D.Phil. / “This thesis is a study about life, broken relationships, friendships, adapting to change and personal growth. It is a study about nurturing oneself and developing those qualities within oneself that will ensure a life of quality, harmony and inner peace. Autoethnography is an unconventional research method that is seldom used in qualitative research circles – the social sciences or human resource management spheres in South Africa. The contents of this thesis will be presented to an audience of social psychologists, social scientists, human resource managers, academics, school principals, teachers, parents, and divorcees, couples contemplating divorce, youth leaders and personal, interpersonal and professional leadership facilitators. The intention is to provide the reader with the opportunity to learn vicariously through the reading of the stories of other human beings, to identify with these stories and, as a result, to feel motivated to effect personal and social change. Reading about others enables us to learn more about ourselves and to feel in community with other human beings. This work presents an autoethnographic account of divorce and the emotional ramifications of this experience. Performance in the workplace is routinely compromised when individuals within the workplace are emotionally distressed. This thesis aims at highlighting the way in which coping strategies may motivate personal growth that will, in turn, enable the individual to adapt positively to change while performing optimally in the workplace. This work is set in the teaching environment of a primary school. The stories presented illustrate the myriad issues that are laid bare when worlds drift apart. Each story highlights challenges that will need to be addressed during the divorce process. The issues addressed in this thesis include love, compassion, leadership, values, principles, friendship, self-esteem, ego, selfexpression and forgiveness. The successful resolution of each challenge and the subsequent learning process will result in personal growth and a pervasive feeling of inner peace and harmony.

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Syftet med denna uppsats är att utveckla en fördjupad förståelse för flickors relation till idrott i Moshi, Tanzania. Jag ville veta mer om hur en verksamhet arbetar för flickors möjligheter att utöva idrott. Jag ville också veta mer om hur verksamhetens personal och flickorna själva beskriver flickornas idrottande och dess betydelse för dem. Jag har valt kvalitativa metoder, såsom semistrukturerade intervjuer och en observation. För att uppnå studiens syfte genomfördes intervjuer med personal i en verksamhet. Jag har också gjort en gruppintervju med tjejer från ett netbollslag. Även en observation under en netbollsträning har gjorts. För bättre förståelse av ämnet har den insamlade datan analyserats genom tidigare rapporter och forskning samt teorin om social konstruktivism och begreppet självkänsla och empowerment. Utifrån resultatet i denna studie har det bekräftats att det finns vissa skillnader mellan flickor och pojkars idrottande i Moshi. Flickor möjligheter att utöva idrott är begränsad. Detta är kopplat till flera olika faktorer inom det tanzaniska samhället. Vidare framkommer det att möjligheter att utöva idrott finns. I skolor och andra organisationer får flickorna möjlighet att delta i idrott. Vidare har det bekräftats att idrotten har en positiv effekt på flera olika sätt. Idrottens betydelse har beskrivits med både positiva och negativa effekter för de flickor som deltar i idrottandet. Effekter som ökat självförtroende och empowerment är exempel på positiva effekter som idrotten medför. En annan positiv effekt som har beskrivits är vikten av idrott för sexualiteten. Exempel på negativ effekt är exkludering. / The aim of this essay is to develop an in-depth knowledge of girls’ relationship to sports in the city of Moshi, Tanzania. I would like to know more about how one organization are working for girls’ opportunities of practice sports. Also, I would like to know more about how staff and the girls from the organisation describe girls practice of sports and its meaning to them. I have chosen qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews and one observation. To achieve the aim, I have conduct interviews with staff at one organisation. I also have done one group interview with girls from a netball team. Also, one observation during one netball training has been done. For better understanding of the subject, the collected data have been analysed through previous researches and the theory of social constructivism and the concept self-esteem and empowerment. According to the results of this study, it has been confirmed that there´s some differences between girls´ and boys' sports in Moshi. Girls opportunities of practice sports are limited. This is linked to several different factors within Tanzanian society. Furthermore, it appears that opportunities of practice sports exist. In schools and other organisations, girls are given the opportunity to participate in sports. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that sport has a positive effect in many ways. The meaning of sports has been described with both positive and negative effects for girls who participate in sports. Positive effects such as increased self-esteem and empowerment are examples of described effects. Another positive effect which has been described is the importance of sport for the sexuality. Examples of a negative effect is exclusion.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the associations between body image, self-esteem, experiences with weight stigma, and fat bias in male and female young adults. Data were collected via a Qualtrics questionnaire using recruitment fliers posted on social media. Results suggest that female’s experience greater expectations in body size and image, and the higher the BMI the poorer the body image, self-esteem, and the greater the number of experiences with weight stigmatization. Implications for working with young adults with excess body weight will be discussed.

