Browsing by Author "Meyer, Ines"

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    “Authenticating” the Role of Authentic Leadership: Examining its Relationship with Trust in the Leader, Psychological Sense of Community and Engagement in the Virtual & Hybrid Workplace
    (2023) Mamaregane, Thato; Meyer, Ines
    The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has changed the trajectory of the working world. As the world learnt to socially distance, the working world shifted to a virtual setting. Individuals who had to perform this shift had to adjust without preparation. Individuals leading teams, for example, often knew how to do so in face-to-face interactions while in physical proximity to others but might not have known what successful leadership would require in virtual or, later, hybrid (partly virtual, partly physical) workspaces. This dissertation considered one leadership style, authentic leadership, and its relationship with employees' work engagement through their trust in their leader because past research found relationships between these variables in a physical working environment. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to understand whether these results still stand in a virtual and hybrid work environment. Research with individuals working in office settings has shown that these variables are related. It tests the assumption that the same relationships apply in the virtual workspace but that, here, an additional variable is of importance. In the virtual space, a psychological sense of community is required for authentic leadership to create engagement via trust in the leader. To test the assumption, a descriptive, quantitative study was conducted. N = 160 employees who worked virtually or in a hybrid setting worldwide completed a survey including established scales to measure the four psychological constructs of interest. Employees who perceived their leader as authentic had greater cognitive and affective trust in their leader, but neither cognitive nor affective trust predicted work engagement. The expected mediation effect was thus not found. A psychological sense of community was found to moderate the relationship between perceived authentic leadership and one aspect of work engagement (absorption|dedication) but not the vigour aspect of work engagement. The results highlight that the relationships between work related attitudes and behaviour might differ in virtual workspaces than when working face to face. The exploration of the four hypotheses determined that the research questions were not supported. However, this research is relevant as it explored employees' insights into hybrid or virtual workplaces, as many more organisations have migrated their working environments to these spaces.
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    Birds of a feather flock together race versus gender preference in the South African workplace
    (2012) Hansen, Marion; Meyer, Ines
    Social Identity Theory proposes that individuals derive part of their identity and their social identity, through their membership in social groups. In order to derive a positive social identity, they attempt to compare themselves more favourably in comparison to members of groups they do not belong to, which may at times leads to discrimination against out-group members. Due to South Africa‟s history of race- and gender-based oppression, it is likely that race and gender are two particularly salient group memberships and that gender- and racebased discrimination are thus particularly prominent. Research has shown that discrimination in the workplace has negative effects, which result in reduced productivity as well as reduced employee engagement and wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which employees show a preference for co-workers from their own gender and racial groups and to establish whether their racial or gender bias is stronger.
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    Discrimination: because I want to or because I have to? : a comparison between the explanations of social identity theory and social dominance theory for intergroup prejudice in South Africa
    (2004) Meyer, Ines; Finchilescu, Gillian
    This thesis attempts to determine whether the amount of discrimination a person displays is more influenced by stable attitudinal orientations, as implied by the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) construct of Social Dominance Theory, or by the context variance favoured by Social Identity Theory. To this end, three studies were conducted. The first study was designed to establish whether the standard assessment tool, the SDO6 scale, is an appropriate measure of SDO in South Africa. It was found that the scale possessed the same general characteristics as in other societies, as assessed using a diverse sample of people from the Cape Town metropolitan region. However, the finding that Black females had a higher desire for inequality between groups than Black males, and that younger subjects desired more inequality than older participants, suggests that cultural aspects have to be taken into consideration when interpreting findings obtained with the SDO6 scale. The second and third study employed the scale in order to assess the research question, as stated above. The second study employed an experimental design to determine whether manipulations of group status, stability, and the legitimacy of status differences influences in-group bias in English speaking students from the University of Cape Town. They completed the SDO6 scale before and after being exposed to a contrived theory of coping differences between English and Afrikaans speakers. As the manipulations of stability and legitimacy