Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Modern day leaders are faced with a complex globalised environment that has resulted in intense competition, ever-changing government rules and regulations, stakeholder demands, environmental policies and much more. In order to not only survive but thrive, they need to lead and motivate a diversified group of employees with different economic, cultural, and socio-political values. Today’s leaders need to develop effective managerial strategies, learn to inspire those both inside and outside of the organisation, and guide change. This study aimed to provide insight into change-oriented leadership and examine its effect on psychological capital (PsyCap) and psychological empowerment as antecedents of work engagement and change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour (changed-oriented OCB). For purposes of this study, a quantitative research design was employed using both paper and pencil and electronic questionnaires. Data was gathered by using a probability sample of employees within a manufacturing organisation in South Africa (N = 736). The measurement instruments were revalidated for the South African sample through both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). All the measuring instruments retained its original factor structures and reported acceptable reliabilities of change-oriented leadership (α= .908), PsyCap (α= .848), psychological empowerment (α= .860), work engagement (α= .883) and changed-oriented OCB (α= .897).

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom (IPS) / Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) has been documented as an important work outcome that correlates positively with positive job performance. Engagement in OCBs is not a random event, and it depends on a myriad of factors that include the organisation's ability to put in place measures to develop employees' emotional intelligence. Change-oriented leadership plays a pivotal role in fostering emotional intelligence and the engagement in OCBs as the 21st century organisation strives to adapt to changes in the external environment. The primary goal of the study was to conduct an investigation of the relationships between change-oriented leadership, emotional intelligence and OCB. The secondary aim of the study was to validate a theoretical model explaining the structural relationships between these variables in a South African University. A convenience sample consisting of 206 support staff at a selected university in the Western Cape Province was drawn. Generally, high levels of reliability were found in the sub-scales of the latent variables. In addition, the unidimensionality of the sub-scales was tested using exploratory factor analyses (EFA). The overall measurement and structural models were ascertained using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural modelling, respectively, using the LISREL 8.80 software. The Reasonable model fit was found for the overall measurement model of the specific latent variables through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Structural equation modelling (SEM) also showed reasonable model fit for the structural model.

Lindahl Waldenström, Simon (2016). Ledarskap, kreativitet och mental hälsa, Förändringsorienterat ledarskap och självskattad kreativitet ur ett arbetshälsovetenskapligt perspektiv. Projektkurs arbetshälsovetenskap, Högskolan i Gävle. Bakgrund: Den mentala ohälsan toppade listan för orsaker till sjukskrivningar i Sverige år 2015, samtidigt som den allt mer snabbföränderliga arbetsmarknaden ställer krav på kreativitet följt av innovation och i sin tur förändringsorienterat ledarskap inom organisationer. Typ av ledarskap är en viktig faktor gällande den mentala hälsan och möjlighet till kreativitet för medarbetare inom en organisatorisk kontext. Då kreativitet och förändringsorienterat ledarskap redan är vitt erkända faktorer för organisationers finansiella framgång hoppas studien kunna belysa dessas roll ur ett arbetshälsovetenskapligt perspektiv. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur förändringsinriktat ledarskap och kreativitet är associerat med mentala hälsan hos anställda. Metod: En tvärsnittsstudie utfördes. Alla deltagare(N=147) arbetade inom en organisation i Uppsala län, Sverige. För att mäta typ av ledarskap, mental hälsa och kreativitet användes tre väletablerade formulär; Cange-, produktion-, and employee-oriented leadership, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale och Epstein creativity competencies inventory. Två logistiska regressioner utfördes för att besvara syfte och frågeställningar. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet från genomförd studie indikerar förändringsorienterat ledarskap som en positiv faktor i motverkande av ångest hos medarbetare inom en organisatorisk kontext. Det indikerar emellertid att det inte är förändringsorienterat ledarskap i sig som är av störst vikt att beakta i analyser av personalens upplevda ångest utan snarare möjlighet till kreativitet. Resultatet påvisar således framförallt vikten av möjligheten till kreativitet ur ett arbeteshälsovetenskapligt perspektiv men även förändringsorenterat ledarskap då studien visar på ett samspel faktorerna emellan. / Lindahl Waldenström, Simon (2016). Leadership, creativity and mental health. Change oriented leadership and opportunity for creativity from an occupational health science perspective. Project work in Health at work 15 credits, University of Gävle. Background: Mental illness topped the list of factors causing sick leave in Sweden in 2015 and is together with the opportunity for creativity highly affected by the type of leadership an employee is exposed to. Since creativity and change-oriented leadership already are recognized factors affecting organizations’ financial success this study will highlight their role from an occupational health perspective. Objective: The purpose of the study is to examine how change-oriented leadership and creativity is associated with mental health of employees. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted within an organization (N=147) to identify type of leadership, mental health and creativity. Three well-established methods were used; Change-, production, and employee -oriented leadership, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Epstein Creativity Competencies Inventory. Results and Conclusion: The results indicated an association between change-oriented leadership and anxiety, where lack of change-oriented leadership increased risk of anxiety among employees. Furthermore, the results indicated that the opportunity for creativity play a crucial role in the association between change-oriented leadership and anxiety, thus indicating change -oriented leadership and creativity as important factors for mental health in organizational contexts.