Homeless youth face numerous risks. Data on 602 homeless youth from the Midwest Homeless and Runaway Study and binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with their participation in risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, the effects of abuse/neglect and three potential moderating resiliency indicators, namely self-esteem, parental warmth, and parental monitoring, on having sex before adulthood and thinking about trading sex for food or shelter were examined. While none of the three resiliency indicators had the hypothesized moderating effects, controlling for abuse/neglect and various sociodemographic characteristics, parental monitoring had a direct, negative effect on having sex before adulthood, and self-esteem and parental warmth had direct, negative effects on thinking about trading sex for food or shelter. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This study will further the base of research concerned with the phenomenon of self-esteem and its relationship to self-disclosure. The view one has of self significantly affects attitudes, behaviors, evaluations, and cognitive processes. By correlating the self-esteem measure with a pen and paper measure of self-disclosure, and a behavioral measure of self-disclosure, we will have a better understanding of the relationship self-esteem has in regulating or influencing what we disclose of ourselves to others. Also, we can determine if one's reported disclosures are a measurement of one's actual disclosures. This study examined whether self-esteem influences an individual's readiness to self-disclose. It would make intuitive sense that we should seek to understand conditions that affect the degree to which individuals are more or less likely to disclose information about themselves. In this way, we will be better equipped to promote and maintain relationships. Research has suggested that disclosure promotes relational growth. If we better understand the conditions that affect levels of disclosure, we can establish deeper, more committed relations with others, as well as communicate more effectively. Self-esteem refers to an individual's personal judgement of his or her worth. This construct was operationalized by using the Index of Self-Esteem, ISE. Self-disclosure is any message about the self that a person communicates to another. It implies that in some situations an individual chooses how much or how little to divulge. This construct was operationalized by using Viii the Disclosiveness/Disclosure Scale-RSDS, and also by having subjects rate their actual disclosures: BSDl - openness; BSD2 - comfort; and BSD3 - level (See Appendices A,B,& C).

The study of self-esteem has spanned more than a century, with theorists approaching it from many and varied standpoints. This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity, self-esteem and academic achievement in grade 4 children at a private school in South Africa. A correlational research design was used to investigate the relationships between the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, 2nd Edition, the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children, and Academic Achievement. The results indicated a statistically significant positive correlation between self-esteem and academic achievement (r = 0.420). Correlations were noted between levels of physical activity and physical self-concept (r = 0.486) and between academic achievement and intellectual and school self-concept (r = 0.562). Future research beyond merely correlational analysis would provide more insight into the nature of the relationships. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

The impact of micro-finance on the lives of the poor is a hotly debated issue filled with controversies and inaccuracies. The literature review on the benefits of micro-finance indicates that early debates were mostly based on heart-warming anecdotes and case studies, with little empirical study on its actual impact. Thus, despite the heated debate on micro-finance, there is still little understanding on the true empirical impacts of microfinance, particularly its psychological impacts on the poor. This study investigated the relationship and impact of micro-finance on self-esteem and self-efficacy. The study was conducted using a non-experimental research strategy (within-subjects design) and quasiexperimental strategy (pre-post-test non-equivalent control group). Two sampling methods, systematic and convenience sampling were used to select participants. A total of 264 pre-test and 159 post-test participants took part in this study. Data were collected using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and General self-efficacy scale. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was employed to measure the relationship between micro-finance, self-esteem and self-efficacy. The MANCOVA was used to investigate the impact of the provision of micro-finance on self-esteem and self-efficacy. The results not only showed that micro-finance is positively related to self-esteem and self-efficacy, but also showed that the provision of micro-finance led to an increase in the self-esteem of the recipients. The study further revealed a decline in the self-esteem of those who were declined micro-finance and highlighted the covariates that influenced this relationship. In light of these results, practical and theoretical implications affecting micro-finance practitioners, researchers and recipients are identified. Suggestions for future research are made based on the improvement of current methodologies, inclusion and use of valid control groups, the use of different sampling methods and larger sample sizes. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted