The work environment in which South African employees have to function is highly demanding, offering them little in terms of job security, but simultaneously expecting them to give more in terms of inter alia flexibility, competency, and effort. Tracking and addressing chemical industry employees' functioning in areas that could affect their general health and consequent standard of service is essential. Job insecurity, work-based support, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and general health are specific focus areas in this research. It is important to use reliable and valid measuring instruments to measure these constructs. It appears that job insecurity results in reduced organisational commitment as well as reduced job satisfaction. In the long run all this may have a negative impact on the psychological well-being of employees. Therefore, the right kind of support h m the right kind of people can be of significant value in reducing occupational stress, improving health, and buffering the impact of stress on health. A lack of South African research exists regarding job insecurity, work-based support, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and general health - hence the importance of this research. The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, work-based support, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and general health of Human Resources Professionals (N = 114) in a chemical industry. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data. It was found that affective and cognitive job insecurity demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation with emotional social support (supervisor and other), but practically and statistically negative correlation with intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. With regard to affective and cognitive job insecurity and general health, a statistically significant positive correlation was obtained for somatic symptoms, social dysfunction and severe depression, and a practically and statistically significant correlation with anxiety and insomnia. Affective commitment demonstrated a statistically significant negative relationship with cognitive job insecurity. The regression analysis indicated that job insecurity has some predictive value with regard to the intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction and general health subscales, namely somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. With regard to the two components of job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic, job insecurity predicted 14% and 5% respectively of the variance. No predictions were found between affective commitment and job insecurity. With regard to general health, job insecurity predicted 5% (somatic symptoms), 11% (anxiety and insomnia), 1 % (social dysfunction) and 8% (severe depression). Conclusions were made, limitations of the cumin research were discussed and recommendations for future research were put forward. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

The work environment in which South African employees have to function in is highly demanding, offering them little in terms of job security, but simultaneously expecting them to give more in terms of inter alia flexibility, competency, and effort. Tracking and addressing government employees' functioning in areas that could affect their wellness and consequent standard of service is essential. Job insecurity, affectivity, burnout and work engagement are specific focus areas in this research. It is important to use reliable and valid measuring instruments to measure these constructs. It appears that job insecurity may affect employees' levels of burnout and work engagement and that affectivity may also influence the stress outcome relationship. A lack of South African research exists regarding job insecurity and wellness of employees, hence the importance of this research. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, affectivity, burnout, and work engagement of employees (N = 297) in a government organisation. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Constructs were measured by means of the Job Insecurity Inventory (JII), the Affectometer 2 (AFM 2), the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The research method for each of the three articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. Exploratory factor analyses, as well as Cronbach's alphas were computed to assess the reliability and validity of the OLBI, UWES and AFM 2. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the construct validity of the JII, while alpha coefficients were computed to assess the internal consistency of its scales. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data and Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, as well as regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between the constructs employed in this research. Structural equation modeling results confirmed the two-factor structure of the JII, consisting of an affective and cognitive dimension, although a one-factor model also resulted in a good, but not superior fit. Exploratory factor analyses of the OLBI resulted in a two-factor model of burnout, consisting of exhaustion disengagement and engagement subscale and the UWES resulted in a one-factor model of engagement. Exploratory factor analyses of the AFM 2 resulted in a two-factor model, consisting of a negative and positive affect scale. All scales used in this research demonstrated adequate internal consistencies. It was found that white participants experience higher levels of cognitive job insecurity and lower levels of engagement (OLBI) compared to black participants. Shorter tenure was associated with increased engagement (OLBI). It was furthermore found that participants who had been working in the organisation for less than one year and those who worked for two to five years demonstrated higher levels of positive affect compared to employees who had been working in the organisation for 11 years and longer. Regarding negative affect, it was established that participants with tenure less than one year presented lower negative affect levels compared to participants who had been employed in the organisation for longer. Job insecurity and burnout were found to be statistically significantly correlated. Cognitive and affective job insecurity demonstrated a practically significant relationship with work engagement. Positive and negative affectivity showed a practically significant correlation with both the affective and cognitive job insecurity scales and work engagement. Positive affectivity partially mediated the relationship between cognitive job insecurity and exhaustion disengagement. Furthermore, both positive and negative affectivity partially mediated the relationship between cognitive job insecurity and work engagement. Conclusions are made, limitations of the current research are discussed and recommendations for future research are put forward. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

