One of the most important social institutions in our society is that of the family and specifically the union of marriage. Marriage is one of God's central institutions as it depicts His relationship to his body of believers just as Christ is the groom and his body the bride. Full-time ministry couples experience certain pressures, which impact the health and union of the marriage in a variety of ways - yet these "pressures" are not always understood in society or by the church. This study undertakes to understand what the influence of full-time ministry has on the health of a marriage for couples who are engaged in full-time ministry. Through a qualitative empirical research based on the model of Zerfass, the researcher will gain understanding into the various aspects underlying the ministry environment that influences the health of a marriage. The researcher establishes that three main areas must be formulated for future ministry couples in order to function at an optimal level. These areas include the establishment of proper ministerial and marriage guidelines. It also includes that married couples should gain proper equilibrium and consciousness towards their ministry and marriage health. It is evident that the body of Christ doesn't fully grasp the influence of full-time ministry on the health of a marriage. An overall uncertainty exists of what constitutes a healthy marriage and therefore a lack of understanding on the various pressures exerted on full-time ministry is prevalent. Ultimately couples should realise that today's changing times and uncertain job roles necessitate flexibility to adapt to new environments while still holding on to a healthy marriage union / Thesis (M.A. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

One of the most important social institutions in our society is that of the family and specifically the union of marriage. Marriage is one of God's central institutions as it depicts His relationship to his body of believers just as Christ is the groom and his body the bride. Full-time ministry couples experience certain pressures, which impact the health and union of the marriage in a variety of ways - yet these "pressures" are not always understood in society or by the church. This study undertakes to understand what the influence of full-time ministry has on the health of a marriage for couples who are engaged in full-time ministry. Through a qualitative empirical research based on the model of Zerfass, the researcher will gain understanding into the various aspects underlying the ministry environment that influences the health of a marriage. The researcher establishes that three main areas must be formulated for future ministry couples in order to function at an optimal level. These areas include the establishment of proper ministerial and marriage guidelines. It also includes that married couples should gain proper equilibrium and consciousness towards their ministry and marriage health. It is evident that the body of Christ doesn't fully grasp the influence of full-time ministry on the health of a marriage. An overall uncertainty exists of what constitutes a healthy marriage and therefore a lack of understanding on the various pressures exerted on full-time ministry is prevalent. Ultimately couples should realise that today's changing times and uncertain job roles necessitate flexibility to adapt to new environments while still holding on to a healthy marriage union / Thesis (M.A. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The tertiary education environment has become known for its stressful working conditions. Factors such as high work demands (i.e. work overload, excessive time demands and work pressure) and insufficient resources (i.e. limited developmental possibilities, poor performance feedback, lack of support, etc.) all contribute to these stressful circumstances. As a result, these circumstances can cause employees to experience negative interferences between their work and nonwork roles. In addition, employees do not have adequate time to invest in their nonwork domains, hence nonwork roles are neglected (such as being a parent, being a spouse, spending time on domestic activities and spending time on religious/spiritual activities). To decrease these negative interferences, it is important for employees to recover from strains that were activated at work. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) which demands and resources significantly predicted work-nonwork interference among employees working in a tertiary education institution; and 2) which recovery strategies were significant in dealing with high levels of work-nonwork interference caused by high demands and a lack of resources. A random sample of 366 married parents was taken from a tertiary education institution in the North-West Province. A list was obtained of all the married parents of the institution. All of these employees were given the choice to participate in the research. A measuring battery measuring job demands (i.e. work pressure, emotional demands and cognitive demands), job resources (i.e. autonomy, social support and developmental possibilities), work-nonwork interference (i.e. work-parent, work-spouse, work-domestic and work-religion/spirituality) and recovery strategies (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) respectively was utilised in this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression, using the enter method, were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that work pressure and emotional demands significantly predict interference between all four nonwork roles. Additionally, autonomy and developmental possibilities significantly predicted work-parent and work-religion/spirituality interference respectively. Furthermore, all of the recovery strategies decreased specific worknonwork interference. Psychological detachment decreased the interference between the workspouse relationship and the work-religion/spirituality relationship. Relaxation predicted the decrease of interference between the following relationships: work-parent, work-spouse, and work-domestic. Mastery and control only significantly predicted the decrease of interference between the work-parent relationship and between the work-domestic activities respectively. Various recommendations were made for tertiary education institutions as well as for future research. Tertiary education institutions should manage high job demands by examining employees’ workload and job descriptions. Managers could possibly diminish work pressure and emotional demands by means of courses/workshops pertaining to self-management, time and organisational skills, emotional intelligence and/or coping with emotions. Tertiary education institutions should also focus on supporting employees who experience work-nonwork interferences and manage it effectively. In addition, the awareness of recovery and various recovery strategies should be promoted. Recommendations for future research include expanding the research to other occupational groups, longitudinal research designs, obtaining various opinions and perspectives of individuals also involved in the work-nonwork dyad and the study of the positive interaction between the work and nonwork roles. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is the role of the Industrial Psychologist and the Human Resources function within a company to contribute positively to an organisation’s competitive advantage. Human capital should be viewed and managed as a critical success factor within this context. The probability of attaining success over competitors could be addressed through focussing on the impact of employee performance on competitive advantage. With reference to the organisational life cycle, the e-commerce industry in South Africa seems to be in its infancy. It is in this stage when attaining high levels of performance from employees is of critical importance. In this lies the key for building and growing a competitive advantage that would set one organisation apart from the other – where one organisation would survive the infancy stage and another would drown in the quest to match the demands posed by the relevant industry and its customers. There is minimal Industrial or Organisational Psychology research that has tested hypotheses in the e-commerce industry. This contributed to the decision to implement this research in the e-commerce industry. The e-commerce industry is growing rapidly, and performance therefore is a key factor for success in any e-commerce company in South Africa. The focus of this study was to review the Job Demands Resources model (JD-R model) within the e-commerce retail industry in South Africa in order to add to the knowledge base regarding human behaviour at work, with specific reference to engagement, burnout and performance. The research question of the study was formulated regarding which “state of wellbeing” would increase performance. The JD-R model makes provision for evaluating this question in a structured manner. The JD-R model indicates that performance is influenced by work engagement/burnout (wellbeing). It also indicates that there are certain job demands, job resources and personal resources that will influence wellbeing. The study was facilitated through the use of an ex post facto correlational research design. A sample of 117 workers was chosen from the e-commerce retail industry to participate in the study. Participation was voluntary, the data was collected specifically for the purpose of this study, and all responses were treated confidentially. The measurements that were used included key performance indicators (KPIs), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS), the Job Characteristics Scale, and the HEXACO model. The literature review formed a logical argument that culminated in a theoretical Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iii model as well as a set of hypotheses with reference to the various dimensions in the JD-R model. The results showed that: a) Engagement has a significant positive influence on performance. b) Job resources (advancement, personal growth and organisational support) have a significant positive influence on engagement. c) Job resources (advancement, personal growth and organisational support) have a significant negative influence on burnout. d) Personal resources (extraversion) have a significant negative influence on burnout. e) Personal resources (conscientiousness) have a significant positive influence on engagement. f) Personal resources (agreeableness) have a significant negative influence on burnout. The following hypotheses were not supported: a) Burnout has a significant negative influence on performance. b) Personal resources (extraversion) have a significant positive influence on engagement. c) Personal resources (emotionality) have a significant positive influence on engagement. d) Personal resources (emotionality) have a significant negative influence on burnout. e) Personal resources (conscientiousness) have a significant negative influence on burnout. f) Personal resources (agreeableness) have a significant positive influence on engagement. g) Job demands (job overload) have a significant negative influence on engagement. h) Job demands (job overload) have a significant positive influence on burnout. i) Job demands (job insecurity) have a significant negative influence on engagement. j) Job demands (job insecurity) have a significant positive influence on burnout. Attention was also paid to future research considerations, recommendations to the managers of employees and to the limitations of the study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is die rol van die Bedryfsielkundige en die Menslike Hulpbronne funksie in maatskappye om 'n positiewe bydrae tot 'n organisasie se mededingende voordeel te maak. Menslike kapitaal moet beskou en bestuur word as ‘n kritiese sukses faktor in hierdie konteks. Die waarskynlikheid om sukses bo die kompetisie te behaal kan aangespreek word deur om fokus te plaas op die impak wat werknemersprestasie het op mededingings voordeel. Met verwysing na die organisatoriese lewenssiklus blyk die e-handelbedryf in Suid-Afrika om in sy beginstadium te wees. Dit is in hierdie stadium waar die bereiking van hoë vlakke van prestasie van werknemers van kritieke belang is. Hierin lê die sleutel vir die vordering en groei van 'n mededingende voordeel van een maatskappy bo ‘n ander - waar die een organisasie die beginstadium sou oorleef en die ander onder die druk van die versoeke/eise van die betrokke bedryf en sy kliënte sou swyk. Daar is ‘n beperkte hoeveelheid navorsing wat gevind kon word in die veld van Bedryfsielkunde wat hipoteses in die e-handelbedryf toets. Hierdie bevinding het bygedra tot die besluit om hierdie navorsingstudie oor die e-handelbedryf voort te sit. Die e-handelbedryf toon vinnige groei, en prestasie is dus tans 'n belangrike faktor vir sukses in enige e-handelmaatskappy in Suid-Afrika. Die fokus van hierdie navorsingstudie was om die “Job Demands Resources model (JD-R model)” in die e-kleinhandelbedryf in Suid-Afrika toe te pas om sodoende by te dra tot die huidige kennis beskikbaar ten opsigte van menslike gedrag by die werk, met spesifieke verwysing na werksbegeestering, uitbranding en prestasie. Die navorsingsvraag van die navorsingstudie is geformuleer rondom die aanname dat die "toestand van welsyn" prestasievlakke sal verhoog. Die primêre doel van die navorsingstudie was om deur middel van die toepassing van die JD-R model in die e-kleinhandelbedryf, by te dra tot die beskikbare kennis ten opsigte van menslike gedrag by die werk, met spesifieke verwysing na werksbetrokkenheid, uitbranding en prestasie. Die JD-R model maak op 'n gestruktureerde wyse voorsiening vir die evaluering van hierdie verhoudings. Die JD-R model dui aan dat prestasie beïnvloed word deur werksbetrokkenheid/uitbranding (welsyn). Dit dui ook dat daar sekere werksvereistes, werkshulpbronne en persoonlike hulpbronne is wat welstand beïnvloed. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za v Die navorsingstudie is gefasiliteer deur die gebruik van 'n ex post facto korrelasie-ontwerp. 'n Steekproef van 117 werkers is uit die e-kleinhandelbedryf gekies om aan die studie deel te neem. Deelname was vrywillig, die data is spesifiek ingesamel vir die doel van hierdie navorsingstudie en alle data is as vertroulik hanteer. Die volgende metingsinstrumente is gebruik: kern prestasie aanwysers (KPA’s), die Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), die Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS), die Job Characteristics Scale, en die HEXACO model. Die literatuuroorsig vorm 'n logiese argument wat lei tot 'n teoretiese model, sowel as 'n stel hipoteses met verwysing na die verskillende dimensies soos gevind in die JD-R model. Die resultate toon: a) Werksbetrokkenheid het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op prestasie. b) Werkshulpbronne (bevordering, persoonlike groei en organisatoriese ondersteuning) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. c) Werkshulpbronne (bevordering, persoonlike groei en organisatoriese ondersteuning) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op uitbranding. d) Persoonlike hulpbronne (ekstroversie) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op uitbranding. e) Persoonlike hulpbronne (pligsgetrouheid) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. f) Persoonlike hulpbronne (eenstemmigheid) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op uitbranding. Die volgende hipoteses was nie aanvaar nie: a) Uitbranding het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op prestasie. b) Persoonlike hulpbronne (ekstroversie) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. c) Persoonlike hulpbronne (emosionaliteit) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. d) Persoonlike hulpbronne (emosionaliteit) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op uitbranding. e) Persoonlike hulpbronne (pligsgetrouheid) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op uitbranding. f) Persoonlike hulpbronne (eenstemmigheid) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za vi g) Werksvereistes (oorlading) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. h) Werksvereistes (oorlading) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op uitbranding. i) Werksvereistes (werkonsekerheid) het ‘n beduidende negatiewe invloed op werksbetrokkenheid. j) Werksvereistes (werkonsekerheid) het ‘n beduidende positiewe invloed op uitbranding. Aandag is ook geskenk aan toekomstige navorsings oorwegings, aanbevelings aan die bestuurders van werknemers asook aan die beperkinge van die navorsinstudie.

