Cruel teasing can be pernicious for targets' psychological health. In this thesis I examined the extent to which trait mindfulness might mitigate the negative psychological effects associated with cruel teasing. Correlation results confirmed cruel teasing history related significantly and directly, and mindfulness inversely, to poorer psychological health. Moderated regression analyses confirmed that among targets of frequent cruel teasing those with high levels of mindfulness did not evidence the detrimental psychological effects as did those low in mindfulness. Subsequent moderated regression analyses with cruel teasing history, mindfulness, and sexual identity status suggest that when people are low in mindfulness cruel teasing experiences affect their psychological health systematically regardless of sexual identity. Discussion focuses on the role of mindfulness for well-being, particularly in mitigating the negative effects of cruel teasing for psychological health, the individual and social implications for promoting mindfulness, and other directions for future research.

This study aims to examine to what extent Dutch GPs are at risk for burnout, and to identify personal, professional and practice related characteristics that are associated with high burn out scores. In the extant literature, physicians are identified as professionals who are high risk for burnout. In the past decade, working conditions for general practitioners (GPs) in the Netherlands have changed for the worse. There are no recent data on GP burnout in the Netherlands. Although much is known in the literature about factors that are associated with burnout and the role job demands and resources play in getting burned out, the extent to which these findings apply in the context of Dutch GPs is unknown. This study is designed as a quantitative, survey based, empirical study. An invitation to complete an online survey was sent to 4,000 GPs in the Netherlands, of whom close to 1,300 participated in this study (33% response rate). The data were analysed using IBM SPSS 22.0. The data analysis consisted of a descriptive analysis of the data with an emphasis on the outcome of burnout measurements, as well as an inferential analysis of the data with an emphasis on the association between respondents’ characteristics and burnout measurements. The results from this study indicate, that one in seven practicing Dutch GPs could be classified as burned out with fulltime working GPs reporting an average working week of 62 hours. According to the findings, the amount of hours worked per week is the most important determinant of emotional exhaustion. Variation in emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and professional efficacy can to a large extent be explained by variation in demands (administrative burden, work-home conflict, psychological job demands) and resources (decision latitude, co-worker support and home support). Increased job demands are predominantly associated with emotional exhaustion, while a scarcity of resources predominantly leads to increased depersonalisation and reduced professional efficacy. The findings demonstrate, that a bigger job size, more hours worked and a more responsible position held, are associated with higher experienced demands, which is in turn associated with unfavourable burnout scores, particularly increased emotional exhaustion. Working in a group setting, being professionally active outside of one’s own practice and being in a relationship were found to be associated with increased resources, which is in turn associated with favourable burnout scores, particularly decreased depersonalisation and increased professional efficacy. Based on the findings of this study, three recommendations for government bodies, healthcare providers and other healthcare stakeholders were formulated: 1) Reduce the length of the working week, predominantly by reducing the number of allocated patients per GP. This recommendation implies an increase in the GP workforce; 2) Undertake a comprehensive analysis of the quantity, type and purpose of administrative duties currently performed by GPs and trim unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy within the GP practice and 3) Increase co-worker support, either within the GP practice or by using the existing collegiate support infrastructure.

