Post on 16-Jan-2020
The Optentia Research Pro-
gramme recently appointed two extraordinary professors, namely
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven and Prof. Hans De Witte.
Prof. Veenhoven, who studied
sociology, is emeritus professor of social conditions for happiness
at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. His publications
include: 'Conditions of happi-ness' (1984), 'Happy Life-expec-
tancy' (1997), ‗The four qualities of life‘ (2000) and ‗Is life getting
better?‘ (2005). Prof. Veenhoven is director of the World Database
of Happiness and editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies.
Hans De Witte is full profes-
sor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He is member of the Re-search Group Work-, Organiza-tional and Personnel Psychology
of his department. He is involved
in (national and international) research regarding job insecu-
rity, organisational restructuring and mergers, temporary con-
tracts, mobbing at work, and
burnout versus work engagement. The two extraordinary pro-
fessors will be involved in various research projects implemented in
the Optentia Research Pro-gramme.
Special points of interest:
Extraordinary professors
appointed
MPlus workshop
Master‘s and Doctoral
Students
Positive Social Sciences
Symposium
Optentia Awards
Happiness Research
Two Extraordinary Professors Appointed at Optentia
Inside this issue:
MPlus workshop at Optentia 2
Administrative Assistance
for Optentia
2
Introducing Postgraduate
Students
3
SA Positive Social Sciences
Symposium
4
Optentia Awards 6
Happiness Research 8
Publications and Events 10
News Volume 1, Number 2
April 2011
Enabling optimal expression of individual, social and institutional potential
Keynote speakers and
members of the Optentia
Research Programme
during the South African
Positive Social Sciences
Symposium — 2011
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven
Prof. Hans De Witte
Dr Werner Nell attended the First Global Conference on Spirituality in the 21st Century that was held
in Prague, Czech Republic from 20-22 March 2011. He delivered a
paper entitled Conceptions of spirituality in modern dreams, which examined the role that
spirituality is perceived to play in the dreams of individuals. The
conference was attended by dele-gates from countries as diverse
as Lithuania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, the
United States, Japan, Australia and Canada, which ensured a
wide array of interesting and
thought-provoking presentations
on spirituality. Topics covered diverse areas, including spiritual-
ity and nursing, policing, art, belonging, trauma, bereavement
counselling, as well as methodo-
logical issues pertaining to spiri-tually based research. Several
projects, involving a project blog, an e-mail discussion group, the
establishment of a spirituality research database as well as
platforms for research collabo-ration have been initiated, which
promise to significantly enhance and develop the value and impact
of the conference.
member of the International As-
sociation of Lions Clubs, Lynn enjoys making positive contribu-
tions to her community and envi-ronment. Being a Lion enriches
her soul, reminds her to live
gratefully and inspires her to see the best in everything and every-
one.
Lynn Booysen was recently ap-
pointed as an administrative assistant in the Optentia Re-
search Programme. Lynn was born and grew up in Vaalpark.
After being away for 20 years
she is back home. Lynn has a broad background and spectrum
of experience in dealing with people and she finds people fasci-
nating. Everyone has a story, and every story is unique! Being a
Lynn Booysen
Administrative Assistance for Optentia!
research. The workshop was
presented by an expert from Utrecht University in the Nether-
lands, Prof. Rens van de Schoot. A total of 30 social scientists from
various higher education and
research institutions in South Africa attended the workshop.
The Mplus software package raises serious questions about
the accuracy and validity of exist-ing statistical software packages
which are frequently used to
analyse results in social sciences research.
Expert from Utrecht University Presents Workshop at Optentia
The Optentia Research Program-
me at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-West University
recently hosted a unique work-shop in advanced statistical
analyses and Mplus software.
According to Prof. Ian Rothmann, the workshop presents not only a
platform from which the Vaal Triangle Campus‘ research focus
could be made known, but also contributes to better quality
Paper at the First Global Conference on Spirituality in the 21st century in Prague
Page 2 News
Dr Werner Nell
“To improve
model testing,
social scientists
should master
the MPlus
statistical
package.”
