South Africa's business environment is changing dramatically. Companies are continuously placed under pressure to reform. Government introduced clear guidelines in the form of transformation strategies to assist companies in moving towards a more democratic, non-racial and fully representative organisational structure. The two major strategies are coined Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. The aim of the strategies is to empower and uplift the previously disadvantaged communities of the Apartheid era. These communities include black people; who consist of Africans, Coloureds and Indians; women and disabled individuals. However, these strategies are perceived with mixed emotions. A sense of negativity is evident within the attitudes of all race groups. This may give rise to a new problem in the workplace: pessimism. Pessimism is associated with undesirable characteristics such as external, unstable and specific explanations for bad things and has emotional links to depression. Pessimists view problems as long lasting and inescapable, and tend to blame all misfortunes on their own ineptness and incompetence. On the other hand, optimism is associated with characteristics such as positive mood and good morale, happiness, perseverance and effective problem solving, achievement and health and even a long life and freedom from trauma. It is characterised by internal, stable and global explanations for bad things. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (N 68) of junior and middle management workers working in a multinational industry was used. Nonprobability purposive sampling was applied in the selection of the study population. The results indicated that males experience more dispositional pessimism than women. Black employees also experienced more dispositional pessimism and optimism than white employees, and employees who attended Affirmative Action induction programmes displayed higher levels of optimism than those who have not attended such programmes. If the tendency towards pessimism increases the result may have devastating effects on the organisation as a whole. It is possible that performance will decline and organisational targets will not be reached. To address these issues organisations may need to change their structural planning in order to utilise males more productively, and to enhance a sense of empowerment. Companies should formulate clear goals with regard to what they want to gain from Affirmative Action programmes. Programmes should also be constantly revised and continuing evaluations must be carried out in order to track the effect of the programmes on the workforce. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

