bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘White Excellence and Black Failure’: The Reproduction of Racialised Higher Education in Everyday Talk
Authors: Robus Donovan , MacLeod Catriona
Published: March 2013

Since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, much effort has been expended on overcoming the institutionalised racism that characterised apartheid. The transformation of higher education, particularly with regard to the merging and incorporation of institutions, is such an example. This article is an analysis of discourses on race emerging in the talk of students and staff during the incorporation of a historically white satellite campus (Rhodes University East London) into a historically black university (University of Fort Hare). The argument, which relies on Essed's notion of everyday racism, infused with insights from discursive psychology, is that higher education institutions are racialised through the intricate interweaving of macro-level processes and discourses that recur in everyday talk and practices. In their talk, the participants in the study persistently assigned racialised identities to the institutions (Rhodes is white and Fort Hare is black) and invoked a ‘white excellence/black failure’ discourse. ‘White excellence’ folds in on, and is reproduced by, the desirable, modern, urban space and an appeal to Euro-American standards. Institutions and individuals are positioned as being able to overcome ‘black failure’ by moving into white space and through intense personal labour.
Healing Processes in Trauma Narratives: A Review
Authors: Kaminer Debra
Published: March 2013

Re-tellings of the trauma story are a standard component of most current therapeutic interventions with trauma survivors. However, the exact therapeutic processes whereby trauma narratives may facilitate change are not always clearly explicated in the literature. In order to identify these processes, a review was conducted of the published literature on those psychotherapeutic interventions for trauma that centralise the role of the trauma narrative in the recovery process. The review indicates that six therapeutic processes have consistently been proposed through which producing a trauma narrative as part of the therapy process may facilitate recovery from post-trauma pathology: emotional catharsis; the creation of linguistic representation; the habituation of anxiety; empathic witnessing of injustice; developing an explanatory account; and the identification of purpose and value in adversity. The role of the therapist during the trauma re-telling may differ in important ways, depending on the specific therapeutic process that the therapist and client are concerned with at a particular point in therapy. The implications for trauma counsellors, and for future research, are discussed.
The Role of Spirituality as a Mediator for Psychological Well-Being across Different Contexts
Authors: Temane Q. Michael , Wissing Marié P.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to determine whether spirituality mediates between context and psychological well-being. Context was defined in terms of differentials pertaining to race, socio-economic indices and infrastructural resources. An availability sample of 514 participants from Potchefstroom ( n = 384) and Mafikeng ( n = 130), North West Province, completed measurements on spirituality and psychological well-being. Regression analyses indicated the viability of relationships among context, spirituality and psychological well-being, and differences were observed between the two contexts in the amount of variance explained. Structural equation models showed that spirituality mediates the relationship between context and psychological well-being.
Students' Mental Models of Positive Mood and Self-Regulation in Learning
Authors: Human-Vogel Salomé
Published: March 2013

This study explored first-year students' beliefs about the relevance of positive mood to self-regulation. Students were supplied with the definitions of ten constructs relating broadly to aspects of general health (Physical health), positive mood (Psychological well-being, Emotional response, Hope, Explanatory style, Self-Esteem) and self-regulation (Self-regulation, Self-efficacy, Motivation, Intelligence) and asked to indicate whether they believed a causal relationship to exist between pairs of constructs, and in which direction the causal relationship was perceived. An interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) approach was followed to extract a composite mental model of students' beliefs about positive mood and self-regulation. Findings indicate that students perceive positive mood constructs to be causally related to aspects of self-regulation. A mental model was extracted that depicted students' beliefs about positive mood and self-regulation as a complex system consisting of four interlinked feedback systems, namely Input states, Evaluatory mechanisms, Future perspectives and Active participation. Constructs associated with positive mood (Psychological well-being and Explanatory style) were identified as primary driver and primary outcome respectively.
A Milestone for South African Psychology
Authors: Kagee Ashraf
Published: March 2013

This issue of the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) focuses on health psychology. In addition to a special contribution from one of the world's leading health psychologists, it represents the efforts of a variety of South African behavioural scientists in addressing theoretical and empirical aspects of this emerging sub-discipline of psychology. Covering issues that include adherence to medication and behavioural regimens among patients with chronic illnesses, the behavioural and ethical aspects of HIV vaccine trial enrolment, and stress, coping, and adjustment among medical patients, the articles showcase research projects located at the interface of psychology and health. The aim of this edition of SAJP is to call attention to the potential contribution of psychology to health and health care. It is hoped that it has succeeded in achieving this aim.
Psychological Approaches to the Connection of Health and Behaviour
Authors: Leventhal Howard , Musumeci Tamara J. , Leventhal Elaine A.
Published: March 2013

