News
Volume 2, Number 4
October 2012
Enabling optimal expression of individual, social and institutional
potential
Special points of interest:

The good news of bad research
results

Managing talent

Activity in old age: How much is
optimal?

Spotting rainbows

Prestige lectures

South Africans are fairly happy

H0 or not H0, that is the question

Sub-programme news

MPlus user group

Optentia outputs
Inside this issue:
The good news of bad
research results
2
Managing talent
3
Activity in old age: How
much is optimal?
4
Spotting rainbows in a
rainbow country
5
Prestige lectures
6
South Africans are fairly
happy
9
H0 or not H0, that is the
question
11
Sub-programme news
14
Publications and events
30
Optentia: Make It Happen!
The year 2012 will be remembered for many good reasons.
Optentia has been approved
as a research focus area of the
North-West University (click here
to see Optentia as a research
entity at the North-West University). During 2012 Optentia also
released a video about its research. Click here to watch the
video on You Tube.
Looking back at our activities
and outputs during 2012, it is
clear that this was a significant
year for Optentia. Not only did we
double our research outputs and
increase the quality of our research, we also invested a lot of
time in developing the competence of Optentia researchers
and putting support systems into
place, in terms of infrastructure,
as well as training and development, and research networks.
During 2012, Optentia presented 18 workshops and lectures
and almost 400 people attended
these events. Regarding quantitative research methods, some of
our staff members participated in
training in Mplus, we bought four
additional licences for Mplus and
four computers suitable for running Mplus software. Concerning
qualitative research, Prof. Linda
Theron is implementing new
methodologies in resilience research.
What are the greatest challenges
for Optentia for 2013?
First, we have to conduct
even more relevant research and
implement solutions to promote
the optimal use of potential of
individuals, organisations and
communities. Three areas need to
be urgently addressed, namely
education, entrepreneurship and
unemployment. The recent strikes
in South Africa and the turmoil
associated with that showed the
need for positive relationships. As
Nelson Mandela said: “We can
build a society grounded on
friendship and our common humanity - a society founded on
tolerance”.
Second, we need to constantly upgrade our research competence.
Third, we need to develop
better relationships with the
users of our research. More specifically, we have to translate our
research findings into interventions to promote mental health in
South Africa.
Fourth, we should capitalise
on opportunities to collaborate
even better with our international
networks.
Optentia would like to thank
all our participants and specifically our extraordinary professors, Rens Van De Schoot, Ruut
Veenhoven, Hans De Witte, Michael Steger, Sesh Paruk and
Lidewey Van De Sluis for their
contributions to our focus area.
Let us dream it, plan it, work
it and make it happen in 2013!
News
Page 2
For a worthwhile existence
The Good News of Bad Research Results by Michael Steger
“…it is better to
find out that a
flimsy intervention does not
work than to get
lucky and get
significant
results from an
approach that
lacks the
strength to
really help
people...”
I am a living example of what
psychologists call "cognitive
restructuring". By that I mean, as
a researcher, I must be able to
reframe failed studies as useful
information and inspiration for
future, better studies. This is
particularly important and relevant to my decade-old quest to
find reliable, implementable interventions to increase meaning
in life. The known ways of increasing meaning in life are either enormously time-intensive
(such as psychotherapy) or wildly minimalistic and likely ephemeral (such as viewing photos of
trees in the order of the seasons
compared to viewing them out of
order). What I am seeking is a
middle ground between intensive,
one-on-one therapy with people
who are struggling to surmount
psychological ailments and experimental manipulations that
seem more likely to impact how
people answer questions about
meaning in life than to actually
help them find more meaning.
Toward this end, my graduate student, Joo-Yeon Shin, and I
developed a 6-module internet
workshop, drawing widely on
social psychology, identity theory, meaning in life theory, and
goal theory. Over the course of
six weeks, students enrolled at
Colorado State University,
learned more about meaning in
life, clarified their identity,
formed goals, and tracked their
goal progress. Or at least they
were supposed to. A control
group merely completed the
questionnaires that followed each
workshop module. It should have
worked. After all, we were bundling - albeit in an internet format
- theory-driven tasks that had
been shown to increase wellbeing in social psychology labs
around the world. It didn't really
work, though. A deep reading of
the data finds some very encouraging kernels of hope for improving the intervention, but overall,
meaning in life did not increase
over the course of six weeks
relative to the control group.
Still, it was a learning experience, and we are working hard
to create a stronger intervention,
which we will test in the new
year. It is pretty easy to conduct
successful correlational studies,
in which you test the strength of
relationships between variables
that are theoretically linked, and
this helps us learn a great deal
about human minds and behaviour. Yet, the importance of all
this, from my perspective, is
learning how to intervene to
improve people's lives. Ultimately, it is better to find out that a
flimsy intervention does not work
than to get lucky and get significant results from an approach
that lacks the strength to really
help people.
Bad research results, and by
this I mean results that do not
support our hypotheses, show us
we have more work to do, and
eventually provide better tools.
So, I'm completely overjoyed that
the study we worked so hard on
was a total failure!! Yippee!!
Prof. Michael Steger
News
Page 3
For a worthwhile existence
Managing Talent by Lidewey Van Der Sluis
“I have no special talents, I am
only passionately curious”. This
quote of Einstein caught my eye
when I visited Optentia. And the
other one, next to it of Martin
Luther King: “I have a dream”.
Both quotes illustrate the purpose of my contribution to Optentia’s sub-programme on Talent
Management: To empower people
and organizations to build a future in which welfare and wellbeing can flourish.
Talent management is not
only about attracting, developing
and retaining the right people, but
also leading individuals in order
to achieve a sustainable business
environment. This calls for a
strategic approach towards managing employees in the workplace. Leadership is the key element in strategic talent management.
What kind of leadership addresses strategic talent management? We discussed this question
during a workshop. One of the key
issues that emerged is that we
first need to relook at how we
define talent management in
organisations. As stated: “A talented employee is a person worthy of his/her salary at the end
of the month”. The value of an
employee is the key performance
indicator in this way. A talent
value is built on knowledge, skills,
behaviour, attitude, and personality of a person. The end value is a
result of the interaction of the
talent value and the work context.
The context is crucial. A context
can contribute to the building and
blossoming of a person. However,
a work environment can also
decrease the talent value of a
person. Talent management is
about the organisational goal to
gain the highest returns from
Prof. Ian Rothmann and Prof. Lidewey Van Der Sluis
both the person and his/her
talent value and the environment.
How does that work? It was
stated that courageous leadership is needed and at the same
time is in short supply. This era
needs leaders and managers with
the courage to make differences
between people because of their
human qualities, their behaviour,
their competencies. Organisations can benefit from managers
that encourage people with the
right attitude and the right credentials. Managers that dare to
care about the people that they
manage regardless their outside
characteristics are needed at the
workplace. It is important to
create caring work environments
in order to build a working atmosphere in which employees will
feel valued and will flourish.
Three levels of leadership
were discussed as vital requirements for proper talent management, namely CARE (to commit
people), ICARE (individualised
care to employees without spoiling them) and SOCIAL CARE (to
build communities). It transpired
from the workshop that leadership is probably the most crucial
to ensure proper talent management in South African organisations. The three dimensions of
care in leadership refer to the
“DARE TO CARE” programme I
already started in The Netherlands. Through these themes, the
major theme is respect; the eye
for each other, for employees.
I look forward to collaborating with Optentia towards establishing cutting edge talent management research and practices
that can be of use to all South
African workplaces. Three major
factors should be considered in
the research and educational
programmes on Talent Management, namely the organisation
(strategy, structure and culture),
the individual (personality, attitudes, skills and behaviour), and
the labour relations required to
connect the individual and organisational variables in interaction
and mutual dependency. “Talent
management is about identifying
people by recognition of their
qualities and ambitions.”
I acknowledge the people I
met at Optentia. They made my
visit a period of intense learning.
I learned about research questions that are raised in the ongoing PhD-studies and the approaches to answer these questions. The drive, the hope and the
prayers of the South African
people, including the Optentia
researchers were admirable and
heart-warming!
“… Managers that