were unsuccessful only the influence of status and SDO on discrimination could be tested High status group members described themselves their own group as more competent than the group of Afrikaans speakers, and also contributed greater coping ability to English speakers than to Afrikaans speakers. Differences in SDO levels were not reflected in the amount of in-group bias expressed. The third study investigated the influence of SDO, group status, stability and legitimacy on race- based discrimination by analysing survey data collected from a large and diverse sample from the Cape Town metropolitan region. This study differed from previous SOT research, which focused on societies with stable societies, by investigating the applicability of the concept of SDO in a society which has been recognised as undergoing socioeconomic and political change. The results obtained support SOTs assumption that stratification systems are rather persistent to change. Black, Coloured and White participants still see the historically dominant White South African group as dominant and the Black South African group as the most subordinate group. The participants expected this hierarchy to remain stable over the next five years. Black participants were the most in favour of equality between race groups, despite SDT's prediction that the most subordinate group would have the lowest SDO levels. In contrast to the finding in Study 2, a higher SDO level was relate to more favouritism for a person's own group. The effect of SDO was moderated by perceptions of the own group's relative status and the perceived legitimacy of the stratification stem. The socio-structural variables by themselves did not contribute to the explanation of individual differences in discrimination. It is concluded that under some conditions, SITs socio-structural variables are better able to explain why people discriminate and in others the SDT's concept of SDO has more value. In other words, SDO is not as general as posted by social dominance theorists. Further research on the influence of the salience of group distinctions and cultural factors in general on the desire to establish and maintain social hierarchies is required.
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    Do personality traits predict entrepreneurial intention and performance?
    (2014) Mould, Carol; Meyer, Ines; Bagraim, Jeff
    This study examined the effectiveness of using personality traits to predict entrepreneurial intention and performance. The participants in the study (N = 113) were all members of an Enterprise Development programme based in Cape Town in the Western Cape. The personality variables under investigation included proactive personality, self-efficacy, perseverance and control aspiration. Standard multiple regression analysis revealed that an overall model incorporating all four of the above personality variables explained approximately 25 of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. After controlling for age and education, the model explained approximately 30 of the variance. However, of the four independent variables, only proactive personality explained unique variance in entrepreneurial intention.
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    Does psychological capital moderate the degree of stress and turnover intention associated with experienced workplace incivility? : an exploration in the South African context
    (2015) Bateman, Crystl; Meyer, Ines
    It is of theoretical and practical interest to establish the relationship between experienced workplace incivility and stress and experienced workplace incivility and turnover intentions as well as the potential role of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in influencing these relationships. The objective of the study was to explore the negative effects resulting from the experience of workplace incivility and whether employees’ levels of PsyCap reinforce or attenuate the negative effects associated with experiences of uncivil workplace behaviour. A cross-sectional study with a descriptive design was conducted. Data was gathered by means of a survey that was constructed for the purpose of the study. The survey contained the Uncivil Workplace Behaviour Questionnaire (UWBQ), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a shortened Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ- 24). Convenience sampling was employed to collect data from 271 employees from local organisations, the majority of which were qualified professionals in the Western Cape and Gauteng regions. After removing 83 participants due to incomplete data and a low response rate, descriptive statistics, the non-parametric Spearman’s rho and two separate Moderated Multiple Regression (MMR) analyses were used to analyse the responses of the reduced samples (n = 188 and n = 185). The first MMR revealed extreme cases which prompted their exclusion which, after a secondary MMR, significantly changed the hypothesised relationships. The results showed that employees reported having experienced workplace incivility and that these experiences were related to both higher levels of stress and turnover intentions. PsyCap was found to influence only the experienced workplace incivility-turnover intention relationship with extreme cases. Participants with higher levels of PsyCap reported higher levels of turnover intention as a result of frequent exposure to workplace incivility suggesting that employers should consider appropriate prevention strategies to reduce its occurrence. Additionally, this study shows the importance of understanding a possibly overlooked antecedent (experienced workplace incivility) of stress and turnover intentions in South African organisations.