Although Health Psychology was recognised as a speciality area by the American Psychological Association in 1978, research publications within its domain appeared in the 1930s and earlier. These publications focused on a variety of topics such as treatment for stuttering and rehabilitation from neurological disorders. Current topics in health and behaviour cover a much wider array of issues, and behavioural health research has been described by many investigators as ranging ‘from the cell to society’. This is an ambitious caption for any discipline and it is impossible to cover all aspects of the discipline in this brief summary. The first section of this article, ‘Pathways from society to cell’, describes three themes that characterise much of contemporary behavioural health research. The second section provides a thumbnail sketch of two behavioural health topics: research aimed at disease prevention (primary prevention) and research on stress management, which examines the biological pathways for prevention and the management of existent disease. The third section focuses on the self-management of chronic illness (secondary prevention). It provides a brief overview of research spearheaded by our laboratory and by investigators in laboratories elsewhere. The section pays special attention to the theoretical issues involved in generating a psychological model of health behaviour. We conclude with a brief comment on how these theoretical issues might apply to behavioural health research in emerging nations.
Biopsychosocial Coping and Adjustment of Adult Female Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients
Authors: Fouché Paul , Gouws Candice , Cloete Paddy , Naidoo Sherina
Published: March 2013

This study describes the biopsychosocial coping and adjustment of adult female Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients in managed health care. The non-probability convenience sample consisted of 36 adult women aged between 18 and 60 years, recruited at a managed health care facility in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, and who volunteered to become part of this study. A biographical questionnaire and two paper-and-pencil measures were used to collect the data. The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was used to identify the coping resources used by the participants and the Personal, Home, Social and Formal Relations Questionnaire (PHSF), was used as a measure of biopsychosocial adjustment. The biographical questionnaire screened important demographic information essential for the contextual interpretation of results. Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients were used in the data analysis. The sample perceived themselves as having slightly lower than average levels of coping resources as well as slightly below-average levels of adjustment. Social resources were more readily relied on as a means of coping, and superior adjustment was also indicated in terms of interpersonal and social functioning. A positive correlation was found between patients' coping resources and their adjustment.
Doing Time: Clinical Psychologists' Experience of Community Service in a Prison Placement
Authors: Rohleder Poul , Miller Myra , Smith Robyn
Published: March 2013

In South Africa, graduating health professionals are required to do a compulsory year of community service before being able to register with their respective professional boards as independent practitioners. Community service posts for clinical psychologists were introduced in the Department of Correctional Services in 2005. The authors were among the first batch of clinical psychologists doing their community service within the Department of Correctional Services. Most publications on psychology in prisons tend to focus on diagnostic issues, models of therapeutic intervention, and forensic theory, with few articles focusing on organisational issues. The existing literature describes work within these organisations as particularly challenging. This article presents the authors' reflections on their experience of working in correctional centres. They highlight the institutional challenges faced, namely working with limited resources, in an unsafe environment, with an unclear professional role, and a lack of institutional support. They go on to discuss the emotional challenges faced, as they dealt with high levels of anxiety, fear, isolation, anger, and helplessness. The authors raise concerns about using newly qualified, inexperienced professionals to expand the health care service in South Africa without providing adequate institutional support and supervision. Reservations are presented about the appropriateness of placing community service psychologists in prisons, without appropriate supervision and institutional support.
Wahiduddin Khan and Peace in Contemporary Islamic Thought
Authors: Seedat Mohamed
Published: March 2013

Despite a resurgence of the view that the religious sciences and Islam are antithetical to the secular sciences and to secularised thought respectively, a reading of contemporary Islamic literature on peace and war reveals a great deal of resonance with peace psychology. As in peace psychology, much of Islamic thought is concerned with the theory and praxis of peacemaking and peacebuilding, and with the prevention of collective and structural violence. In the interest of encouraging dialogue between the religious and secular sciences, this article introduces readers to contemporary Islamic scholarship focused on collective violence, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. Special attention is given to one contemporary Islamic scholar, Wahiduddin Khan, and his faith-based ideas on peace promotion. Wahiduddin Khan's works on peace, representative of a socio-normative approach to social justice, are examined alongside a reading of Islamic perspectives on knowledge and human nature. By way of conclusion, the parallels between Islamic and peace psychology perspectives are noted, and a brief call is made for a study of the influences of faith-based approaches in current peace initiatives across different regions of the world.
‘Building a Wail around Themselves’: Exploring Adolescent Masculinity and Abjection with Photo-Biographical Research
Authors: Blackbeard David , Lindegger Graham
Published: March 2013