A new era dawned for the higher education system in South Africa, after approval was announced by Cabinet regarding the final proposals for the restructuring of the higher education institutional landscape in December 2002, which required merging to take place between various higher educational institutions. Mergers are intrinsically stressful for employees due to the potential for change and loss, as well as the perceived decline in the organisation and a highly competitive labour market. A stable and productive higher education system is of fundamental importance to any country to ensure continuous development at economic, social and political level, hence the importance of this research. The objectives of this study were to establish the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement of personnel (N = 83) after an incorporation of two tertiary educational institutions, and to determine whether job insecurity can be used to predict job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout, and work engagement. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population included both academic and non-academic staff members of the two institutions. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to a reduction in intrinsic job satisfaction. No statistically significant relationship was found between job insecurity and extrinsic job satisfaction, between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and the exhaustion component of burnout. Job insecurity was found to be practically significantly related to increased levels of cynicism and decreased levels of work engagement. Regression analyses, controlling for the influence of demographic variables, indicated that job insecurity held predictive value with regard to intrinsic job satisfaction (lo%), cynicism (7%), vigour (l8%), dedication (7%) and absorption (10%). / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

During the last decade, dramatic changes have been experienced in workplaces because of technological growth, globalisation, ever increasing competitive markets, changing industrial relation laws and better management skills (Cappelli, 1999). Amidst this change, the biggest issue is for organisations to gain dedication from their employees. Maslach et al (2001) explains that the impact of the changing world of work is perhaps most evident in changes in the psychological contract. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of lifetime employment and job security. In security companies, the employer obligations and employee obligations also went through a process of change. Crime has become a very serious concern in South Africa. In Gauteng, crime has increased with 69,2% (SAP Statistics, 2005) from 1994 to 2004. Because of crime, many independent security companies were formed to help prevent crime, working together with the South African Police Force. A lack of research exists regarding employees' work outcomes like job insecurity, organisational commitment and intention to quit associated with the psychological contract within a service company. The objectives of this study are to investigate the relationship between employer obligations, employee obligations, job insecurity, organisational commitment and intention to quit of employees (N=217) in a service (security) company. A cross - sectional design was used. Constructs were measured by means of an employer obligations questionnaire, employee obligations questionnaire, job insecurity questionnaire, organisational commitment questionnaire and intention to quit questionnaire. The research method for each of the two articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. Exploratory factor analysis, as well as Cronbach alpha coefficients are computed to access the reliability and validity of the different measurement instruments. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse data and Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, as well as regression analysis were used to examine the relationship between the constructs employed in this research. Significant differences are found between various biographical groups and the scores of the psychological contract (employer obligations scale and employee obligations scale), the job insecurity scale, the organisational commitment scale and the intention to quit scale. Conclusions are made, limitations of the current research are discussed and recommendations for future research are put forward. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Current day organisations must revert to many measures to survive in the very competing business environment. One of these measures is to reduce the number of employees. This leads to perceptions of job insecurity, not only in the employees who are not made redundant but also in employees in so-called stable organisations who are aware of these measures being implemented in other organisations. Researchers found conflicting results of job insecurity regarding performance of employees experiencing job insecurity. On the one hand it was reported that job insecurity leads to higher job performance and on the other that it leads to lower job performance. To reconcile these conflicting findings Jordan, Ashkanasy and Hartel (2002) developed a model. In their two stage model in which they postulate that perceptions of job insecurity could lead to lower affective organisational commitment and higher job-related stress and this in turn could lead to negative coping behaviour (stage one). They then include emotional intelligence (EI) as moderator of all the links between the above mentioned constructs (stage two). They are of the opinion that employees with high EI will experience higher affective organisational commitment and lower job-related stress than employees with low EI when perceptions of job insecurity are experienced. They also postulate that employees with high EI will be less inclined to revert to negative coping behaviour. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether this model would be applicable to employees of private health care organisations in Gauteng. In the first article a literature review was conducted to determine how job insecurity, affective organisational commitment, job-related stress and coping were conceptualised as well as the relationships between these constructs. This was done to investigate the first stage of the model of Jordan et al. (2002). In the second article a literature review was conducted to determine how job insecurity, affective organisational commitment, job-related stress, coping and EI were conceptualised. The relationships between these constructs and the role of EI as moderator of these relationships were also determined. This was done to investigate the second stage of the model of Jordan et al. (2002). A non-experimental correlation research design was used. Employees of private health care organisations were the participants. The Job Insecurity Inventory, the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, the Experience of Work Life and Circumstances Questionnaire, the Cope Questionnaire and the Emotional Intelligence Scale were used, as well as a biographical questionnaire. The SPPS program and partly STATISTIKA were used to perform the statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Cronbach alpha coefficients and factor analyses were used to assess the reliability and validity of the measuring instruments. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to specify the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the moderating influence of emotional intelligence. It was determined that, in this specific research group, job insecurity has a negative correlation with affective organisational commitment. Job insecurity has a positive correlation with job-related stress levels. A positive correlation was found between job-related stress levels and certain negative coping behaviours, such as denial, behavioural disengagement and mental disengagement. A negative correlation was found between affective organisational commitment and negative coping behaviour, specifically the use of drugs or alcohol. All of these correlations were statistically and practically significant. It was found that job insecurity as independent variable explains 12.1% of the total variance in affective organisational commitment. It was also found that job insecurity as independent variable explains 21.1 % of the total variance in the job -related stress levels. These findings indicated that the first stage of the model of Jordan et al. (2002) could be supported. Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the moderating effect of EI as discussed above. The results indicated that EI had only a slight but significant moderating effect on the job insecurity -affective organisational commitment relationship and no effect on the job insecurity - job-related stress relationship. The results also indicate that EI moderates the strength of the relationship between affective organisational commitment and coping behaviour to such an extent that affective organisational commitment's predictive value is reduced to closely insignificant whilst EI emerges as the primary predictor of coping behaviour (both positive and negative). This may imply that emotionally intelligent employees will tend to use more problem-focused coping behaviour irrespective of the affective organisational commitment that they experience. Although to a lesser extent in this study, it was found that emotionally intelligent employees also make use of emotion-focused coping behaviour appropriate for managing affective states associated with experienced stress. Concerning avoidant coping strategies EI significantly negatively moderates alcohol-drug disengagement as a coping strategy, meaning employees with high EI will tend not to revert to the use of drugs or alcohol as coping strategy. It was concluded that EI does not buffer employees against the emotional consequences of job insecurity in this research group, as proposed by the model of Jordan et al. (2002), but rather enables them to cope with these emotional effects using problem-focused- and emotion- focused coping strategies, but not avoidant strategies. The latter finding is in line with the proposed model of Jordan et al.(2002). Conclusions, the limitations of this research and recommendations for private health care organisations and for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Understanding the employment relationship in the chemical industry in South Africa and organisational change within it is crucial to the understanding of the changing employment and psychological contract within this industry. This study focused on the employment- and psychological contracts, as well as employees ' work-outcomes (organisational commitment, job insecurity, job performance and intention to quit). Employees from the chemical industry were targeted and a cross-sectional survey design was used to obtain the research objectives. Descriptive statistics, factor analyses, Cronbach alpha coefficients, correlations, multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. In Article 1 the objectives were to investigate the reliability and validity of the measuring instruments, and to study the relationships between employment- and psychological contracts and other employment relation outcomes. The Psychological Contract Questionnaire (PCQ) and demographical questionnaire were administered. Three internally consistent factors, namely Employer Obligations, Employee Obligations and Status of the Psychological Contract were extracted. Statistically significant differences were found between employee obligations and state of psychological contract. Statistically significant relationships were also found between employee obligations and violation of psychological contract. In Article 2 the objective was to determine the relationship between employer obligations, employee obligations, and the state of psychological contract, violations of psychological contract and various demographical characteristics of employees in the chemical industry. The PSYCONES were administered. Practically significant relationships with a large effect were found between employer obligations, state of psychological contract and violation of psychological contract. Gender and age were statistically significantly related to experiences of the psychological contract. In Article 3 the aim was to assess the relationship between employer obligations, employee obligations, the state of the psychological contract, violations of the psychological contract, work-outcomes and the demographic of employees. The PSYCONES were used as measuring instruments. A practically significant relationship was found between the state of psychological contract, violation thereof (a large effect), job insecurity (a medium effect) and organisational commitment (a medium effect). Regression analyses showed that psychological contract violation predicted organisational commitment. A negative relationship was found between the violation of the psychological contract, as associated with the state of the psychological contract, and intention to quit. Theoretically, it was expected that job insecurity would have a negative impact on organisational commitment, but the results showed that a statistically and practically significant positive relationship exists between job insecurity and organisational commitment. Only the type of contract and qualifications of employees resulted in a statistically increase in the prediction of variance in job insecurity. Demographical characteristics (age, gender, tenure, supervision, qualifications, and type of contract) did not contribute to oganisational commitment. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

