Theoretically grounded and empirically testable conceptualizations that offer alternative explanations regarding sales force performance and turnover can: (a) enhance understanding regarding these pivotal outcomes, and (b) augment an organization's capability to increase sales and decrease turnover. The study advances one such explanation by conceptualizing and testing a perceptual model that links a salesperson's psychological climate dimensions to organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The framework the study proposes respecifies the leadership and work group dimensions of psychological climate into four distinct perceptions (i.e., a salesperson's perceptions regarding the behaviors of work group, sales manager, senior management, and non sales employees in the organization). These climate dimensions are posited to influence positively a salesperson's organizational commitment which consequently influences positively the salesperson's effort and intention to stay with the organization. The proposed outcomes of organizational commitment result in increased performance and decreased turnover. Success beliefs and perceived behavioral control are posited to moderate the relationship between the salesperson's organizational commitment and effort. The study tests the hypothesized relationships on a sample of salespersons belonging to a telecommunications organization utilizing path and hierarchical regression analyses.

This study examines the effects of corporate ethics on corporate financial performance by focusing on internal stakeholders. I hypothesize that corporate ethics positively affects corporate financial performance when focusing on internal stakeholders. In order to test four hypotheses, data from 5719 companies in varying countries and industries is retrieved from the Asset4 and Worldscope database. Contrary to our expectations, the results show that corporate ethics does not affect financial performance when focusing on internal stakeholders. These findings are combined with the results of previous studies in order to formulate practical implications. Furthermore, based on our results and prior literature we identify desirable improvements in the theoretical framework, variable measurement and sample selection.

A merger can be considered both a phenomenological and significant life event for an organisation and its employees, and how people cope with and respond to a merger has a direct impact on the institutional performance in the short to medium term. It is within this context that post-merger perceptions of a tertiary institution were gauged. Restructuring in any organisation is characterised by uncertainty, high levels of anxiety, low levels of morale, and tardy job performance, as well as high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover, all of which potentially impact on productivity and performance. Notably, the global phenomenon of transformation of higher education, taking place in most countries in the world, is an undeniable fact. The abolition of apartheid and the post-1994 aftermath period have seen South Africa undergoing tremendous transformation in its political, economic, social and technological environments. As part of the social environment, education, too, will be subjected to the restructuring and transition resulting in the new characterisation of the country and its people. Mergers are taking place between teacher-training colleges and technical colleges, as well as between universities and technikons. In South Africa to date, mergers have been limited mainly to the federal absorption of smaller, specialist institutions into universities; however larger and more unitary mergers have been advocated. Few notable studies have investigated the commitment perceptions of the employees (and the associated selected work constructs of job satisfaction and turnover intentions) who feel the full impact of these restructurings in a South African context. This subsequently results in a dearth of knowledge on the context of South African mergers and acquisitions of tertiary institutions. Human capital element in the form of teacher / facilitator / lecturer in educational institutions (knowledge intensive organisations) is much more important than in other organisations. In light of the recent restructuring of the institution in question, no attempt has yet been made to gauge the levels of organisational commitment amongst its employees. It is within this context that the research problem emerges: What are the employee perceptions of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and turnover intentions in a post-merger tertiary institution, and how are these variables related? Job satisfaction was determined as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences. A global approach was adopted, whereby job satisfaction is explained as a single, overall feeling toward ones job. Organisational commitment was defined as a cognitive predisposition towards a particular focus, insofar as this focus has the potential to satisfy needs, realise values, and achieve goals, and was subsequently addressed through a motivational approach. The state of commitment is not only separated from its antecedent and consequential conditions and behaviours, but also from its related affective and conative components that are also present in other widely used constructs, such as job satisfaction and turnover intentions respectively. Turnover intentions, approached as being mental decisions intervening between an individuals attitudes regarding a job and the stay or leave decision, were addressed as a planned behaviour. This is a result from the argument that behavioural intention is a good predictor of actual behaviour, in this case actual turnover. Turnover behaviour is a multistage process that includes attitudinal, decisional, and behavioural components. Furthermore the turnover process is initially stimulated by the thought of quitting, which ultimately will result in the actual process of either staying or leaving. The instance of a merger or acquisition normally results in, amongst others, lack of commitment, job dissatisfaction, increased labour turnover and absenteeism rates (even at managerial level), lowered work goals, uncertainty, and employee theft or acts of sabotage. The relationships established between the three selected work constructs, primarily in terms of mergers and acquisitions, suggest that a positive relationship exists between job satisfaction and organisational commitment, whilst also yielding a negative relationship with turnover intentions. The research approach could be described as a non-experimental and crosssectional field survey, the data as primary data, and data analysis as ex post facto and correlational. The non-probability (convenience) sample consisted of 367 employees of a South African tertiary instituition. The completion of the electronic questionnaires was personally administered and anonymously handled. Job satisfaction was assessed by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ20). The MSQ20 measures 20 different job-related items and can be subcategorised into extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction. The end factor analystic result revealed the need to remove three items. Commitment was addressed through the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire which consisted of 18 items, measuring different foci of commitment, namely work, career, occupational and organisational. Diagnostic analyses indicated the need to remove three items. Turnover intentions were measured by an unpublished 15 item questionnaire. The diagnostic analyses warranted the removel of two items. The analyses followed a two phase procedure. The intial phase included all diagnostic testing of the measuring instruments in order to determine the reliabilty and validty of the measuring instruments for subsequent testing purposes of the study. The tests utilised were basic descriptives, factor (first and second order) and reliability analyses and normality testing. The latter phase described the inferential section of the sample, whereby statistics are used either to infer the truth or falsify hypotheses / research objectives. The tests carried out consisted of t-tests and ANOVA, correlations, structural equation modelling, twoway ANOVA and lastly a stepwise linear regression. Fifteen predefined models were investigated whereupon the most parsimonious model was selected. In applying the stepwise linear regression for the prediction of turnover intentions, the model was determined by entering all the variables simultaneously into the regression equation. The variables determined for the inclusion on the regression were based on the results from the inferenital testing phase. The final result yielded a prediction of 47% of the variance in turnover intentions. The final (most parsimonious) model determined for turnover intentions indicated as being significantly predicted by: job satisfaction, tenure, and a combination of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Contrary to popular belief, commitment does not correlate more strongly than satisfaction does with turnover intentions. This indicates that withdrawal entails a rejection of the job rather than of the organisation. Turnover intentions of tertiary employees can be actively managed through the manipulation of the contextual variables of organisational commitment and job satisfaction. The resulting predictive model can be regarded as an important tool for management and the Human Resource Department in effectively planning talent retention strategies focusing on its controllable dimensions. Since this model was developed based on internal components, possible strategies can be derived from this model to prevent turnover intentions. / Professor Gert Roodt

This dissertation investigates how political instability is related to the probability of civil war. According to the literature in comparative politics, regime breakdown is caused by critical events such as economic decline, defeat in interstate war, death of a leader in office, or changes is the international balance of power. Drawing on Powell (2004, 2006), I conceptualize such critical events as shifts in the domestic distribution of power that can lead to a bargaining breakdown and, in consequence, military conflict. Following a shock to government capabilities, current leaders and the opposition are bargaining for a share of authority. The government has incentives to grant concessions to other groups within the state, yet such promises are not credible given that the leadership may regain its strength. Similarly, opposition groups lack the ability to make credible commitments as they expect to be more powerful in the future. Both the government and opposition groups could benefit from striking bargains, but cannot credibly commit because of incentives to renege on agreements in the future. Unable to commit, both actors may use force to achieve their preferred outcome. The dissertation then shifts the focus to solutions to such commitment problems. I expect that (1) the institutional structure of government and opposition groups and (2) the distance between groups have important consequences on the range of feasible agreements during this bargaining process. The arguments are tested in a statistical study of all countries for the 1960-2004 time period and in a small-sample analysis of democratization processes in Algeria and Chile. Findings show that critical events increase the probability of civil war as hypothesized and empirical evidence also provides strong support for the proposed solutions to the commitment problem.