This study examined the male identity ‘positions’ of South African adolescent boys in relation to the unconscious, dialogical, and discursive construction of masculinities. Multi-method approaches were used within a qualitative methodology to generate triangulated data consisting of 371 photographs, individual interviews, and focus group discussions. The participants were 29 boys aged 15 to 17, drawn from a rural and an urban school in KwaZulu-Natal. Our findings suggested that the male peer group was a crucial context for the construction of masculine ‘acceptability’ that involved performative acts of displayed toughness, risk-taking, and emphasised heterosexuality. Norms of ‘acceptability’ were organised around the visible objectification of girls through ‘non-relational heterosexuality’. Race identities played a significant role in the construction and subjectivity of masculinity, and there were changing constructions of masculine identities in relation to race identities, particularly in the context of a ‘multiracial’ urban school. Adolescent boys sometimes experienced significant distress in response to processes of alienation and homophobic harassment that were enacted in peer-group cultures. Crucial in our discussion of racialised identities and homophobia was the notion of abjection, the social and unconscious process whereby iterated and disavowed otherness becomes the means by which the boundaries of acceptability are policed. Participants in this study situated, negotiated, and defended multiple subject positions at varying distances from an illusory ‘acceptable’ masculinity through social and unconscious processes such as abjection, projection, and denial.
Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Translation of the 16PF5 into an African Language
Authors: van Eeden René , Mantsha Tshifhiwa Rebecca
Published: March 2013

A Tshivenda version of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire Fifth Edition (16PF5) was developed using a back-translation design. The translated version was administered to a Tshivenda-speaking sample. Analyses were done at an item level, specifically in terms of the contribution of the items to the reliability of the 16 primary factors. Results indicated that many of the items would have to be excluded if the aim were to achieve acceptable reliability, and even then the reliability coefficients would remain low. In the case of a number of the ineffective items, translation changed the meaning of the items because of the absence of an equivalent concept in the target language, difficulty in translating idiomatic expressions, potential confusion due to the use of the negative form, and translation errors. Trends that indicate cultural differences in the manifestation of constructs were also observed and these were related to cultural norms (e.g., the expression of emotions) and experiential factors (e.g., job-related experience). A literal translation of the questionnaire proved to be insufficient and the findings of this study need to be considered in further adaptations of the test. The theoretical and methodological issues highlighted here have implications for the translation of this questionnaire into other African languages as well as for the adaptation of personality questionnaires in general.
The Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement: An Early Instance of Psychology in South African Courts
Authors: Louw Johann , O'Brien Catherine
Published: March 2013

Solitary confinement has a long and appalling history in South Africa, since its introduction in the 1950s. The general history of the relationship between psychology and law in this country tends to overlook the way in which solitary confinement under the so-called 90-day Act provided an early instance of psychological expertise being called upon in legal trials. Two psychologists in particular, Ronald Albino at the University of Natal and Kurt Danziger at the University of Cape Town, became embroiled as expert witnesses in political trials about the psychological effects of solitary confinement on detainees under security legislation. Albino's work has been published (to some extent), but very little is known about the testimony of Danziger, and its effects. This article discusses the evidence that Danziger gave in the trial of Cape Town academic Neville Alexander, and its place in the history of forensic psychology in this country.
Moving beyond Statutory Ethical Codes: Practitioner Ethics as a Contextual, Character-Based Enterprise
Authors: Burke Alban , Harper Marcel , Rudnick Hilton , Kruger Gert
Published: March 2013

Practitioner ethics is a complex issue that invokes questions regarding the basis of morality and the nature of ethical decision making. It is argued that the current professional code of conduct and training models based on it are too simplistic and do not capture the complexity of real-life ethical dilemmas. Most current ethical codes are too linear and do not incorporate decision hierarchies, nor do they aim at educating would-be practitioners. A revision of the current South African code of conduct for psychologists is proposed that transcends the present focus on statutory and authoritarian principles. Recommendations are also made for improving the ethical training of practitioners, starting with improved teaching of ethics and the cultivation of an ethical character.
Teaching Research Methodology: Implications for Psychology on the Road Ahead
Authors: Wagner Claire , Maree David
Published: March 2013

