There is a lacuna in the field of positive psychology as far as the conceptualisation of
influences of environmental contexts on psychological well-being is concerned, and there
is also a lack of credible empirical findings on the dynamics of processes involved. The
aim of the current study was to test various models on the possible mediating role of
subjective perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality in the dynamics of
context and psychological well-being.
Psychological well-being was conceptualised and measured multi-dimensionally
as defined from a general psychological well-being, hedonic, and eudaimonic
perspective. Context was defined in terms of the historical stratification in South African
society by socioeconomic differentials pertaining to race, socioeconomic indices and
infrastructural resources.
An availability sample of 5 14 participants from Potchefstroom (n=384) and
Mafikeng (n=130) completed questionnaires on psychological well-being, subjective
perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality after informed consent was
obtained. Psychological well-being was measured with the Affectometer 2 (Kammann &
Flett, 1983), the Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987) and Satisfaction with Life
Scale (Diener, Larsen and Griffin, 1985). General psychological well-being was defined
and operationalised in terms of the degree of sense of coherence, satisfaction with life
and affect balance; hedonic well-being in terms of the degree of satisfaction with life and
affect balance, and eudaimonic well-being in terms of the degree of sense of coherence
and satisfaction with life. Subjective perceptions of physical health was measure with the
General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Hillier (1979); Agreeableness and
Extraversion as personality factors with the NEO- Personality Inventory - Revised of
Costa and McCrae (1992); and Spirituality with the Spiritual Well-being Scale of
Paloutzian and Ellison's (1979).
The findings indicate, firstly, that perceptions of physical health (article I),
personality factors (article 2) and spirituality (article 3) mediate the relationship between
contexts and psychological well-being. Secondly, that the hedonic model of
psychological well-being (albeit variably conceptualised in article 1 and articles 2 and 3)
overall, yielded the highest amounts of variance. Thirdly, the results also indicated
differences among the two predominantly black and white samples in terms of the roles
played by subjective perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality in the
relationship between contexts and psychological well-being. It is concluded that due
consideration must be given to social context and the dynamics of interaction between
social ecology and individual factors in order to make a meaningful contribution to the
understanding and promotion of psychological well-being. Theoretical and practical
implications of these findings are indicated. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/911 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Temane, Qambeshile Michael |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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