For a worthwhile existence
Participants in the
MPlus workshop
Tanya Beyleveldt, master‘s stu-
dent in Clinical Psychology at the University of Namibia, is inspired
to assist people who have to take care of individuals with Down
syndrome. In her study, she
explores the well-being of care-givers of a family member with
Down syndrome in Namibia. Most previous studies which were done
on the experiences of caring for a Down syndrome were carried out
within foreign countries. Tanya says that she is doing the study
because there is little scientific information available regarding
the experiences and well-being of
families as caregivers of Down
syndrome children residing in Namibia. This research will be a
great help to those parents who begin their lives with a Down
syndrome child within the family
and it will provide them with a balanced perspective of what to
expect. Based on the information gathered in this study, the Minis-
try of Health and Social Services (the planning and policy division)
could plan and implement pro-grammes to promote the well-
being of families who are giving care to family members with
Down syndrome.
Council for Social Service Profes-
sions. In 2008 she registered for her master‘s degree in Forensic
Social Work at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West Uni-
versity and worked as statutory
social worker in Potchefstroom. She resigned in 2009 and started
working as a social worker in Lutzville and served as the Head
of the Office at the Child Care office. Elmien completed her
master‘s degree in December
Elmien Truter obtained the BA
(Social Work) degree in Decem-ber 2007 at Stellenbosch Univer-
sity. She is registered at the SA
2010 with the title "Language
interpreting during the forensic interview. A social work investi-
gation". She is currently regis-tered for a full-time PhD in the
Optentia Research Programme at
the Vaal Triangle Campus of North-West University.
Social Worker Joins Optentia Research Programme for a PhD
creased flourishing and produc-
tivity. Coen Welsh studied employee
engagement in Windhoek to de-termine if the experience of en-
gagement in Namibia is similar to
that in other parts of the world. He used the Work Experiences
Questionnaire, the Psychological Conditions Questionnaire and the
Engagement Questionnaire to gather information. The results
confirmed what has been found
elsewhere which paves the way for intervention research to im-
prove levels of engagement in Namibia.
Coen Welsh
Work Engagement in Namibia
Employee engagement has be-
come a subject of immense inte-rest because of the perceived
positive results associated with an engaged workforce. It is im-
portant to accurately understand
engagement in the Southern Afri-can context to be able to eventu-
ally design interventions that may increase and improve levels of
engagement in Namibian organi-sations which will lead to in-
Exploring the Well-being of Caregivers of Individuals with Down‟s Syndrome
Page 3 News
Mrs Tanya
Beyleveldt
“The greatest way
to live with honor
in this world is to
be what we
pretend to
be“ (Socrates)
Elmien Truter, full-time PhD
student in Social Work
For a worthwhile existence
listen to experts who shared their
knowledge and assisted in buil-ding our knowledge. Attending
this symposium made an impor-tant contribution to students‘
understanding of research, and
presented an opportunity to un-derstand our studies and the
factors that lead to greatness and success. The symposium
gave us the instruments needed to live a life where we could be
motivated in our work, have a
sense of purpose and reason and become happy through positive
self-regulation. This will make an important contribution to our
careers, be it in social sciences
or any other work context. Priva-tus wants to thank the Opentia
Research Programme for giving students the opportunity to take
part and be a part of this success story.
Experiences of the SAPSS by Chanelle Schoeman (Privatus)
The Privatus Academic Psychol-
ogy student body of the North-West Un ivers it y‘s (NW U)
Potchefstroom Campus had the privilege to be sponsored by the
Optentia Research Programme to
attend the first SAPSS. The sym-posium was an important instru-
ment to further the knowledge of students studying in the field of
social sciences. It was an amaz-ing experience where we could
The SA Positive Social Sciences Symposium (SAPSS)
Page 4 News
Ten experts
addressed
participants at
the SA Positive
Social Sciences
Symposium
For a worthwhile existence
Prof. Ian Rothmann and the management team of Privatus
Dr E. Keyser, Prof. H. De Witte and Prof. C.
van Wyk Prof. F. Crous, Dr K. van der Merwe, Dr E.
Botha and Mrs H Williams
Dr A. Fouche and Prof. H. Marujo Prof. L. Neto, Prof. H. Marujo, Dr A. Van den Broeck,
Dr M. Tytherleigh and Prof. M. Steger
‗n ―Simposium‖ is veronderstel
om ‗n vriendelike geleentheid te wees – en hierdie een was dit ten
volle. Maar daar was meer as net vriendelikheid — dit was ook vol
warm emosie en liefde. Ian en
elke lid van sy span, het ‘n uitson-derlike atmosfeer geskep. Die
―Student Dream Theater‖ koor het dit aangeskakel. Inhoudelik
het die program ‘n ongewone komponent van deernis bevat.