This article examines the ways in which academics who teach undergraduate research methodology courses conceptualise research and scholarship and the role these aspects play in the way they construct their courses. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine academics who have been intimately involved in constructing social science research courses at South African universities. Carspecken's (1996) critical hermeneutic method was adapted and applied to the interview material. Four beliefs held by participants on how and why their course curricula came into being are presented. The first and second beliefs relate to the position of some of the participant academics as expert researchers and also expert teachers of research. The third belief is that the construction of curricula is affected by what has traditionally been taught to students about research, but also by severe criticisms of historical content. Political repositioning in South Africa is the fourth belief held by participants about what has shaped research courses. Academics in psychology need to take cognisance of the fact that methodological debates in the social sciences and current thinking about knowledge and learning are pointing to new directions in how we should train students to study the human realm. If we want to remain relevant to the social world in which we live, we need to discuss these directions and forge a new way of acting in this world.
Job Characteristics, Optimism, Burnout, and ILL Health of Support Staff in a Higher Education Institution in South Africa
Authors: Rothmann Sebastiaan , Essenko Nadia
Published: March 2013

The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between job characteristics, burnout, optimism, and ill health. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of 334 support staff members of a higher education institution in the North West Province of South Africa. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, a Health questionnaire, the Job Characteristics Inventory, and the Life Orientation Test-Revised were administered. The results of the study showed that job demands (overload) and a lack of job resources contributed to burnout. Burnout, in turn, mediated the effects of job demands and a lack of job resources on ill health. Dispositional optimism had a direct effect on exhaustion and cynicism. However, dispositional optimism did not interact with job demands or job resources in affecting exhaustion and cynicism.
Lifting the Veil: Experiences of Gay Men in a Therapy Group
Authors: Nel Juan A. , Rich Eileen , Joubert Kevin D.
Published: March 2013

Group psychotherapy remains an under-utilised treatment modality in South Africa. Similarly, there is paucity of local research on sexual orientation and psychological well-being. This article attempts to make sense of the potential contribution of therapy groups not only to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) sector, but also to South African society more generally. Informed by a longitudinal study conducted between 1995 and 2003, this article evaluates whether a Gauteng-based therapy group that has been in existence since 1995 indeed meets the needs of its predominantly gay male members, has an impact on their well-being, and can be considered effective in empowering members to deal with various issues in their lives. The study employed a triangulation approach and combined both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Results indicate that the therapy group, hosted under the auspices of the non-profit organisation, OUT LGBT Well-being, received high positive ratings from a purposive sample of 40 members who previously participated in the group. This study confirmed earlier findings that indicated that, due to marginalisation and the threat of discrimination, many gay individuals are prone to experiencing perceived rejection by society, self-devaluation, identity confusion, hiddenness and isolation, excessive self-reliance, lack of trust, control issues, and difficulties in familial interactions. Positive changes reported by participants as a result of their therapy group experience include increased self-acceptance and self-confidence, a heightened sense of identity, increased tolerance in relation to others, increased honesty including disclosure of sexual orientation, and social integration.
Gender and the Quality of the Leader-Member Exchange: Findings from a South African Organisation
Authors: Milner Karen , Katz Lesley-Anne , Fisher James , Notrica Valerie
Published: March 2013

Traditional leadership approaches have tended to examine leadership solely from the leaders' perspective. Past research has also assumed the existence of a ‘general leadership style’, which a leader displays toward all subordinates. However, there are more modern, alternative approaches to leadership that emphasise the importance of the exchanges between leader and follower. One conceptualisation central to the understanding of leadership practices is the leader–member exchange model. This model was adopted in the present study as a theoretical framework from which to start developing an understanding of gender and leadership within a South African context. Leader–member exchange focuses on the individual dyadic relationship between supervisors or managers and each of their subordinates, and emphasises the differences in the manner in which a supervisor behaves toward different subordinates. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of gender on the quality of leader–member exchange relationships. The research was conducted on a sample of 29 individuals comprising two mixed gender groups, each supervised by a different supervisor (a male-supervised group and a female-supervised group). The findings revealed that males experienced a more positive leader–member exchange relationship under male supervision and females experienced a more positive leader–member exchange relationship under female supervision. Also, a significant interaction was found between gender of supervisor and gender of subordinate, thus emphasising different patterns of exchange between the two groups.
Innovation in Teaching Undergraduate Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand: Coping with Diversity
Authors: Laher Sumaya , Thatcher Andrew
Published: March 2013

