Jan Alewyn Nel

Exploring the Personality Structure in the 11 Languages of South Africa

The present study, part of the development of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI), explores the implicit personality structure in the 11 official language groups of South Africa by employing a mixed-method approach. In the first, qualitative part of the study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 1,216 participants from the 11 official language groups. The derived personality-descriptive terms were categorized and clustered based on their semantic relations in iterative steps involving group discussions and contacts with language and cultural experts. This analysis identified 37 subclusters, which could be merged in 9 broad clusters: Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Facilitating, Integrity, Intellect, Openness, Relationship Harmony, and Soft-Heartedness. In the second, quantitative part, the perceived relations between the 37 subclusters were rated by 204 students from different language groups in South Africa and 95 students in the Netherlands. The outcomes generally supported the adequacy of the conceptual model, although several clusters in the domain of relational and social functioning did not replicate in detail. The outcomes of these studies revealed a personality structure with a strong emphasis on social-relational aspects of personality.

Implicit personality conceptions of the nguni cultural-linguistic groups of south africa

The present study explored the personality conceptions of the three main Nguni cultural-linguistic groups of South Africa: Swati, Xhosa, and Zulu. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 116 native speakers of Swati, 118 of Xhosa, and 141 of Zulu in their own language. Participants provided free descriptions of 10 target persons each; responses were translated into English. Twenty-six clusters of personality-descriptive terms were constructed based on shared semantic content and connotations of the original responses. These clusters accounted for largely identical content in all three groups. The clusters represented an elaborate conception of social-relational aspects of personality revolving around the themes of altruism, empathy, guidance, and harmony. The patterning of responses suggests that the individual is viewed as inextricably bound to his or her context of social relationships and situations. The findings are discussed with reference to the Big Five model of personality and the culture and personality framework.

The South African personality inventory (SAPI) : a culture-informed instrument for the country's main ethnocultural groups

We present the development and the underlying structure of a personality inventory for the main ethnocultural groups of South Africa, using an emic-etic approach. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) was developed based on an extensive qualitative study of the implicit personality conceptions in the countrys 11 official languages (Nel et al., 2012). Items were generated and selected (to a final set of 146) with a continuous focus on cultural adequacy and translatability. Students and community adults (671 Blacks, 198 Coloreds, 104 Indians, and 391 Whites) completed the inventory. A 6-dimensional structure (comprising a positive and a negative Social-Relational factor, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness) was equivalent across groups and replicated in an independent sample of 139 Black and 270 White students. The SAPI correlated highly overall with impression-management aspects, but lower with lying aspects of social desirability. The SAPI social-relational factors were distinguishable from the Big Five in a joint factor analysis; the multiple correlations with the Big Five were .64 (positive) and .51 (negative social-relational). Implications and suggestions for emic-etic instrument and model development are discussed.

Positive Side of the Work-Family Interface: A Theoretical Review

This narrative review considers the positive side of the work-family interface. It surveyed a range of relevant literature (1960–2012) using search terms on the positive work-family interface. From the literature it is evident that various concepts (e.g., work-family enhancement, work-family positive spillover, work-family facilitation and work-family enrichment) are used to conceptualise the positive side of the work-family interface. Further research is needed to explore the positive side of the work-family interface. Findings showed that only a few studies on the positive work-family interface phenomenon have been reported from the South African population, but there is still a huge gap in the South African literature regarding the positive work-family interface.

Emotional intelligence and wellness among employees working in the nursing environment

This studys sought to establish the relationship of emotional intelligence, job characteristics and wellness within the nursing environment. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A random probability sample (N=511; females =96.70%; white =77.10%) was taken from hospitals in three South African provinces. Nurses (enrolled auxiliary (20.50%), enrolled staff (12.30%), registered (49.30%)), unit managers (7.60%), process managers (0.60%) and paramedics (0.20%) were included in the study. They completed the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Maslach Burnout Inventory—Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and Work Evaluation Scale (WES). The statistical analysis on the variables was conducted by the use of the SPSS and AMOS programs. Descriptive statistics and the Cronbach alpha coefficients for each variables were computed. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) for the variables of emotional intelligence, job characteristics and wellness were conducted. The proposed structural model shows that there are clear paths between job demands and job resources; job demands, emotional intelligence and work wellness; job resources, emotional intelligence and work wellness. The study showed a clear indication that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence, job characteristics and work wellness within a nursing environment.

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.

Work-to-family enrichment: Influences of work resources, work engagement and satisfaction among employees within the South African context

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of work resources, work-to-family enrichment, engagement and job satisfaction among employees in the South African context. Data were collected from 627 participants (females=67%, Afrikaans or English speakers=81.8%). The analysis utilised multiple regression analysis to predict work resources and work-to-family enrichment dimensions from work engagement dimensions, job satisfaction and career satisfaction. In the multiple regression analyses, work-related development opportunities, work autonomy and work-family affect were significant predictors of work vigour. Furthermore, work-related development opportunities, work autonomy, work-family affect and work-family perspectives were significant predictors of work dedication, job satisfaction and career satisfaction. Results support the idea that participation in one role may enrich the quality of life in the other role and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the positive side of the work/family interface.

Qualities of work-related well-being in selected South African occupations

This study investigated the structure of work-related well-being in four occupational groups in South Africa. The participants were 4 006 employees, namely educators and administrative personnel (n = 2501), insurance industry personnel (n = 613), and correctional services personnel (n = 892) from across South Africa. The participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Job Demands-Resources Scale and the Organisational Stress Screening Tool (ASSET). The data was analysed by employing the SPSS program version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were determined for each dimension and for each occupation, while product-moment correlations were conducted to determine the inter-relationships between the variables. The results showed that the dimensions of work-related well-being of personnel in different occupations in South Africa are commonly affected by high job demands and insufficient resources. The employees showed higher levels of exhaustion, indicating that job demands could contribute to burnout. The exhaustion levels could further be indicative of a lack of support from the organisations and inadequate growth opportunities

Confirming the Factor Structure of the 41-Item Version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale

The main aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the 41-item version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale within a South African nursing environment. An availability non-probability sample (N =290) of nurses from hospitals in the North-West and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa were taken. Participants completed the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS). The data were analysed by employing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) via AMOS. The data fitted the original model of Emotional Intelligence of Salovey and Mayer (1990), best explaining 58.52% of the variance. The results supported a five-factor structure of the SEIS. The five factors were named: Emotion Utilisation; Emotion Management; Emotion Awareness; Emotion Perceiving and Emotion Integration.

Conflict management and job characteristics of nurses in South African public hospitals

This study sought to determine whether job demands and job resources predicted conflict handling styles among nurses within South African public hospitals. A convenience sample of 205 nurses were included (males = 10.7%; age range 46 to 60 years = 38.5%, experience of 5 years and more = 70.8%, African = 92.2%). They completed Rahims Organisational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI–II: Rahim, 1986) and a job characteristics measure developed for this study. Data were analysed to assess which job demands and resources predicted which conflict handling styles. From the results, time demands, crisis management and colleague support predicted the use of an avoiding style, whereas workload, time demands, job security, feedback and colleague support predict the use of the integrating style. Time demands and payment predicted the use of the obliging style, while workload, crisis management and payment predicted the use of the dominating style. The compromising style was predicted by colleague support. It seems from the findings that conflict is frequently predicted by time demands.