dare to care about
the people that
they manage
regardless their
outside
characteristics
are needed at the
workplace.”
News
Page 4
For a worthwhile existence
Activity in Old Age: How Much Is Optimal? by Ruut Veenhoven
“Average
happiness over
the day
appeared to be
higher among
participants who
combined
activities with
resting.”
Studies on successful aging have
shown a positive correlation
between happiness and activity
level; active elderly are typically
happier than their inactive age
mates are. Yet more is not always better, so the question
remains how much activity is
optimal.
This question was addressed
in a five year follow-up study
among elderly persons in the
Netherlands. Participants completed a ‘happiness diary’ every
month in which they described
what they had done during the
previous day and how they had
felt during each of these activities. The diary is an internet
application of Kahneman’s ‘Day
Reconstruction Method’ (DRM).
The study was a forerunner of
the present ‘Happiness Indicator’
website, which is now available at
www.happinessindicator.org
Participants were 438 persons aged 55 to 88. Every month
they received an e-mail with a
link to the happiness diary and
the request to describe their
activities of the previous day and
rate the degree of happiness
experienced during each of these
on a 0 to 10 step scale. Response
options were marked with smilies. Over the five year period
participants together reported
79,181 activities and related ratings of mood.
These elderly people spent
most of their time (53%) on
domestic chores. Average happiness during these activities was
7.3. Only 15% of their time was
spent socializing, sporting and
learning, yet they felt much happier during these activities; average happiness was 8,4 during
socializing, 8,3 during learning
and 8,2 during sporting. The rest
of the time was spent resting,
with an average happiness score
of 7.8.
The effect of activities on
happiness appeared to differ
across personality types. The
most extravert participants took
more happiness from social activities than the least extravert.
Next to these activities as
such, the activity mix appeared to
matter for happiness. Average
happiness over the day appeared
to be higher among participants
who combined activities with
resting than among very active
or very inactive participants. The
difference was about one full
point!
These results illustrate that
this technique can help to identify
optimal lifestyles and can differentiate between particular kinds
of people. The method can also
be applied in other settings, such
as in schools and work organisations. The costs of data collection
are low. Interested colleagues
who join the ‘Happiness Indicator’
project cannot only use the software, but can also draw on a
common pool of comparison data.
Oerlemans, W.G, Bakker, A.B. &
Veenhoven, R. (2011). Finding the
key to happy aging: A day reconstruction study of happiness.
Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 66B(6), 665674.
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven
News
Page 5
For a worthwhile existence
Spotting Rainbows in a Rainbow Country by Anja Van Den Broeck
In September Prof. Hans De Witte
and I were privileged to join the
Optentia Research Programme in
a workshop in which the problems South African unemployed
were experiencing, were discussed with colleagues from
social work and economics, as
well as officials from the Gauteng Government and FEDUSA.
Via the workshop, we aimed
to develop a research and intervention project, which might be
granted by the government in
Belgium. Upon approval, the project will first create funding for
PhD students conducting research on the psychological experience of unemployment, particularly in the Gauteng area.
Second, it will allow developing an
intervention tailored to the particular needs of various groups of
unemployed. This intervention will
also empower the community
organisations, as it will be developed in close collaboration with
them. As a third advantage, the
research and intervention developed in this project will also be
integrated into the curricula of
students of the behavioural sciences of the NWU Vaal Triangle
Campus, such that they also feel
encouraged to assist the unemployed, and feel armed if they
would ever experience unemployment themselves.
Although they experience a
lot of difficulties, we believe in the
strengths of the unemployed,
which might be as diverse as the
colours of the rainbow. In securing this project, we hope to assist in fulfilling their particular
needs, such that all might flourish
again, and spot - in a figurative
sense - a rainbow at the horizon,
just as we literally did.
Participants in the unemployment workshop
“Although they
experience a lot of
difficulties, we
believe in the
strengths of the
unemployed.”
News
Page 6
For a worthwhile existence
Prestige Lectures of Extraordinary Professors in Optentia
“What does
meaning look
like if we look
beyond a
snapshot of one
moment in
time?“
Three extraordinary professors
of Optentia, namely Prof. Rens
Van De Schoot Prof. Ruut Veenhoven, and Prof. Michael Steger
presented prestige lectures at
Optentia during July 2012.
The title of the prestige
lecture of Prof. Rens Van De
Schoot on 9 July 2012 was: “H0
or not H0, that is the question:
How to learn something positive
from your data”. Click here to
watch a video of his prestige
lecture. Prof. Van De Schoot
suggested that Bayesian procedures be computed to assess
the degree of support for hypotheses. Each hypothesis is
then provided with a support
measure indicating the support
from the observed data computed for each hypothesis separately. Click here for information
about the lecture.
The lecture of Prof. Veenhoven took place on 11 July 2012.
The title was: “Happiness: What
we know and do not know”. Click
here to watch a video of his
prestige lecture. Prof. Veenhoven provided an excellent overview of what we know and do not
know about happiness. He pointed that much more research is
needed regarding happiness and
organisations. Click here to read
his paper.
The title of Prof. Steger’s
lecture was: “What makes life
meaningful? Looking beyond the
first five decades of research”.
Click here to watch a video of
his prestige lecture. Hundreds of
studies have investigated connections between meaning in life
and psychological health.
Prof. Steger raised five
questions regarding research on
meaning in life:
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven and Prof. Mariba
(Rector of the Vaal Triangle Campus NWU)
 What is meaning in life be-
 Do we know what meaning
sides saying life is meaningrepresents outside of the
ful?
industrialised countries?
 What else is meaning good
for besides saying one is Click here for more information
happy?
about his prestige lecture.
 What does meaning look like if
we look beyond a snapshot of
one moment in time?
 Is meaning always important,
or do we only think it is important when we are asked to
think about it?
Prof. Rens Van De Schoot and Prof. Mariba
(Rector Vaal Triangle Campus of the NWU)
News
Page 7
For a worthwhile existence
South Africans are Fairly Happy by Ruut Veenhoven
“Zimbabweans even happier than
South Africans” was the headline
on the front page of a major
South African newspaper in June
2012. The article reported on an
international study according to
which South Africans were the
unhappiest people in the world –
even unhappier than people in
Zimbabwe. This news report
strikes as strange. How can
South Africans be the least happy while their standard of living
is the highest in Africa? And why
do so many Zimbabweans seek a
better life in South Africa if the
latter is such a sink of unhappiness? So there seems to be
something wrong with this information.
The Happy Planet Index does
not measure happiness. The
news reports were based on a
press release about the latest
version of the ‘Happy Planet
Index’ issued by the New Economic Foundation in the UK (NEF
2012). This Happy Planet Index is
not primarily about the happiness of people, but rather about
their use of the planet’s resources. It denotes the ecological efficiency of countries in
producing happiness.
The Happy Planet Index combines two indicators: how long
and happy people live in a country, and how much resources
citizens consume. The former is
measured by the index of ‘Happy
Life Years’, which combines civil
registration data on longevity
with survey data on average life
satisfaction in nations. Consumption of resources is measured
using the ‘Ecological Footprint’,
which is an estimate of the
amount of land required to produce the food and energy consumed by the average citizen.
The next step is assessing how
much input in terms of resources is being used for the
output in terms of happy life
years. To that end, the number of
happy life years is divided by the
ecological footprint. This results
in a high score for countries
where people live long and happy
lives at low costs to the planet.
This explains why South
Africa scores low on the Happy
Planet Index. The number of
happy life years is at the medium
level in South Africa, while the
ecological footprint is relatively
large. Life in general is much
worse in Zimbabwe, mainly because of the poverty, but this
poverty translates into a small
ecological footprint and thus
results in a higher score on the
HPI.
This begs the question of
how happy South Africans really
are. Research findings on happiness in South Africa are gathered in the nation report
‘Happiness in South Africa’ of the
World Database of Happiness.
The first representative survey
study that involved questions
about happiness was conducted
in 1981 and the most recent study
in 2011. One of the questions in
the World Values Survey (2007)
presented to a representative
sample of the adult population
was: “Taking all together, how
satisfied or dissatisfied are you
with your life as a whole these
days? Please choose a number
between 1 and 10, where 1 is
‘dissatisfied’ and 10 is ‘satisfied’.
Most South Africans were found
to be happy. Some 75% give
their lives a rating of 6 or more.
About 25% are fairly happy (a