In this collection of short reports — the first such collection to be published in the South African Journal of Psychology — we introduce a range of innovations in the teaching of undergraduate psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand. Following as it does on the recent Teaching of Psychology in South Africa conference, we hope that this collection will help to maintain the renewed interest in and enthusiasm for undergraduate teaching in psychology, and lead to many similar efforts in future.
Students' Perceptions of Efficacy and Preference for Two Lecture Formats
Authors: Greenop Kirston
Published: March 2013

Active and collaborative learning can be facilitated in large lectures through structured and well-planned interventions such as small group work (Felder, 1997). This may be an effective strategy as it encourages students to become more critical and responsible in their learning. However, students may not prefer this method or view it as useful, which could lead to hostility and obstruction of the methodology. This report details an evaluation of student perceptions of two lecture approaches: traditional lecturing and lectures using ‘small group’ work. Students preferred the ‘small group’ work and perceived it to be useful to their learning. Themes that emerged from the analysis complemented social constructivist literature.
Teaching Research and Statistics at Undergraduate Level: The RDA Tutorial Programme
Authors: Laher Sumaya , Israel Nicky , Pitman Michael
Published: March 2013

Students enter university with huge variances in terms of research and mathematical background, resulting in difficulty in levels at which a research and statistics module can be taught. This is further compounded by the fact that most students registering for the psychology course in research design and analysis (RDA) at the University of the Witwatersrand have little or no mathematical background and quite often experience a high level of anxiety in relation to statistics. It is within this context that the RDA tutorial programme was conceptualised and developed. Since its inception in 1994, the programme has been used effectively to support students on the RDA course. This short report presents the rationale and structure of the programme as well as data evaluating its effectiveness.
Reviewing Whiteness: Theory, Research, and Possibilities
Authors: Green Meredith J. , Sonn Christopher C. , Matsebula Jabulane
Published: March 2013

This article is a review of the concept of whiteness and how the power and privilege of whiteness is reproduced within societies such as Australia and South Africa. As well as providing a broad overview of whiteness, our aim is to highlight and establish dialogue about how research on whiteness may contribute to decolonisation and work towards social justice. The review begins by outlining the meanings and complexity of whiteness. Having established some parameters for understanding whiteness, the second part of the article focuses on how whiteness reproduces itself. Three different, but related, practices or mechanisms through which whiteness is reproduced have been identified in the literature. These are knowledge and history construction, national identity and belonging, and anti-racism practice. In conclusion, we briefly discuss how we are investigating whiteness further in relation to pedagogy and applied research. While this article is not aimed at providing a complete review of whiteness, it does provide a background against which we can start thinking differently about racism, race relations, and anti-racism. These different ways of thinking include interrogating power and privilege in the analysis of racism, which in turn may lead to more effective and critical action addressing racism.
As the Postcolonial Moment Deepens: A Response to Green, Sonn, and Matsebula
Authors: Steyn Melissa
Published: March 2013

Green, Sonn, and Matsebula's (2007) article is useful in helping to establish and develop whiteness studies in South African academia, and thus to shift the academic gaze from the margins to the centre. The article is published in the wake of three waves of international whiteness studies, which successively described whiteness as a space of taken-for-granted privilege; a series of historically different but related spaces; and, finally, as part of the global, postcolonial world order. Green, Sonn, and Matsebula's (2007) contribution could be extended by more fully capturing the dissimilarity in the texture of the experience of whiteness in Australia and South Africa. In South Africa whiteness has never had the quality of invisibility that is implied in the ‘standard’ whiteness literature, and in post-apartheid South Africa white South Africans cannot assume the same privileges, with such ease, when state power is overtly committed to breaking down racial privilege.
Tactical Reversal or Re-centring Whiteness? A Response to Green, Sonn, and Matsebula
Authors: Stevens Garth
Published: March 2013

Green, Sonn, and Matsebula (2007) offer critical whiteness studies as a potential form of resistance against the strategic relations of power that constitute racism. While there may be utility in applying and extending international work on whiteness in the South African and Australian contexts, it is important to observe some cautions. First, whiteness manifests differently across contexts, and the type of comparison performed by Green et al. may at times elide important differences between, for example, contexts where whiteness has historically always been on the defensive versus contexts where it has not. Second, whiteness studies runs the risk of uncritically accepting white identity self-articulations. Third, whiteness studies may be incorrectly perceived as a ‘silver bullet’ for understanding and combating racism, rather than as a complementary and often secondary critical tool for anti-racist praxis.
Refining the Review of Whiteness: A Reply to Ratele, Stevens, and Steyn
Authors: Matsebula Jabulane , Sonn Christopher C. , Green Meredith J.
Published: March 2013

