Internationally, as well as locally, the trend is for companies to use call centres as their preferred method of service delivery. The increase in the use of call centres as a service delivery mechanism thus provides many more employment opportunities. Within call centres, service is primarily delivered by frontline employees referred to as customer service representatives (CSRs). While nothing seems to stop the growth of call centres and the increase of employment opportunities within them, working in call centres is not necessarily experienced as pleasant. Working in a call centre is frequently seen as stressful and the work in such a centre can foster burnout. Burnout is considered to be a pathogenic construct. The first purpose of this study was to describe and investigate the contribution of six central characteristics (antecedents) of call centre work environments and their influence on burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. These characteristics were work overload; electronic performance monitoring; lack of career and promotion opportunities, lack of skill variety and emotional labour. An incidental sample of customer service representatives (N=146) was obtained from the inbound service call centre of a large financial company. AU six independent variables were found to be significantly related to the experience of burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. Multiple regression analysis made it possible to establish that work overload, lack of career and promotion opportunities and skill variety, and emotional labour were the most important predictors of burnout, whereas lack of career and promotion opportunities was the most significant predictors of both affective commitment and turnover intentions. Burnout had a direct effect on turnover intentions and was not mediated by affective commitment. One antecedent that is often associated with the development of burnout is daily hassles, but daily hassles as an antecedent of burnout in call centres has not been studied before. The second purpose of this study was to develop a short Call Centre Daily Hassle Diagnostic Questionnaire that could be used to identify the most common daily hassles that call centre agents experience in their working lives, both within the work environment and within their day-to-day personal lives, and to determine the relationship between it and burnout. A cross-sectional survey research design was used with an accidental sample (N=394) taken from a service and sales call centre. An exploratory factor analysis of the data resulted in a six-factor model of daily hassles within call centres that significantly predicted exhaustion. The factors were daily demands, continuous change, co-worker hassles, demotivating work environment, transportation hassles and inner concerns. In the third part of this research thesis there is a shift away from the pathogenic paradigm towards a more salutogenic/fortigenic paradigm. Very little previous research has been done on adult resilience. The purpose of the third study was to explore the concept of adult resilience and to identify and describe the protective and vulnerability factors that play a role in adult resilience. Through the use of an exploratory factor analysis, eight factors were identified that played a role in adult resilience. They were Confidence and Optimism, Positive Reinterpretation, Facing Adversity, Support, Determination, Negative Rumination, Religion and Helplessness. Based on the findings of this research, some practical recommendations were made for the management of call centres to reduce the development of burnout and turnover intentions, on how to utilise the Hassle-based Diagnostic Scale and on how to apply the Adult Resilience Indicator in the training and development of resilience. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology) )--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Internationally, as well as locally, the trend is for companies to use call centres as their preferred method of service delivery. The increase in the use of call centres as a service delivery mechanism thus provides many more employment opportunities. Within call centres, service is primarily delivered by frontline employees referred to as customer service representatives (CSRs). While nothing seems to stop the growth of call centres and the increase of employment opportunities within them, working in call centres is not necessarily experienced as pleasant. Working in a call centre is frequently seen as stressful and the work in such a centre can foster burnout. Burnout is considered to be a pathogenic construct. The first purpose of this study was to describe and investigate the contribution of six central characteristics (antecedents) of call centre work environments and their influence on burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. These characteristics were work overload; electronic performance monitoring; lack of career and promotion opportunities, lack of skill variety and emotional labour. An incidental sample of customer service representatives (N=146) was obtained from the inbound service call centre of a large financial company. AU six independent variables were found to be significantly related to the experience of burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. Multiple regression analysis made it possible to establish that work overload, lack of career and promotion opportunities and skill variety, and emotional labour were the most important predictors of burnout, whereas lack of career and promotion opportunities was the most significant predictors of both affective commitment and turnover intentions. Burnout had a direct effect on turnover intentions and was not mediated by affective commitment. One antecedent that is often associated with the development of burnout is daily hassles, but daily hassles as an antecedent of burnout in call centres has not been studied before. The second purpose of this study was to develop a short Call Centre Daily Hassle Diagnostic Questionnaire that could be used to identify the most common daily hassles that call centre agents experience in their working lives, both within the work environment and within their day-to-day personal lives, and to determine the relationship between it and burnout. A cross-sectional survey research design was used with an accidental sample (N=394) taken from a service and sales call centre. An exploratory factor analysis of the data resulted in a