Delene Visser

The Relationship of Parental Attitudes and Expectations to Children's Mathematics Achievement Behaviour

This study concerns the nature of the influence of parents on the mathematics achievement and participation of early adolescent children. The subjects were 1605 Afrikaans-speaking seventh and ninth grade students whose parents were also invited to participate. Student measures were the perception of the encouragement, expectations and interest of parents in themselves as learners of mathematics. Also measured were parental attitudes such as confidence regarding mathematics, personal and general usefulness of mathematics, the stereotyping of mathematics, and expectations for their children. Although parents agreed on the general usefulness of mathematics, fathers had significantly more positive attitudes toward mathematics than mothers. Males were favoured, both with regard to their perceptions of the attitudes of parents and the actual expectations of parents. No support was found for the hypothesis that children model their behaviour on that of parents, whereas parental expectations proved to be important predictors of mathematics achievement behaviour, especially for females.

Validation of a test battery for the selection of call centre operators in a communications company

Our aim was to determine whether personality and ability measures can predict job performance of call centre operators in a South African communications company. The predictors were personality variables measured by the Customer Contact Styles Questionnaire, Basic Checking and Audio Checking ability tests. These measures were completed by 140 operators. Supervisors completed the Customer Contact Competency Inventory for the operators as a measure of job performance. Additional criterion data were utilised by obtaining performance statistics regarding call handling time and quality of responding. Correlations and multiple regression analyses revealed statistically significant small to medium effect size correlations between the predictors and criteria.

The Validity of the Senior South African Individual Scale-Revised (SSAIS-R) for Different Population Groups

The Senior South African Individual Scale-Revised (SSAIS-R) was developed jointly for coloured, white and Indian pupils. The functioning of the scale for a sample in which the three population groups were represented proportionally is described in the test manual. In the present study the validity of the scale for each group was investigated by performing factor analyses and by obtaining correlations with other intelligence tests and examination scores. The results demonstrated the construct and predictive validity of the SSAIS-R for each group. Although the factor structures corresponded for the groups, coefficients of congruence indicated that the construct being measured differed to some extent for some age groups. Differences in correlations with external criteria between the various groups imply that the value of the scale for classification according to intellectual level and for the prediction of academic achievement also varied to some extent for the respective groups. The scale may safely be used in educational situations to differentiate between pupils within any one population group. However, the results of the study should be kept in mind when norms are used to differentiate between members of the three population groups.

Analysis of Themes and Statistical Techniques: A Review of the past Decade of the South African Journal of Psychology

This review of articles published in the South African Journal of Psychology over the past 10 years includes analyses of themes, theoretical versus review contributions, and statistical techniques used in research articles. It was found that a fair range of themes was covered, with topics relating to clinical/counselling psychology, developmental psychology and personality psychology receiving most attention. Comparatively few articles dealt with theory development. In research contributions the use of basic statistical techniques was clearly favoured above more sophisticated methods of data analysis. No significant changes in the use of statistical techniques occurred over the past 10 years. The results were compared with similar analyses of American journals and general implications of the findings are discussed.

Analysis of Sample Selection, Sample Composition and Research Design: A Review of the past Decade's Contributions to the South African Journal of Psychology

This review of research published in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) between 1979 and 1988 included analyses of populations, methods of sample selection, some aspects of sample composition, types of research design employed and approaches to knowledge building. Altogether 149 articles (containing 159 studies) were reviewed. Accessible populations were defined in 67% of the contributions, but in only 3% of the studies were useful descriptions of these populations provided. Only 18% of the studies made use of randomized sample selection procedures while 25% did not explain the procedure used to select their samples. Explicit recognition of population and sample limitations in drawing conclusions was found in only 7% and 19% of the studies respectively. Also, 31% of all samples were drawn from student populations. Eighty-three per cent of the studies were intra-culturally oriented, but nearly half of these made use of only white samples. A fairly small number of cross-cultural studies (17%) were recorded. Research designs most frequently adopted were correlational type studies (45%) while the favoured approach to knowledge building was to extend findings (57%) rather than to test theory or replicate prior research. A comparison with a similar analysis of the American Educational Research Journal revealed that mostly only minor differences exist between the two journals. Other topics addressed included an examination of trends over time, the implications of using non-randomized samples, the low incidence of cross-cultural studies and the limited attention paid to replication approaches to knowledge building.

Sex Differences in Adolescent Mathematics Behaviour

This study concerns the explanation of sex differences that typically occur from adolescence onwards and favour males in achievement and participation in mathematics. In the absence of conclusive biological evidence, social, emotional, and attitudinal factors were investigated in this regard. The subjects were 1 605 Afrikaans-speaking Std 5 and Std 7 students and 2 506 of their parents. Cognitive measures included mathematics achievement and several aptitude tests. Also measured were attitudinal variables such as confidence and enjoyment of mathematics, perception of the attitudes of significant others towards self, personal and general usefulness of mathematics, and the stereotyping of mathematics. For Std 7 students, but not for Std 5 students, significant differences favouring males were found in spatial abilities and several attitudinal variables. The intention to continue participation in mathematics was accurately predicted by attitudinal variables in the case of Std 7 females, but not males.

Work stress, work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.

Emotional Intelligence and leadership in a South African financial services institution

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness among senior leaders in a South African financial services organisation. The sample consisted of 973 participants. A convenience sample was used because the leaders were part of a strategic organisational initiative that included the completion of the measurement instruments used for the current study. The participants completed the Bar-On EQ-i, a measure of emotional intelligence, and the leadership effectiveness data were obtained from an organisation specific Multi-rater that accessed self-ratings, peer and subordinate ratings, as well as manager ratings in terms of leadership behaviours linked to organisational worldviews of leadership effectiveness. Partially due to the large sample size, the results showed that there were statistically significant correlations between emotional intelligence and the leadership variables as measured for the leaders, but the prediction value between these variables was not practically significant.

Dimensions of Social Well-Being in a Motor Manufacturing Organisation in South Africa

The study examined the psychometric properties of the 15-item version of the Social Well-being Scale (SWBS-15: Keyes, 1998) for a South African sample with diversity in culture. The SWBS-15 and a biographical questionnaire were administered to employees in a motor manufacturing organisation (N = 203). The five-factor structure of social well-being obtained previously in Western studies, were not replicated. Instead, we found three factors with acceptable levels of internal consistency emerged through exploratory factor analysis. Significant differences regarding social well-being were obtained between groups that differed in terms of their marital status and job levels. The results suggest that social well-being in South Africa might be operationalized differently than it is currently operationalized in traditional western measurements.

Die verband tussen interpersoonlike behoeftes en konflikhanteringstyle

The relationship between interpersonal needs and conflict-handling styles. Various factors such as behavioural tendencies, interpersonal preferences and personality characteristics play a role in conflict-handling styles. The aim of this investigation was to determine the relationship between interpersonal needs and conflict-handling styles. Opsomming Verskeie faktore soos gedragstendense, interpersoonlike voorkeure en persoonlikheidseienskappe speel n rol in konflikhantering. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die verwantskap tussen interpersoonlike behoeftes en konflikhanteringstyle te bepaal.