South African organisations face the challenge of creating organisations that will engage employees in ways that allow for the optimisation of their strengths. This can be achieved by following a strength-based approach (SBA). An SBA aims to achieve optimisation of human functioning, where talents and strengths are the focus and weaknesses are understood and managed. Although previous research suggests that an SBA has positive influences on individual and organisational outcomes, no instrument exists within the South African context that measures employees’ perception of the extent to which they believe their organisation makes use of their strengths and talents. Recently, a new scale was developed to address this need. However, no studies have been done to see how well the items of this scale function. The objectives of this research were to 1) conceptualise an SBA according to literature, 2) determine whether the items in the SBA scale are unidimensional, 3) to determine the internal validity and reliability of the new SBA scale, and 4) make recommendations for future research. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was used whereby online and hardcopy versions of the questionnaire were distributed to participants. A sample of 699 participants was collected from the Gauteng and North-West provinces. Rasch analysis was used to determine the reliability and validity of the items. Acceptable item reliability was found. Both the item and person separation indices were acceptable. Mean infit and outfit indices for both person and item were acceptable. The seven-point frequency-based Likert scale worked satisfactorily overall, although categories 0, 1, and 2 were under-utilised. Finally, the infit and outfit statistics for all eight items functioned satisfactorily, except for one item. Recommendations are made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Adolescent mothers are unique; they are both teenagers and parents. Some are students. Many have difficulty with these multiple roles. Secondary schools that support adolescent mothers by providing parenting classes and daycare present an ideal environment to introduce and investigate parent-child music programs. In the present study, the experiences of adolescent mothers and their children in a modified music program based on Kindermusik (2010) curriculum are explored. This research is part of a growing movement to work with youth from a perspective of their interests, assets and resilience. The guiding research question is: What are the experiences of adolescent mothers and their infants in a culturally responsive parent-child music program? I worked with a local parent-child music instructor to implement a program in a Saskatoon school, and received support from a Cree Elder and a Métis singer-songwriter to develop a cultural component of the program. Thirteen young women and their infants participated in the study; one adolescent mother was Aboriginal and five infants had paternal Aboriginal heritage. Other participant ethnicities mirrored the diversity in Saskatoon where much of the population is of multi-ethnic origin from British, German, French, and Ukrainian ancestry (Thraves, 2006). A case study of the eight-week music program was used, emphasizing experiential knowledge, continuous compilation of data, extended researcher observation, and the development of relationship and participant empowerment (Stake, 2010). Primary sources of data included participant-observations and focus group interviews. Secondary sources comprised individual interviews with the parent-child music instructor, an Elder, and school staff; short check-in interviews with most of the adolescent mothers; and video footage and photographs taken during the parent-child music program. The Listening Guide (Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2003)—a feminist analysis consistent with the epistemology—was used to interpret the focus group interviews. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was utilized to elucidate the other sources of data. The qualitative findings provide an in-depth understanding of the experiences of adolescent mothers and their infants in a parent-child music program using practical interactions that model and reinforce parenting skills through welcoming, informal, positive and culturally responsive activities. Key findings are strengthened mother-infant connections, enhanced maternal wellbeing, and the development of children’s social skills. Limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Hopp och Självkänsla är två begrepp som studerats länge inom positiv psykologi och Hoppteorin av Snyder och kollegor (1991) förklarade hur egenskaperna hänger ihop. Hopp är ett begrepp inom kognitiv motivationsteori och definieras som den generella upplevelsen att ens mål går att uppnå medan Självkänsla är upplevelsen av det egna värdet. Hopp består av två komponenter: Agency och Pathway. Pathway är vägfinnande tänkande och Agency den motiverande komponenten. Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka sambandet mellan Hopp samt Hopps två komponenter med Självkänsla. Betydelsen av kön och ålder på Hopp och Självkänsla undersöktes i detaljer. I svensk kontext, enligt vår vetskap, saknas studier om relationen mellan Hopp och Självkänsla. Deltagarna var 136 svenska högskolestudenter med en medelålder på 24 år (SD = 5.6 år), 53 % män och 47 % kvinnor. Väletablerade självskattningsskalor användes, The Hope Scale för att mäta Hopp och Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (modifierad) för Självkänsla. Icke-parametrik test av Spearman och Mann-Whitney användes för dataanalys. Resultaten visade att kvinnor har ett signifikant högre värde av Hopp och Agency. Vuxna (över 22 år) hade signifikant högre Hopp, Agency, Pathway och Självkänsla än unga vuxna (under 22 år). Kön påverkade inte Självkänsla. Trots att det fanns en medelstark och signifikant korrelation mellan Hopp och Självkänsla visade multipel regressionsanalys att Agency var den enda oberoende variabeln som signifikant bidrog till Självkänsla. Att kvinnor uppvisar högre Hopp än män och att vuxna uppvisar högre Hopp än unga vuxna är två resultat som inte är i linje med tidigare studier. / Hope and Self-Esteem are two concepts in positive psychology. Snyder and colleagues (1991) grounded the theory that defines Hope and suggest a relation to Self-Esteem. Hope is defined as the general perception that one's goals can be met, while Self-Esteem as a feeling of self-worth. Hope's two components are: Pathway and Agency. Pathways are the route generating thoughts to desired goals, and Agency is the motivational component of Hope. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the concepts of Hope -and Self-Esteem, and the possible effects of age and gender, in a Swedish context, that, according to our knowledge, were not previously studied. The study population included 136 Swedish college students (Mean age = 24, SD = 5.6 years), in a close to 50:50 gender distribution. Data was collected with the help of the validated, self-rated questionnaires: Snyder´s "Hope Scale" and "Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale" (modified). The non-parametric statistical methods of Spearman and Mann-Whitney were used for data analysis. Results showed that women scored significantly higher than men, and adults (over 22 years) scored higher than young adults (under 22) in Hope. Self-esteem was not affected by gender but young adults scored significantly lower than adults. Moreover, while a moderate and significant correlation between Hope and Self-Esteem could be measured, the multiple regression analysis showed that only the Agency component contributed significantly to Self-Esteem. Women showing higher Hope than men and adults showing higher Hope than young adults are two findings that are not in line with previous studies.

Thesis (Ph.D.(Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "May 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-49). Also available online.

Thesis (MA (Clinical Psychology))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Persons with mental illness struggle daily to overcome their illnesses that relentlessly attack the mind. In efforts to revolutionize mental health treatment, psychologists and doctors have attempted to go beyond symptom reduction. One such method is the Clubhouse Model of psychosocial rehabilitation that welcomes persons with severe mental illness into a socially supportive environment and involves them in meaningful and productive work (Doyle, Lanoil & Dudek, 2013). The Clubhouse Model works: its members report greater feelings of functionality, autonomy, and happiness (Tanaka & Davidson, 2015). However, it is not yet clear how exactly the Clubhouse Model is so effective. The current proposed study will apply the psychology phenomena of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) to the Clubhouse Model’s core structure, its work-ordered day. This proposed study will collect data on Clubhouse members’ experience in three activities: the work-ordered day, free time, and therapy to determine if they are ever in a state of flow. The proposal will collect the data over a six-month period using the Experience Sampling Method (Hektner, Schmidt & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007). Additionally, the proposal will collect longitudinal data of the members’ quality of life (QoL) to determine if members’ QoL increase due to their Clubhouse membership. The proposal’s first hypothesis is that members will experience greater levels of flow during the activities of the work-ordered day over their free time and therapy. The proposal’s second hypothesis is that by experiencing flow, Clubhouse members will experience greater levels of QoL.