rating of 6 or 7), and 50% are
very happy (a rating of 8 to 10).
Still, 25% of South Africans are
unhappy (a rating of 5 or below)
and some 10% are very unhappy
(a rating of 3, 2 or 1). The average on this 1-to-10 scale is 7,
which corresponds to 6,7 on the
more commonly used 0-to-10
scale.
In this same survey study
respondents also answered a
question on how ‘happy’ they
were. 23% ticked the options
‘not at all happy’ or ‘not too happy’, which correspond to the
25% scoring 5 or below on the
above-mentioned question on life
satisfaction. 35% ticked ‘quite
happy’ and 42% ‘very happy’.
These numbers also fit the pattern of responses to the question
on life satisfaction.
Life satisfaction was assessed in four more surveys of
the South African population
since the year 2000. All these
studies found somewhat lower
scores.
“The Happy
Planet Index
does not
measure
happiness...”
News
Page 8
For a worthwhile existence
Ho or Not Ho, That is the Question by Rens Van De Schoot
“… p-values
reflect the
probability of
observing your
data or more
extreme data
given that in the
population
nothing is going
on ...”
As scientists, we often want to
apply classical null hypothesis
significant testing. We test the
null hypothesis: ‘nothing is going
on’, versus the alternative hypothesis 'something is going on’.
To test these hypotheses, one
could use the famous p-value.
There is nothing wrong with pvalues and null hypothesis testing. The null hypothesis can be
useful in some cases, provided
that it is used in the correct
way. However, in practice, researchers tend to forget what
they have learned in their academic education about null hypothesis testing and p-values.
That is, one should have learned
that the p-value is a probability
measure and not a dichotomous
decision tool where p < .05 indicates there is something going
on and p >.05 indicates nothing
is going on.
Remember, p-values reflect
the probability of observing your
data or more extreme data given that in the population nothing is going on. So, why test the
null hypothesis if this hypothesis
is not among your expectations?
The issue with the use of null
hypothesis testing in daily practice is that there is a mismatch
between the theory formulated
in the introduction section and
the null hypotheses tested in the
results section. The big question
is: Can we do any better than
this? And the famous answer is:
YES, WE CAN!
I want to challenge all researchers to become experts
again! What you are doing now is
that you give your data to the
software and let the software do
the thinking…
I want to turn this around:
you are the experts, you have to
Prof. Rens Van De Schoot preparing for a lecture on
Bayesian statistics
do the thinking and the software
has the role to provide you with
support for your expectations
and not the other way around. I
will use one more hypothetical
example to clarify the issues I
have with null hypothesis testing.
Researchers are often interested in the evaluation of
informative hypotheses and
already know that the traditional
null hypothesis is an unrealistic
state of affairs. This presupposes that prior knowledge is
available; if this is not the case,
there is nothing wrong with
testing the traditional null hypothesis. In most applied research, however, prior knowledge is indeed available. In your
research papers you probably
introduced one or more theories. And at the end of the introduction section you formulated
specific expectations. But in the
result section the null hypothesis is tested, which has in most
papers no direct relation with
the theory at all.
Researchers are interested
in the evaluation of informative
hypotheses. Such hypotheses
contain a researcher’s specific
expectation with respect to the
state of affairs in the population
of interest. Instead of computing
p-values; I suggest to compute a
degree of support using Bayesian procedures. Each hypothesis is then provided with a support measure indicating the
support from the observed data
computed for each hypothesis
separately.
Statistics have come a long
way since the early beginnings
of testing the traditional null
hypothesis ‘nothing is going on’.
As stated by Kruschke in a recent special issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science,
“[...] whereas the 20th century
was dominated by null hypothesis significance testing, the 21st
century is becoming Bayesian…”
Click here to watch the
prestige lecture of Prof. Rens
Van De Schoot.
News
Page 9
For a worthwhile existence
Publishing Scientific Articles
Optentia afforded three lecturers from the Vaal Triangle Campus the opportunity to attend a
three-day workshop on manuscript development under the
expert guidance of Prof. Elias
Mpofu, editor of the Journal of
Psychology in Africa (JPA) and
lecturer at the Pennsylvania
State University.
Drs Elrie Botha, Elsabé Diedericks and Karen van der Merwe
attended this very informative
workshop. Interactive sessions
and breakout group sessions
involving all the attendees afforded every novice researcher
as well as the more advanced
researchers in the group the
opportunity to work on and assess sample (blinded) manuscripts previously submitted to
the JPA. In the report back sessions Prof. Mpofu shared valuable guidelines from his career as
acknowledged researcher and
Dr Van der Merwe, Prof. Mpofu, Dr Diedericks and Dr Botha
editor with the participants as to
the various subcomponents of a
manuscript, such as writing a
good introduction; the method
section; statement of results and
the concluding discussion, limitations and implications for future
research. Time was also spent
on preparing the title, abstract
and correct referencing.
Each participant submitted
an article-in-progress to Prof.
Mpofu who meticulously edited
each article, giving valuable
feedback comments during individual sessions with the participants in order to pave the way
for future manuscript submissions.
The three attendees agreed
that this was a very valuable
exercise that lay a very good
foundation at the start of their
research careers.
Leadership Empowerment Behaviour by Desiree Zikalala
In the changing world of work,
talent management strategies
and business objectives need to
be aligned. Human capital is an
organisation’s most valuable
asset and requires proper development and management. Effective leadership plays a key role in
the success of organisations.
South African employees
need an empowered approach,
leaders who can understand that
employees like and need ownership and empowerment in order
to grow emotionally and intellectually. Empowerment can be
defined as the transfer of power
from the employer to the employees.
Research has indicated three
essential areas for focus areas
for leaders in order to empower,
namely keeping people accountable, developing employees and
allowing autonomy. Empowerment redistributes power but
also provides a mechanism by
which responsibility for outcomes is placed with individuals
and teams. Development of people is one of the most important
roles of managers.
Managers need to invest
time and effort in growing those
around them in order to keep
them engaged as well. Autonomy
refers to the sharing of power
with subordinates as well as
Desiree Zikalala and Dr
Elrie Botha
encouraging independent decision making.
One of the most important
outcomes for the leader is that
people operate on a higher level
of work, enabling the leader to
focus on strategic long-term
challenges.
“Empowerment
redistributes
power but also
provides a
mechanism by
which
responsibility
for outcomes is
placed with
individuals and
teams ...”
News
Page 10
For a worthwhile existence
Dr Tumi Khumalo Appointed as Associate Professor in Optentia
“Prof. Lidewey
Van der Sluisden Dikken has
been appointed
as an extraordinary
professor in
Optentia.”
Dr Tumi Khumalo will join the
Optentia Research Programme
as an Associate Professor and
researcher on 1 December 2012.
Tumi completed an M.Sc in
Psychology under the supervision of Prof. Marié Wissing and
Prof. Michael Temane at the
North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) in 2005. The
topic of his dissertation was
“Exploring the validity of the VIA
Inventory of Strengths in an
African context”.
In 2011 he completed a PhD.
The title of the thesis was: “The
evaluation of the General Psychological Well-being and Mental
Health Continuum models in the
African context. Prof. Michael
Temane and Prof. Marié Wissing
were the promoters of his PhD
thesis. Tumi completed an internship in Clinical Psychology
at Witrand Hospital in Potchefstroom and did community service at the Rustenburg Provin-
Dr Tumi Khumalo
cial Hospital.
He is a member of Families
South Africa (FAMSA) in Potchefstroom. Since 2011 he has been
Chairperson of FAMSA in Potchefstroom. He did community-based
work at the Institute for Psychotherapy and Counselling at the
North-West University.
From December 2012, Prof.
Khumalo will be the leader of the
sub-programme: “Building Blocks
of Psychosocial Well-being.”
Optentia welcomes Prof. Khumalo
on board and is looking forward
to his inputs to strengthen our
research focus area.
Prof. Lidewey Van der Sluis Appointed as Extraordinary Professor
Prof. Lidewey Van der Sluis-den
Dikken has recently been appointed as an extraordinary
professor in Optentia. She is a
professor of Strategic Talent
Management at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands. Prof. Van der Sluis-den
Dikken lectures bachelor, master, and post-graduate courses
in the field of Human Resource
Management, with a focus on
Talent Management and Management Development.
She has published in several
international journals and books,
She experiences continuous
academic and media exposure at
conferences and in national
journals and newspapers. Be-
sides many other additional
activities, she is the Chair and
President of the BBV, the professional community in the field
of Human Resource Development and Lifelong Learning.
Prof. Van der Sluis-den
Dikken is an experienced strategic business consultant and a
frequent speaker in the field of
Talent Management. She obtained an MSc degree in Business Economics from the University of Amsterdam in 1995.
From 1998 until 1999, she was
employed as a research officer
at the Department of Organisational Behaviour at the London
Business School. In 2000 she
achieved a Tinbergen PhD de-
gree from Erasmus University
Rotterdam. In the same year,
she received a grant from the
Dutch Foundation for Corporate
Education to stimulate her research activities in the area of
employee learning and development.
Prof. Lidewey Van Der
Sluis
News
Page 11
For a worthwhile existence
PhDs for Optentia Students
On 12 October 2012, PhD degrees
were awarded to three Optentia
students, namely Vicki Koen,
Llewellyn van Zyl and Hayley
Walker-Williams. We congratulate the new doctors and wish
them well with their future careers!
Dr V. Koen
Dr L. van Zyl
Dr H. Walker-Williams
“Optentia has
implemented a
new procedure
for proposals of
master’s and
PhD students.“
New PhD Proposals Approved
Optentia has implemented a new
procedure for proposals of master’s and PhD students. The following steps are followed:
 The supervisor assists the
student to write a proposal.
 The Director of Optentia evaluates the proposal and refers it back to the supervisor
if needed.
 The student presents the
proposal at the Optentia Research Committee meeting.
 If the proposal is accepted, it
is submitted to the Ethics
Committee of the Faculty of
Humanities of the North-West
University for ethical clearance.
 The proposal is submitted to
the Faculty Board for final
approval and title registration.
Two PhD students (both from
the Pathways to Resilience subprogramme) successfully defended their research proposal in
August and September 2012.
The title of the PhD study of
Angelique van Rensburg’s PhD is
“Towards a model of ecological
resilience within a sample of black
South African youth”. She wants
to ascertain how well Ungar’s
“Ecological Expression of Resilience” explains resilience in black
South African youth.
The title of the PhD study of
Tamlynn Jefferis’ PhD is “Resilient
Sesotho-speaking adolescent
girls: A participatory visual
study”. The purpose of the study
is to gain deeper insight into the
processes of resilience in Sesotho
speaking adolescent girls.
Angelique van
Rensburg
Tamlynn Jefferis
News
Page 12
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Flourishing and Virtuousness
“The Flourishing
and Virtuousness subprogramme has
been involved in
a range of
research
activities...”
The Flourishing and Virtuousness
sub-programme of Optentia has
been involved in a range of research activities during July to
October 2012.
 Prof. Ian Rothmann arranged
and was involved in two symposia. A symposium was
presented at the International Association for CrossCultural Psychology in Stellenbosch. Click here to see  Prof. Hans De Witte and Dr
der to develop an evidencethe slides of the presenters.
Anja Van Den Broeck, supportbased intervention together
The second symposium was
ed by Prof. Ian Rothmann,
with the local community.
held at the International
prepared a funding applica-  Prof. Ian Rothmann is curCongress of Psychology in
tion about understanding the
rently preparing four chapCape Town. Click here to see
experiences of unemployed
ters for text books.
the slides of the presenters,
people in South Africa in or-
Prof. Ian Rothmann introduces speakers and
topics at the symposium at the ICP
Lukondo Hamukangandu (Zambia) and Prof.
Ian Rothmann at the IACCP
Cutting Edge Research About Psychological Capital in Namibia
Simeon Amunkete, a PhD student
antecedents and outcomes
of Optentia in Namibia is confor individuals and organisaducting important research retions within the Namibian
garding the psychological capital
SOEs context.
(PSYCAP) in state-owned enter-  To investigate the indirect
prises (SOEs) in Namibia. This
effects of antecedents
multilevel study has the following
(authentic leadership and
aims:
supportive organisational
 To investigate the reliability,
climate) via PSYCAP on emvalidity and invariance of
ployee outcomes and performeasures of PSYCAP within
mance in the Namibian conthe Namibian SOEs context.
text.
 To test a multilevel structu- Simeon will investigate new ways
ral model of PSYCAP and its to measure PSYCAP and the
value of measures thereof in the
African context. His study also
employs a multilevel design to
study relationships on individual
and organisational levels.
Simeon Amunkete
News
Page 13
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Building Blocks of Psychosocial Well-being
During the past year, Drs Werner
Nell and Karen van der Merwe
have conducted a study which
investigated students’ personal
epistemologies, which deal with
their beliefs about knowledge and
learning. The study involved a
mixed-method design and as
such incorporated both quantitative and qualitative components.
For the quantitative phase,
the Schommer epistemological
questionnaire was administered
to a group of 1230 students at
the Vaal Triangle Campus of the
North-West University. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that
the four factor structure found
by Schommer does not replicate
well in the sample. As such, the
subscales were used individually
(and not in their combined form)
in this study, and results should
be viewed as preliminary findings
that require further validation.
Initial findings suggest that students’ views of knowledge are
characterized by the beliefs that:
 the ability to learn is innate
and not acquired
 concentrated effort spent
trying to understand very
difficult work is a waste of
time
 one should seek single answers to complex questions
 ambiguity should be avoided
in intellectual tasks
 hard work will increase the
chances of academic success.
Results showed very little
variance across gender and
cultural groups.
The qualitative phase of the
research involved a series of
semi-structured and focus group
interviews with a total of 19 students. The data was subjected to
thematic qualitative content ana-
lysis. Findings indicated that
students tended to have a view of
knowledge that emphasised factual recall and rote memorisation
over understanding and deep
insight. Furthermore, students’
personal epistemologies were
characterised by absolutism (the
tendency to view knowledge in
absolute ‘right versus wrong’,
rather than in relative terms)
and fragmentation (as opposed to
an integrated understanding), as
well as by a tendency to view
abstract concepts in very reductionist, concrete terms.
Taken together, the findings
suggest that educational approaches should take cognisance
of the hidden obstacles posed by
limiting and limited personal
epistemologies among students
as this can have a direct and
adverse effect on students’
classroom learning and academic
performance. At least in some
instances therefore, the possible
source of less than adequate
academic performance exists on
epistemological levels. Approaches working solely with study
skills, supplemental instruction
etc. might not address these
factors adequately. The next
stages of this research project
will be aimed at investigating
ways in which students’ epistemological development can be
enhanced during the course of
their undergraduate studies.
“…. students’
personal
epistemologies
were
characterised
by
absolutism ...”
News
Page 14
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Pathways to Resilience
“…. the
Pathways team
challenged
stereotypical
Western
understandings
of resilience
processes…”
The Pathways to Resilience team
was invited to deliver two
symposia. The first, entitled
Promoting resilience processes
for youth with complex needs:
Cross-cultural experiences of
service use, was presented at the
IACCP conference (Stellenbosch,
July 2012). The second, Pathways
to Resilience: Lessons of positive
adaptation from a five-country
study, was presented at the ICP
conference (Cape Town, July
2012). Both were very well
received – the ICP symposium
was so well attended that people
were crammed against the back
wall and listening from the
passage outside the venue. In
these symposia, the Pathways
team challenged stereotypical
Western understandings of
resilience processes and drew
attention to how the quality (not
quantity) of service provision and
cultural legacies support positive
adjustment when youths are
Janice Ikeda (Resilience Research Centre, Canada); Prof. Michael
placed at risk for negative
Ungar (Principal investigator, Dalhousie University, Canada); Dr
outcomes. The photo (middle)
Linda Liebenberg (Co-principal investigator, Dalhousie University,
shows Pathways to Resilience
Canada); Prof. Linda Theron (Co-principal investigator, NWU)
Members after their symposium
at the IACCP. Absent from this
photo were Macalane Malindi (Coinvestigator, NWU); Robyn
Mumford (Co-principal
investigator, Massey University,
New Zealand); Jackie Sanders (Co
-principal investigator, Massey
University, New Zealand)
Prof. David Donald (Professor
Emeritus, UCT) participated in the
Pathways team’s invited symposium. He acted as discussant.
He met with the team prior to the
conference to share his rich
insights into resilience and to
encourage critical reflection on Canadian and South African Pathways team members meet with
the complex contributions of David Donald Left to right: Prof. Tinie Theron, Prof. Linda Theculture to resilience processes.
ron, Michele Wood; Janice Ikeda, Nichelle Hubley, Prof. Michael
Ungar, Prof. David Donald, Dr Linda Liebenberg
News
Page 15
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Pathways to Resilience
On 8-9 September 2012, Prof.
Naydene de Lange (NMMU) expertly trained a number of Pathways to Resilience researchers
and one Pathways Advisory Panel
member to use Participatory
Video (PV) as a collaborative
research methodology. She emphasized that this methodology
was an ideal tool for research
projects that wanted to effect
positive social change. This
makes PV perfect for the Pathways project which is currently
entering a dissemination phase.
As part of the communityuniversity liaison mandate of the
project, Pathways researchers
are planning to take the findings
back to participating communities
in ways that will meaningfully
support social ecologies to partner with young people to encourage their resilience. Tamlynn
Jefferis will be the first PhD student in the project to employ PV
as she works with groups of adolescent girls from Bethlehem to
better understand how gender
and culture nuance their resilience processes. Together with
Pathways researchers, Tamlynn
and the girls will make short
videos documenting their lived
experiences of how gender and
Prof. Linda Theron (Pathways project leader), Tamlynn Jefferis (PhD student and RA), Touch Ndaba (Advisory Panel
member), Dr Macalane Malindi (Pathways community liaison
officer) and Prof. Naydene de Lange
culture nuance their resilience
processes – these in turn will be
used to sensitise their social
ecologies to partner with them to
sustained/enhanced resilience.
In order to fully appreciate
the methodology, Prof. de Lange
engaged Pathways researchers
(along with two NMMU faculty
members) in experiential learning. This meant that the team
spent a day making their own
videos. They experienced much
laughter and deep insight into the
importance of using methodologies that offer research participants an experience to have fun
whilst simultaneously positioning
Tamlynn directs a scene in her group’s
video
them as reflective knowledge
producers. The Pathways team
hopes to shortly invite Prof.
Naydene (and other interested
parties) to view the videos that
will be co-generated by participants in Bethlehem.
Macalane acts like a grumpy professor
in his group’s video
“Participatory
Video is an ideal
tool for
research
projects that
wanted to effect
positive social
change.”
News
Page 16
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Pathways to Resilience
With the support of the Dean’s
Office, Faculty of Humanities,
Vaal Triangle Campus, NorthWest University and Optentia
Research Focus Area, the South
African Pathways team hosted
Colombian, Canadian and Chinese
researchers and community
members collaborating in the
international Pathways to Resilience project. From 28 July to 1
August 2012, researchers, community members and students
reflected on the findings emer-
ging from the Pathways project
and considered meaningful ways
of disseminating these findings.
In particular, there was focus on
finding effective ways of partnering with communities so that the
quality of available services
would be emphasized in interventions towards resilience, and so
that interventions would be tailored to the complex cultural
contexts in which youths are
embedded.
The hosting of the interna-
tional team and community members would have been very difficult without the incredible support of Lynn Booysen and Daleen
Claasens – these two stalwarts
optimised what the Pathways
team experienced in South Africa
and as typical of South African
hospitality. It would also have
been difficult without the extra
miles walked by post-graduate
students in the Pathways project
– thank you to all these special
people!
“…. there was
focus on finding
effective ways of
partnering with
communities so
that the quality
of available
services would
be emphasized in
interventions
towards
resilience.”
From left to right: Back row: Prof. Michael Ungar (Principal investigator, Dalhousie University,
Canada); Dr Linda Liebenberg (Co-principal investigator, Dalhousie University, Canada); Prof.
Herman Strydom (Co-investigator, NWU); Prof. Linda Theron (Co-principal investigator, NWU);
Prof. Tinie Theron (South African Evaluator, NWU); Nichelle Hubley (Resilience Research Centre,
Canada)
Middle row: Tamlynn Jefferis (PhD student and research assistant in the Pathways Project, NWU);
Angelique Van Rensburg (PhD student, NWU), Devon v d Plaat (Canada), Prof. Madine v d Plaat
(Evaluator, St Mary’s University, Canada), Prof. Alexandra Restrepo (Co-investigator, University
of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia); Michelle Wood (Community Partner, Canada); Rubina Sethlare
(Observer, NWU); Prof. Guo-xiu Tian (Co-principal investigator, Capital Normal University, Beijing,
China)
Front row: Touch Ndaba (Community partner, South Africa); Janice Ikeda (Resilience Research
Centre, Canada); Une Fourie (Master’s student, NWU); Prof. Xiying Wang (Evaluator, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China)
News
Page 17
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Positive Relations
Dr Elsabé Diedericks has recently been appointed as the leader
of the Positive Relations subprogramme. We wish her all the
best with her efforts to develop
this sub-programme!
The annual “Diversity in the
South African Workplace”
presentation of Honours students in Labour Relations Management (organised by Dr Leon
Moolman) took place on 21 September 2012. Students that participated reflected the rich diversity of South Africa by wearing
the traditional attire of Portugal,
USA, Australia, France, England,
Brazil, China, Italy, and some
African cultures. The students
also served culturally inspired
cuisine of the mentioned countries. The aim of the day was to
make the audience aware of
diversity aspects in South African workplaces, including age,
gender, disability, race, and educational background. True to the
ambiance of 2012, the presentation resembled a rich cultural
culmination inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games
Sub-programme News: Positive Relations
In the Labour Relations Management
program at the Vaal Triangle Campus of
the North-West University, undergraduate students in their second year embarked on a practical exercise in group
dynamics when they were required to
work in groups and design and build a
tower. The criteria for the tower were
that it should be as strong as possible,
it should symbolise the diversity in
South Africa and it should be visually
appealing. The five members in a group
had an hour to design (on paper) and
build the tower using only old newspapers, cello tape, magazines and whatever they had with them.
This exercise taught them to apply
the theory that they had learnt about
the five stages in group formation,
cohesion and development, structure,
influence, power, leadership etc. in
practice. Group members had to solve
their own conflict and experienced
what it meant to respect diversity in all
its facets.
Two external adjudicators, Prof.
Marius Stander and Ms Lynn
Booysen, assessed the models
and appointed the worthy winners
who had shown creative genius in
their design. and who had met the
criteria best.
Prof. Marius Stander and Lynn Booysen assessed the
projects of students
“Group
members had to
solve their own
conflict and
experienced
what it meant to
respect
diversity in all
its facets.”
News
Page 18
For a worthwhile existence
Sub-programme News: Talent Management
“Academic
talent
management
has become a
contemporary
issue that can
no longer be
ignored ...”
Prof. Nicolene Barkhuizen attended the 30th International Congress on Psychology in Cape
Town with colleagues and students. Nicolene presented,
amongst others, two invited symposia which focused on Academic
Talent Management for Sustainability in South African Higher
Education Institutions and “Contemporary Issues in Academic
Talent Management”. Both symposia were initiated by Nicolene as
well as Prof. Yvonne du Plessis
from the University of Pretoria.
The symposia formed part of
the SANPAD project titled
“Attraction, Development and
Retention of Academic Talent for
Sustainability in South African
Higher Education Institutions”
between the University of Pretoria and the Vrije University Amsterdam which Nicolene developed and is currently project
leader of. Eight of the postgraduate students involved in the project (four master’s and four doctoral) presented their conceptual
frameworks and preliminary
results on the various research
topics that they are currently
researching as part of the project.
Both sessions attracted a lot
of attention and were very well
attended. The presentations also
stimulated a lot of discussion and
debate. It is clear from the
presentations and discussions
that research and practice on
academic talent management
have become a contemporary
issue that can no longer be ignored by the relevant stakeholders. Five of the students involved
in the project will be submitting
their final research dissertations
in September and October. The
project will be finalised in July
2013. We are looking forward to
the final results of the project
and the huge contribution that it
will make to academic talent
management in South African
higher education institutions.
Prof. Barkhuizen would like to
thank Mrs Hanna Lange and Prof.
Yvonne du Plessis from the University of Pretoria who assisted
with all the logistical arrange-
ments of the students to attend
the conference. Also thank you to
all the students for your hard
work and dedication to this project!
Prof. Nicolene Barkhuizen with colleagues and students at the ICP
News
Page 19
For a worthwhile existence
Special Edition of the SA Journal of Industrial Psychology
The SA Journal of Industrial Psychology will publish a special
issue on Positive Organisational
Behaviour in 2013. Prof. Ian Rothmann and Dr Llewellyn van Zyl will
be the guest editors. We are
awaiting your submissions on
topics appropriate for the special
issue. Click here for more information about the special edition
and to submit a manuscript. The
deadline for submissions is 31
April 2013.
Prof. Ian Rothmann
Dr Llewellyn van Zyl
Optentia’s New Member by Elsabé Diedericks
October is regarded as the most
beautiful month in South Africa,
as nature is picturesque and
revived after a dull and dreary
winter.
October 2012 is even more
stunning due to two special occasions within the Optentia fraternity. The first special date is 14
October, the birthday of the
founder and father of Optentia,
Prof. Ian Rothmann and a day
after his birthday, on 15 October,
the birth of baby Lian Rothmann,
beautiful son borne to Ian and
Melanie Rothmann. Lian weighed
in at 3.3 kg and measured 49 cm.
Ian and Melanie, may every
page of the manuscript of little
Lian’s life be filled with joy,
health, love and blessings in
abundance and may you, as a
family, experience wholeness,
contentment, meaning and utter
happiness.
Your Optentia friends wish
you all of the best and may this
new journey with little Lian in
your lives be prosperous, fun and
rewarding in every sense! CONGRATULATIONS!!
“The SA Journal
of Industrial
Psychology will
publish a special
issue on
Positive
Organisational
Behaviour in
2013 ...”
Lian Rothmann: Born on 15 October 2012 at 10:32
Ian and Melanie moments before the birth of Lian
News
Page 20
For a worthwhile existence
Optentia at the International Congress of Psychology
During June 2012, Optentia had an
exhibition stand at the International Congress of Psychology
(ICP). Two Honours students,
Nozipho Malinga (Labour Relations Management) and Chanelle
Schoeman (Psychology) worked
very hard to inform interested
visitors about the research conducted in Optentia. Our presence
at the ICP is part of an active
strategy to inform academics,
researchers, practitioners and
the general public about the research that is conducted within
Nozipho Malinga and Chanelle Schoeman at the Optentia Exhibition
Optentia.
“Optentia had an
exhibition stand
at the
International
Congress of
Psychology ...”
Dr Michelle Tytherleigh, Prof. Ian
Rothmann, Prof. Michael Steger,
Prof. Rens Van De Schoot and
Prof. Sesh Paruk at the International Congress of Psychology
News
Page 21
For a worthwhile existence
Positive Labour Relations by Krister Janse van Rensburg
The field of labour relations is
traditionally viewed as an arena
of controversy and struggle between employers and employees,
arguably based on the power
relationships that exist. Over the
years legislative interventions
expanded on the common law
notion of employee rights, and
sophisticated regulations now
govern the decision-making
rights of parties to the employment relationship. The multimethodological study proposed
by the author will seek to compare literature on various collective bargaining systems through
international case studies, and
gauge perceptions of roleplayers in this regard. It will also
seek to develop a model for employee participation in organisational decision-making, so that
the arena changes from one of
controversy and struggle to one
of participative activity.
History makes evident that
the site of production has always
been one characterised by conflict and other negative feelings.
One of the main reasons for the
inherent and structural conflictproneness seen at workplaces
relates directly to power, both
perceived and real. These power
differences also led to the relationship between employer and
employee being regulated from
early times. From the Master and
Slave Act of 1841 in the old Cape
Colony to the most recent introduction of amendments to labour
legislation, the employment relationship has become more regulated over time.
In general, the tendency has
been toward greater participative
decision-making at the workplace, especially regarding rights
and interests of employees. The
problem is, however, that labour
unrest has been on a steady
incline since the end of apartheid
in 1994, and there is evidence of
more protracted strikes than
ever before. In the five years
between 2006 and 2010, South
Africa lost an average of 567
working days per 1 000 employees, more than 10 times the average for European countries.
Although this is better than other
developing economies such as
Brazil and India, the cost to the
economy and the impact on job
creation remain matters of concern.
Still, business people complain of overly rigid labour legislation and how this hampers
their ability to create and sustain
new jobs, while workers tend to
feel under-appreciated and often
underpaid. Even worse, government officials seem incapable of
sufficiently facilitating adequate
dispute resolution mechanisms
that respond to real challenges.
It is therefore not surprising
that the trade union movement
has consistently campaigned for
a positive approach to labour
relations, one in which employers
treat employees with respect
and dignity. Evidence of this global consensus can be found in
initiatives such as the Decent
Work Campaign of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Surely South Africa can obtain
greater levels of industrial peace
and economic growth due to the
resultant increased productivity.
Krister’s postgraduate studies will seek to investigate how
the current collective bargaining
model in South Africa compares
to that of developed countries
like Japan, Germany and Scandinavia versus that of developing
Mr Krister Janse van
Rensburg
economies like Brazil and India,
identifying possible areas for
future research. This will include
areas that promote positive
labour relations and general
labour peace.
Some key research questions will focus on positive and
negative features of the South
African economy and labour
market, and how current legislation and institutions like NEDLAC
(the National Economic Development and Labour Council – a
tripartite social dialogue institution), bargaining councils and the
CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration –
a dispute resolution agency for
labour disputes) respond to these challenges. The scope will be
similar for the other case studies, with eventual probing of
specific areas of possible crosspollination. It will be a mixedmethod study attempting at arriving at a single model reflecting
an objective understanding of
shared decision-making in the
workplace,
Krister has been employed in
the trade union movement since
2004 and is currently deputy
general secretary at the Federation of Unions of South Africa.
Krister is preparing for a Master’s programme in Labour Relations Management.
“History makes
evident that the
site of
production has
always been one
characterised
by conflict and
other negative
feelings...”
News
Page 22
For a worthwhile existence
Time for Mplus Modelling by Ingrid Munck
Prof. Ingrid Munck of Göteborg
University in Sweden wrote the
following beautiful poem after a
three-week workshop in Mplus at
Utrecht University:
How is it that figures
looking so dull and cool
can cast clarity and meaning
upon human behaviour?
They flourish in the
new statistical landscape
Lighting the complexity
across levels and cultures
World becomes one.
“How is it that
figures
looking so dull
and cool
can cast clarity
and meaning
upon human
behaviour?”
Researchers being so critical
slowly wake up?
Seeing the new opportunities
in frontline modeling
Lighting even causality
Across disciplines
Science becomes one.
Ingrid Munck, Professor emerita Education and Evaluation, Department of Education and Special Education,
Göteborg University, Sweden
Time for Statistics
Basic skills for everybody
Grounding our awareness
of self in the world
Lighting the realities
of close dependency
Mankind becomes one.
www.mplususers.co.za
The Mplus User Group will be a
platform for South African Mplus
users to share ideas, collaborate
and ask for help regarding Mplus
topics.
Click here to go to the website of the Mplus User Group. The
website will be in the form of a
forum, where users can join (free We will invite world-renowned
of charge) and post messages on experts on Mplus to share their
knowledge with our members.
a variety of topics.
When we reach a large
enough user pool, we will think
about a South African Mplus User
Group conference.
News
Page 23
For a worthwhile existence
About Mplus and More …. by Rens Van De Schoot
More and more researchers use
the software Mplus (click here),
to analyze their data. Especially
when research questions become
more complicated, Mplus is often
preferred over, for example,
SPSS. One drawback of Mplus
might be that it can only be used
with syntax and many researchers therefore prefer the software
AMOS to analyze their data.
With the new release of Mplus
version 7 (released 25-09-2012),
graphical input and output became available. For instruction
videos about Mplus version 7,
click here. On this website you
can also download a tutorial
exercise where you will be taught
how to start using Mplus (click
here.)
All this information is located
on the website of the Dutch Mplus
Users Group. Did you know that
besides the Dutch and the UK
Users Groups, there is also the
South African Users Group? Click
here. The initiators of the South
African Users Group, Prof. Ian
Rothmann and Ian Jr. Rothmann
as well as Prof. Deon Meiring,
participated in the 4th Users
Meeting organised at Utrecht
University on 30 August 2012. A
short video of Ian Jr. Rothmann,
where he presented future possibilities to run Mplus from smart
phones, can be downloaded here.
Tihamir Aspourov, Rens Van De Schoot and Bengt Muthen
They also participated in a three enjoyed the nice Dutch weather
week Mplus summer school even more.
course organised by Prof. Rens
Van De Schoot.
All of them enjoyed the statistical class very much, but they
Prof. Ian Rothmann and Ian Jr. Rothmann working
hard on the Mplus computer exercises
Ian Jr. Rothmann preparing for
his presentation during the Dutch
Mplus Users Meeting, together
with Prof. Rens Van De Schoot.
Click here to watch the video.
“More and more
researchers
use the
software Mplus”
News
Page 24
For a worthwhile existence
Memorable Moments During 2012
Every year has memorable moments. During 2012 there were
many unforgettable moments. The
photos will help to keep the moments memorable!
Ruut Veenhoven, Wenneke Hubeek and Jasper Van
Assche: Around the campfire
“…
unforgettable
moments for
Optentia
members ...”
Joop Hox and Ian Jr. Rothmann:
Approximately normal
Lynn Booysen and Rens Van De
Schoot: It felt like climbing a
mountain!
Polli Hagenaars and Ype Poortinga:
Ageing to perfection
Deon Meiring: A “Fluitjie” in Utrecht
Chanelle Schoeman and Sesh Paruk:
Making time for our students
News
Page 25
For a worthwhile existence
Lessons for Optentia: Visit to the Kruger Park
Creating a climate for flourishing ….
Spotting opportunities …
Developing networks …
“… Appreciate
the African
sunset with
Optentia”
Making a catch …
Flying to various places …
Taking a rest after a hard day …
Appreciating the African sun …
News
Page 26
For a worthwhile existence
Optentia Participants Talk About Research in 2012
 "In 2012 we learnt much from



“In 2012 we
learnt much
from
participants
about resilience
- perhaps
because we
asked
interesting
questions and
respected
participants'
answers!”

participants about resilience
- perhaps because we asked
interesting questions and
respected participants' answers." (Prof. Linda Theron)
“If the phenomenal growth
and development of Optentia
in the last year is anything to
go by, the future of Optentia
is very bright indeed!” (Dr
Werner Nell)
"You’re never a failure, until
you quit trying" (Angelique
van Rensburg, PhD student)
In 2012 I moved from a nove-  "Face new challenges, seize
list to becoming a statistinew opportunities, test your
cian. I’ve realized there’s
resources against the unmuch more scope for my
known and in the process
imagination! (Dr Elsabé Diediscover your own unique
dericks)
potential.” (Prof. Nicolene
"A kaleidoscope of rich lifeBarkhuizen quoting John
changing experiences" (Dr
Amatt)
Hayley Walker-Williams)
Optentia researchers at the International Congress of Psychology
News
Page 27
For a worthwhile existence
Join Optentia on Facebook!
Optentia’s Facebook page is used to disseminate research results, information and opinions about positive social science. But
it is more than that: it creates an opportunity to join a community of researchers and practitioners who is passionate about
enabling the expression of individual, social and institutional
potential. Click here to go to our Facebook page.
Topics that you can read about, include:
 Nobel laureate challenges psychologists to clean up their act
 Would you publish your well-being indicators?
 Six ways to spice up your relationship with your job
 When growth outpaces happiness
 How to use optimism to defeat adversity
 Self-perceived strengths among people who are homeless
 Should you leave your job? The math ...
 The true cost of multitasking
and …. much more. Join us today!
Optentia on the Web
Visit the Optentia website for
more information about our subprogrammes, for interesting
videos, and information about
publications. Note that the website is currently redesigned. Look
out for an interesting and functional website soon!
You will find Optentia on the following webpage:
http://www.optentia.co.za
Visit the following websites for more information about optimal
utilisation of potential:
http://www.ianrothmann.com (flourishing)
http://www.lindatheron.org (resilience)
http://michaelfsteger.com (meaning)
http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/ (happiness)
“Optentia’s
Facebook page
is used to
disseminate
research
results,
information and
opinions about
positive social
science.”
News
Page 28
For a worthwhile existence
Optentia Researchers Scientific Outputs and Development: 2012
During 2012, a total of 70 manu- 2013.
scripts (31.35 article equivalents)
Optentia participants sucof Optentia participants were ceeded in doubling their scientific
accepted for publication. Some of publications from 2011 to 2012.
these articles will only be published in 2013. Furthermore, 38
(24 equivalents) peer-reviewed
chapters in text books were accepted for publication in 2012,
although some of these chapters
are scheduled for publication in
“More than 100
peer-reviewed
manuscripts
(articles and
chapters in text
books) during
2012...”
 De Witte, H., Rothmann, S., & Jackson, L.T.B. (2012). On the psychological consequences of unemployment in South Africa.
SA Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 15(3), 235-252.
 Deacon, E., & Van Rensburg, E. (2012). Enhancing emotional and social competence in a group of South African school
beginners: A preliminary study. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(3).
 Du Plessis, Y., & Barkhuizen, E.N. (2012). Psychological capital: A requisite for organisational performance in South Africa.
The South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 15, 1, 16-30.
 Fourie, C.L., & Theron, L.C. (2012). Resilience in the face of Fragile X Syndrome: A single female case study. Qualitative
Health Research. doi: 10.1177/1049732312451871
 Janse van Rensburg, N., Barkhuizen. E.N., & Stanz, K.J. (2012). Exploring the safe mindset of production leaders in a platinum mine. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 23(1), 178-190.
 Koen, V., Van Eeden, C., & Rothmann, S. (2012). A model for psychosocial well-being of families in a South African context.
Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(3).
 Malindi, M. J., & Machenjedze, N. (2012). The role of school engagement in strengthening resilience among male street
children. South African Journal of Psychology, 42(1), 71-81.
 Nel, A., Valchev, V. H., Rothmann, S., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., Meiring, D., & De Bruin, G. P. (2012). Exploring the personality
structure in the 11 languages of South Africa. Journal of Personality, 80(4), 915-948.
 Nell, W. Religion and spirituality in contemporary dreams. (2012). HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 67(3).
 Steger, M. F., Littman-Ovadia, H., Miller, M., Menger, L., & Rothmann, S. (2012). Engaging in work even when it is meaningless: Positive affective disposition and meaningful work interact in relation to work-engagement. Journal of Career Assessment.
 Swart, J.J., & Rothmann, S. (2012). Authentic happiness of managers, and individual and organisational outcomes. SA
Journal of Psychology, 42(4).
 Theron, L. C. (2012). Resilience research with South African youth: Caveats and ethical complexities. South African Journal
of Psychology, 42, 333-345.
 Theron, L.C., Theron, A.M.C., & Malindi, M.J. (2012). Towards an African definition of resilience: A rural South African community's view of resilient Basotho youth. Journal of Black Psychology.
 Valchev, V. H., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., Nel, J. A, Rothmann, S., Meiring, D., & De Bruin, G. P. (2012). Similarities and differences in implicit personality concepts across ethno-cultural groups in South Africa. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
 Van de Schoot, R., Hoijtink, H., Hallquist, M. N., & Boelen, P.A. (2012). Bayesian Evaluation of inequality-constrained hypotheses in SEM models using Mplus. Structural Equation Modeling.
 Van de Schoot, R., Hoijtink, H., Romeijn, J-W & Brugman, D. (2012). A prior predictive loss function for the evaluation of
inequality constrained hypotheses. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56, 13-23. doi:10.1016/j.jmp.2011.10.001.
 Van de Schoot, R., Lugtig, P., & Hox. J. (2012). A checklist for testing measurement invariance. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 486-492.
 Van der Colff, J. J., & Rothmann, S. (2012). Burnout of registered nurses in South Africa. Journal of Nursing Management.
 Van Zyl, L.E., & Rothmann, S. (2012). Beyond smiling: the evaluation of a positive psychological intervention aimed at student happiness. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(3).
 Vander Elst, T., Van den Broeck, A., De Witte, H. & De Cuyper, N. (2012). The mediating role of psychological need frustration in the relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being. Work & Stress, 26(3), 252-271.
 Wood, L., Theron, L.C., & Mayaba, N. (2012). Collaborative partnerships to increase resilience among AIDS orphans": Some
unforeseen challenges and caveats. Africa Education Review, 9(1), 124-141.
News
Page 29
For a worthwhile existence
Ferdinand Says:
The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is
protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's
the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to
struggle for its existence against the winds and rains
and the scorching sun. (Napoleon Hill)
“The strongest
oak of the forest
is not the one
that is protected
from the storm
and hidden from
the sun.”
Enabling optimal expression of individual, social and institutional potential
Books
Postal Address
Optentia Research Programme
Faculty of Humanities
North-West University
Vanderbijlpark, 1900
Phone: +27(16)9103433
Fax: +27(18)2856024
E-mail: ian@ianrothmann.com
Web: www.optentia.co.za
Byrne, B. M. (2012). Structural equation modelling with Mplus: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
Grenville-Cleave, B. (2012). Positive psychology: A practical guide. Toronto, Ontario: Icon Books.
Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2012). Structural equation modeling: Applications using Mplus. Chichester, United
Kingdom: Wiley.
Optentia Contributions to Text Books in 2012
For a worthwhile existence
 Steger, M. F. (2012). Spiritual leadership. In P. Hill & B. J. Dik (Eds.) Psychology of religion and work-

We’re on the web!
www.optentia.co.za


Language editor:
Dr E. Diedericks



place spirituality (Vol. 1 of Advances in workplace spirituality: Theory, research, and application, L. W.
Fry, series Ed.) pp.223-238. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Steger, M. F. (2012). Experiencing meaning in life: Optimal functioning at the nexus of spirituality, psychopathology, and well-being. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning (2nd ed.
pp. 165-184. New York, NY: Routledge.
Theron, L. C. (2012). Assessing school readiness. Pathways to assessment resilience. In S. Laher & K.
Cockroft (Eds.), Psychological assessment in South Africa: Research and applications (2000-2010).
Johannesburg: WITS press.
Theron, L. C., & Engelbrecht, P. (2012). Caring teachers: teacher-youth transactions to promote resilience. In M. Ungar (Ed.), The social ecology of resilience: Culture, context, resources and meaning (pp.
265-280). New York, NY: Springer.
Van Zyl, L. E., & Stander, M. W. (2012). A strengths based approach towards coaching in a multicultural
environment. In J. White, R. Motching, & M. Lux (Eds), Theory and practice of the person-centered approach - Interconnections beyond psychotherapy. New York: Springer Publications.
Veenhoven, R., & E. Samual. (2012). Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible? If so,
how? In M Salama-Younes (Ed.), Arabic positive psychology (pp. 101-115). . Cairo, Egypt: Anglo-Egyptian
Bookshop.
Veenhoven, R. (2012). Overall satisfaction with life. In W. Glatzer (Ed.), The global handbook of wellbeing.
Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Upcoming Events (Click here to go to the Optentia Research Calendar)
24 October 2012: Meeting Optentia
Research Committee
1 November 2012: Ethics Committee
Meeting
8 November 2012: Optentia Research
Committee Meeting
28 November 2012: Ethics Committee
Meeting