In this investigation it is assumed that Indians, who constitute a
minority group in this country, are definitely confronted with more complex problems than their
White counterparts and furthermore, that their problems are at least as complex of those
experienced by Blacks in South Africa. Apart from his race, the Indian in South Africa also
differs from his White and Black fellow-citizens in respect of his culture, traditions, customs
and sometimes even of his language. This fact means that the TAT tests, which were adapted for
Blacks in South Africa, cannot be applied without further ado to the Indian population group.
The point of departure in this investigation is to develop a projective technique, similar to
that of the TAT-Z, that can be adjusted to suit Indians and to deal with the problems
experienced as a result of the new cultural demands that are imposed on this group. A further
aim is to determine, by means of a newly constructed picture personality test, the degree of
acculturation that still appears to be present among Indian South Africans, as well as to
identify some personality characteristics. The latter can be used as a guideline in the choice
of an occupation or job. Since Indian women are entering the labour market to an increasing
extent, it was considered desirable to involve them in the test programme as well. With this
aim in mind, 213 men and 195 women who are representative of the Indian population, were tested
with the newly constructed Picture Personality Test for Indian South Africans (PPT-ISA). For
the purposes of this experiment, the two survey groups were divided into five biographical
variables, viz marital status, age, religion, qualifications and socio-economic status. A
frequency distribution of positive, negative and ambivalent responses of all respondents, to
all the constructs was determined, according to which the findings were analysed with the aid
of various statistical techniques. The investigation reveals, in particular, that older people,
as opposed to younger ones of both sexes, perform better in the test. It was also found that
married people have a greater sense of duty and responsibility than unmarried persons; that an
Indian woman's religion has a considerable influence on her response to certain constructs,
whereas this phenomenon is not found in the case of Indian men. A factor analysis which was
carried out indicates that three identifiable factors could be found, viz: ? *Men:- Factor I -
Attitude towards authority, Factor II - Self-concept, Factor III - Self-assertiveness, ?
*Women:- Factor I - Self-concept, Factor II - Submissiveness, Factor III - Attitude towards
authority. It was furthermore shown that most constructs possess specificity, with the result
that justifiable conclusions can be drawn from constructs. Construct validity investigations
that were carried out indicate that the measuring instrument possesses a considerable degree of
validity. A rater reliability investigation also revealed that high reliability coefficients
were obtained, which implies that the test can be used with confidence. It would therefore
appear that the PPT-ISA is a useful instrument that can be applied in the selection and
placement of persons applying for vacancies in the labour market. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/3056 |
| Date | January 1980 |
| Creators | Swart, Daniel Johannes. |
| Contributors | Behr, A. Leslie. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | other |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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