Theory and research have indicated that well-being can be enhanced via the fulfilment of three key well-being concerns or needs, namely efficacy, integrity, and belonging. This thesis used a positive youth development framework to explore well-being concern experiences within the context of a young person’s most salient activities and goals, referred to here as identity projects (Harré, 2007). Guided by an adaptation of the identity project model (Harré, 2007), using a longitudinal design, this thesis incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how identity projects were negotiated during adolescence; what impact well-being concerns had on commitment to projects; and how this related to subjective well-being (SWB). In the quantitative study, 162 ethnically diverse Year 12 high school students participated at time one (T1); and one year later 87 students took part at time two (T2). Participants completed an adaptation of the Personal Project Analysis tool (Little, 1983), and two independent measures of SWB. The main foci of the quantitative study were to explore the predictive value of each well-being concern to project commitment and SWB; and to investigate if commitment mediated the link between well-being concerns and SWB. For the qualitative study, narrative interviews were conducted among 16 adolescents at three time points – Years 12 and 13, and after completing high school. The main foci of the interviews were to investigate how well-being concerns were voiced within the context of specific projects; and to gain insight into how projects were negotiated during life transitions. The quantitative results showed efficacy and integrity, but not belonging, were predictors of concurrent commitment at T1 and actual commitment to T1 projects at T2. The mediating role of commitment (between the well-being concerns and SWB) was, however, not supported. Instead, each well-being concern directly predicted different aspects of SWB, and these relationships changed over time. Overall, experiences of efficacy and belonging, within identity projects, enhanced SWB in the short term, while only experiences of integrity enhanced SWB, namely life satisfaction, in the long term. The qualitative results indicated experiences of efficacy and belonging were most prevalent within leisure pursuits, while integrity was most commonly discussed within education and career projects. / Whole document restricted until 04/2012, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between several positive psychological constructs for 178 teachers. The reliability of the measuring instruments, the relationship to each other and the wellness of the teachers were determined. The following measuring instruments were used: sense of coherence (Antonovsky), locus of control (Schepers), coping (Carver), personal meaning (Wong), life regard (Battista and Almond), engagement (Schaufeli) and burnout (Maslach). The empirical survey showed that the constructs correlate significantly The regression analysis indicated that some of the constructs are good predictors of each other. The factor analysis between the dimensions was determined with the use of varimax factor rotation. The dimensions were divided into five factors which in practice correlated significantly with each other. / Industrial and Orgarnisation Psychology / (M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between, personal meaning, sense of coherence, organisational commitment and selected biographical variables, specifically age, tenure and occupational level. It was found that mostly significant positive relationships exist between personal meaning and sense of coherence. Personal meaning and sense of coherence exhibit predictive value for organisational commitment. It was established that self-transcendence plays a significant role in the development of affective and normative organisational commitment. Some significant differences were found between management and non-management employees in the manifestation of personal meaning. Management approximate more personal meaning to achievement, self-acceptance, and fair treatment. On sense of coherence and organisational commitment there were no significant differences between management and non-management employees. It was recommended that the relationship between personal meaning and other positive psychology variables be researched in order to determine the significance of such relationships so as to add to this relatively new body of research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm.