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    Domestic Work as Decent Work: An Empirical Test of the Predictors of Decent Work To Extend the Psychology of Working Theory
    (2020) Vollenhoven, Tarquin; Meyer, Ines
    The Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) focuses specifically on the work-based experiences of low-income workers. It is thus a suitable theoretical framework to predict and explain the work experiences of individuals performing domestic work, one of the largest work sectors in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the theoretically derived predictors of decent work, in the PWT, could be empirically supported. Domestic workers, in Cape Town and Johannesburg, participated in a self-report survey (N = 139), which consisted of several measures. These participants were accessed through a variety of convenience and snowball sampling techniques. As expected, exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scales used to measure marginalisation, economic constraints, work volition and proactive personality were one-dimensional, and the decent work scale was fivedimensional (complementary values, access to health care, adequate compensation, free time and rest, and safe work conditions). Unexpectedly, the social support scale showed two dimensions (i.e. support from the community or friends and support from a special person or family). The findings supported the proposition that greater economic constraints were related to less decent work experiences, but marginalisation experiences were not related to the degree to which work was seen as decent, nor to work volition (mediator variable). The non-significant relationship between marginalisation, work volition and decent work changed when considering proactiveness as a moderator, however, this was only at low levels of proactiveness. None of the dimensions of social support served as moderators, though social support from the community or friends predicted work volition, and social support from a special person or family predicted the degree to which domestic workers experienced their work as decent. While there were mixed results, the findings of this study suggest that the PWT's antecedents and moderators may work differently in the domestic work sector. Future research should investigate this in the domestic work sector and other low-income samples.
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    Effect of first impressions on student evaluations of lecturers
    (2011) Kinnear, Zeleika A; Meyer, Ines
    Academic institutions (particularly historically White tertiary institutions) are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining Black African and femail academic staff. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Black African academic staff at historically White universities in South Africa experience more resistance from students than White staff do. This study consequently investigated whether students rate lecturers differently on first impression, based on the lecturers' and students' race and gender.
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    An evaluation of the maturity profile of the performance management system of the Development Bank of Namibia
    (2017) Titus, Berenize Bianca; Meyer, Ines
    The objective of this study was to assess the appropriateness of the performance management system (PMS) introduced at the Development Bank of Namibia (the DBN) in 2013, and to identify potential strengths and areas of development. A review of performance management (PM) assessment models identified Jääskeläinen and Roitto's (2015) PM maturity model as the most suitable assessment framework. The PM maturity questionnaire (administered to management), which Jääskeläinen and Roitto developed as part of the model, and the satisfaction survey (administered to employees), which were adapted from the latter, were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from n = 21 management staff members (53.9% of the total management staff) and n = 21 employees (52.5% of all employees) at the DBN. The results showed that overall the DBN's PMS is mature, indicated by high maturity and high satisfaction ratings. Since both, the PM maturity and the satisfaction ratings, fell just above the cut-off value required for the PMS to be considered mature, it was evident, though, that while the PMS had definitive strengths, there were also areas of development. During the quantitative analysis, it was found that the strength of the PMS is the performance measurement practices. Both management and employees are satisfied with all the PM dimensions including performance measurement practices, information systems supporting the PMS, communication and commitment, planning and strategy and leadership and management. The areas in need of development were identified as the information systems supporting the PMS, communication and commitment, planning and strategy and leadership and management, both in terms of maturity rating by management and the satisfaction ratings by management and employees. Based on the outcome of the study, it is recommended that capacity enhancement be applied to enable effective leadership, performance management, innovation and communication; the role of the business strategy office to be enhanced to formalise performance measures and to track targets; a review of the effectiveness of the performance reward system be performed and that an online, centralised and integrated PMS be implemented.
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    Examining the role of psychological capital as a mediator between perceived authentic leadership, work engagement and workplace commitment among school teachers
    (2017) Price, Stephen; Meyer, Ines
    Abstract Teachers have an integral role to play in the education system of any community. However, in developing countries such as South Africa, teachers often face unique challenges in fulfilling their roles effectively and it is therefore essential that they can draw on various resources in order to do so. Research in positive organisational behaviour has argued that one category of resources that can be beneficial in the workplace is psychological resources, such as psychological capital (PsyCap). This study examined the role of PsyCap in equipping teachers at work. The key focus of this study was to investigate whether or not the level of authentic leadership displayed by school principals may help to foster PsyCap among teachers and whether or not increased levels of PsyCap may help to foster work engagement and workplace commitment among teachers. A descriptive research design was utilised with a cross-sectional, quantitative approach. A convenient sample of 291 primary and high school teachers were sampled from 25 government schools in Cape Town. They completed a hardcopy questionnaire which assessed their levels of PsyCap, work engagement, workplace commitment and the degree to which they perceived their principals as authentic leaders. PsyCap was significantly related to teacher work engagement and commitment to both the school and the teaching profession in that teachers with higher PsyCap tended to be more engaged and committed. No significant relationship was found between PsyCap and the degree to which teachers perceived their principal as an authentic leader. PsyCap thus did not act as a mediator between authentic leadership, work engagement and commitment. Authentic leadership did not significantly predict these two outcomes directly either. The study results suggest that PsyCap is an important resource for teachers as it is associated with higher levels of work engagement and commitment. However, while authentic leadership may be important for other reasons, it is unlikely to foster PsyCap, work engagement or commitment within teachers. It is recommended that further research explores what factors assist in developing PsyCap among school teachers in South Africa.
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    Exploring employees' attitudes towards employment equity from a social identity perspective
    (2013) Nujjoo, Sayyideena Aleeshah; Meyer, Ines
    Employees from different racial and gender groups in South Africa tend to differ in their attitudes towards Employment Equity (EE) strategies, particularly, towards preferential treatment in terms of EE. Negative attitudes towards preferential treatment in turn may act as contributing factors to demographic changes towards a more representative workforce being slow in organisations. The objective of the study was to explore factors that influence this difference in employees? attitudes from a Social Identity Theory (SIT) perspective.
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    Exploring new territory: an initial investigation into the potential of a formal industry capacity building programme to shift values among Cape Town paratransit operators
    (2018) Van Aardt, Camilla Elizabeth; Meyer, Ines
    Organisational Psychology’s focus on the formal business setting has resulted in the discipline limiting its potential contribution to and relevance in broader society. To address this shortfall this study was conducted in the paratransit industry, which is the largest contributor to the informal economy in South Africa. It is based on the argument that by applying discipline specific knowledge, Organisational Psychology may have the potential to assist in transforming the culture in the paratransit industry, a culture which has been described as violent, aggressive and undemocratic. As culture can shift through industry-leader driven changes in values, the first step was to understand what values are held by leaders within the paratransit industry. The second step was to find ways in which to shift values. Using Schwartz’s (1992) Theory of Basic Human Values as theoretical framework, this dissertation consequently served to surface the values among paratransit operators which may underlie the violent and aggressive culture in the Cape Town paratransit industry. Secondly, it sought to determine if value shifts may be achieved through formal business skills capacity training. To this end, the extent to which paratransit operators who had participated in such a training programme demonstrated different values to non-participant paratransit operators was assessed. By employing a quasi-experimental post-test design participants (n = 46) and non-participants (n = 46) in a particular three-year capacity-building programme responded to Schwartz et al.’s (2001) Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), which assesses the universal value dimensions stipulated by Schwartz (1992), as well as to additional scales assessing trust in the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and Transport for Cape Town (TCT). The sample valued universalism, benevolence, conformity and security – values that are not generally associated with violent, aggressive and undemocratic behaviour. Power, on the other hand, was neither valued nor not valued although it had been expected to be espoused strongly. The only result in line with expectations was that participants valued stimulation to some extent. Participants indicated trust in the CoCT and TCT. While training participants and non-participant paratransit operators did not differ significantly in the degree to which they espoused the different values and their degree of trust in the two transport authorities, the effect sizes for the differences in conformity, power, security, and universalism as well as trust in the two transport authorities were meaningful. It needs to be noted, though, that a number of limitations in the study design, particularly that no pre-intervention data was available, means that it is not possible to assess if the values of paratransit operators had shifted over the duration of the programme. Consequently, one cannot be certain that such a programme is an effective means of shifting espoused values. If, however, the values espoused by participants in this study are a reflection of reality, then paratransit operators endorse values that lend themselves to the formation of a non-aggressive and democratic culture. Organisational psychologists can assist in bringing about a positive shift to the operating culture of the paratransit industry by translating these value-conform behaviours shown towards drivers and by encouraging similar behaviour in their work and over time, these minibus-taxi drivers may shift their values and behaviours in turn. From a theoretical perspective, the findings on the dimensionality of the PVQ in the sample suggest that even though Schwartz (1992) assumed the value dimensions in the Theory of Human Values to be universal, what indicates each of these value dimensions is context dependent. This calls into question the universal applicability of the PVQ as a measurement tool for these values. The relative endorsement of value dimensions in relation to each other, however, was found to be in line with Schwartz’s (1992) assumptions.
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    From Decent Work to Decent Lives: An Empirical Test of the Outcomes of Decent Work in the Psychology of Working Theory
    (2019) Malan, Danielle; Meyer, Ines
    The psychology of working theory (PWT) postulates that certain contextual and structural factors determine if individuals are able to obtain decent work, and that decent work, in turn, leads to work fulfilment and general well-being. The theory assumes that this is the case, as decent work satisfies three fundamental human needs: survival and power, social connection, and self-determination (as per the self-determination theory [SDT]). Only recently has a measure been developed to assess the satisfaction of these needs (Autin et al., under review), which means that the proposed role of need satisfaction as mediator in the link between decent work and work fulfilment/general well-being has not yet been tested empirically. This formed the objective of this study. The study employed a descriptive research design with a correlational approach. Working individuals residing in South Africa’s Western Cape province (N = 150) rated their work experiences on the decent work scale (DWS), work need satisfaction scale (WNSS), index of job satisfaction (IoJS) scale, and satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). In this sample, adequate healthcare did not fall within the decent work concept. This might be because it is common for working South Africans, especially in lower income brackets, not to receive healthcare benefits, which would thus not be expected. The autonomy and relationship aspects of the SDT self-determination need formed one instead of two separate components. This may be a reflection of low levels of trust in low-income workers, which means that autonomy is only provided if there is a positive relationship. Decent work predicted work fulfilment and individuals’ well-being and, as expected, this relationship was mediated by the fulfilment of the hypothesised needs (survival and power, social connection, SDT relationship + autonomy, and SDT competence). The study thus indicates the applicability of the PWT in the South African context. Organisations should thus be encouraged to provide employees with decent work, as this, in turn, will likely increase employees’ work fulfilment and general wellbeing.
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    Health Promoting Leadership in a Virtual Context
    (2022) Mokoaleli, Tsepang; Meyer, Ines
    Organisational leadership is regarded as one of the most important aspects of the workplace as it has been linked to productivity and efficiency and significantly influences employee health and well-being. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the shift to virtual work has shifted job demands and often increased stress. Hence, effective leadership is required to foster work conditions that are focused on promoting the health of employees. The importance of the role of leadership in creating healthy workplaces has been well established. Health-promoting leadership is a positive leadership approach thought to be instrumental in influencing employee well-being and health outcomes indirectly by focusing on changing the working conditions of employees. The main objective of this study was to identify if health-promoting leadership is related to health and well-being (work-related well-being and emotional exhaustion) in an environment in which a rapid shift to virtual working had taken place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative research design. Convenience sampling using a snowball approach was employed. In total, 104 employees completed an online survey. The results showed that, as expected, the seven individual dimensions of health-promoting leadership were predictors of work-related well-being but not predictors of emotional exhaustion and health complaints. Therefore, the study contributes to the literature on health-promoting leadership and showed that leaders need to particularly focus on enhancing a sense of community for virtually working employees. This is through weekly online meetings as they provide employees with a space where they can interact with each other, and also share ideas with each other.
