abstract: Family caregivers are a quickly growing population in American society and are potentially vulnerable to a number of risks to well-being. High stress and little support can combine to cause difficulties in personal and professional relationships, physical health, and emotional health. Siblings are, however, a possible source of protection for the at-risk caregiver. This study examines the relational and health outcomes of gratitude exchange between caregivers and their siblings as they attend to the issue of caring for aging parents. Dyadic data was collected through an online survey and was analyzed using a series of Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Intimacy and care conflict both closely relate to gratitude exchange, but the most significant variable influencing gratitude was role. Specifically, caregivers are neither experiencing nor expressing gratitude on the same level as their siblings. Expressed gratitude did not relate strongly or consistently to well-being variables, though it did relate to diminished negative affect. Implications for theory, the caregiver, the sibling, the elder, the practitioner, and the researcher are addressed in the discussion. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2014

Savouring is the capacity to focus on pleasant experiences in order to intensify and prolong the experience of positive affect. Although the mechanisms and processes of savouring have been studied, the components of its very nature have been largely neglected. The primary objective of this project was thus to develop and validate a taxonomy of savouring comprising seven dimensions: hedonic savouring, and eudaimonic savouring of meaning of life, spirituality, inspiration, self-reflection, appreciation, and gratitude. To achieve this objective, a new measure was developed: the Savouring Configuration Inventory (SCI). In Study 1, 190 participants completed the initial extended version of the SCI, which was reduced and revised on the basis of the results of an exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N=350), the factorial structure of the final version of the SCI, comprising 28 items (4 items/subscales), was successfully tested using a confirmatory factor analysis, and its complementary metric properties (internal consistency, construct, concurrent, and discriminant validity) were documented. The second goal of this project was to examine the associations among motivation, hedonic and eudaimonic savouring, and well-being. Study 3 (N=283) was designed to evaluate the network of relationships between these variables using a structural equation model. Results revealed that intrinsic motivation was associated with hedonic and eudaimonic savouring, while self-determined extrinsic motivation was associated solely with eudaimonic savouring. Eudaimonic savouring was the highest predictor of well-being, although intrinsic motivation was also moderately associated to this outcome. Contrary to hypotheses, self-determined extrinsic motivation and hedonic savouring did not display unique associations with well-being. Although significant correlations were obtained between these constructs, when both forms of motivation and savouring were concurrently tested as predictors of well-being, eudaimonic savouring and intrinsic motivation predominated. The overall fit of the final structural model was satisfactory. Findings from this project hold important fundamental implications, as they contribute original information on the nature and configuration of the dimensions of savouring experiences, and on their associations with motivational antecedents and well-being consequences.

A dissertação é uma pesquisa dos fundamentos filosóficos para o Direito Ambiental. Propondo-se, no primeiro capítulo, a nomear o bem comum ambiental como o fundamento e seus pressupostos antropológicos, políticos e jurídicos, a saber, o antropocentrismo harmônico, o cosmopolitismo e a teoria da justiça realista como instâncias complementares. Por contraste, dialogaremos com os pressupostos rivais: o antropocentrismo individualista, a soberania e o normativismo. O segundo capítulo tratará da aplicabilidade dos conceitos trabalhados anteriormente segundo três casos globais: o Protocolo de Quioto, a distribuição de água e os créditos de carbono. A metodologia aplicada é a análise conceitual dialética. / The dissertation is a research of the philosophical foundations for the Environmental Law. Intending, in this first chapter, to nominate the environmental well being as a fundament and its anthropological presuppositions, political and juridical to know, the harmonic anthropocentrism, the cosmopolitism and the theory of the realistic justice as complemented instances. In contrast, we will dialogue with the presupposed rival: the individualistic anthropocentrism, the sovereignty and the normativism. The second chapter will treat of the applicability of the concepts worked previously according with the three global cases: the Protocol of Kyoto, the distribution of water and Coal credits. The applied methodology is the conceptual dialectics analysis.

Este estudo investigou a relação entre o tempo de prática de meditação e o bem-estar psicológico, controlando para traços de personalidade, assim como a experiência subjetiva dos meditadores acerca dos efeitos de sua prática no seu cotidiano. Os instrumentos utilizados foram o Questionário de Saúde Geral de Goldberg, a Bateria Fatorial de Personalidade e um Questionário Sociodemográfico contendo uma pergunta aberta sobre a percepção dos efeitos da meditação e itens para definição operacional de meditação. A amostra, selecionada por conveniência, constituiu-se de praticantes da meditação passiva - sentada e silenciosa - cuja experiência variou entre um e 420 meses. Os resultados obtidos através das análises de conteúdo quantitativa, de regressão linear múltipla e regressão de Poisson foram convergentes, indicando que a prática meditativa pode produzir efeitos psicológicos positivos. Foi observado que quanto maior o tempo em meses e a freqüência semanal da prática, maior o bem-estar psicológico. Também foi verificada uma interação entre meses e freqüência semanal, sugerindo que para as pessoas que meditam 6/7 vezes por semana, os escores de bem-estar psicológico não diferiram estatisticamente entre os praticantes considerados iniciantes, intermediários e avançados. Extroversão, neuroticismo e realização são os traços de personalidade que possivelmente mediaram o efeito da meditação sobre o bem-estar, sendo que o primeiro teve uma associação positiva com o desfecho e os dois últimos uma associação negativa. Além disso, a experiência subjetiva da prática de meditação, segundo os participantes desta pesquisa, se reflete predominantemente na percepção de benefícios cognitivos e emocionais. Estes achados corroboram outros estudos e apóiam a idéia de que a meditação pode ser uma ferramenta para o cultivo do bem-estar. Por fim, sugere-se que mais estudos sejam realizados no Brasil e que a prática meditativa pode ser considerada uma ferramenta útil para o contexto clínico em saúde mental. / This study investigated the relationship between the length of experience in meditation practice and psychological well-being, controlling for personality traits, as well as the subjective experience of meditators concerning the effects of their practice on their daily lives. The instruments used were the General Health Questionnaire, the Factorial Battery of Personality and a Sociodemographic Questionnaire containing an open question about the perception of the meditation effects and the items for the operational definition of meditation. The sample was selected by convenience and comprised of passive meditation practitioners - sitting and silent - whose experience varied from one to 420 months. The results obtained through quantitative content analyses, multiple linear regression and Poisson regression were convergent, indicating that the meditation practice can promote positive psychological effects. It has been observed that the greater the number of months and the weekly frequency, the greater the psychological well-being. An interaction between number of months and weekly frequency has also been observed, suggesting that for those people who meditate 6/7 times a week, the psychological well-being score did not differ among practitioners considered beginners, intermediate and advanced. Extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness were the personality traits that possibly mediated the effect of meditation on well-being. The first one was positively associated with the outcome, and the other two were negatively associated. In addition, the subjective experience of the meditation practice, according to the participants of the present research, reflects predominantly cognitive and emotional benefits. These findings corroborate other studies and give support to the idea that meditation can be a tool for cultivating wellbeing. Finally, we suggest that more studies should be carried out in Brazil and that the practice can be considered a useful tool for clinical and mental health contexts.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a relação entre o bem-estar pessoal e o uso de estratégias de coping religioso entre crianças. A investigação teve como base dois estudos realizados a partir de uma única coleta de dados. O primeiro estudo refere-se à tradução, adaptação e validação da escala Children´s Religious Coping (CRC) e foi dividido em duas fases: (1) tradução, adaptação e teste piloto (N = 74) e (2) Aplicação e Validação da Escala CRC. Participaram da pesquisa 1612 crianças entre 08 e 13 anos (M = 10,2; DP = 1,47), sendo 54,7% meninas, matriculadas em escolas públicas (54,6%) e particulares (45,4%) do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram realizadas Análises Fatoriais Exploratórias e Confirmatórias para verificar a estrutura fatorial da escala, além de análise da consistência interna. Os resultados indicaram uma composição da CRC com duas dimensões: Coping Religioso Positivo (CRP), formada por 19 itens em três fatores, e Coping Religioso Negativo (CRN), formada por 12 itens em três fatores. Os índices de consistência interna apresentaram bons níveis tanto para a escala geral ( = 0,90), como para as duas dimensões ( = 0,92 para CRP; e = 0,81 para CRN). Pode-se afirmar que a escala apresentou bons indicadores de funcionamento para essa amostra, mostrando-se um instrumento promissor para futuras pesquisas. O segundo estudo teve como objetivo principal avaliar a relação entre o bem-estar pessoal e o uso de estratégias de coping religioso pelas crianças. Foram utilizados como instrumentos a escala CRC adaptada e o Índice de Bem-estar Pessoal para Crianças (PWISC). Através de análises descritivas foram avaliados o índice de bem-estar pessoal e a satisfação com diferentes domínios da vida. Também foram descritas a frequência do uso de estratégias de coping religioso, e as situações de estresse relatadas pelas crianças. ANOVAs indicaram que o índice de bem-estar é maior entre meninos, bem como entre as crianças menores. Em relação ao uso de estratégias de coping, foram encontradas diferenças significativas por idade no uso das estratégias de CRP, indicando que à medida que a idade aumenta, diminui o uso dessas estratégias. As análises de regressão múltipla identificaram a dimensão CRP, especificamente as estratégias relacionadas à crença no apoio e proteção de Deus, como preditor de maior bem-estar, e a dimensão CRN, especificamente as estratégias relacionadas à reavaliação do estressor como uma punição, como preditor de menor bemestar. Conclui-se que as crianças fazem uso de diferentes estratégias de coping religioso ao lidarem com situações de estresse e que esse engajamento parece estar relacionado ao seu bem-estar pessoal. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the personal well-being and the use of religious coping strategies of children. The investigation was based upon two studies made from a single data collection. The first study concerns the translation, adaptation and validation of the Children’s Religious Coping Scale (CRC) and it was divided in two phases: (1) Translation, Adaptation and Pilot Test (N = 74) and (2) Application and Validation of the CRC Scale. A number of 1612 children between 08 and 13 years old (M = 10.2, SD = 1.47), of which 54.7% girls, enrolled in public (54.6%) and private (45.4%) schools of the State of Rio Grande do Sul participated in the research. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factorial Analyses were performed to verify the scale’s factor structure, besides the analysis of the internal consistency. Results indicated the CRC was composed by two dimensions: Positive Religious Coping (PRC), with 19 items in three factors, and Negative Religious Coping (NRC), consisting of 12 items in three factors. The internal consistency indices showed good levels both for the overall scale ( = .90), as well as for the two dimensions ( = .92 for PRC; and = .81 for NRC). It can be stated that the scale showed good indicators of functioning for this sample, demonstrating that it can be a promising instrument for future research. The second study aimed mainly at evaluating the relationship between personal well-being and the use of religious coping strategies by children. The instruments used were the adapted CRC scale and the Personal Wellbeing Index - School Children (PWI-SC). Personal well-being and satisfaction with different life domains were evaluated through descriptive analyzes. The frequency of the use of religious coping strategies and stressful situations reported by children were also described. ANOVAs indicated that the well-being index is higher among boys and between younger children. Regarding the use of coping strategies, significant age differences were found in the use of the PRC strategies, indicating that as age increases, the use of these strategies decreases. The multiple regression analysis identified the PRC dimension, more specifically the strategies related to the belief in the support and protection of God, as a predictor of greater well-being, and the NRC dimension, more specifically the strategies related to the revaluation of the stressor as a punishment, as a predictor of lower well-being. Our conclusion is that children make use of different religious coping strategies to deal with stressful situations and that this engagement seems to be related to their personal well-being.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Increasingly, research studies have revealed that gratitude and psychological well-being are robustly related. In addition gratitude interventions have been successful in increasing facets of well-being in adults and early adolescents. However, less is known about the effects of gratitude on middle adolescent sample groups and their eudaimonic well-being. Further, little is known about the impact that gratitude interventions will have on adolescents living in the South African context. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a four-week gratitude intervention on the psychological well-being (PWB) of a group of middle adolescents in Gauteng, South Africa. Both state and trait gratitude were measured before the intervention as well as their levels of four facets of well-being, namely overall life satisfaction, hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being and the absence of pathology. These levels were measured again after the intervention had been completed. Adolescents (N=230) from two high schools were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n=112) or control group (n=118) based on their assigned class at school. Questionnaires measuring their levels of gratitude and psychological well-being were administered to both groups before and after the intervention. The experimental group received four gratitude exercises consecutively, over a four-week period while the control group received four neutral activities over the same time frame. The data was analysed quantitatively by conducting one-tailed t-tests. In addition, a brief follow-up qualitative study was conducted to assess the participants’ subjective experiences of the intervention. The quantitative results indicated that there were no significant differences in PWB or gratitude between the two groups after the intervention. There were also no significant differences found within the experimental group when the pre- and post-test scores were compared. The qualitative results revealed that the participants found the gratitude intervention to have been enjoyable and helpful, and expressed feeling more grateful and appreciative in general. In addition, many reported that their relationships with others had improved. These findings revealed that the gratitude intervention did not yield statistically significant results however the adolescents’ subjective experience of the intervention was positive. More research is needed to understand the effect of positive psychology interventions among South African adolescents.

A study of the available literature on Workplace Well-being, Positive Organisational Capital and Workplace Trust revealed that enormous potential existed for further research. This is a relatively new field with limited literature and research evidence available. It became very clear from the beginning that the relationships between these constructs could successfully be researched. It was therefore decided to embark on an academic research journey in order to contribute to the existing knowledge available on these constructs within the South African business scenario. This quantitative research was used to obtain more clarity about the relationships between the three constructs and to gather the responses from the research population. This research group consisted of 228 managers from the manufacturing operation of a motor vehicle production company and 224 managers from their National Dealership network. The research sample consisted of 452 managers. Three questionnaires were integrated to develop the composite Workplace Wellbeing Questionnaire and consisted of i) Workplace Well-being questionnaire developed by Parker and Hyett (2011), ii) PSYCAP Questionnaire developed by Luthans, Youssef and Avolio (2007), and iii) Workplace Trust Survey developed by Ferres (2001). The managers (n = 452) responded to a 91–item electronic questionnaire. Seven research questions were formulated and covered areas such as: The content, validity and portability of the measuring instruments; The configuration of the various constructs; Relationships between some of the variables; The effect of demographical data on the research variables and; The building of a research model. The content and the structure of the measuring instruments were assessed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA). These assessments showed that the original measuring instruments are not portable to a culture which is different to the one where they were originally developed. The relationships between the variables were determined by: Pearson product moment correlation; Multiple Regression co-efficient; ANOVA and Cohen’s d Test. The relationship between aspects of Workplace Well-being (Job satisfaction) and trust is a significant finding; so are some aspects of PSYCAP (sense of achievement and optimism) and Trust and Well-being. Trust has shown a definite relationship with Work- place well-being. A structural equation model was built to test the relationships between the elements of Workplace Well-being, PSYCAP and Workplace Trust. No satisfactory fit of the model on the data was obtained, although strong correlations between some of the variables existed. The significance of the findings of this study and the contribution that it makes to the existing theory is seen in the importance of the portability of measuring instruments. Recommendations in this regard have been made in Chapter 5. Various findings have also highlighted the relationships between Workplace Well-being, PSYCAP and Work-place Trust. The importance of future research topics has been recommended and a proposal has been made to consider a longitudinal well-being research study.

The study examined the impact of maternal employment and family life cycle stage on the psychological well-being o£ middle socioeconomic status women. One hundred twenty eight mothers of children at the stages of birth to 6 years, 7 to 12 years and 13 to 17 years, completed a self-report questionnaire. To test the hypothesis of the study, a 3 X 3 (employment X family life cycle stage) analysis of covariance was conducted with age, income, time employed and psychological resources as covariates. Results indicated that middle socioeconomic status mothers employed full-time experienced significantly higher levels of role overload, occupational strain, spouse support and job commitment. A post hoc exploratory analysis using conflict level between commitment to work and parenting, yielded data which indicated that individuals with a large discrepancy between commitment to one role versus the other, experienced the greatest degree of difficulty. Results were evaluated in the light of selective characteristics of the sample. Recommendations for future research included the use of projective assessment to reduce the effect of defensive response styles. A life span approach using the concept of perceived conflict between roles was advanced, instead of the age specific developmental construct of family life cycle stage.

Socialt stöd, och då särskilt från den närmaste chefen kan påverka en individs välbefinnande i arbetet positivt. I denna studie intervjuades sex första linjens teknikchefer om vilka förväntningar de hade på socialt stöd från sina egna närmaste chefer samt vilket socialt stöd de upplevde, här indelat i fyra kategorier: instrumentellt, informativt, värderande samt emotionellt stöd. Vidare undersöktes hur det upplevda sociala stödet påverkade chefernas välbefinnande i arbetet, då främst genom upplevelsen av meningsfullhet och engagemang. Vid analysen hittades de fyra typerna av socialt stöd i både förväntningar och upplevt stöd. Förväntningar på socialt stöd tenderade att anpassas till befintligt stöd. Dessutom framkom att tillit upplevdes vara stödjande, vilket liksom övriga stödtyper ökade välbefinnandet i form av känslor av meningsfullhet och engagemang. Avsaknad av socialt stöd minskade dessa, men kunde ge känslor av frihet. Meningsfullhet skapades även av att arbeta med människors utveckling. Tillit som stödkategori behöver utforskas mer i framtiden.

Yoga är något som idag oftast betraktas som en form av fysisk aktivitet med inslag av meditation och andning. Men filosofin från yoga grundar sig att förena flera olika moment i människors liv för att skapa en helhet. Inkluderat i dessa är inte bara de fysiska elementen utan berör också människors sätt att förhålla sig till sig själv och andra. Syftet med studien var att undersöka människors helhetsupplevelse av yoga, från motivationen bakom till yogans påverkan på livet. Åtta personer deltog i undersökningens djupintervjuer som sedan analyserades systematiskt med meningskoncentrering som metod. Resultatet visade på fem teman som speglar upplevelsen före, under och efter yogapasset: (1) före finns behov av bearbetning, (2) under sker bearbetning och efter nås utvecklad relation (3) till sig själv, (4) till andra och (5) till livet. Denna studie ger ökad förståelse för vad det är i yoga som gör att människor upplever ett ökat välmående.