Previous constructivist research was integrated with a field study to investigate the hypothesis that the subjective perceptions of the current social, security and economic situation of the high and low-income groups in South Africa differ to the extent that they could be said to be living in totally different worlds of phenomenological experience. The data demonstrated clear differences when coded in terms of worldviews along an Optimism-Pessimism Continuum. A number of additional processing phenomena and social dynamics able to influence these perceptions were also identified from an interpretative analysis of the data. The results were explained in terms of the cueing and activation of specific schemata constructed from income-related prior experiences associated with each group and led to the conclusion that income and living conditions could well be factors contributing to the ongoing confrontations between government and impoverished communities. A number of recommendations to improve inter-group relations were included. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Recruitment consultants today are faced with considerable stress and challenges as a result of their work. They must cope effectively with these challenges in order to deliver effective job performance, which is crucial to an organisation’s survival. In this study the relationship between sense of coherence, self-efficacy and job performance amongst recruitment consultants was investigated. The Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Generalised Self-efficacy Scale and a job performance measure comprising key performance indicators were used. The study was conducted with 99 recruitment consultants at a national recruitment organisation in South Africa. While a theoretical relationship was determined, this was not supported by the empirical investigation. Relationships did, however, emerge for the comprehensibility component of sense of coherence to job performance total and for two of its dimensions (namely customer service and productivity). A regression model, comprising comprehensibility and meaningfulness, emerged as a significant predictor of total job performance. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T16:34:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcello Carlos Portela Bonino.pdf: 1293868 bytes, checksum: 17fa7fc976f48c0acd4bcdcac91bf236 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-03 / A psicologia positiva focaliza o estudo das emoções positivas, traços de caráter positivo e se destina a complementar, e não se distanciar ou substituir, o que já se sabe sobre o sofrimento humano, a fraqueza e as debilidades. Recentemente, baseado nos estudos da psicologia positiva, foi desenvolvido o conceito de capital psicológico (psycap), um construto de nível superior o qual pode ser definido como um estado de desenvolvimento psicológico positivo, caracterizado por: (1) possuir confiança (autoeficácia) para realizar os esforços necessários para enfrentar tarefas desafiadoras; (2) realizar atribuições positivas (otimismo) acerca de como se comportar no momento atual e no futuro; (3) perseverança no direcionamento dos esforços para atingir seus objetivos (esperança); e, (4) quando confrontado com problemas e adversidades, resistir à pressão e superar os obstáculos (resiliência) para atingir os seus objetivos. A percepção de suporte social pode ser entendida como um conceito que se refere à crença do indivíduo de que possui acesso a recursos materiais e psicológicos através de suas redes sociais. O suporte social pode atuar de forma positiva na saúde, desde a proteção até sua recuperação. A adesão ao tratamento pode ser considerada como a extensão à qual o comportamento do paciente (em termos de tomar os medicamentos, seguir dietas ou alterar o estilo de vida) coincide com as orientações ou conselhos médicos. Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar as relações entre capital psicológico, percepção de suporte social e adesão ao tratamento. Dele fizeram parte, 102 participantes escolhidos por conveniência, que responderam a um questionário autoaplicável contendo as medidas das variáveis deste estudo. Os dados foram submetidos às análises descritivas e multivariadas utilizando o SPSS, versão 19.0. Dentre os resultados, pode-se salientar a comprovação do impacto de percepção de suporte social sobre a adesão ao tratamento e a impossibilidade de que capital psicológico exerça papel moderador sobre essa relação na amostra estudada. Conclui-se que foram atingidos os objetivos do estudo com destaque para a corroboração que os resultados do mesmo trouxeram para os achados já presentes na literatura acerca do impacto do suporte social na adesão ao tratamento.

This work deals with positive thinking and its impact on quality of the life. The theoretical part describes positive thinking, what affects it, and if is the possibility to change the thinking. It further describes concept of quality of the life and with it the most associated term the Health. In following chapters, I deal with concepts of optimism, pessimism, and the conclusion of theoretical work form chapters about failure, success and goals.The practical part contains data obtained from the questionnaire, which is aimed on finding the quality of life. To determine the quality of life was used assessment method named SEIQoL (KŘIVOHLAVÝ, 2001). Another part of the research includes interviews with selected individuals and finding a way of thinking by using the scale of prevailing way of thinking (Slezáčková, 2012). In selected individuals are results of SEIQoL methods compared with the results of the scale prevailing way of thinking.

Positive Clinical Psychology (PCP) argues that positive and negative psychological constructs are jointly important for explaining psychological problems. “Positive” constructs have been explicitly focused on by positive psychology researchers and “negative” constructs have been explicitly focused on by mental health researchers. This thesis examines the relationship between positive and negative constructs in relation to four psychological problems: depressive symptoms (Chapter 2), anxiety-problems (Chapter 3), suicide attempts (SAs) (Chapter 4 and 5), and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) (Chapter 4 and 5). Clarifying how psychological problems are most appropriately conceptualised has implications for definitions, diagnostic criteria, measurement, and clinical interventions. This thesis provides evidence that some constructs form bipolar continua, having a positive pole and a negative pole, whilst other constructs do not. Chapters 2 and 3 demonstrate that well-being and calmness respectively form continua with depressive and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, Chapters 4 and 5 demonstrate that SA and NSSI cognitions do not form a continuum with another construct. Results indicate that positive and negative constructs appear to have different relationships to one-another depending on the construct under investigation. Constructs that are common in the general population – such as depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, well-being symptoms, and calmness symptoms – appear to be bipolar, having a positive and a negative pole. Psychological constructs that are rare in the general population and which specifically characterise psychological problems (rather than being an extreme manifestation of a common psychological experience) – such as SA and NSSI cognitions – appear to be unipolar. The replication of scientific findings also features strongly throughout this thesis. Each chapter may therefore have a timely bearing on the emerging “replication crisis” literature.

This thesis considers whether the concept of resilience is applicable to people ageing with dementia; and, if so, what the implications are for social work practice. It begins with an exploration of the literature on dementia, resilience and social work. Using a symbolic interactionist approach it then details how the interactions of people with dementia and their social workers can potentially influence the realisation of resilience in practice. I collected data over a two year period. During this period six dyads comprising a person with dementia and social worker provided rich verbal accounts of their respective experiences. Using narrative analysis the stories of each person with dementia were explored to reveal threats to identity and possible resilience strategies. A resilience lens was applied to the verbal accounts of social workers in order to reveal opportunities and challenges to using resilience in practice. The findings indicate that identity continues to be of importance to people who are ageing with dementia. The preservation of identity could therefore be re-framed as the outcome of a resilience process. Each person could potentially acquire resources over their life which could help to mitigate threats to identity. This is referred to as the resilience reserve. This thesis details the potential domains of such a reserve. Further, it contains details of possible resilience strategies that a person with dementia might employ within stories of self. These strategies are placed within the context of protective and vulnerability factors in order that a resilience framework can emerge. This thesis argues for a re-framing of theories of what social work is. This, combined with a definition of resilience, and the development of a resilience practice framework could promote and realise the resilience of the person ageing with dementia.

本研究旨在探究校長正向領導與學校效能之相關情形，透過整合15篇相關研究數據，採用後設分析為研究方法，期以巨觀角度探究我國校長正向領導與學校效能關係之現況，並分析調節變項之影響情形。本研究樣本的調查對象為現職初等、中等學校之教職員，並以教師性別（男性比）、擔任職務（兼行政職務比）、研究地區（分為北部6篇、中南部3篇、全國6篇研究）及學校教育階段（分為國小9篇、國中3篇、中等學校3篇研究）為調節變項加以分析。 本研究獲致結論如下： 壹、正向領導與學校效能相關研究有成長趨勢，又以北部地區、國小教育階段居多。 貳、整體正向領導與學校效能關係為正相關，具大效應量。 參、正向領導分層面與學校效能關係均為正相關，且為大效應量。 肆、建立正向關係與學校效能間相關程度最高。 伍、研究地區、學校教育階段對於整體正向領導與學校效能關係具有調節效果。 一、研究地區：關聯程度北部大於中南部。 二、學校教育階段：關聯程度隨學校教育階段升高而有提升之趨勢。 陸、研究地區、學校教育階段對於校長正向領導分層面與學校效能關係皆具有調節效果，另，教師性別為正向溝通與學校效能關係之調節變項。 一、研究地區：北部地區校長正向領導分層面與學校效能的關聯性均較中南部地區為高。 二、學校教育階段：正向領導分層面的正向氣氛、正向關係、正向溝通與學校效能之關係隨學校教育階段愈高而愈強；正向意義與學校效能關係之強度隨著學校教育階段的升高而有降低之趨勢。 三、教師性別：男性教師所佔的比率越高，正向溝通與學校效能的關聯性越高。 最後，根據研究發現提出建議，以供學校校長、學校教育人員及未來研究者參考。 壹、積極實施校長正向領導以促進學校效能。 貳、從正向關係著手，有效實施正向領導。 參、以南部學校為重，加強推廣正向領導。 肆、從中等學校著手，積極推動正向領導。 伍、從初等學校著手，強調賦予正向意義。 陸、與男性教師相處可多運用正向溝通。 / The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness by integrating the findings of 15 researches related. In order to understand the current status of the relationships between principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness in Taiwan on a macroscale and explore the influences from moderator variables, the present research employs meta-analysis as methodology. Educators of elementary and secondary education were recruited as samples, and teachers’ gender (male ratio), positions (administrative ratio), location of research (including six papers of the north, three papers of the central south, and six papers of national) and education level of school (including nine papers of elementary school, three papers of junior high school, and three papers of secondary) were adopted as moderator variable. The findings of this study were summarized as follows: 1.The researches about principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness showing a growth trend, and mostly in the north and elementary school. 2.The overall principals’ positive leadership is positively correlated with school effectiveness, and the effect size is large. 3.The sub-variables of principals’ positive leadership are positively correlated with school effectiveness, and the effect size are large. 4.The correlation between positive relationship and school effectiveness is strongest. 5.The location of research and education level of school as a moderator variable in the relation between overall principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness. (1) The location of research: the correlation of the north is bigger than the central South. (2) The education level: the correlation will enhance as the education level increases. 6.The location of research and education level of school as a moderator variable in the relation between sub-variables of principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness. In addition, teachers’ gender has moderating effects only between positive communication and school effectiveness. (1) The location of research: the correlation between sub-variables of principals’ positive leadership and school effectiveness of the north are stronger than the south. (2) The education level: the correlation between positive climate, positive relationship, positive communication, positive meaning, and school effectiveness will enhance as the education level increases; however, the correlation between positive meaning and school effectiveness will decrease as the education level increases. (3) Teachers’ gender: the higher the proportion of male teacher is, the stronger the correlation between positive communication and school effectiveness will be. Suggestions were made based on the findings of this study to serve as reference for school principals, school educators and future researches. 1.Implement principals’ positive leadership positively to promote school effectiveness. 2.To implement positive leadership effectively, one has to start with positive relationship. 3.Put schools of the south first and keep popularizing positive leadership. 4.Promote positive leadership positively starting with secondary education. 5.Emphasize the reinforcement of positive meaning starting with elementary education. 6.Get along with the male teachers can use positive communication more often.