Sur leur lieu de travail, les individus sont confrontés à de nombreuses difficultés. Souvent, ces difficultés sont engendrées par de mauvaises conditions de travail qui génèrent des phénomènes de risques psychosociaux (RPS), susceptibles de nuire à la santé des salariés. En Sciences de la Gestion, les RPS sont l’objet d’un intérêt croissant, car ils ont aussi un impact sur la performance et sur la pérennité de l’entreprise. Alors qu’il existe des politiques et des pratiques de gestion des ressource humaines (GRH) mises en place par les entreprises pour faire face à ces risques, une démarche efficace n’est pas encore aboutie. Or, selon le modèle exigences/ressources (Demerouti et al., 2001), il existe des conditions de travail favorables (ressources) qui ont le potentiel de réduire ces risques, et qui font l’objet de ces travaux de recherche. Plus précisément, cette thèse s’interroge sur les représentations des salarié/es quant aux ressources qui ont le plus de potentiel pour réduire les effets des conditions de travail nocives. En même temps, nous faisons l’hypothèse que ces ressources sont aussi capables d’influencer la pérennité de l’entreprise, via la fidélisation des salarié/es. Nous avons mené une étude de cas au sein d’un groupe de l’agro-alimentaire, qui contrôle deux implantations industrielles qui ont conservé leur culture d’entreprise d’avant la fusion dans ce groupe. Nos résultats montrent que les salariés identifient quatre ressources (autonomie au travail, variété des tâches, bon climat social et soutien des supérieurs) qui ont plus de potentiel que d’autres pour compenser les conditions de travail contraignantes, et que ces ressources sont largement citées quel que soit le genre, le poste occupé, et le site. Il apparaît que ces mêmes ressources sont aussi capables d’influencer l’intention de rester des salarié/es dans l’entreprise. Cependant, ce ne sont pas toujours les pratiques de GRH qui créent ces ressources, mais –d’après les représentations des salariés- plutôt des valeurs liées à la culture d’entreprise précédant la fusion. Au-delà de la contribution à la théorie Exigences/Ressources, nos travaux souhaitent aussi contribuer à la prise de conscience, par les managers, de l’intérêt de certaines ressources pour la mise en place de meilleures conditions de travail et l’amélioration des stratégies de pilotage de la pérennité. / At the workplace, individuals face many challenges. Usually these difficulties are caused by poor working conditions that generate the phenomena of psychosocial risks factors (PRF), which can harm the health of employees. In management sciences, an increasing interest has set to PRF, particularly because they also have an impact on the performance and on the longevity of the company. The human resource management (HRM) policies and practices are made by companies to deal with these risks, but an effective approach is not yet achieved. According to the job demands / resources model (Demerouti et al., 2001), there are better working conditions (resources) that have the potential to buffer demands which causes PRF. Resources are the subject of this thesis.Precisely, this thesis questions the employees’ representations resources that have the greatest potential to buffer harmful working conditions. At the same time, we make the assumption that these resources are also able to influence the longevity of the firm, through employee loyalty. We conducted a case study within an agri-food group, which controls two industrial establishments which inherited their organizational culture before joining this group. Our results show that employees identify four resources (autonomy at work, task variety, good social climate and superiors support) that have more potential than others to buffer dangerous working conditions. Moreover, these resources are equally quoted in relation to gender, occupation, and industrial site. Furthermore, it appears that the same resources are also able to influence employees intention to remain in the group. However, it is not always the HRM practices that create these resources, but rather the values that are linked to the firm culture, before the merger.Beyond the contribution to the job demands / resources model, our research also aims to contribute to the managers' awareness of the value of certain resources to implement better working conditions and management strategies of longevity.