We welcome the responses offered by Ratele (2007), Stevens (2007), and Steyn (2007) to our article reviewing whiteness. The commentaries provide a more nuanced and sensitive analysis of whiteness, particularly in relation to the history and context of South Africa. While whiteness studies is most certainly not the only, or even the most important, tool for understanding and opposing racism, the responses by Ratele (2007), Stevens (2007), and Steyn (2007) serve to bolster our conviction that a critical interrogation of whiteness is an important resource in continuing to develop effective approaches to anti-racism.
Nature as ‘Abject’, Critical Psychology, and ‘Revolt’: The Pertinence of Kristeva
Authors: Olivier Bert
Published: March 2013

Today nature is put under tremendous pressure through human, including technological, activities — so much so that some haveraised the question of nature's (and all living creatures') survival. It seems as if the world is on a slippery slope, sliding towards its own destruction. Even critical thought and practice seem powerless to affect those in power, whose leadership seems: to bear decisively on whether the current situation can be improved or not. This tends to induce pessimism. On the other hand, Heidegger's philosophy of technology, and especially Kristeva's psychoanalytical thought, inspire hope that, whatever the odds may be against such a possibility, at least it is conceivable that humankind may resurrect the culture of ‘revolt’. This could recuperate nature from the periphery of human concerns where it has, arguably for a considerable time, occupied the non-position of what Kristeva calls the ‘abject’, and restore it to the formerly revered realm that has engendered (and still does) the emergence of all life on earth. A critical psychology that situates individual subjects in the encompassing context, not merely of technophiliac society but of a society crucially dependent on nature, can contribute substantially to nature-sensitive social practices.
An Overview of Research on Positive Psychology in South Africa
Authors: Coetzee Sanet , Viviers Rian
Published: March 2013

The paradigm of positive psychology was publicly launched by Martin Seligman in his Presidential Address to the American Psychology Association in 1998. Since then, the scientific study of optimal human functioning gained new momentum. This article provides an overview of research on positive psychology in South Africa. The article explores general trends and the main developments in the field, internationally as well as nationally. South African research in the paradigm of positive psychology was categorised according to a framework developed for the purposes of this article. Results indicate frequencies of South African research undertaken over the last 36 years. Possible future directions for research in the field are pointed out and integrated with recommendations from prominent South African and international authors.
What Contributes to Fortigenic Appraisal of Inordinate Demands? Everything!
Authors: Strümpfer D. J. W.
Published: March 2013

The construct of appraisal of inordinate demands is reviewed. A diversity of variables that contribute to fortigenic appraisal is introduced, with each described and illustrated, the purpose being to increase awareness of how all-embracing influences on appraisal are. Although this is done in a reductive and linear way, relationships between variables are emphasised. A subsidiary purpose is to highlight fortigenesis, which concerns the origins of strengths. A third purpose is to point out systemic implications of emergence through inter-participation. At the bodily level, neuro-anatomical, and neuro-chemical factors are considered. Genetic versus/and environmental influences are introduced and discussed. Cognitive variables are touched upon, with particular attention to schemas and stereotypes. Emotions are illustrated in terms of awe as an emotion. Personality variables are dealt with in terms of traits, characteristic adaptations, and identity. Some consideration is given to cultural variables. Spirituality and religion are briefly noted. To conclude, lifespan development is also touched on. Finally, with an emphasis on systems thinking, complex systems — and emergence from them — are considered to indicate how all of the ‘spheres’ presented are interactive and inter-participatory.
The Relationship between Religious Orientation and Pressure in Psychology I Students at the University of the Witwatersrand
Authors: Laher S.
Published: March 2013

This study considers the relationship between religious orientation and pressure in 494 first-year Psychology students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Religious orientation is defined according to Allport's concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation and was measured using the Allport-Ross Religious Orientation Scale-Revised. Pressure is a concept used by Weiten to define the everyday life stress experienced by individuals and was measured in this study using Weiten's Pressure Inventory. The influence of religious affiliation on religious orientation and pressure was also explored. Results revealed few significant differences between intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation and the types of pressure experienced. Religious affiliation significantly affected religious orientation but had no influence on pressure. These results are discussed in relation to the literature on religion and mental health and well-being.
Substance Abuse and Psychological Well-being of South African Adolescents
Authors: Visser Maretha , Routledge Leigh-Anne
Published: March 2013

This research aimed at identifying patterns of substance abuse among South African adolescents and exploring the relationship between psychological well-being and substance abuse. Psychological well-being was assessed with selected items of the Bar-On EQ-I and Diener's Life Satisfaction scale. Self-reported substance abuse patterns of 1 918 learners between the ages of 12 and 19 from 13 schools in Tshwane were recorded. Schools were selected to represent the population composition of the area. It was found that substance abuse (current alcohol use, excessive alcohol use, and use of illicit drugs) increased with age and that nearly twice as many males as females abused substances. Language group was found to be a determining factor with regard to current and excessive use of alcohol; however, it was not found to influence drug use. An analysis of variance showed that adolescents who used drugs had significantly lower levels of psychological well-being and life satisfaction. The same was not found for excessive use of alcohol. The results can contribute to a better understanding of substance use behaviour and to identifying adolescents who may be at risk of abuse.
Invading Pure Space: Disrupting Black and White Racially Homogenised Spaces
Authors: Alexander Lameez
Published: March 2013

Despite widespread abolition of racial segregation, division on the basis of race remains pervasive within many formally integrated societies. This study aims to observe the effects of penetrating segregated spaces within the catering halls of two student residences at a multiracial university in South Africa. Research confederates were deployed to infiltrate specific tables usually occupied by either black or white occupants. The effects of same-race and cross-race infiltration were observed across ten different conditions comprising variations in race and number of confederates. Descriptive analysis revealed a highly ordered spatial organisation of black and white seating patterns. In both dining halls, cross-race infiltration with a racially homogeneous group of confederates had the most notable effects on black and white students' reactions to infiltration. Persistent re-segregation and the use of space as a means of reinstating racial boundaries between black and white students are discussed.
Selection Bias in Virtual Intergroup Contact: Do Ambiguity and Self-Interest Moderate Ingroup Preference?
Authors: Louw-Potgieter J. , Nunez D.
Published: March 2013

Cross-race contact is thought to decrease prejudice if it occurs under the correct conditions. However, people who already have negative attitudes towards other races may structure their social environments so as to avoid contact. We predict that self-interest and ambiguity of the situation will influence this strategy of avoidance. The study presented made use of a computer-based tool which manipulated self-interest and task ambiguity in three team selection situations. The results (N = 818) showed that, for tasks with high ambiguity, participants preferred to select own-race members, but, contrary to expectation, low-ambiguity tasks produced an even greater degree of own-race bias. When self-interest was considered, tasks that implied material consequence led to more ingroup bias than tasks that had low material consequence. We concluded that the preferred team selection strategy was one of avoidance. This bias persisted even in situations where selecting a more competent high-contact team would have been in the participants' interest.
When My Friend's Friend is a Police Officer: Extended Contact, Crossed-Categorisation, and Public-Police Relations of Black and White People
Authors: Eller Anja , Abrams Dominic , Viki G. Tendayi , Imara Dionne A.
Published: March 2013

Crossed-categorisation and extended contact are two different bases for improving intergroup relations. Crossed-categorisation refers to the crossing of two dichotomous social dimensions, resulting in four groups (double ingroup, double outgroup, and two mixed groups). The extended contact hypothesis proposes that knowledge about ingroup–outgroup friendships can lead to more positive intergroup attitudes. The present research combined extended contact and crossed-categorisation to test whether black and white university students' view of the police, perceived racism of police, desired closeness to police, and willingness to join police were improved through extended contact with a black (or white) police officer via a black (or white) acquaintance (four possibilities). Double-outgroup extended contact for both white and black participants, and mixed-group extended contact for whites (showing a social exclusion pattern), were associated with worse public–police relations. In contrast, doubleingroup extended contact for whites, and mixed-group extended contact for blacks (showing a social inclusion pattern) were associated with improved relations.
Emotional Stress and Coping Strategies in South African Clinical and Counselling Psychologists
Authors: Jordaan Ilse , Spangenberg Judora J. , Watson Mark B. , Fouchè Paul
Published: March 2013