Verskeie sprekers het meer as net kognitiewe stof aangebied, of
het selfs harde denke met warmte aangebied. Tussen puik,
streng wetenskaplike referate
met harde statistiek deur, was
daar ook geleenthede waaroor ‘n mens nog lank sal nadink en
navoel. Die oorhandiging van drie Optentia Toekennings was ‘n
roerende geleentheid. Freddie
Crous en Sesh Paruk se lesings het insig en invoeling op die diep-
ste menslike belewings gebied. Die eerste S.A. Simposium oor
Positiewe Sosiale Wetenskap was buitengewoon suksesvol. Dit ver-
dien erkenning en lof.
her address to participants at the
SA Positive Social Sciences Sym-posium on 15 April 2011. She sum-
marised the psychology of mechanised oppression and its
impact on South African society.
According to Dr Paruk, social scientists owe this country much,
as decades of social scientists were silent when some of the
most horrific human rights viola-tions had been committed. There
is absolutely no time for divides
Dr. Sesh Paruk, Human Resource Executive at the Parliament of
South Africa was inspirational in
to exist between academics and
what is happening to people on the ground. This is a prime oppor-
tunity for socio-behavioural scientists and kindred spirits to
reclaim our dignity by making a
"pure" contribution to democratic paradigms, without any expecta-
tion of fame/glory or reward.
Dr Sesh Paruk: An Inspiring Person!
Honours
students in the School of
Behavioural
Sciences at the North-West
University who assisted us
during the First SAPSS with Dr
Sesh Paruk
„n Ander Perspektief deur Prof. Deo Strümpfer
Page 5 News
Dr Sesh Paruk
For a worthwhile existence
Prof. Ian Rothmann and
Prof. Deo Strümpfer
“Science
without
humanity will
destroy us”
Gandhi
A visit of five academics of the
Faculty of Humanities at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-
West University (NWU – Vaal Triangle) to the University of
Namibia (UNam) prepared the
table for research collaboration between the two institutions. For
the academics at the NWU Vaal Triangle who all participate in
Optentia, the visit represents an important step in building a com-
munity of researchers who focus on how individual, social and insti-
tutional potential in the African context. The delegation of the
NWU Vaal Triangle was welcomed by the Dean of Humanities at
UNam, Prof. Kingo Mchombu.
Researchers discussed research collaboration and ways to im-
prove the quality of research regarding optimising of potential.
According to Prof. Ian Rothmann,
who led the delegation during the visit to UNam in Windhoek, Opten-
tia researchers are already in-volved in master‘s and doctoral
studies on optimising of individ-ual, social and institutional poten-
tial in South Africa and Namibia. Researchers at the two institu-
tions will collaborate in research projects regarding flourishing of
individuals and institutions, resil-ience of children, and well-being
in families.
Dr Werner Nell (Sociology), Dr Ansie
Fouche (Social Work), Prof. Linda
Theron (Education), Dr Elmari Dea-
con (Psychology) at UNam
philes. I did not even know that the
topic existed AND was being re-searched! Instead of meeting
delegates totally removed from the reality of child-abuse and
related issues, I encountered
researchers and keynote speak-ers enlightening their audience
with informed opinions sharing their well-researched knowledge
combining intellect and emotion. A quote by Mary Crowe sprung to
mind as I was driving home after two days spent well – ―You can
To use the word ―surprised‖
would be an understatement to describe the feeling when I re-
ceived an invitation to share my story with a group of intellectuals
and academics doing research on
―Positive Social Sciences‖. The thought of letting them have a
glimpse into my world of saving and loving dirty, smelly little out-
casts of society and the continu-ous fight for justice scared me
more than my daily encounters with drug-dealers and paedo-
change your thinking and thereby
change your life. You can do this by deliberately imaging into your
subconscious good ideas, positive images, instead of negative
ones. You are constantly in a
state of becoming. And you do become what you think.‖
Elsabe Coetzee
Elsabe Coetzee: Experiences of the SA Positive Social Sciences Symposium
During 2006 his family became
victims of an armed robbery in a
shopping mall in Pretoria, and both
his wife and 7-year old daughter
were shot and wounded by robbers.
Hermanus is now working for the
Drug Unit at the Pretoria Central
Police Station. He is extremely suc-
cessful in his work, despite the fact
that he often lacks the resources to
do his job. According to his own
evidence, he does his work to benefit
the community. He earned the nick-
name of ―Spook‖ because of his
ability to show up where criminals
least expect him. A laptop computer
and camera were given to Hermanus
in recognition of his excellent work in
the community.