Organizational environments continually change. Organizations that do not meet the demands for change do not survive. The required changes differ for banks versus universities, suggesting that leaders in each type of organization need to use unique styles to adapt to their unique environments. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to test a contingency theory of leadership that leaders of banks are change-oriented, whereas leaders of higher educational institutions are administrative in their style. The research questions dealt with differences in the uncertainty of internal operations and the external environment of banks versus universities, and the leadership style most appropriate for each type of organization. The research method was a cross-sectional, correlational, field study, with data collected by means of a tested, reliable, and valid standardized survey instrument. From the target population of 2,400 potential participants from three banks and three universities, 203 respondents completed an online survey. A series of t-tests confirmed most of the alternative hypotheses. Banks encountered a higher level of internal and external uncertainty and adopted more change-oriented leadership styles than universities. However, a hypothesis test failed to confirm the claim that administrative leadership style is more effective for universities. Findings of the study offer insights to university leaders about the importance of change-oriented leadership styles, which have the potential to engage staff more directly in the strategic changes required for organizational survival and success, thereby bringing about a higher level of individual, organizational, and social change.

BakgrundI drygt två år har världen levt och anpassat sig till Covid-19. Ett virus slog ut och skakade om hela det globala samhället på ett sätt som ingen kunde förutse. Myndigheter, regioner och kommuner har genomfört olika insatser sedan pandemin blev allt mer omfattande och folkhälsomyndigheten i Sverige bar det övergripande ansvaret för att skydda befolkningen från smittsamma sjukdomar på ett effektivt sätt (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2021). Inom sjukvården har Covid-19 medfört omställningar iresurser och nya förutsättningar har gjorts för att kunna anpassa sig. Samverkan och förnyelse har varit två ledande begrepp inom hälso- och sjukvården, för att bland annat kunna göra snabba förändringar i organiseringen och arbetssättet. (Skr, 2021). SyfteSyftet med studien är att skapa en tydligare förståelse om hur covid-19 har påverkat och förändrat ledarskapet inom sjukvården. Detta inkluderar hur ledarskapet såg ut innan pandemin samt hur det ser ut just nu. Studien syftar till att bidra med kunskap om hur sjukhusen hanterar en kris och att i förebyggande syfte kunna använda sig av arbetets resultat inför kommande kriser. Metod I studien har en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod i form av intervjuer använts. Syftet och frågeställningarna som studien grundar sig på kräver djupa och utförliga svar från respondenterna och med det förklaras valet av metoden. I jämförelse med kvantitativa undersökningsmetoder som fokuserar på statistiska siffror och förklaringar av det, så fokuserar kvalitativa undersökningsmetoder mer på den sociala verkligheten och dess förståelse (Bryman och Bell, 2017) Resultat/Slutsats En av sakerna som respondenterna hade gemensamt var förmågan att få med sig sina medarbetare i förändringen och engagera dem. Förändringen som skedde i samband med pandemin var ingen självvald förändring utan de var tvungna att anpassa sig och omstrukturera för att sjukhusen skulle kunna ta hand om covidpatienter.Den genomgående förändringen som alla respondenter uppgav under intervjun var den snabba omställningen. / BackgroundFor just over two years, the world has been living and adapting to Covid-19. A virus struck out and shook the entire global community in a way that no one could foresee. Authorities, regions and municipalities have implemented various measures since the pandemic became increasingly extensive and the Public Health Agency of Sweden bore the overall responsibility for protecting the population from infectious diseases in an effective way (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2021). In healthcare, Covid-19 has led to changes in resources and new conditions have been made to be able to adapt. Collaboration and renewal have been two leading concepts in health and medical care, in order to, among other things, be able to make rapid changes in organization and working methods. (Skr, 2021) Purpose The purpose of the study is to create a clearer understanding of how COVID-19 has affected and changed leadership in healthcare. This includes what leadership looked like before the pandemic as well as what it looks like right now. The study aims to contribute with knowledge about how hospitals handle a crisis and to be able to use the results of the work for future crises for preventive purposes. Method In the study, a qualitative survey method in the form of interviews has been used. The purpose and questions on which the study is based require deep and detailed answers from the respondents and this explains the choice of the method. In comparison with quantitative survey methods that focus on statistical figures and explanations of it, qualitative survey methods focus more on social reality and its understanding. (Bryman and Bell, 2017) Results/ Conclusion One of the things the respondents had in common was the ability to bring their employees into the change and engage them. The change that took place in the context of the pandemic was not a self-selected change, but they had to adapt and restructure in order for hospitals to be able to take care of covid patients. The consistent change that all respondents stated during the interview was the rapid change.