Unethical behaviour is affecting societal behaviour and impacting business success. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is increasingly adopted across businesses and for personal use and insufficient attention is paid to the impact of unethical practices in the use of ICT on various stakeholders involved. ICT professionals are well positioned to provide guidance to ICT users and decision makers but they need help. While they have the knowledge and skills in ICT, they also need a sense of professional responsibility towards their stakeholders and a moral attitude to help them understand how unethical practices in ICT can affect others and the ability to make good decisions in the use of ICT. Ethics education has been shown to be effective for other professions and this research project builds and tests a model based on current good practices found to be effective in ethics education. More specifically, it adopts a Positive Psychology perspective, not previously used in ICT ethics education, looking at what is working well and examines the use of a Positive Psychology approach, namely Appreciative Inquiry (AI) which has been found elsewhere to be an effective method to motivate change. This research project tests the impact that an Appreciative Inquiry included in a computer ethics class has on the development of moral attitude. The project had a quasi-experiment design with a large sample of over 400 participants (undergraduate Information Technology Management students) using both a control and treatment group to determine the effect of AI on the changes in moral sensitivity and moral judgment of the participants. One well validated survey tool and one developed specifically for ICT, the Defining Issues Test 2 and the IMIS Survey, respectively, were used to test changes from the beginning to the end of each course. The study findings demonstrate that a well-developed ethics course, adopting good practices, produced significant changes in the moral attitudes of the participants. The adoption of AI in the treatment group produced significant changes in elements of the student’s moral judgment validated by both the pre-and post-analysis and instructor observations. Thus taking a Positive Psychology approach to ICT ethics is a useful innovation to ethics education. The project has also demonstrated that AI may have significant potential for ethical education across professions and business at large.

This thesis is focused on positive affect in the workplace, with a particular emphasis on the UK public sector. Three samples of data were taken from 433 respondents across nine participating organizations with the aim of identifying those who rate themselves as happy and upbeat and whom others are noticing in this regard. Thus, the thesis goes beyond the analysis of those who are self-nominated as happy, seeking those who are flourishing (denoted throughout as Happy Plus or H+ ) which, for the purposes of this thesis, are categorised as employees whose positive affect is contagious. The data identified 45 H+ respondents, ascertaining that their happiness has a degree of longevity that is in line with eudaimonic sources and that the state of flourishing is unlikely to be accidental. The flourishing respondents were measured on 16 workplace emotions and compared against a group of 388 non-flourishing work colleagues. The H+ respondents recorded higher scores in all 4 emotions associated with employee engagement (enthusiastic, joyful, inspired & excited) and employee satisfaction (calm, relaxed, laid back & at ease) while the NonH+ group scored higher in emotions associated with stress (nervous, anxious, tense & worried) and depression (dejected, despondent, hopeless & depressed). Independent samples t-tests (using the Bonferroni correction) suggest these differences are statistically significant in 13 of the 16 affects measured. This is salient in that the more vigorous sense of employee engagement tends to result in pro-social behaviours that are correlated with bottom-line performance. The thesis then sought to discover the means by which the H+ respondents achieve and maintain their flourishing status. Following Lyubomirsky s (2007) contention that if an individual s genes and circumstances are fixed (in the immediacy of here and now) then it is the 40% of one s intentional strategies that will differentiate the flourishing from their non-flourishing colleagues. Thus, the H+ and NonH+ groups were compared on a raft of seventeen within-person strategies. The flourishing group rate choosing to be positive as their biggest single strategy, with the corollary that attitudinal choice requires both awareness and effort. It is postulated that engaged employees are attitude maximizers rather than satisficers , in that they are less likely to make do with ambivalent attitudes, striving to be as positive as they are able. Flourishing employees are also significantly more likely to set goals, play to their strengths, have positive internal dialogue, reframe negative events and consume less news. They indulge in what is termed life-crafting in which they alter their thoughts and circumstances to maximise their likelihood of remaining happy. The thesis concludes with a series of recommendations, focusing on co-creation , the idea that happiness emerges as a collective and cooperative endeavour that requires both favourable working conditions and individual effort. As such, recommendations are aimed at how organizations can learn from the findings to implement structures and policies that are best placed to facilitate flourishing cultures. There is a further set of recommendations alluding to what individuals can do to raise their own happiness levels. As such, it is argued that organizational culture change is not simply a matter of instigating top-down or bottom-up remedies, but rather eliciting change that emanates from inside-out.