In the landscape of the 21st century, where competition in the financial sector is growing even more intense, the future will belong to those organisations that harness the power and potential of their human capital. It is the one huge reservoir left largely untapped, and those organisations which do this the best will be the business winners of this century. It makes sense then that different ways on how best to utilise and develop human capital for use as leverage in the competitive arena of the workplace should be investigated. Consequently, as an alternative to getting hindered by the swirling negativity and challenges, it was proposed that a positive approach is needed. It is believed that building positive psychological capacities within organisational contexts will be a powerful means of assisting South African organisations and employees to meet their new paradigm challenges. This will aid he successful transformation and augmentation and contribute to a truly ideal "Rainbow Nation" for South Africa. The researcher believes that this can be done by drawing from the positive psychology movement, where specifically selecting and developing certain positive psychological capacities may lead to desirable performance outcomes. The objective of the research was to determine if there was a relationship between positive psychological capacities (hope, optimism, resilience, self-efficacy), psychological empowerment and job performance of employees in a financial organisation. A correlational survey design was used. The study population (n = 155) consisted of call centre employees in a financial environment in Gauteng. The State Hope Scale, Life Orientation Inventory -Revised, Resilience Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale, Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were used as measuring instruments. Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor analysis, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to evaluate the data. It was found that the research group was experiencing above average levels of hope and average/moderate levels of optimism. The study also revealed that high levels of resilience and self-efficacy, as well as above average levels of psychological empowerment were being experienced by the respondents. Correlation analyses reveal a statistical and practically significant positive relationship between hope and job performance. A statistically significant relationship was found between optimism and job performance and self-efficacy and job performance. However, no statistical or practically significant relationship was found to exist between resilience and job performance and between psychological empowerment and job performance. With regards to the relationships between the constructs, correlation analyses yielded a statistical and practically significant relationship between hope and optimism, hope and resilience, hope and self-efficacy, and hope and psychological empowerment. There is also a practical and statistically significant relationship between optimism and resilience; self-efficacy and resilience and between optimism and self-efficacy. However, no practically significant relationship was found between resilience and psychological empowerment and between self-efficacy and psychological empowerment. This study also investigated if the positive psychological capacities of hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy and psychological empowerment, could be used to predict job performance. It was found that hope, optimism and self-efficacy can be used to predict job performance. Resilience however was found not to be a predictor of job performance. Finally this study investigated if psychological empowerment could be used to predict job performance and it was found that psychological empowerment was unfortunately found not to be predictor of job performance. Finally, recommendations were made for the organisation under study, as well as for future research purposes. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008

Academic optimism is a relatively new construct that combines collective efficacy, academic emphasis, and faculty trust in students and parents. The cumulative measure represents a robust picture of the social interactions within a school that influences the beliefs, behaviors and emotions of organizational members. Academic optimism has been established as a predictor of student achievement controlling for student socioeconomic status. However, past studies have not included student ethnicity in statistical models utilized to test the effect of academic optimism on student achievement, even though research and state achievement data show gaps among students of color and Anglo students that are just as substantial as those identified along socioeconomic. Additionally, there was a need to determine if academic optimism is simply a product of school context or if there is additional variance left to be explained by psychosocial interactions within schools. Therefore, the intent of this study was threefold: first, examine the relationships between the theoretical underpinnings of collective efficacy, academic emphasis, and faculty trust in students and parents; second, produce a more rigorous test of the effect of academic optimism on student achievement by including student ethnicity in addition to other student background characteristics; and third, determine to what magnitude school context explains a schools level of academic optimism. The author utilized multi-level analysis to test the relationship between school academic optimism and student achievement controlling for student ethnicity, socioeconomic status, previous achievement and school size within a new sample. The relationship between school academic optimism and school context was tested by employing multiple regression analysis. In a sample of 10,464 students nested within 97 elementary schools the author was able to determine that academic optimism is a positive predictor of student math and reading achievement. Furthermore, academic optimism is capable of mediating the negative relationships existing between both low socioeconomic status (SES) and student of color status and student achievement. Additionally, the studied revealed that only 52% of the variance in school level academic optimism is determined by school context.

Thesis (MPsy(Specialisation))--University of South Australia, 2003.

Mémoire (M.Ps.)--Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2000. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Psychology, 2008. / Thesis advisor: Brent Donnelan. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 29, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-76). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 129 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-85). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 128 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-88).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 2006. / Supervisors: Dhananjay Nayakankuppam, Baba Shiv. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-61).

La perception optimiste que les gens ont de l’avenir a fait l’objet de nombreuses études. Elles ont conduit à observer une expression auto-avantageuse lors des comparaisons de son avenir à celui d’autrui (i.e., l’optimisme comparatif). Ces études ont examiné minutieusement les conditions de son émergence et ses explications intra-individuelles (motivationnelles et cognitives). D’autres études, rares mais souvent convaincantes, ont montré l’impact de la situation, de la position sociale et de la culture dans lesquelles l’optimisme comparatif est exprimé. Les explications qui en découlent interrogent plus largement l’influence des systèmes idéologiques, dans lesquelles sont insérés les gens, sur l’expression de l’optimisme comparatif. Ce dernier, principalement obtenu dans les cultures occidentales et des systèmes idéologiques libéraux, caractérisés par une dimension compétitive forte, entretient de nombreux liens avec la compétition. Afin de tester la dimension compétitive de l’optimisme comparatif ou dans quelle mesure la compétition facilite l’expression d’optimisme comparatif, nous avons mené sept études. Pour l’essentiel, elles montrent que la compétition tend à être associée à l’optimisme comparatif et à l’accroître. En outre, elles montrent la dimension d’utilité sociale de l’optimisme comparatif et que la relation entre compétition et optimisme comparatif est médiatisée par les buts de performances. Nous en concluons que l’optimisme comparatif, reflet de la compétition induite par la comparaison à autrui, est l’expression des conditions, notamment idéologiques, ultra-compétitives de nos sociétés occidentales, dans lesquelles il est exprimé. / Optimistic perception that people have of the future has been the subject of numerous studies. They led to observe an advantageous self expression when comparing his future to that of others (i.e., comparative optimism). These studies have scrutinized the conditions of its emergence and its intra-individual explanations (motivational and cognitive). Other studies rare but often compelling, showed the impact of the situation, social position and culture in which the comparative optimism is expressed. Explanations ensuing question more broadly the influence of ideological systems in which people are inserted, the expression of comparative optimism. The latter, obtained mainly in Western cultures and liberal ideological systems, characterized by strong competitive dimension, maintains many links with the competition. To test the competitive dimension of comparative optimism or to what extent the competition facilitates the expression of comparative optimism, we conducted seven studies. In essence, they show that the competition tends to be associated with comparative optimism and grow. In addition, they show the dimension of social utility of comparative optimism and the relationship between competition and comparative optimism is mediated by performance goals. We conclude that the comparative optimism, reflecting the competition induced by comparison to others, is the expression of conditions, including ideological, ultra-competitive in our Western societies in which it is expressed.

This thesis explores the styles and voices of Derand Errol Wright in poetry.