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of conceptual change text oriented instruction accompanied by demonstrations in small groups (CCTI) on ninth grade students&rsquo / achievement and understanding levels of ecology, attitudes towards biology, and attitudes towards environment. The instruments used in this study were the Test of Ecological Concepts (TEC), the Attitude Scale towards Biology (ASB), the Attitude Scale towards Environment (ASE), and the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT). All data were collected from the public high school in Balikesir in the Spring Semester of 2001-2002. 88 students from four classes and two teachers were included in this study. Two of the classes were called control group and two of them were called experimental group. While the TEC, ASE and ASB were administered to all of the students as pre- and post-tests, the TOLT were conducted as pre-test. Data related to the TEC, ASB, and ASE were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results of the MANCOVA showed that there was significant effect of the treatment which was the conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied by demonstrations in small groups on the TEC, while there were no significant effect of the treatment on the attitudes towards biology and attitudes towards environment.

The main purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with cooperative group work and traditionally designed instruction for removing misconceptions related to acid-base concepts. In this study 33 tenth grade students from two classes from METU Development Foundation Private School in the spring semester of 2003-2004 participated. There were two groups in the study. Students in experimental group received conceptual change oriented instruction with cooperative group work, and students in control group received traditionally designed instruction over a period of six weeks. Acid-Base Concept Test was administered to both groups as pre- and post-test. Students were also received Science Process Skill Test to determine their science process skills as pre-test and Attitude Scale Toward Chemistry to measure their attitudes toward chemistry as pre- and post-test. The hypotheses were tested by t-test, ANCOVA, and ANOVA. The results showed that the students in experimental group had significantly higher scores with respect to achievement related to acid-base concepts than the students in control group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between attitude mean scores of students in experimental and control groups. Also, science process skill was a strong predictor for the achievement related to acid-base concepts. Alternatively, there was no significant difference between girls and boys in terms of understanding of acid-base concepts and attitudes toward chemistry. Alternatively, there was no significant interaction between gender and treatment on understanding of acid-base concepts and attitudes toward chemistry.

Thèse de doctorat présenté en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche intervention, option psychologie clinique (Ph.D) / Être parent est une tâche particulièrement complexe à l’adolescence puisque la nature de la relation entre le parent et l’adolescent est en renégociation. Malgré les défis posés par ces changements, certains parents demeurent capables d’offrir les ingrédients clés d’une parentalité de haute qualité qui s’articulent en quatre composantes : l’affiliation parentale, la structure, le soutien à l’autonomie et l’absence de comportements contrôlants. Malheureusement, les facteurs qui permettent aux parents d’éviter les comportements contrôlants, tout en demeurant impliqués, structurant et soutenant de l’autonomie, sont encore méconnus dans le domaine de la discipline. De surcroit, les comportements que les parents privilégient sont mal définis dans ce domaine, ce qui donne lieu à des recommandations contradictoires et limite en retour notre capacité à soutenir les parents. Ancrée dans le domaine de la discipline, la présente thèse a comme objectifs de (1) mieux comprendre un des déterminants potentiels des comportements parentaux clés, soit les buts parentaux (c.-à-d., les buts centrés sur l’obéissance, la réduction d’inconfort, l’enfant et la relation) et (2) contribuer à définir un comportement additionnel pouvant permettre d’offrir de la structure tout en soutenant l’autonomie des adolescents, soit la rétroaction orientée vers le changement soutenant les besoins psychologiques. Ce comportement pourrait avoir des retombées importantes en permettant d’intervenir plus efficacement lorsque les comportements des adolescents ne correspondent pas aux valeurs sociétales. Pour atteindre les objectifs de la thèse, l’étude 1 a d’abord examiné, auprès de 240 mères et 197adolescents (Mâge = 13,23 ans), les associations entre les buts et l’adoption de comportements maternels clés (c.