six-factor model of daily hassles within call centres that significantly predicted exhaustion. The factors were daily demands, continuous change, co-worker hassles, demotivating work environment, transportation hassles and inner concerns. In the third part of this research thesis there is a shift away from the pathogenic paradigm towards a more salutogenic/fortigenic paradigm. Very little previous research has been done on adult resilience. The purpose of the third study was to explore the concept of adult resilience and to identify and describe the protective and vulnerability factors that play a role in adult resilience. Through the use of an exploratory factor analysis, eight factors were identified that played a role in adult resilience. They were Confidence and Optimism, Positive Reinterpretation, Facing Adversity, Support, Determination, Negative Rumination, Religion and Helplessness. Based on the findings of this research, some practical recommendations were made for the management of call centres to reduce the development of burnout and turnover intentions, on how to utilise the Hassle-based Diagnostic Scale and on how to apply the Adult Resilience Indicator in the training and development of resilience. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology) )--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

本研究主要在探討大學生的生活壓力、社會支持與生命意義各層面的相互關係，最後瞭解生活壓力、社會支持對生命意義的預測情形。本研究採問卷調查法的方式，以台灣北部地區576名大學生為研究對象，邀請大學生填寫「生命意義量表」、「大學生生活壓力量表」及「社會支持量表」三種量表。資料蒐集完畢後，以描述性統計、獨立樣本t考驗、皮爾森積差相關、逐步迴歸分析、階層迴歸分析進行資料分析。研究主要發現如下： 一、大學生普遍具有追尋生命意義的動機，但約有四分之一的學生對個人的生命意義主觀感受是欠缺的或不確定的。 二、不同性別大學生的生命意義感、意義追尋動機無顯著差異。 三、有宗教信仰的大學生其生命意義感較無宗教信仰者高，且信仰越虔誠則生命意義感越高。 四、大學生的生命意義感與意義追尋動機為正相關。 五、日常困擾、重大負向生活事件兩者的發生件數、影響程度，分別和生命意義感呈負相關。 六、社會支持、日常困擾影響程度與意義追尋動機為正向關係。 七、大學生的社會支持、日常困擾程度、重大負向生活事件發生件數、是否有宗教信仰，對生命意義感具顯著預測力。 八、大學生的社會支持、日常困擾程度、日常困擾發生件數，能夠顯著預測意義追尋動機。 九、有宗教信仰的大學生，信仰虔誠度對生命意義感預測力高於生活壓力。 十、大學生的社會支持並沒有產生調節生活壓力對生命意義之效果。 根據研究結果，建議可藉由協助大學生探索其生命意義、發展個人的靈性或宗教信仰、建立個人的社會網絡、學習因應日常困擾之能力、嘗試從苦難中找尋生命意義，以獲得較高的生命意義感。最後提出對未來相關研究的建議。 / The study examined the relative contributions of life stress and social support to the prediction of life meaning among Taiwan college students. This study employed three questionnaires to collect data, including Meaning in life Questionnaire, Life Stress Scale, and Social Support Scale. The participants of the study were 576 college students of northern Taiwan. The descriptive statistic, t-test, Pearson’s correlation analysis, stepwise multiple regression and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data. The main findings of this study were: 1. College students generally had the motivation of searching for meaning, but about 1/4 students had deficient or uncertain subjective experience to the presence of life meaning. 2. Male and female students had no significant differentiation in the presence and search for the meaning in life. 3. College students with religious beliefs had higher presence of meaning in life than those who didn’t have religious beliefs. Moreover the higher the dedication in religion a student had the higher meaning in life. 4. There was a positive correlation between the presence of meaning in life and the search for meaning in college students. 5. Daily hassles, number of major life events, and the degree of influence had negative relationship with the presence of life meaning. 6. Positive relationship between social support, degree of influence of daily hassles and the search for meaning in life were found. 7. College students’ social support, degree of influence of daily hassles, number of major life events, and religious beliefs could significantly predict the presence of meaning in life. 8. College students’ social support, degree of influence of daily hassles, and number of daily hassles could significantly predict the search for meaning in life. 9. The dedication level in religion had higher prediction than life stress on the presence of meaning in life among college students who had religious beliefs. 10. The college students' social support had no buffering effect between stress and the meaning of life. According to the findings, researcher suggested that college students could obtain higher levels of life meaning by exploring their meaning of life, developing spirituality or religious beliefs, learning the ability to cope with daily hassles, and finding meaning in sufferings. Finally, suggestions for further research were proposed.

Sport and dance injuries have increased despite improvements in coaching techniques and medical care. Other factors, including psychological ones, were therefore thought to play a role in injury vulnerability. Most of the attempts to explain how psychological variables can affect an athlete's predisposition to injury have been based on anxiety or stress concepts. In this survey type study an interactive approach to stress has been adopted with the goal of finding a relationship between stress and injury in a group of professional ballet dancers. No simple direct relationship was found. Multiple regression analysis was performed and a more complicated relationship between stress indicators and injury was found. When an attempt was made to investigate the significant interaction, no significant correlations were found. However, the correlations were found to be large and negative. This could indicate that if the sample size had been larger significant correlations may have been found. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Sport and dance injuries have increased despite improvements in coaching techniques and medical care. Other factors, including psychological ones, were therefore thought to play a role in injury vulnerability. Most of the attempts to explain how psychological variables can affect an athlete's predisposition to injury have been based on anxiety or stress concepts. In this survey type study an interactive approach to stress has been adopted with the goal of finding a relationship between stress and injury in a group of professional ballet dancers. No simple direct relationship was found. Multiple regression analysis was performed and a more complicated relationship between stress indicators and injury was found. When an attempt was made to investigate the significant interaction, no significant correlations were found. However, the correlations were found to be large and negative. This could indicate that if the sample size had been larger significant correlations may have been found. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)