Spook van der Berg
Spook van der Berg: An Exceptional Person … Hermanus (Spook) van der Berg
completed his Grade 12 education in
1990. During his late school years he
was interested in dangerous insects
and snakes, but never had the oppor-
tunity to further knowledge and skills
through post-school training. He
became a police officer. In 2000 he
received the Police Cross for Brav-
ery (Silver) after he rescued people
who were in trouble on a boat. This
decoration is awarded for excep-
tional bravery in great danger.
Optentia Research Programme Visited the University of Namibia
Page 6 News
“The thought of letting
them have a glimpse
into my world of saving
and loving dirty, smelly
little outcasts of society
and the continuous fight
for justice scared me
more than my daily
encounters with drug-
dealers and
paedophiles.”
For a worthwhile existence
Social scientists seem to give up
character as an explanation for human behaviour in favour of
environmental conditions (Selig-man, 2011). This has various impli-
cations. First, individuals are no
longer responsible for their ac-tions, since the causes lie in the
situation rather than the person. Progressive science must isolate
the ills that befall human beings so that these situations can be
corrected. Third, the focus of enquiry should be bad events
rather than good events. These tendencies take the focus away
from virtuous behaviour of indi-viduals. In a paper with the title
―Engagement and happiness: The
Southern African picture‖, Prof. Ian Rothmann showed that vir-
tuous behaviour, characterised by work engagement is strongly
predicted by personal resources (such as optimism and sense of
coherence) in addition to job resources. He showed that psy-
chological meaningfulness was a strong predictor of work engage-
ment in various countries. Fac-
tors contributing to psychological
meaningfulness and work engage-ment were person-environment
fit, having a calling orientation, the nature of relationships with
co-workers, and the intrinsic
nature of the job. Work engage-ment contributed to happiness
(satisfaction with life and a posi-tive affect balance). To demon-
strate the role of personal re-sources, purpose and meaning in
engagement, three ―ordinary‖ South Africans, who are highly
engaged in their work were asked to tell their life stories.
They also received the Optentia Award on 14 April 2011.
Mrs Elsabe Coetzee received
the award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to-
wards: a) Ensuring that the rights and dignity of the most vulnerable
and poorest of the poor‘ are upheld; b) Constantly raising
awareness of child abuse and children rights issues by con-
ducting workshops and providing implementation strategies; c)
Contributing to a national and
international exposé of child traf-
ficking in South-Africa during 2010, and d) Negotiating on Na-
tional Government level to ensure the effective enforcement of the
National Children‘s Act.
Mr September Rooderick received the award in recognition
of his outstanding performance despite major life challenges. He
managed to overcome adversity and serves as an example of how
a person can rise above his cir-cumstances.
W/O van der Berg received the award in recognition of his
outstanding contributions as a police member. Hermanus
showed virtuous behaviour in
using his strengths to protect the community against dangerous
criminals, drug smugglers, and drug users, being engaged in his
job and committed to the organi-sation despite high job demands
and a lack of job resources, and demonstrating moral goodness in
dealing with the communities where he works.
Optentia Awards for Engaged South Africans
Page 7 News
“Social scientists
seem to give up
character as an
explanation for
human behaviour
in favour of
environmental
conditions”
For a worthwhile existence
Mrs Elsabe Coetzee, Mr September Rooderick, Prof. Ian Rothmann and W/O Hermanus (Spook) van der Berg
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven recently
addressed the question whether greater happiness of individuals
is possible. He showed that it is indeed possible and that it can be
achieved at three levels, namely
the macro level of society, the meso level of organisations, and
the micro level of individuals. Prof. Veenhoven showed that
greater happiness is possible by
addressing live-ability and life-
ability. Live-ability can be im-
proved by investing in good gov-ernance, rule of law, freedom and
tolerance and not investing more in income equality, and state
welfare. Life-ability can be im-
proved by investing in (preven-
tive) mental health care, profes-sional life-coaching, and support
of life choices. Better informed life choices
could be made through mood
monitoring and by charting the consequences of choice. Mood
monitoring can be done through the use of a happiness diary for
education, feedback on how happy you are compared to comparable
people, and a profile of your en-joyment of activities. Charting
consequences of choice entails that the long-term effects on
happiness of major choices in large scale panels be investi-
gated, and that probabilities for
people like you be investigated. For more information, see:
http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl
Prof. Ruut Veenhoven
social engagement, enthusiasm,
and self-confidence. Third, gains in happiness are short term be-
cause people adapt quickly to change. However, research has
shown that specific interventions
could increase people‘s happi-ness. Also, many motivational and
attitudinal factors are amenable to some control, e.g. the tendency
to take an optimistic perspective on life situations, and the ten-
dency to experience self-efficacy.