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[pt] As escolhas alimentares humanas são complexas e estão condicionadas por variáveis biológicas, sociais, culturais, históricas e psicológicas. Esta dissertação teve como objetivo investigar aspectos psicológicos das escolhas alimentares, como as motivações e os fatores da personalidade, e suas relações com a saúde psicológica. Para isso, foram apresentados três artigos. O primeiro, testa as relações entre as escolhas alimentares, os cinco grandes fatores da personalidade e a saúde psicológica em uma amostra brasileira. O segundo investiga diferenças em aspectos da personalidade e saúde psicológica em diferentes grupos dietéticos. O terceiro apresenta relações entre as motivações para as escolhas alimentares e os cinco grandes fatores da personalidade. De forma geral, os resultados apresentados são condizentes com estudos internacionais anteriores. No primeiro artigo, destacam-se relações positivas entre abertura a experiência, conscienciosidade e saúde psicológica com o consumo de frutas e vegetais. No segundo artigo, não foram encontradas diferenças esperadas em traços de personalidade em diferentes grupos de dieta. No terceiro artigo, foram encontradas relações esperadas entre o fator conscienciosidade e motivos para as escolhas alimentares, além da relação positiva do fator humor e o neuroticismo. Espera-se que esses resultados contribuam de maneira significativa para a literatura sobre os temas abordados, além de prover aplicações terapêuticas valiosas para psicólogos, nutricionistas e nutrólogos no exercício de suas profissões. Entendendo as relações entre personalidade, motivos para as escolhas alimentares e suas relações com a saúde psicológica, é possível pensar em estratégias personalizadas que podem ser mais adequadas as necessidades de cada paciente no que diz respeito a suas próprias escolhas alimentares, promovendo um estilo de vida mais saudável de forma geral. / [en] Human food choices are complex and are conditioned by biological, social, cultural, historical and psychological variables. This dissertation aimed to investigate psychological aspects of food choices, such as motivations and personality factors, and their relationships with psychological health. For this, three articles were presented. The first tests the relationships between food choices, the big five personality factors and psychological health in a Brazilian sample. The second investigates differences in aspects of personality and psychological health in different dietary groups. The third presents relationships between motivations for food choices and the five major personality factors. In general, the results presented are consistent with previous international studies. In the first article, positive relationships are highlighted between openness to experience, awareness and psychological health with the consumption of fruits and vegetables. In the second article, no expected differences in personality traits were found across different diet groups. In the third article, expected relationships were found between the consciousness factor and reasons for food choices, in addition to the positive relationship between the humor factor and neuroticism. It is expected that these results will contribute significantly to the literature on the topics involved, in addition to providing valuable therapeutic applications for psychologists, nutritionists and nutritionists in the exercise of their professions. Understanding the relationships between personalities, reasons for food choices and their psychological relationships with health, it is possible to think of personalized strategies that can be more personalized according to the needs of each patient, with regard to their own food choices, promoting a style healthier lifestyle in general.

Cette thèse a testé un modèle explicatif de santé psychologique au travail, intégrant comme variable bipolaire, l'épuisement professionnel et le bien-être psychologique. Sur la base du Job Demands-Resources Model, des facteurs d'exigences (conflits de rôles et charge de travail) et de ressources organisationnelles (justice organisationnelle, autonomie au travail et soutien social) ont été catégorisés. Le postulat de base de ce modèle a été de prédire des effets directs et indirects des exigences et des ressources sur la santé psychologique par l'intermédiaire de l'assertivité. L'objectif était la validation prévisionnelle et transculturelle du modèle, à travers une modélisation par équations structurelles, auprès de deux échantillons comprenant des enseignants et des infirmiers français et gabonais. L'effectif total de la première vague de données regroupait 273 participants (France : N = 90 enseignants, N = 45 infirmiers ; Gabon : N = 93 enseignants, N = 45 infirmiers) et celui de la deuxième vague s'élevait à 400 participants (France : N = 108 enseignants, N = 96 infirmiers ; Gabon : N = 141 enseignants, N = 55 infirmiers). En France, les résultats démontrent que les exigences au travail agissent directement sur la santé psychologique et que leurs effets sont aussi médiatisés par l'assertivité. Les ressources, pour leur part, influencent directement la santé psychologique. Quant aux résultats du Gabon, les exigences et les ressources organisationnelles prédisent directement la santé psychologique, sans effet médiateur de l'assertivité. De plus, au sein des deux populations, l'assertivité s'est avérée être non seulement une variable salutaire au regard des conditions de travail, mais aussi un fort prédicteur de la santé psychologique au travail. / This thesis tested an explicative model of psychological well-being at work, including as a bipolar variable, burnout and psychological well-being. Based on the Job Demands-Resources Model, jobs demands (role conflict and workload) and job resources (organizational justice and social support) were categorized. The basic assumption of this model was to predict the direct and indirect effects of job demands-resources on psychological health at work through assertiveness. The goal was the previsional and transcultural validation of the model through structural equation modeling, with two samples : teachers and nurses French and Gabonese. The total of the first wave of data consisted of 273 participants (France : N = 90 teachers, N = 45 nurses ; Gabon : N = 93 teachers, N = 45 nurses) and the second wave was 400 partcicipants (France : N = 108 teachers, N = 96 nurses ; Gabon : N = 141 teachers, N = 45 nurses). In France, results demonstrate that the job demands act directly on the psychological health and their effects are also mediated by assertiveness. resources, in turn, directly affect psychological health. As for results of Gabon, job demands-resources directly predict psychological health, unmediated effect of assertiveness. In addition, in both populations, assertiveness is not only a beneficial variable compared to working conditions, but also a strong predictor of psychological health at work.