Testosterone levels change in response to a variety of social situations including, sexual and challenge situations. Yet, little is known about the role of testosterone dynamics in in young adults in romantic relationships. Furthermore, the effect of compatibility of the relationship dyad on testosterone reactivity in response to social-challenge is unknown. Prior studies suggest that attachment levels may predict testosterone responsivity during stressors such as social challenge. What is missing from the literature is whether testosterone response to social-challenge is specifically modified within the confines of an attachment relationship, such as within romantic couples. I measured salivary testosterone in healthy romantically involved young adult couples in response to a examined romantic couples during a standardized laboratory stressor in the SPIT lab. Testosterone was measured repeatedly from saliva in both members of each dyad and assayed using an enzymeimmunoassay. Participants completed questionnaires measuring perceived relationship commitment, support, satisfaction, and passion. This was collectively described as relationship compatibility. I revealed that participants in romantic relationships showed significant testosterone response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Testosterone levels of the participant were moderated by testosterone levels of the supporter during the socialchallenge, such that the supporter’s response was coupled with their partner’s testosterone response to stress. When the couples reported high-compatibility, their testosterone profiles were more coupled than for couples reporting low-compatibility. Findings fit within the challenge hypothesis and extend it in interesting ways. Testosterone may help an individual confront a challenge, and, more interestingly, testosterone may help a couple confront a challenge together.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviorally-based intervention that promotes values-driven behavior change. ACT teaches skills such as acceptance, present-moment awareness, commitment to values-based actions, and new ways to interact with stressful and anxiety provoking thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness is a popular component of present moment awareness that is often taught within an ACT model of intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine if mindfulness alone or ACT could influence the psychological flexibility and attention of children with autism and related disabilities aged 7-18. Ten participants received 4 weeks of either ACT or mindfulness training in a group therapy setting twice a week. A series of psychological flexibility and mindfulness questionnaires were administered to the participants along with computerized and physical attention tasks prior to and after completing the series of ACT and mindfulness activities sequence. The overall result of the study indicated that ACT may be a way to provide more wholistic services to children and adolescents with autism compared to mindfulness only, but that both interventions have value within this serviced population.

Faculty of humanities/Arts School of Human and Community Development 0318144e khoza-hr@rau.ac.za / It has been established that South African schools often experience vastly different matric success rates, even in schools from the same areas, with similar resources (Snyman, 1998). This study was conducted to compare teacher stress, professional commitment and school climate in schools with different matric success rates, in an attempt to uncover some of the reasons behind differing pass rates. The sample consisted of teachers from four high schools with different matric pass rates. The schools were selected from twelve high schools in the same rural area, same education district and circuit. The two high schools which performed very badly were matched with two high schools which produced a hundred percent pass rate in their recent matric results. A questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. The questionnaires consisted of the Job Stress Survey, Professional Commitment Scale, as well as the Organisational Climate Index. The research questions for the study were: (i) Do teachers from schools with different matric success rates perceive the same sources of stress? (ii) Are teachers in schools with different matric pass rates experiencing the same levels of stress? (iii) Is there any difference between teachers’ perceptions of school 6 climate in schools with different matric pass rates? (iv) Do teachers in schools with different matric success rates differ in terms of their levels of professional commitment? The results indicated similarities in terms of the levels and sources of stress among the teachers from the two school types, as no significant differences between the schools were found. However, the teachers in schools with excellent matric pass rates have higher levels of commitment, and perceive their schools more favourably than the teachers in schools with poor matric pass rates. Significant correlations were also found to exist between teachers’ professional commitment and organisational climate. These findings indicate that there is a need in South Africa to seek out ways of improving the climate of the schools as well as teachers’ professional commitment in order to produce quality education.

This thesis is an exploration of values-consistent behaviour from a contextual behavioural science perspective. The first chapter is a systematic review of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy in enhancing values-consistent behaviour. The results from this review were inconclusive, mainly due to a lack of psychometrically robust outcome measures, and inconsistent use of available measures. Recommendations were made to improve the utility of measures of values-consistent behaviour. The second chapter reports a cross-sectional survey of adolescents, aimed at testing the psychometric properties of values measures, and assessing the relationship between values-consistent behaviour and wellbeing. The measures used in this study were the Valued Living Questionnaire 2 (VLQ-2), Portrait Values Questionnaire – Second Revision, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth – Short Form, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Using the VLQ-2 in its current form, values-consistent behaviour was found to account for an additional 13% of variance in wellbeing, above the contributions of demographics, mindfulness and experiential avoidance. However, a recommendation was made for adaptions to be made to the VLQ-2 to make it more suitable for adolescents.