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    Identity capital and graduate employment: an investigation into how access to various forms of identity capital relates to graduate employment
    (2020) Kiley, Jerome; Goodman, Suki; Meyer, Ines
    Students at higher education institutions expect that their investment in education will be rewarded through positive employment outcomes. The dearth of research into graduates' personal circumstances which contribute to whether these expectations translate into reality was the starting point for this PhD thesis. Specifically, the thesis considered the role of identity development for success in the employment search. Erikson's and Arnett's theories of identity development and Côté's identity capital model were used as the theoretical basis to develop the Identity Capital Model of Graduate Employment (ICMGE). Erikson and Arnett proposed that gaining meaningful employment is a crucial task in an individual's development trajectory when moving from adolescence into adulthood. Côté's model explains under what condition this transition is likely to be successful: Individuals with greater access to resources, both tangible and intangible, are more agentic and thus in a better position to deal with identity formation challenges. The ICMGE thus proposed that graduates with more intangible identity capital, i.e. greater agentic personality, and greater access to tangible identity resources in the form of financial, human, social and cultural capital are more employable, which reflected in a greater chance of finding employment, a shorter time to find employment and higher quality employment. Given that in the South African context historically members of different racial and gender groups had unequal access to employment opportunities for which current employment legislation seeks to provide redress, race and gender were included as additional predictors of graduate employment. To test the ICMGE empirically, students' identity capital, race and gender were assessed via quantitative surveys, with data collected from N = 872 students in their final year of study at different higher education institutions in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. A year later, N = 508 of these participants provided data about their current employment situation in telephonic interviews. Contrary to expectations, not all forms of identity capital were related to one another. The strongest correlations emerged between financial and human capital, with weaker correlations with cultural capital. Social and psychological capital generally did not correlate significantly with other forms of identity capital. The level of identity capital differed by race, but no gender differences emerged. The ICMGE successfully predicted employment amongst 81.9% of the respondents. However, only race and cultural capital, in the form of type of secondary school and type of tertiary institution attended, and home language explained unique variance in the probability of gaining employment. Those who had attended former Model C or private schools, higher status tertiary institutions, were English speakers, and self-identified as white or coloured had a greater probability of gaining employment. Greater social capital, measured by the number of extracurricular activities participated in, was related to a lower probability of being employed. It is likely though that the indicator used for social capital was not appropriate, given that close to half of the employed respondents indicated having secured employment through social contacts. The quality of employment obtained was mostly predicted by race and agentic personality. Those who were more agentic in their approach to life, and those who identified as either white or coloured, had obtained higher quality employment. Financial capital and home language were the most relevant predictors of the time taken to gain employment. Those with greater financial capital and English or Afrikaans speakers spent longer looking for employment. Academic grades had little relevance in predicting whether or not graduates obtained employment. The study adds new knowledge to the graduate employability literature in that it shows that a theoretically derived graduate employability model can be applied to real-world conditions by predicting actual employment rather than a graduate's employment potential. The study also demonstrated the value of considering graduates' identity development and access to identity capital when considering their chances to secure employment, and in particular the quality of this employment. The ICMGE model only predicted small amounts of the variance in the employment variables, however. It is thus recommended that future research make use of instruments that are more sensitive to the intricacies of the different types of capital in larger and more representative samples.
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    Interviewer biases: can first impressions be changed by displaying stereotypical or non-stereotypical behaviour?