-à-d., affiliation, structure, soutien à l’autonomie et absence de contrôle) dans le domaine de la discipline, en contrôlant pour le sentiment maternel d’autoefficacité. Les mères rapportaient leurs buts à l’aide d’un nouveau questionnaire, l’Inventaire d’orientation des buts parentaux, préalablement validé dans une étude pilote (N = 623) et leur sentiment d’autoefficacité, alors que les adolescents rapportaient leur perception des comportements de leur mère. L’étude 2 a ensuite examiné l’apport de la rétroaction orientée vers le changement soutenant les besoins psychologiques dans la prédiction de la santé psychologique (estime de soi, problèmes intériorisés et extériorisés) des adolescents à l’aide d’un devis prospectif. Un total de 197 adolescents ont rapporté la qualité de la rétroaction orientée vers le changement soutenant les besoins psychologiques offerte par leurs mères, sa quantité ainsi que la qualité et la quantité de la rétroaction orientée vers la promotion (c.-à-d., compliments). Ils ont ensuite évalué leur santé psychologique. Les résultats de l’étude 1 ont premièrement soutenu les qualités psychométriques de l’Inventaire d’orientation des buts parentaux. Deuxièmement, les statistiques descriptives ont indiqué que les mères tendent à endosser davantage les buts centrés sur la relation, suivi de près par les buts centrés sur l’enfant et, de façon moindre, les buts d’obéissance et de réduction d’inconfort. Troisièmement, une analyse acheminatoire a révélé qu’à des niveaux d’autoefficacité équivalents, plus les mères rapportent adopter des buts d’obéissance, moins elles ont recours, selon leurs adolescents, à des comportements soutenant l’autonomie. Les buts de réduction d’inconfort étaient, quant à eux, associés à une perception plus faible d’affiliation maternelle, indépendamment de l’autoefficacité maternelle. Contrairement à ce qui était attendu, les buts centrés sur l’enfant et sur la relation n’étaient pas liés aux comportements parentaux. Le sentiment maternel d’autoefficacité était positivement lié à tous les comportements parentaux sains. Ces résultats suggèrent que les buts parentaux peuvent présenter un risque pour la capacité des mères à adopter des comportements clés pour le développement des adolescents, et ce, au-delà du sentiment maternel d’autoefficacité. Les résultats de l’étude 2 ont été obtenus à l’aide d’analyses de régression hiérarchique. Ceux-ci ont indiqué que la qualité de la rétroaction orientée vers le changement soutenant les besoins psychologiques était positivement liée à la santé psychologique des adolescents (meilleure estime de soi ainsi que moins de problèmes intériorisés et extériorisés), indépendamment de la quantité des deux types de rétroaction, de la qualité de la rétroaction orientée vers la promotion et de covariables sociodémographiques. Ces résultats suggèrent un rôle potentiellement positif de la rétroaction orientée vers le changement soutenant les besoins psychologiques lors d’interactions mère-adolescent dans le domaine de la discipline. Ensemble, ces deux études permettent de mieux comprendre les facteurs pouvant entraver l’adoption de certains comportements parentaux dans le domaine de la discipline ainsi que la façon qu’il convient d’intervenir à la suite des transgressions des adolescents. Ces nouvelles connaissances revêtent une grande importance surtout considérant que les cognitions et les comportements parentaux mis de l’avant dans cette thèse sont malléables et peuvent alors être modifiés pour favoriser le développement des adolescents. La discussion générale souligne les implications théoriques et pratiques des résultats obtenus, de même que les limites et les forces méthodologiques de la thèse et les pistes pour les recherches ultérieures. / Being a parent is a particularly complex task during adolescence as the nature of the parent- adolescent relationship is being renegotiated. Despite the challenges posed by these developmental changes, some parents remain able to offer the four key ingredients of high-quality parenting, namely parental affiliation, structure, autonomy support, and the absence of controlling behaviors. Unfortunately, the factors that help parents to avoid controlling behaviors, while remaining involved, structuring and autonomy supportive, are still unclear in the discipline domain. Moreover, the behaviors that parents may use to provide structure, be affiliated, and support youth autonomy are poorly defined in this domain, which generates contradictory recommendations and, in turn, limits our ability to support parents. Rooted in the discipline domain, this thesis aims to (1) better understand one of the potential determinants of key parental behaviors, that is parental goals (i.e., obedience, discomfort reduction, child-centered, and relationship-centered goals), and (2) contribute to defining an additional behavior, need-supportive change-oriented feedback, which can make it possible to provide structure while supporting adolescent autonomy. This behavior could have important repercussions by making parental interventions more effective in promoting youth socialization when youth behaviors do not correspond to societal values. To achieve the first objective of this