This thesis investigates the commitment bonds of individuals through the lens of liminality. While workers are able to commit to multiple targets and this has been linked to important performance outcomes, previous study of commitment in the workplace is almost exclusively concerned with organisational contexts and employer-employee dyads thus neglecting the increasingly fragmented and diverse world of work. Commitment is developed here by examining it in a liminal position, a term often applied to cross-boundary knowledge workers due to its ambiguous and uncertain nature but also the freedom of being 'betwixt and between' organisations, professions, and clients. Indicative of this liminal position are independent consultants, a growing army of self-employed freelance knowledge workers who use their tacit knowledge and high levels of human capital to solve complex problems for multiple business clients. Independent consultancy is a growing area and as self-employed independent contractors they are an increasingly important policy battleground. They are vital to our understanding of a changing world of work where existing theories and frameworks are becoming stretched, distorted and perhaps even irrelevant. Adopting a pragmatist research philosophy and making use of a reflexive metamethodology, 50 semi-structured interviews using critical incidents and participatory visual methods were conducted. Thematic analysis was used and a new method of visual metaphor analysis pioneered. The resulting findings focus on three areas. Firstly important targets of commitment are identified; clients, professional bodies, and collaborators. I argue that these act as substitutes for commitment to an organisation because they perform a similar role. Secondly, these bonds of commitment are underpinned by the inherent freedom of a liminal position. Although this freedom is evident in various ways, a more critical reading suggests that it is more complex and relational rather than total. Finally, this freedom from organisational ties and structures can cause conflicts of commitment based on knowledge, time, and contractual issues. Devoid of an organisational employer and many of the accompanying administrative and support mechanisms these conflicts are resolved at an individual level by turning the conflict into a synergy, preventing, avoiding, or in extreme cases changing the nature of the bond altogether. The primary contributions to knowledge are the development of substitutes for organisational commitment, the detailing of conflicts of commitment and their resolution, and the inherent freedom of a liminal position which underpins these. Furthermore, this thesis offers the first investigation using the Klein et al. (2012) reconceptualisation to investigate commitment outside of an organisational employment setting. This context and aspects of liminality are used to further problematise the extant literature and theory around the volition inherent in commitment and the isolation and measurement of targets. Understanding of liminality is advanced in terms of freedom, which is often assumed but rarely explored, and anti-structure by arguing that liminality is full of structure in the form of commitment bonds which act as important anchors and reference points to help minimise the ambiguity.

Background: The aim of this thesis was to provide a systematic examination of the potential of a Verbal Thought Disruption Technique (VTDT) in reducing ruminative and intrusive thoughts (RATs). Thought Suppression (TS) is a commonly used tactic to deal with RATs. In contrast, very little is known about VTDT as a specific cognitive defusion technique in particular, or as a cognitive behavioural technique in general. Methodology: A mixed methods case series design was used for this project. 10 individuals were involved over a 12-week period. An ABACAB design was utilised in which each individual received no intervention (A), a VTDT intervention (B) and a TS intervention (C) over the course of the study. Change was monitored quantitatively utilising the Meta-Cognitive Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Additionally the measures were also completed at a one-month follow-up alongside the completion of Client Change Interview Protocol. The quantitative data was analysed by calculating the effect sizes of the reported change and the qualitative data analysed by thematic analysis. Results: Use of VTDT appeared to have a positive impact on RATs five MCQ-30 sub-measures (Cognitive Confidence, Need for Control, Cognitive Self-Consciousness, Positive and Negative Beliefs). VTDT use showed a positive impact as measured by the TCQ in four areas Distraction, Punishment Re-appraisal and Worry. The GHQ showed positive effects for VTDT use in the areas of Anxiety and Insomnia, and Social Dysfunction. TS had a negative impact on all measures. VTDT decreased numbers of RATs and severity of Subjective Units of Distress (SUDs) and TS increasing them, indicating a beneficial effect for VTDT and a detrimental effect for TS. The size of this effect was greater on SUDs than on RATs. Qualitative analysis at follow up identified factors that supported the use of VTDT and of the lack of utility of TS protocols to deal with RATs. Moderating factors for the first technique were found in the lack of willingness of some participants to use it in the future. A new working model of RATs was proposed. Conclusions: Conclusions reached are that VTDT may be a useful addition to an already wide range of cognitive defusion techniques already used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and that it deserves further systematic research. TS, as previously found, appeared not to be a useful technique in dealing with RATs on most of the measures used.