This study aimed to explore psychologists' emotional stress levels, as manifested in anxiety and depression, their coping strategies, and the relationship between stress and coping strategies. A stratified random sample of 238 South African clinical and counselling psychologists completed internet surveys that included a biographical questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Brief Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced (Brief COPE). According to category cut-off points in the manuals, results indicated that 56.3% of participants reported above average anxiety levels, while 54.2% were mildly depressed. A combination of the coping strategies of self-blame, behavioural disengagement, denial, a lack of humour, self-distraction, a lack of acceptance, venting, and substance use significantly predicted anxiety. A combination of substance use, self-blame, self-distraction, denial, and a lack of seeking instrumental support significantly predicted depression. The results suggest that South African psychologists fail to manage their emotional stress as manifested in depressive and anxiety symptoms. A coping programme for South African psychologists in practice and training is recommended. In addition, psychologists are encouraged to nurture their emotional health through psychotherapy and support groups. The limitations of sampling in terms of possible psychological sophistication and self-selection, as well as the need to further differentiate the work settings of psychologists, are discussed.
An Historical Perspective on Submariner Selection in the South African Navy
Authors: van Wijk Charles
Published: March 2013

It is 40 years since the South African Navy (SAN) first started with the psychological selection of their submariners. This article traces the development of the selection process over the past four decades. Initially, it involved an intensive selection process, which included pen-and-paper tests, questionnaires, interviews, and skills assessments. Later validation of the process, as well as practical constraints, produced a number of consolidated pen-and-paper test batteries. The advent of democracy and the changing composition of the SAN forced the navy to make drastic changes to the selection model and to introduce a more fair system of psychometric assessment of individuals in the larger South African society. These effects are discussed before the article concludes with a view towards the future.
The Relationship between Bullying Behaviours and High School Dropout in Cape Town, South Africa
Authors: Townsend Loraine , Flisher Alan J. , Chikobvu Perpetual , Lombard Carl , King Gary
Published: March 2013

Bullying is generally defined as largely unprovoked, negative physical or psychological actions perpetrated repeatedly over time between bully/ies and victims. Bullying can lead to fear of school, absenteeism, and stunted academic progress, which in turn are precursors to dropping out of school. This paper's aim is to report rates of bullying behaviour, and to investigate whether bullying behaviour predicts high school dropout in Cape Town, South Africa. Stratified, proportional sampling yielded 39 from a total of 214 schools, from which 40 learners were randomly selected from the combined class list of two, randomly chosen, Grade 8 classes in each of the 39 participating schools. Thus 1 470 learners (from a total of 181 018) completed a self-report questionnaire in 1997, and were followed-up in 2001. This report focuses on those learners who had dropped out of school between 1997 and 2001 ( n = 776; 55.2%). Univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between bullying behaviours and dropout, controlling for factors known to be strongly related to high school dropout, namely age, socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity, being raised by a single parent, repeating a grade, and substance use. Odds ratios and 95 per cent confidence intervals were calculated, taking the clustering of schools into account. In 1997, 52% of the boys and 37% of the girls had been involved in bullying behaviours. Of the three bullying categories (bully, victim, and bully—victim), girls but not boys in the ‘bully—victim’ category were significantly more likely to drop out of school (OR 1.82; CI 1.09–3.04, and when controlling for confounders OR 2.60; CI 1.32–5.10). The pervasiveness of both high school dropout and bullying behaviour points to an urgent need for future research, and intervention in these areas.
The Fallible Phallus: A Discourse Analysis of Male Sexuality in a South African Men's Interest Magazine
Authors: Schneider Vera , Cockcroft Kate , Hook Derek
Published: March 2013

This article presents a discourse analysis of the constructions of male sexuality in the South African publication Men's Health. The focus of the analysis was a series of monthly featured articles on best sexual practices and behaviour. Since the magazine's content appears to confront men with, on the one hand, the construction of the ideal, potent phallus, and, on the other hand, the fallibility inherent in attempting to live up to this ideal, the overarching discourse in the texts was termed the ‘Fallible Phallus’. By stipulating ideal sexual experiences and then juxtaposing these descriptions with the threat of those moments not occurring, a paradox is created in the texts between the phallic dominance of masculinity and the anxieties and insecurities that may result from sexual failure. The Fallible Phallus discourse is a synthesis of four subsidiary themes derived from the texts, namely the male sexual drive theme, the inadequacies of male sexuality, the rule book of sexual practices, and the problematic nature of female sexuality. In the discussion of these themes, it is suggested that the texts use male sexual performance as a yardstick for assessing level of masculinity.