Indigenising positive psychology in the ‘Handbook of Quality of Life in African Societies’

This book review highlights the main themes of the Handbook of Quality of Life in African Societies (as edited by Prof Irma Eloff from the University of Pretoria), focusing on meaning and language, culture (and positive culture), and social responsibility. The interrelatedness of all five parts of the book (from a macro, meso and micro perspective) are discussed with specific mention of Ubuntu and its relevance in investigating the phenomenon of quality-of-life. The review emphasises the need for exploratory and indigenous research in communities where social association is of immense importance and to contextualise quality-of-life from this perspective. This book is recommended for scholars who wishes to utilise indigenous methodologies and to deeper understand the diverse influences and social impact on the quality-of-life of individuals south of the Sub-Saharan Africa

Impression management within the Zulu culture : exploring tactics in the work context

ORIENTATION : Impression management tactics are utilised differently by people depending on the situation and the others around them. RESEARCH PURPOSE : The purpose of the study was to identify the impression management tactics Zulu people display when they want to impress people in a work context. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : Organisations are competing for talented employees and people who contribute to the return on investment for the organisation. Individuals display impression tactics to influence the perceptions of others in the workplace, especially pertaining to performance appraisals and promotional opportunities. RESEARCH APPROACH, DEIGN AND METHOD : The social constructivism paradigm was employed in conducting this study, following a phenomenological approach. The research sample consisted of 30 Zulu-speaking individuals from various organisations who were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The researcher used thematic analysis to analyse the data. MAIN FINDINGS: The main findings in this study included impression management tactics that are used by Zulu people when attempting to impress people in the work context. The findings were divided into different categories (colleagues and supervisor). Conscientiousness, interpersonal amiability, openness and relational action are the themes that were reported as the most common impression management features people display at their workplace with colleagues. Themes that were reported when impressing a supervisor include conscientiousness, integrity, relational action and skilfulness. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : This study provides organisations with knowledge on the impression management tactics utilised by isiZulu employees. The nature of this information enables management to not misinterpret the use of certain tactics and will lead to more understanding and resilience by organisations and colleagues when working with isiZulu individuals. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : This study contributes to the body of knowledge concerning impression management tactics within the South African context. The findings of this study might assist management to invent tools that are effective to identify impression management tactics, not just in the Zulu culture but within numerous other cultures in the South African spectrum.http://www.sajip.co.zaam2016Human Resource Managemen

Impression management within the Zulu culture : exploring tactics in the work context

ORIENTATION : Impression management tactics are utilised differently by people depending on the situation and the others around them. RESEARCH PURPOSE : The purpose of the study was to identify the impression management tactics Zulu people display when they want to impress people in a work context. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : Organisations are competing for talented employees and people who contribute to the return on investment for the organisation. Individuals display impression tactics to influence the perceptions of others in the workplace, especially pertaining to performance appraisals and promotional opportunities. RESEARCH APPROACH, DEIGN AND METHOD : The social constructivism paradigm was employed in conducting this study, following a phenomenological approach. The research sample consisted of 30 Zulu-speaking individuals from various organisations who were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The researcher used thematic analysis to analyse the data. MAIN FINDINGS: The main findings in this study included impression management tactics that are used by Zulu people when attempting to impress people in the work context. The findings were divided into different categories (colleagues and supervisor). Conscientiousness, interpersonal amiability, openness and relational action are the themes that were reported as the most common impression management features people display at their workplace with colleagues. Themes that were reported when impressing a supervisor include conscientiousness, integrity, relational action and skilfulness. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : This study provides organisations with knowledge on the impression management tactics utilised by isiZulu employees. The nature of this information enables management to not misinterpret the use of certain tactics and will lead to more understanding and resilience by organisations and colleagues when working with isiZulu individuals. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : This study contributes to the body of knowledge concerning impression management tactics within the South African context. The findings of this study might assist management to invent tools that are effective to identify impression management tactics, not just in the Zulu culture but within numerous other cultures in the South African spectrum.http://www.sajip.co.zaam2016Human Resource Managemen

Study demands, study resources and the role of personality characteristics in predicting the engagement of first-year university students

The objective of this study was to investigate significant predictors of student engagement, including study demands, study resources and personality characteristics. First-year university students (N = 512) participated in the study. The findings showed significant relationships between pace and amount of work and cognitive demands with student engagement, although only cognitive demands was a significant predictor of student engagement in the regression analysis. Even though all the study resources were significantly related to student engagement, the only significant predictors in the regression analysis were support from lecturers and opportunities for growth and development. When personality dimensions were included in the fourth step of the regression analysis, only opportunities for growth and development and achievement orientation (a facet of conscientiousness) were significant predictors of student engagement. Demands explained 6 per cent of the variance in study engagement, resources 17 per cent and personality characteristics and additional 11 per cent.Jeanie Cilliers wrote the manuscript as part of her master’s dissertation at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa.The National Research Foundation under reference number ERSA13112658399 (Grant No: 90396).http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajheam2018Human Resource Managemen

Exploring the impact of information and communication technology on employees’ work and personal lives

