research was to explore the challenges faced by both employer and employee when the later undergoes active cancer treatment from a systemic perspective. A qualitative research was conducted using a case study of six sessions with both employer and employee. The study revealed that the employer and employee defined their relationship and boundaries as a system. The research project made a great impact on the researchers’ map regarding cancer or any other symptom, the person with cancer and the employer. In the researcher’s old map, before the research project, cancer implied a very threatening disease which rendered both the employer and the employee helpless and powerless. Through the research project the researcher discovered the significance of not having preconceived ideas as according to this study both the employer and employee had the freedom to punctuate their challenges in relation to the latter undergoing active treatment. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

The context of this research is the coping and wellness of call centre agents in a characteristically high-stress work environment. The purpose of the study was to construct a psychological coping profile by investigating the relationship between individuals‘ wellness-related dispositional attributes and their resiliency-related behavioural capacities which has been under researched in a call centre work environment. A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach was followed. The population comprised predominantly of a non –probability sample of (N=409) predominantly early career permanently employed black females employed in call centres in Africa. Correlation and multivariate statistics highlighted cognitive (cynicism and hardy-control), affective (managing own emotions) and conative (hardy-commitment) behavioural elements that should be considered in the psychological coping profile of call centre agents. Age and gender were also shown to be significant moderators of the relationship between the wellness-related attributes and the resiliency-related capacities. The main findings are reported and interpreted in terms of an empirically derived psychological coping profile. The findings may provide valuable pointers for the design of wellness intervention practices which add to the body of knowledge concerned with employee wellness in call centres / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-09-28T12:42:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sideli Biazzi.pdf: 3707349 bytes, checksum: 1e01ba062f78669d61f2fb21d52c1496 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-28T12:42:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sideli Biazzi.pdf: 3707349 bytes, checksum: 1e01ba062f78669d61f2fb21d52c1496 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-15 / This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of a stress reduction training, based on the promotion of strategies focused on problem solving. To achieve such objective, the research was divided into two stages, the first as a diagnostic selection procedure (with the participation of 278 teachers). From this total, 148 (53.23%) presented stress, most of them in the resistance phase (42.1%) with prevalence of psychological stress (68.92%). Women, a predominant portion of the studied population (84.9%), presented a higher level of stress when compared to men (p <0.0001). In the second phase, among the 148 teachers who presented stress, a draw was held with the purpose of forming three groups (30 teachers each group): Experimental Group (EG), Control Group (CG) and Placebo Group (GP), with evaluations pre- and post-intervention. The EG followed a stress reduction program by means of a problem-focused training; the PG received a pedagogical training offered by the Institution's Education Department (the pedagogical training and the stress reduction program were carried out for five days at the Training Center of Cotia, SP, as a 36-hour immersion course); the CG did not receive any intervention, maintaining their regular work activities. Participants were tested at three different moments: T0 (before intervention), T1 (30 days after EG treatment), and T2 (90 days after EG treatment), through the Lipp Adult Stress Symptom Inventory (ISSL), the Cope Breve Scale (for EG only), and the Visual Analogue Scale - VAS (for EG only, used at the beginning and at the end of each intervention day). The intervention results demonstrated that the EG teachers presented a statistically significant reduction in stress symptoms. In addition, it was found that the training was also effective in promoting the use of strategies focused on problem solving and in significantly reducing the use of strategies focused on emotion. Such changes remained after 90 days of training. The PG also achieved statistically significant results as to the presence or absence of stress – the T1 evaluation showed a reduction in stress level; however, after 90 days the EG teachers’ stress level was significantly lower than the PG’s. For the CG, no significant difference was detected when evaluating the proportion of individuals in the respective phases of stress, either as to the stress symptomatology or the presence or absence of stress over the 30 and 90 days. It can be noticed that the EG improvement was superior to those attained by PG and CG. The positive results achieved by EG indicate that, although teachers coexist with high levels of stress throughout their lives, if well oriented they can find effective ways of managing their stressors / Este trabalho teve por objetivo verificar a eficácia de um treinamento de redução do stress, baseado na promoção de estratégias focadas na solução de problemas. Para a consecução desse objetivo, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas, a primeira como um procedimento de seleção diagnóstica (com a participação de 278 professores). Deste total, 148 (53,23%) apresentaram stress, a maioria na fase de resistência (42,1%) com prevalência de stress psicológico (68,92%). As mulheres, parcela predominante da população estudada (84,9%), apresentaram maior stress que os homens (p<0,0001). Na segunda etapa, entre os 148 professores que apresentaram stress, houve um sorteio visando a formação de três grupos (com 30 professores cada grupo): Grupo Experimental (GE), Grupo Controle (GC) e Grupo Placebo (GP), com avaliações pré- e pós-intervenção. O GE seguiu um programa de redução do stress por meio de um treinamento focado na solução de problemas; o GP recebeu uma capacitação pedagógica oferecida pelo Departamento de Educação da Instituição (a capacitação pedagógica e o programa de redução do stress foram realizados durante cinco dias no Centro de Treinamento de Cotia, SP, em caráter de imersão, com carga horária de 36 horas); e o GC não recebeu intervenção alguma, permanecendo em suas atividades laborais. Os participantes foram testados em três momentos: T0 (antes da intervenção), T1 (30 dias após o tratamento do GE) e T2 (90 dias após o tratamento de GE), por meio do Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de Lipp (ISSL), da Escala Cope Breve (somente para GE), e da Escala Visual Analógica – EVA (somente para GE, utilizada no início e no final de cada dia de intervenção). Os resultados da intervenção demonstraram que os professores do GE apresentaram redução estatisticamente significativa nos sintomas do stress. Além disso, verificou-se que o treinamento também foi eficaz em promover o uso de estratégias focadas na solução de problemas e em diminuir significativamente o uso de estratégias focadas na emoção. Tais mudanças permaneceram após 90 dias de treinamento. O GP também atingiu resultados estatisticamente significativos quanto à presença ou ausência de stress – na avaliação em T1 houve redução no nível de stress; no entanto, após 90 dias o nível de stress dos professores do GE mostrouse significativamente menor que o do GP. Já para o GC não foi encontrada diferença significativa na avaliação da proporção de indivíduos nas respectivas fases do stress, seja quanto à sintomatologia do stress seja quanto à presença ou ausência do stress ao longo dos 30 e 90 dias. Nota-se que a melhora no GE foi superior às do GP e do GC. Os resultados positivos alcançados com o GE apontam que, embora professores convivam com altos níveis de stress ao longo da vida, se bem orientados eles podem encontrar meios eficazes de gerenciamento dos seus estressores

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of health promotion activities provided by Indiana public school corporations for their employees and the impact of corporation leadership on the provision of these activities. The subjects of this study were Indiana public school superintendents. All 291 superintendents were mailed the survey instrument created by the researcher for this study and there were 227 (78%) responses.The results showed that 54% of the responding Indiana school corporations provided some type of health promotion activity for employees on a corporation-wide basis. The primary reason school corporations provided health promotion activities for employees was to keep employees healthy. The major impediment in providing health promotion activities for employees was a lack of resources. School corporations in rural settings were less likely to provide health promotion activities for employees. School corporations were more likely to provide health promotion activities for employees as the number of full-time employees increased. This study also found a relationship between the importance a superintendent placed on providing health promotion activities for employees and the provision of those activities in a school corporation. As worksites, Indiana public school corporations have not met the national goals and objectives for worksites found in Healthy People 2010. / Department of Educational Leadership

Thesis (M.M.S.)--University of Waikato, 2007. / Title from PDF cover (viewed February 27, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-192)