    (2012) Keogh, Jade; Meyer, Ines
    In South Africa, where there are many recruitment and selection challenges due to scarce skills and education gaps that exist within the country, the employment interview process may contribute to maintaining racial and gender gaps if decision-making is discriminatory. The purpose of the research was to determine whether interviewers base decisions on stereotypical information, and whether interviewer first impressions can be influenced and changed when interviewees display stereotype congruent or incongruent behaviour in the employment interview. A total of 360 psychology students from the University of Cape Town participated in the study. Participants completed one of eight randomly assigned versions corresponding to eight experimental conditions, in which they rated a black male, black female, white male or white female face in terms of competence, likeability and trustworthiness. Participants rated the same face again after receiving additional information portraying the presented person as either assertive or nice. Results revealed that males and females seen as equally likeable and equally competent, although females are seen as more trustworthy than males. White and black individuals are seen as equally competent however; white females rate white individuals as more competent than black individuals. Black individuals are seen as more likeable than white individuals. White individuals rate white faces as more trustworthy than black faces, while black individuals tended to rate black and white faces as equally trustworthy. Competence and trustworthy ratings increased when individuals displayed assertive behaviour, regardless of candidate race or gender. Likeability ratings, however, were influenced by candidate race and gender, and were in line with assumptions about stereotypical behaviour. Results thus indicate that out-group biases still exist, and that being assertive, regardless of whether it is congruent with an individual's race or gender stereotype or not, increases perceptions of competence.
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    Interviewer effects in quantitative surveys using a door-to-door approach
    (2021) Soeker, Naadir; Meyer, Ines
    Interviewers are a principal source of error in quantitative surveys. While surveys are often self-administered (e.g. in online surveys), it is often required to administer these face-to- face. This is the case, for example, in census surveys in low-income areas where there is little internet penetration, like that of the quality-of-life surveys presently being conducted in multiple countries through a residential door-to-door approach (Carr et al., 2018). In such situations, the social interaction between the interviewer conducting the survey and the interviewee is likely to introduce bias into the survey data collected. Interviewer effects (IE) can influence both item non-response and answer quality, i.e., participants not providing the true answer (Harling, et al., 2019). In an attempt to gain more representative data, this study conducted an exploratory analysis on the possible antecedents and consequences of interviewer effects using the Living Wage survey presently being conducted in South Africa, as the study context. To this end, I examine the systematic biasing effects associated with deploying the same group interviewers (n = 10), of the same ethnicity, age, and of equal gender distribution across five sampling areas in Cape Town in a quasi-experimental design (n = 282). This study highlighted that each interviewer is associated with a unique set of systematic bias that varies dependent on the survey item type. Sensitive items requiring respondents to disclose personal information were the most prone to bias, followed by interviewer-referencing and attitudinal items sequentially. Furthermore, this study found that gender differences in the interview had a marginal influence on the attitudes respondents are willing to share. I hope to contribute to an understanding and critical consideration of the antecedents and consequences of deploying human interviewers for collecting quantitative surveys, especially in a context where ethnic, gender and political differences are loaded in social interactions and are likely to contribute to respondents obscuring their responses.
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    Interviewer effects in quantitative surveys using a door-to-door approach
    (2020) Soeker, Naadir; Meyer, Ines
    Interviewers are a principal source of error in quantitative surveys. While surveys are often self-administered (e.g. in online surveys), it is often required to administer these face-to- face. This is the case, for example, in census surveys in low-income areas where there is little internet penetration, like that of the quality-of-life surveys presently being conducted in multiple countries through a residential door-to-door approach (Carr et al., 2018). In such situations, the social interaction between the interviewer conducting the survey and the interviewee is likely to introduce bias into the survey data collected. Interviewer effects (IE) can influence both item non-response and answer quality, i.e., participants not providing the true answer (Harling, et al., 2019). In an attempt to gain more representative data, this study conducted an exploratory analysis on the possible antecedents and consequences of interviewer effects using the Living Wage survey presently being conducted in South Africa, as the study context. To this end, I examine the systematic biasing effects associated with deploying the same group interviewers (n = 10), of the same ethnicity, age, and of equal gender distribution across five sampling areas in Cape Town in a quasi-experimental design (n = 282). This study highlighted that each interviewer is associated with a unique set of systematic bias that varies dependent on the survey item type. Sensitive items requiring respondents to disclose personal information were the most prone to bias, followed by interviewer-referencing and attitudinal items sequentially. Furthermore, this study found that gender differences in the interview had a marginal influence on the attitudes respondents are willing to share. I hope to contribute to an understanding and critical consideration of the antecedents and consequences of deploying human interviewers for collecting quantitative surveys, especially in a context where ethnic, gender and political differences are loaded in social interactions and are likely to contribute to respondents obscuring their responses.