ORIENTATION : Technology has become part of society’s everyday functioning, changing rapidly and providing widespread mobility. Employees are moving towards a continually connected lifestyle, a situation in which information and communication technology (ICT) seem to have become omnipresent. RESEARCH PURPOSE : The overall objective of this research was to investigate the influence of ICT on employees’ work and personal lives. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : The impact of ICT on the work and personal lives of employees has never been researched before, which motivated the current study. RESEARCH APPROACH, DESIGN AND METHOD : A qualitative research design, with a sample of 25 employees, was followed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, and the interviews were recorded, transcribed, and processed through thematic analyses. MAIN FINDINGS : Five themes with sub-themes were extracted: The positive and negative experiences of ICT both within the work and personal lives of employees, the increased expectations brought about by ICT usage, and the role of ICT on relationships. Findings highlighted that although ICT are generally perceived as positive, employees should make a conscious decision in managing their ICT to decrease the negative impact thereof on their work and personal lives. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : Overall, the general positive experiences of ICT outweigh the negative experiences, and findings almost suggest that as the quantity of communication increased, the quality of conversations decreased. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE ADD : This study provides a holistic understanding of the impact of ICT on the work and personal lives of employees.http://www.sajip.co.za/am2016Human Resource Managemen

Assessing the nomological network of the South African personality inventory with psychological traits

The purpose of this study was to expand internal construct validity and equivalence research of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI), as well as to investigate the nomological validity of the SAPI by examining its relationship with specific and relevant psychological outcomes. The internal and external validity of the SAPI was assessed within three separate samples (N = 936). Using the combined data from all three samples, Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) indicated that the six-factor SAPI model fit proved to be excellent. Measurement invariance analyses showed that the SAPI dimensions in the ESEM model were invariant across gender and race groups. Next, two separate studies explored the associations of the SAPI factors with relevant psychological outcomes. An ESEM-within-CFA (set ESEM) method was used to add the factors into a new input file to correlate them with variables that were not part of the initial ESEM model. Both models generated excellent fit. In Study 1, psychological wellbeing and cultural intelligence were correlated with the SAPI factors within a sample of students and working adults. All of the psychological well-being dimensions significantly correlated with the SAPI factors, while for cultural intelligence, the highest correlations were between Meta-cognition and Openness and Meta-cognition and Positive Social- Relational Disposition. In Study 2, work locus of control and trait anxiety was correlated with the SAPI factors within a sample of adults from the general South African workforce. Work Locus of Control correlated with most factors of the SAPI, but more prominently with Positive Social-Relational Disposition, while Neuroticism correlated strongly with trait anxiety. Finding an appropriate internal structure that measures personality without bias in a culturally diverse context is difficult. This study provided strong evidence that the SAPI meets the demanding requirements of personality measurement in this context and generated promising results to support the relevance of the SAPI factors.The South African National Research Foundationhttp://www.frontiersin.org/Psychologyam2022Human Resource Managemen

Personality and well-being in black and white South African emerging adults

In the last ten years, the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) has been developed as an indigenous measurement of personality for the multi-cultural environment of South Africa. The aim of the SAPI is to assess personality in an unbiased and equivalent way. For the purpose of this study, we used an 82-item version of the SAPI which measures nine factors (Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Facilitating, Integrity, Intellect, Openness, Relationship Harmony and Soft-heartedness)

Psychometric evaluation of the Utrecth work engagement scale (UWES) and Oldenburg burnout inventory (OLBI) within a cement factory

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) within a cement factory. Respondents were 187 employees (males =168, females =19) from a cement factory in the North West province of South Africa. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the structure of the measure and concurrent validity of the measures was also examined. Both measures were two dimensional in structure. Concurrent validity of the instruments was consistent with the theory behind the measures.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2012.10820580http://www.tandfonline.com.nwulib.nwu.ac.za/doi/pdf/10.1080/14330237.2012.1082058

Exploring the meaning and origin of stereotypes amongst South African employees

Orientation: Stereotypes are defined in different ways and also originate from various sources.  Research purpose: To investigate how the employees from selected South African organisations understand and define the concept ‘stereotype’ and what the origins of stereotypes are. Motivation for the study: Individuals hold different perceptions of the same concept. Therefore, different individuals within selected South African organisations may interpret the meaning and origin of stereotypes very differently. This study therefore aimed to discover whether individuals have a shared understanding of the concept of stereotypes and whether they are aware of where stereotypes originate from. Research approach, design and method: A combination of both purposive and convenience sampling was used for the purpose of this study. The sample consisted of individuals working in selected South African organisations (N = 336). Various employment sectors formed part of this study. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to collect data and data analysis was done by making use of thematic analysis. Main findings: The results of this study indicated that people employed in selected South African organisations are familiar with stereotypes and have a clear understanding thereof. Participants in this study have a conscious awareness of the origin of stereotypes. Although not all of the participants had direct experiences with stereotyped groups, they were well aware that stereotypes are also caused by indirect sources. Practical implications/managerial implications: When individuals are aware of where their stereotypes originate, they should actively attempt not to rely on their stereotypes when coming into contact with stereotyped groups. Organisations should educate their employees on the process of stereotypes and exactly what this means and where they originate from. Contribution/value-add: With this study the emic perspective pertaining to the meaning and origin of stereotypes is explored within the South African context. By participating in this study, individuals may become aware of the fact that their perceptions and opinions of others may be based on inaccurate information. This study may encourage individuals to truly get to know someone first rather than relying on their possibly inaccurate stereotypes