The research literature contains a significant amount of information on the psychological health of managers, however, relatively little has been written about the psychological health of workers. There has been a long held assumption that there is little difference in the psychological health of workers and managers. This study challenges that assumption and investigates differences in psychological health that appertain to job role and job characteristics determined by job role. This study tested two related hypotheses, firstly, that 'managers have significantly better psychological health than workers'; secondly, that 'that better psychological health was largely due to the increased self esteem that comes from having a more socially desirable role'. Initial analyses of the data indicated that hypothesis 1 was upheld, but when split by sex hypothesis 1 was only upheld for females and not males; similarly hypothesis 2 was only upheld for females. This result was attributed to the influence of two variables, the 'attribution of blame' and 'need for external validation', and the different moderator and mediator roles they play for males and females. The study contradicts the assertion that the psychological health of workers and managers is similar, if not the same, and uses the differences found to explain why research in this field has often produced conflicting results. Areas of potential future research are indicated.

The student experience is a unique journey of challenge and opportunity, for which their success, subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological health are key elements. In three related investigations, this mixed-methods research programme examined the effects of Time-Perspective (TP: An individual’s psychological relationship with time) and Character-Strengths (CS: 24-positive traits associated with good character) on these outcomes. Investigation 1 involved developing a Likert-type scale to measure students’ success in areas they felt were important to the construct. Qualitative content analysis identified that HE students and staff collectively defined success as a multifaceted construct, consisting of numerous academic, non-academic and social aspects. These informed the development of a reliable and valid questionnaire for measuring success perceptions in seven of these areas. This was used in the following investigation to assess a range of outcome variables pertaining to student success. Investigation 2 was a longitudinal study assessing the effects of TP and CS on the success, good/poor psychological health and SWB of Year-1 HE students. In line with previous research, excessive or insufficient use of certain TP orientations was associated with, and could predict multiple positive and negative outcomes. For example, Future and Past-Positive orientations were predictive of academic success, perceived student success and SWB. Student psychological problems were associated with a bias towards Past-Negative and Present-Fatalist orientations. Additionally, a new formula for calculating a continuous Balanced Time Perspective (BTP) variable was devised and tested. High levels of BTP were associated with many positive aspects of the HE experience. Strengths were mainly associated with SWB and perceptions of success. However, Hope and Self-Regulation were inversely related with depression, anxiety, stress and negative-affect. Investigation 3 was a follow-up interview study with six student participants, who presented interesting profiles in Investigation 2. They talked about their experiences of psychological ill-health/well-being and student success in relation to TP and CS. Five super-ordinate themes were identified, including ‘Living with negative past experiences’, ‘A balancing act’ and ‘Using my strengths’. Psychological difficulties represent an escalating problem in HE, and student success and SWB are important outcomes. Both TP and CS offer additional understandings of these areas, adding value in academic, practical and theoretical contexts. This research has indicated that interventions focused on TP modification (i.e. developing a BTP) and strength development, may potentially offer preventative mental-illness strategies for susceptible students and enhance their success and SWB.