Education is recognised worldwide as one of the most stressful work environments. Contributing factors include poor remuneration, workload. poor administrative support. Poor relationships with colleagues and superiors. a lack of respect for the profession and few career advancement opportunities. The result is that a high number of educators experience negative physical and psychological symptoms. Evidence from research suggests that the level of burnout among educators is increasing. that educators are experiencing lower levels of job satisfaction. That there is an increase in the levels of absenteeism and alcohol abuse of educators. Retention problems arise as more educators are leaving the profession at an earlier stage. that the relationship between the educator and learner are becoming more destructive and that the quality of our education is consequently on the decrease. The objective of this research is to determine the relationship between job insecurity. Job satisfaction, social support and general health of educators in the Sedibeng West Municipal District as well as to establish whether social support has a moderating effect on the relation between job insecurity and job satisfaction. The research method consists of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. A random sample (n 312) was taken from educators in the Sedibeng West Municipal District. The Job Insecurity Questionnaire (J IQ) of De Witte. The Revised Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (JSQ) by Weiss ct al... the Social Support Scale of Caplan and Goldberg and Hillier"s General Health Questionnaire (GI IQ) were used as measuring instruments. The statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS-programme. The statistical methods utilised in the article consisted of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The results obtained for the four scales proved the measuring instruments to be reliable. The analysis of Pearson product-moment correlations in this study showed that Job Insecurity is negatively related to intrinsic, Extrinsic and Total Job Satisfaction as well as positively related to higher levels of Somatic, Anxiety and Insomnia, Social Dysfunctional and Depression related General Health, but all with a small effect. Intrinsic, Extrinsic and Total Job satisfaction however had a clear positive relation to Social Support received from a Supervisor and Extrinsic Job Satisfaction also correlated positively with Social Support received from Colleagues. The four General Health scales in turn had only small negative relations with Total Job Satisfaction. A regression analysis with Job Satisfaction as dependent variable le indicated that none of the Social Support constructs had a moderating influence on the negative effect that Job insecurity has on a person's experience of their job. Recommendations are made for the educators' profession and for future research purposes. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

With South Africa currently experiencing a skills shortage, companies need to take job insecurity, job satisfaction and social support into consideration as part of their retention strategy. There is also tremendous pressure being placed on organisations to improve their performance and to become increasingly competitive, which has resulted in job insecurity becoming a reality in South Africa. A petro-chemical company in South Africa was studied to determine the possible relationships between job insecurity, job satisfaction, social support, tenure, intention to leave and qualifications. The participants (N=l 84) included process controllers, senior process controllers, group leaders/foremen, section leaders and area leaders of various business units of the petro-chemical company. A quantitative study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey design. Self-administered questionnaires were used which included the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), The Turnover Scale, Social Support and the Job Satisfaction Scale. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOY A and structural equation modelling. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOVA and structural equation modelling. Results indicated there was no correlation between job insecurity and tenure, nor between qualifications and job insecurity. It was concluded that lower job satisfaction resulted in higher job insecurity and that higher job satisfaction resulted in lower levels of intentions to leave. There was a positive correlation between social support and job satisfaction. With these results and the model developed it would be possible for the company to adjust their retention strategy to achieve optimal results. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This study contends that the spaces where crime occurs in films are not neutral; they are layered with maps of meaning that we construct somewhere between the imagined and the lived. Given that popular cultural representations both shape and reflect our understandings of crime and space, a study examining where crime occurs in films was warranted but previously unrealized in the criminological literature. This study addresses this gap in the literature by considering how geographies of crime are characterized in a sample of ten recent popular crime films. Applying a qualitative content analysis approach, this study foregrounds the onscreen spaces where crimes occur in an attempt to expose and denaturalize the meanings around crime that are embedded in these backgrounds. Particular regard is given here to the twinning of crime and urbanity, the aesthetics of insecurity, and the gendering of geographies of crime.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.