Three considerations led to
scientific pessimism about the possibility of affecting people‘s
happiness (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). First, people
have a genetically determined set
point which determines at least 50% of their happiness. Second,
personality characteristics of individuals are remarkably stable
over time, which result in people maintaining the same rank order-
ing in their levels of worry, guilt,
Furthermore, research findings
suggest that greater happiness can be achieved over time. Fi-
nally, it seems that the unwanted effects of genes could be mini-
mised by active efforts to steer
oneself away from situations that detract from well-being. There-
fore, enhancing individuals‘ happi-ness levels is a worthy scientific
goal, especially after basic physi-cal and security needs have been
met.
Should We Be Pessimistic or Optimistic About Affecting Happiness?
also study the antecedents of
happiness, commitment-based outcomes and performance.
Happiness is defined in terms of hedonic (including life satisfac-
tion, positive and negative affect)
and eudaimonic components (including self-determination,
engagement, and meaning).
Happiness of Managers in the Agricultural Sector in South Africa
Hannes Swart, a PhD student in
Industrial Psychology at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-
West University, is currently undertaking a study of the happi-
ness of managers in the agricul-
tural sector in South Africa. The study will focus on the effects of
happiness on organisational com-mitment, extra-role behaviour,
turnover intention and perform-ance of managers. Hannes will
Is Greater Happiness of People Possible?
Page 8 News
“Happiness has
both hedonic and
eudaimonic
components”
For a worthwhile existence
Hannes Swart
liance. It is also a symbol of au-
thority. It represents flourishing, life and spirituality. The rising sun
is a symbol of hope. Green as used in the name of Optentia is
the colour of life and of nature.
Yellow is a strong energy colour and compliments the green. The
figure ―holding‖ the sun is symbolic of ordinary people‘s
worthwhile endeavours to bring warmth, light, hope and life into
the worlds of others who are less
The Optentia Research Pro-
gramme acknowledges the con-tributions of individuals and insti-
tutions that show virtuous behav-iour in the Southern African con-
text. The symbolism in the
Optentia award is a product of the name, nature of the objects in
the work, and colours used. The name ―Optentia‖ comes from the
combination of two words, namely ―optimal‖ and ―potential‖. The sun
is an emblem of glory and bril-
fortunate – giving them ―a place
in the sun‖.
The Optentia Award
Goodbye … Not Farewell to International Guests
Page 9 News
“The symbolism in
the Optentia
award is a
product of the
name, nature of
the objects in the
work, and colours
used. ”
For a worthwhile existence
Prof. Hans De Witte, Prof. Luis Neto, Dr Michelle Tytherleigh, Prof. Ype Poortinga, Prof. Ruut Veenhoven, Prof. Helena Marujo, Dr Anja Van Den Broeck, Mrs Elsabé Diedericks, Mrs Melanie Rothmann and Prof. Ian Roth-
mann
13-14 June 2011: Wellness Conference,
University of the Free State.
23-26 July 2011: Second World Con-
gress on Positive Psychology, Phila-
delphia, PA, USA.
Upcoming Events
We‟re on the web!
www.optentia.co.za
Postal Primary Business 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
For a worthwhile existence
Scientific Outputs of Optentia
Joubert, P., Van Wyk, C., & Rothmann, S. (2011). The effectiveness of sexual harassment policies and procedures at higher education institutions in South Africa: Perceptions of academic staff. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 9(1), 1-10.
Joubert, P., Van Wyk, C., & Rothmann, S. (2011). The incidence of sexual harassment at higher education institutions in South Africa: Perceptions of academic staff. Acta Academica, 43(1), 167-188.
Mendes, F., & Stander, M.W. (2011). Positive organisation: The role of leader behaviour in employee engagement and turnover intention. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37(1).
Rothmann, S. & Malan, A.M. (2011). Work-related well-being of South African hospital pharmacists. SA Jour-nal of Industrial Psychology. 37(1).
Enabling optimal expression of individual, social and institutional potential
Seligman, M.E.P. (2011). Flourish: A new understanding of happiness and well-being — and how to achieve
them. London: Nicolas Brealey Publishing.
Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T.B., & Steger, M.F. (2011) (Eds.). Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and mov-ing forward. Oxford University Press.
New Positive Psychology Books