thesis, Study 1 examined, among 240 mothers and 197 adolescents (Mage = 13.23 years), the associations between goals and the adoption of key maternal behaviors (i.e., affiliation, structure, autonomy support, and the absence of controlling behaviors) in the discipline domain, accounting for maternal self-efficacy. Mothers reported their goals using a new questionnaire, the Parental Goal Orientation Inventory, initially validated in a pilot study (N = 623) and their sense of self-efficacy, while adolescents reported their perception of their mother’s behaviors. Next, Study 2 examined the value of need-supportive change-oriented feedback in predicting adolescent psychological health (self-esteem, internalized and externalized problems) using a prospective design. A total of 197 adolescents reported the quality of their mother’s change-oriented feedback, its quantity, and the quality and quantity of their promotion-oriented feedback (e.g., praise). Adolescents then assessed their psychological health. First, the results of Study 1 initially supported the psychometric qualities of the Parental Goal Orientation Inventory. Second, descriptive statistics indicated that mothers tended to endorse relationship-centered goals to a greater extent, followed closely by child-centered goals, and to a lesser extent, obedience and discomfort reduction goals. Third, path analyses revealed that at equivalent levels of self-efficacy, the more mothers reported adopting obedience goals, the less autonomy supportive they were, according to their adolescents. Discomfort reduction goals were associated with lower perceptions of maternal affiliation, independently of maternal self-efficacy. Contrary to expectation, child-centered and relationship-centered goals were not related to maternal behaviors while maternal self-efficacy was related to all key parenting behaviors. These results suggest that parental goals may pose a risk to mothers’ ability to adopt key parenting behaviors shown to be beneficial for adolescent development, beyond their sense of self-efficacy. Results for Study 2 were obtained using hierarchical regression analyses. These indicated that need-supportive change-oriented feedback was positively related to adolescent psychological health (higher self-esteem as well as fewer internalized and externalized problems), regardless of the amount of both types of feedback, the quality of promotion-oriented feedback, and sociodemographic covariates. These results suggest a potentially positive role of need-supportive change-oriented feedback in mother-adolescent disciplinary interactions. Together these two studies enhance our understanding of the factors that can hinder the adoption of positive parental behaviors in the discipline domain as well as how one may intervene effectively following youth transgressions. This new knowledge is of great importance, especially considering that the parenting cognitions and behaviors put forward in this thesis are malleable and can thus be modified to promote the development of adolescents. The general discussion highlights the theoretical and practical implications of the obtained results, along with the methodological strengths and limitations of the thesis and avenues for future research.

I arbetsgrupper som innehåller individer med olika beteenden kan det ibland vara svårt att veta hur ett ledarskap ska bedrivas för att det ska vara tydligt samtidigt som det är effektivt och gynnar verksamheten och dess medarbetare. Ett bra ledarskap ska generera ett medarbetarskap som gör att yrkesarbetarna känner sig delaktiga och därmed engagerar sig mer i arbetsplatsen och medarbetarna.   Rapporten fokuserar på tjänstemän och yrkesarbetare i produktion samt större projekt med en stabil etablering som pågår under en längre period inom arbetsområde bygg på Peab Sverige AB. Studien har genomförts på två orter i Region Södra Norrland, Sollefteå och Östersund där forskningsfrågan har varit att ta reda på hur ett ledarskap ska bedrivas för att främja högt medarbetarskap, god psykosocial arbetsmiljö och effektiv produktion.   Studien har grundat sig i två fallstudier som baseras på en kvalitativ metod i form av sex stycken intervjuer med ett slumpmässigt urval på respektive ort. Intervjuresultatet har sedan transkriberats och analyserats till en utskriven text som fokuserar på sambanden mellan arbetsplatsens ledarskap, medarbetarskap, trivsel samt effektivitet.    I resultatet framkom det att respondenterna önskar ett ledarskap som främjar goda relationer, hög trivsel och effektivitet genom att ledaren är lyhörd, inkluderande samt kan planera och strukturera arbetet på ett bra sätt. Dessa beteenden går att hänföra till de struktur- och relationsorienterade ledarskapsdimensionerna och utesluter därmed den förändringsorienterade dimensionen. I slutsatsen framgår vikten av att tillämpa samtliga av de tre dimensionerna struktur, relation och förändring för att uppnå ett högt medarbetarskap, god psykosocial arbetsmiljö och effektiv produktion. Utifrån slutsatsen har sedan en praktiskt användbar ledarskapsmodell tagits fram för tjänstemän i byggproduktion.    Förslag på fortsatta studier inom ämnet är att göra en bredare undersökning där studien fokuserar på såväl mindre som större byggföretag i hela Sverige för att därmed åstadkomma ett fullt generaliserbart resultat.