The reforms in the public sector, as consequence of New Public Management, have led to flattened organizational structure, increasing the span of control(SOC) width for managers. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between SOC width, working conditions (job demands, job resources and engaged leadership), employee health and engagement. SOC was measured as predictor for employee health and engagement, where mediation of working conditions effect on the relation was examined. Self-administrated surveys were collected from 1551 employees working under 109 managers in four public sector municipal operations in Sweden. The result displayed that it was unfavorable to have managers with a wide SOC for the employees working conditions, engagement and health. SOC was a significant predictor for health, while mediation of working conditions could not account for the relationship. These results indicate that a narrow SOC may improve working conditions and health outcomes for employees.

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The present study tested a nomological net of work engagement that was derived from its extant research. Two of the main work engagement models that have been presented and empirically tested in the literature, the JD-R model and Kahn’s model, were integrated to test the effects that job features and personal characteristics can have on work engagement through the psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability. In this study, safety refers to psychological perceptions of safety and not workplace safety behaviors. The job features that were tested in this model included person-job fit, autonomy, co-worker relations, supervisor support, procedural justice, and interactional justice, while the personal characteristics consisted of self-consciousness, self-efficacy, extraversion, and neuroticism. Thirty-four hypotheses and a conceptual model were tested in order to establish the viability of this nomological net of work engagement in which it was expected that meaningfulness would mediate the relationships between job features and work engagement, safety would mediate the relationships that job features and personal characteristics have with work engagement, and availability (physical, emotional, and cognitive resources) would mediate the relationships that personal characteristics have with work engagement. Furthermore, analyses were run in order to determine the factor structure of work engagement, assess whether or not it exhibits differential validity from organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and confirm that it is positively related to the outcome variable of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The final sample consisted of 500 workers from an online labor market who responded to a questionnaire composed of measures of all constructs included in this study. Findings show that work engagement is best represented as a three-factor construct, composed of vigor, dedication and absorption. Furthermore, support was found for the distinction of work engagement from the related constructs of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. With regard to the proposed model, meaningfulness proved to be the strongest predictor of work engagement. Results show that it partially mediates the relationships that all job features have with work engagement. Safety proved to be a partial mediator of the relationships that autonomy, co-worker relations, supervisor support, procedural justice, interactional justice, and self-efficacy have with work engagement, and fully mediate the relationship between neuroticism and work engagement. Findings also show that availability partially mediates the positive relationships that extraversion and self-efficacy have with work engagement, and fully mediates the negative relationship that neuroticism has with work engagement. Finally, a positive relationship was found between work engagement and OCB. Research and organizational implications are discussed.

The diploma thesis is devoted to the analysis of the connection between mindfulness, work engegament and authentic behavior. The theoretical part of the diploma thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter describes the sources of work motivation. The second chapter deals with the relationships between employees and personal resources that lead to engaged behavior. In the third chapter, I describe the appropriate interventions and impacts that lead to increased engagement and work related well-being. The work thus evaluates a specific theory of personal, work and motivational resources that affect further work engagement and satisfaction. The research part of the work consists of quantitative research, in which we have verified the mediation analysis of the relationships between mindfulness and engagement, where authenticity is considered a mediator of these relationships. Based on the results of the mediation analysis, it was proved that the relationship between mindfulness and engagement is fully mediated by authenticity. While the direct relationship between mindfulness and engagement ceased to be significant (β = -.0632, p = .543), the indirect relationship was significant (β = -.2196, p < .001). Key words Engagement, authenticity, mindfulness, work-related motivation, proactivity,...