This study, presented in the format of three articles, contributed to the measuring of psycho-social well-being in Afri Twin schools. The literature points to a serious lack of studies measuring the psychosocial well-being of teachers and possible interventions to alleviate their challenges. The context of the study is the Afri Twin project. The Afri Twin project is a collaboration between a British school, a South African town/city school, and/or a school from a township or rural community in South Africa. The intention of Afri Twin is to create camaraderie between school principals, teachers and learners/students in South African and British schools. As the relationships between the different schools develop, schools will have the opportunity to visit one another, exchange experiences and teaching ideas, and gain first-hand experience of the different conditions in which the individual schools function. The first article determined the psychometric properties of the Adapted and Revised Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire (AAROCDQ), and was validated for school climate as experienced by teachers. Participants were 394 school teachers (72 male and 322 female) from 40 schools in South Africa. The AAROCDQ correlated positively with other measures of optimal functioning (The Mental Health Continuum - Short Form MHCSF], the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale [CSE], and the Core Self-Evaluations Scale [CSES]). The internal consistency and factor structure were determined as well as the evidence for concurrent validity. The results of the study indicated that the AAROCDQ was reliable and also indicated construct validity in a sample of South African teachers. It was concluded that further validation and standardisation of the AAROCDQ could be done in mixed method studies as well as that future studies could further analyse the scale on item level to give a more coherent perspective on the psychosocial well-being of teachers. The second article explored the prevalence of well-being in Afri Twin and non Afri Twin teachers. A quantitative survey design was implemented and the sample consisted of 97 Afri Twin teachers (20 male and 77 female) and 297 non Afri Twin teachers (52 male and 245 female) from 40 South African schools (13 Afri Twin and 27 non Afri Twin). The MHC-SF, the CSE and CSES were used to determine the well-being of teachers. The results indicated a moderate to high level of well-being, with an almost significant difference in social well-being and core self-evaluations between Afri Twin and non Afri Twin teachers. It was concluded that the social context of the 'twinning' process in Afri Twin schools could influence the social well-being of teachers positively. The aim of the third article was two-fold. Firstly principals', teachers' and learners' experiences of the Afri Twin project were investigated, and secondly the aim was to develop an intervention for resilience in schools participating in the Afri Twin project. The sample consisted of 158 teachers (42 male and 116 female), 14 school principals (10 male and 4 female), and 65 learners (34 boys and 31 girls). The results indicated that leadership, school climate (culture), the people that are involved, and promoting optimism and self-efficacy through support and sharing are essential for the development or improvement of resilience in schools through the Afri Twin project. The main conclusion from this thesis is that teachers' experience of the school as an environment in which they work is influenced by such factors as social support and sharing that can influence the psychological well-being (specifically social well-being) of the educators. This is indicated by the correlation between the findings in article 3 which support the findings in article 2. The benefits from being involved with a project like the Afri Twin could also influence the resilience of the educators and learners/students. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

One of the great challenges for positive psychology is that academics, researchers and authors are yet to reach agreement on the terminology, constructs and methodology of the various positive psychological concepts and interventions. One such concept that has been ambiguously and often inconsistently conceptualised is happiness. Interventions that are structured around these conceptualisations have produced mixed results, which are attributable to various aspects such as the unidimensional conceptualisation of the concept, inconsistent measurement, psychometric measuring instruments that have not been validated for the population in question, and fragmented intervention methodologies. Research was, therefore, needed regarding happiness and the development of interventions aimed at increasing happiness. Therefore, this thesis aimed to investigate the concept, manifestation, measurement and development of happiness and positive psychological interventions (PPIs) within a tertiary educational environment. A mixed method research approach was followed to reach the research objectives. The first study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of positive psychological assessment measures, and to determine the relationship between flourishing and academic performance within a tertiary educational institution. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used to address this objective. The Mental Health Continuum Long Form, Positive and Negative Affect Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale were administered and indicated acceptable levels of internal consistency. The MHC-LF would need to be adapted for future studies within the tertiary educational environment. No significant correlations could be established between academic performance and flourishing. However, cross-tabulation indicated some evidence of the impact that flourishing/languishing had on academic performance. Individuals with moderate levels of flourishing typically performed in the „above average‟ to „excelling academically‟ range. Languishing individuals performed at the lower levels of the academic performance spectrum. The results indicated that a large number of individuals within this tertiary educational environment were languishing. Flourishing students experienced higher levels of positive affect and satisfaction with life, as well as lower levels of negative affect than their languishing and moderately flourishing counterparts. The second study aimed to investigate the main streams of research on happiness, the approaches/models flowing from these philosophies and the methodology of happiness interventions. A quantitative meta-analysis of the literature was used to address the aforementioned research objective. Seeing that the literature presents with such incongruent findings regarding the effectiveness of PPIs, research was needed to establish how happiness should be conceptualised, which moderating factors should be addressed in this conceptualisation, and what the content of PPIs should be. A qualitative meta-analysis of the literature indicated that happiness is approached from either a hedonic, eudaimonic or integrated approach. These philosophies gave birth to a stream of scientific literature regarding happiness and its various conceptualisations, namely (a) Subjective well-being; (b) Hedonic well-being; (c) Eudaimonic well-being; (d) Psychological well-being; (e) Flourishing, and (f) Authentic happiness. Furthermore, the results highlighted three causes for failing interventions: (a) unidimensional models/approaches towards happiness, (b) targeting the concept of happiness instead of the mediating factors; and (c) fragmented methodological interventions. The study suggested a multidimensional model for happiness and happiness interventions. Furthermore, the study proposed a multifaceted methodology for happiness interventions, comprising self-administered intentional activities, group-administered interventions and individual coaching. The third study aimed to evaluate a PPI aimed at increasing happiness of students in a tertiary educational institution. A longitudinal pre-experimental research design was used to address the aforementioned research objective. Qualitative data were used to explore the findings further. The results indicated that the overall happiness of a student may be increased through developing individuals on both an emotional and psychological level. The results showed some scientific merit to a multifaceted approach towards PPIs. The PPI affected all the aspects conceptualised in this study except for two components of authenticity, namely authentic behaviour and relational orientations. / PhD, Industrial Psychology, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The research on Emotional Intelligence (EI) has advanced considerably over the past 20 years because of the construct’s scientific and practical relevance. However, in South Africa, a measurement instrument of EI that is valid, reliable, standardised, has a consistent factor structure, in a homogeneous working sample and that can be utilised for research and practical purposes is still elusive. EI plays a fundamental role in the quality of service rendered by nurses (Murphy & Janeke, 2009). According to Ogillska-Bulik (2005) the ability to manage one’s own emotions, while having the ability to identify others' emotions, is very important in the nursing environment. The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) has been found as a reliable brief scale for measuring trait EI (Schutte & Malouff, 1998). However, there are different results regarding the factor structure of the S. The first objective of this research study was to conceptualise EI and the factor structure of the SEIS through a literature review. Salovey and Mayer (1990) define EI as a mental ability pertaining to the relationship between emotion and cognition. Other researchers’ definition of EI states that EI is the ability to be conscious of one’s emotions, to evaluate and develop one’s emotions to assist thinking, to comprehend emotions and emotional information, and to manage emotions to sustain emotional and intellectual development in oneself (Bar-On, 2000; Goleman, 1998; Salovey & Mayer 1997). Murphy and Janeke (2009) state it is important that reliable and valid measures of EI must be used in the workplace. Numerous research has been done on the most appropriate, valid and reliable approach for the measurement of EI (Petrides & Furnham, 2000; Van Rooy & Viswesvaran, 2005). The SEIS is the leading brief scale for measuring EI (Petrides & Furnham, 2000). However, there are problems with its factor structures. To summarise: a) Schutte et al. (1998) report a unifactorial structure for the SEIS, b) Austin, Saklofske, Huang, and McKenny (2004) report a three-factor structure. c) Petrides and Furnham (2000); Ciarrochi, Chan, and Bajar (2001); Ciarrochi, Chan, Caputi, and Roberts (2001) and Saklofske, Austin, and Minski (2003) report a four-factor structure. d) Jonker and Vosloo (2009) reported a six-factor structure. The second objective of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the 41-item version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale within a South African nursing environment by means of a confirmatory factor analysis. A quantitative research design was used in this study. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. An availability non-probability sample (N = 290) was taken from hospitals in the Gauteng and North-West Provinces of South Africa. The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale was applied as measuring scale. An exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis) was performed on the data. The data did not fit a unifactor, two-factor or three-factor model based on the model of Austin, Saklofske, Huang, and McKenney (2004). The data fitted the original model of Emotional Intelligence of Mayer and Salovey (1990), best explaining 58.52% of the variance. The results supported a five-factor structure of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale. The five factors were named: Emotion Utilisation; Emotion Management; Emotion Awareness; Emotion Perceiving and Emotion Integration. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study, presented in the format of three articles, contributed to the measuring of psycho-social well-being in Afri Twin schools. The literature points to a serious lack of studies measuring the psychosocial well-being of teachers and possible interventions to alleviate their challenges. The context of the study is the Afri Twin project. The Afri Twin project is a collaboration between a British school, a South African town/city school, and/or a school from a township or rural community in South Africa. The intention of Afri Twin is to create camaraderie between school principals, teachers and learners/students in South African and British schools. As the relationships between the different schools develop, schools will have the opportunity to visit one another, exchange experiences and teaching ideas, and gain first-hand experience of the different conditions in which the individual schools function. The first article determined the psychometric properties of the Adapted and Revised Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire (AAROCDQ), and was validated for school climate as experienced by teachers. Participants were 394 school teachers (72 male and 322 female) from 40 schools in South Africa. The AAROCDQ correlated positively with other measures of optimal functioning (The Mental Health Continuum - Short Form MHCSF], the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale [CSE], and the Core Self-Evaluations Scale [CSES]). The internal consistency and factor structure were determined as well as the evidence for concurrent validity. The results of the study indicated that the AAROCDQ was reliable and also indicated construct validity in a sample of South African teachers. It was concluded that further validation and standardisation of the AAROCDQ could be done in mixed method studies as well as that future studies could further analyse the scale on item level to give a more coherent perspective on the psychosocial well-being of teachers. The second article explored the prevalence of well-being in Afri Twin and non Afri Twin teachers. A quantitative survey design was implemented and the sample consisted of 97 Afri Twin teachers (20 male and 77 female) and 297 non Afri Twin teachers (52 male and 245 female) from 40 South African schools (13 Afri Twin and 27 non Afri Twin). The MHC-SF, the CSE and CSES were used to determine the well-being of teachers. The results indicated a moderate to high level of well-being, with an almost significant difference in social well-being and core self-evaluations between Afri Twin and non Afri Twin teachers. It was concluded that the social context of the 'twinning' process in Afri Twin schools could influence the social well-being of teachers positively. The aim of the third article was two-fold. Firstly principals', teachers' and learners' experiences of the Afri Twin project were investigated, and secondly the aim was to develop an intervention for resilience in schools participating in the Afri Twin project. The sample consisted of 158 teachers (42 male and 116 female), 14 school principals (10 male and 4 female), and 65 learners (34 boys and 31 girls). The results indicated that leadership, school climate (culture), the people that are involved, and promoting optimism and self-efficacy through support and sharing are essential for the development or improvement of resilience in schools through the Afri Twin project. The main conclusion from this thesis is that teachers' experience of the school as an environment in which they work is influenced by such factors as social support and sharing that can influence the psychological well-being (specifically social well-being) of the educators. This is indicated by the correlation between the findings in article 3 which support the findings in article 2. The benefits from being involved with a project like the Afri Twin could also influence the resilience of the educators and learners/students. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Business leaders are increasingly coming to recognise that there is more to business success than technical and cognitive competence. Personnel leadership is proving to be critical for business bottom-line achievements considering that most business outcomes are achieved through human capital. Emotional intelligence can be used to the advantage of organisations by developing an emotional intelligence audit. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim (1998) for Economic Science students from a higher education institution in the North-West Province, South Africa. The psychometric soundness of the SEIS was tested. The general objective of the research is to standardise a psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence and determine the validity of The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (SEIS) (Schutte, et al., 1998). Specific objectives include the conceptualisation of the importance of a standardised psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence in South Africa; the conceptualisation of the nature and evolvement of emotional intelligence measurements in general; determining the validity and internal consistency of the SEIS; and establishing whether any possible group differences in terms of biographical data exist in emotional intelligence. A valid and reliable measure of emotional intelligence could be valuable in the organisation to identify specific EI needs that could be developed through the implementation of EI development programmes. In this context a standardised psychometric instrument of EI could be of use in organisations during the training and development of employees. A cross-sectional method with an availability sample (N = 341) from Economical Science students from a higher education institution was used. The results supported a six-factor model of emotional intelligence, consisting of Positive Affect, Emotion-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-verbal Emotions and Emotional Management. The multi-analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences in terms of biographical data. The results indicated significant differences between gender and language groups. African language groups compared with Afrikaans and English language groups experienced higher levels of positive affect. Females compared with males experienced higher levels of understanding of the emotions of other people. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Cross-cultural assessment in South Africa has become more prominent since the first democratic elections held in April 1994, and stronger demands for the cultural appropriateness of psychological tests have arisen. The use of psychometric testing, including personality assessment in the workplace, is now strictly controlled by legislation, among others the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), the Labour Relations Act (66 of 1995), and the Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998), and the Health Professions Act (56 of 1974). Much controversy has arisen regarding the relevance and applicability of assessment instruments in South Africa. The majority of assessment procedures still make use of imported instruments that are either used in their original or adapted form. Psychological assessment instruments imported from abroad have an insufficient suitability in the multicultural South African context. There are various perspectives regarding the appropriate measurement of personality across cultures. In this research study implicit perspectives of personality, the lexical approach, indigenous psychology and the emic approach were used to determine the personality perspectives of the Tsonga culture in South Africa. The objectives of this study were to investigate how personality is conceptualised in literature, to identify the problems surrounding personality measurement for the South African context, to explore how personality perspectives could be determined and to investigate the personality descriptive terms in the Tsonga language group. A qualitative research design was used to collect the data of this research. A total of 5 502 personality descriptors were obtained through the 1 0-item interview questionnaires. Content analysis was used to analyse, reduce and interpret the data obtained from the participants. The personality descriptors obtained were reduced by removing superfluous words. These personality descriptors were then interpreted and categorised into a total of 109 personality dimensions. These characteristics were categorised into nine clusters, namely Optimism, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Narrow-mindedness, Intelligence, Conscientiousness, Aggressiveness, Dominance and Sociability. The following personality dimensions had the highest frequency: Emotional Stability, Caring, Helpful, Hard working, Advising, Generous, Traditional, Aggression, Recreational, Substance use, Religious, Sociable and Loving. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Business leaders are increasingly coming to recognise that there is more to business success than technical and cognitive competence. Personnel leadership is proving to be critical for business bottom-line achievements considering that most business outcomes are achieved through human capital. Emotional intelligence can be used to the advantage of organisations by developing an emotional intelligence audit. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, and Golden (1998) for employees in the mining industry in South Africa. The psychometric soundness of the EIS was tested. The general objective of the research was to standardise a psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence and determine the validity of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (EIS) (Schutte, et al., 1998). A valid and reliable measure of emotional intelligence could be valuable in the organisation to identify specific EI needs that could be developed through the implementation of EI development programmes. In this context a standardised psychometric instrument of EI could be of use in organisations during the training and development of employees. A cross-sectional survey research method with an availability sample (N = 324) from employees in the mining industry was used. Exploratory factor analysis was used to confirm the construct equivalence of the EIS in different racial pups. The results supported a one-factor model of emotional intelligence. ANOVA analysis was conducted to determine the levels of emotional intelligence in terms of various demographic aspects such as gender, racial groups, language groups, and age groups. The results indicated that there are no significant differences between different demographics aspects and the level of emotional intelligence. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of a shortened version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) in an African context. This self-report questionnaire, referred to as the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory -Revised Form (ZTPI-RF) consists of 20 items representing the five subscales of the original scale, namely: Past-Positive, Past-Negative, Present-Hedonistic, Present-Fatalistic and Future. The ZTPI-RF was completed by participants (N=1050) from urban (n=451) and rural (n=599) areas in the North-West Province of South Africa, together with a number of measures of psychological well-being. These scales, which were included for criterion-related validity purposes, were the Affectometer 2 (short version) (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993) and the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Results regarding the reliability and construct validity of the ZTPI-RF and its subscales were unsatisfactory. Qualitative data was also obtained, and analyzed by means of direct content analysis to help establish a picture of how time perspective prevails in an African context, and to determine whether time perspective is associated with psychological well-being. Qualitative results showed that participants from an African context were strongly oriented toward the present and that social support played the most prominent role regarding participants' attitude toward the present. It was concluded that the ZTPI-RF is, in its current form, not reliable for the determination of time perspective of individuals from an African context, and that a longitudinal qualitative approach might be best suited to obtain information about the nature and dynamics of time perspective in an African context. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

One key focus in the 21st century is adjusting work and personal life in order for individuals to find a rhythm to help them combine work with other responsibilities and aspirations in their personal lives. Over the past few decades it has become evident that work and personal life are interrelated domains and that employed individuals experience interaction between these domains. Although the amount and extent of work-family research studies in South Africa have progressed considerably over the past decade, it is not clear how the experiences of the interference between work and nonwork roles compare to the experiences of employees in other countries. There is also no South Africa instrument that measures the interference between work and different nonwork roles in both directions (work-to-nonwork and nonwork-to-work). This could pose potential problems for organisations and future workfamily studies in South Africa. The objectives of this research were 1) to gain insight into the interaction between work and personal life in the South African context and how South African employees experience this interaction; 2) to develop a new work-nonwork interference instrument that is suitable for the South African context and that addresses measurement and theoretical issues relating to previous work-family instruments; and 3) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument. The empirical study consisted of three phases. During the first phase, exploratory interviews (i.e. 92 interviews) were conducted in order to gather information regarding the interaction that individuals experience between their work and their personal lives. Thereafter, a new instrument that measures work-nonwork interference was developed and tested with a pilot study (n = 245) in order to overcome some of the measurement limitations relating to previous work-family instruments. During the final phase, the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument were tested (Le. construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity and external validity; n = 366). Results from the exploratory phase indicated that South African employees experience various forms of interaction between their work and other dimensions in their personal life (e.g. domestic, leisure, exercise, studies, community, extended family and religion/spirituality). In addition, South African employees experience various stressors in their work environment that contribute to this interaction (i.e. general stressors such as pressure, overload, workload, stressful working arrangements, and strenuous relationships at work, and more occupation-specific stressors such as stressful nature of the job and not being valued in an unsupportive work environment). Additional supportive aspects present in their work environment included supportive work arrangements, supportive relationships at work and occupation satisfaction. Results also indicated consequences specifically related to all the forms of interaction (e.g. time-based consequences, build-up and spillover of emotions, and energy depletion) and consequences that are more related to a specific form of interaction (e.g. mental preoccupation, strain on relationships, managing responsibilities, limiting of work opportunities, energy generation, learned skills). From the exploratory study, very similar findings were obtained and some unique contributions were made to existing workfamily literature. The antecedents mentioned are in line with international literature (physical workload, time pressures, physical stressors, shift work and recipient contact) and the consequences are very similar to categorised consequences reported in international research (i.e. physical, psychological, behavioural, attitudinal, organisational consequences or work, nonwork and health-related consequences). During the second phase a new work-nonwork interference (W-NWI) instrument was developed which differentiates among interference between work and various specific roles in an individuals' personal life (i.e. work-parent interference, parent-work interference, workspouse interference, spouse-work interference, work-religion/spirituality interference, religion/spirituality-work interference, work-domestic interference, domestic-work interference). During the evaluation study various problematic items were eliminated using the Rasch measurement model. The fmal phase included the validation study where the psychometric properties of the new instrument were investigated. The results provided evidence for constrUct, discriminant and convergent validity, reliability and significant relations with external variables. Tills study provides evidence for the psychometric properties of the new instrument, which researchers and managers can use to investigate the specmc interference between work and different nonwork roles in employees' private lives. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.