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    An investigation into factors that influence employees to support diversity in the South African workplace
    (2012) Hako, Pumla; Meyer, Ines
    The aim of this study was to investigate some of the factors that are associated with support of diversity in the South African workplace. Three particular factors were considered: employees’ race and gender and the degree to which employees felt their socio-emotional needs for acceptance or empowerment had been addressed. The importance of satisfying individuals’ socio-emotional needs for them to be willing to engage with members of other groups is highlighted in Shnabel and Nadler’s (2008) Needs-Based Model of Reconciliation (NBMR), which states that groups are only willing to reconcile once their socio-emotional needs have been addressed. Furthermore, the model specifies that these needs are different for members of groups who were victims in a conflict situation compared to those who belong to the perpetrating group. While victims have a need for empowerment in order to be seen as equal players in society, perpetrators want to feel accepted in society and thus have a need for acceptance. Based on the literature reviewed the study’s first hypothesis stated that previously disadvantaged groups would place more value on diversity than previously advantaged groups and that women would value diversity more than men. The second hypothesis was that previously advantaged groups have a higher need for acceptance than empowerment and previously disadvantaged groups have a higher need for empowerment than acceptance. The last hypothesis proposed that the lower their need for empowerment, the more previously disadvantaged individuals would value diversity and the lower their need for acceptance, the more previously advantaged individuals would value diversity.
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    Learnerships in South Africa : the role of workplace adjustment as a mediator between social support and learner performance and satifaction
    (2015) Blandin De Chalain, Megan Maire; Meyer, Ines
    The South African economy is hindered by high unemployment, partly due to a lack of required skills in the country. Learnership programmes were implemented to contribute to skills development however there is limited research into the scope, magnitude and outcomes of these programmes. Previous research into learnerships has highlighted the importance of building support structures into these programmes in order to ensure their effectiveness. This study considered the role that workplace adjustment (self-efficacy, role clarity and social acceptance) has on the relationship between social support (co-workers, family, supervisors and mentors) and job satisfaction and self-perceived performance. Results indicated that coworker, supervisor and mentor support are related to performance via their link with workplace adjustment and that family support is related to job satisfaction via its link with workplace adjustment. This research aimed to create awareness about the internal processes and benefits of support personnel within South African learnerships. The results revealed that the quality rather than the number of support sources provided is important. Positive perceptions of support from co-workers, family, supervisors and/ or mentors was related to higher levels of job satisfaction and self-perceived performance. Additionally, learners who perceived the quality of support offered as high were more adjusted to the workplace. The study may not provide an accurate representation of learnerships in South Africa as a result of limitations such as the use of a self-reporting performance measure. Future research may elicit more accurate and representative analysis through the use of interviews or more objective measures when collecting data.
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    Open Access
    Money and Sustainability: Examining the Potential Moderating Role of Financial Capability and Decent Work on the Relationship between Income and Quality of life
    (2021) Elliott, Amber; Meyer, Ines
    The inability of a large proportion of the working class to sustain a decent quality of life has placed increased importance on paying employees a living wage, that is, an income amount that enables meaningful participation in society above mere survival. However, while this notion seems promising, it does not account for the complexities in the relationship between income and quality of life; which, of course, is influenced by several moderating factors. This study considered two of these, financial capability and decent work, thereby assuming that the ability of income to effectively lead to a good quality of life is influenced by whether or not individuals engage in financial capability behaviours or perceive their work as decent. A cross sectional descriptive design was used and a final sample of N = 153 general salaried employees in South Africa participated in a self-report survey. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that each of the four financial capabilities (making ends meet, keeping track, planning ahead, and staying informed behaviours) were unidimensional in nature; while decent work produced a three-factor structure, inconsistent with its original five-factor conceptualisation. Spearman rho correlation results revealed that income was positively related to quality of life, and moderation analysis revealed that planning ahead was the only financial capability that influenced the relationship between income and quality of life. All other financial capabilities as well as decent work produced non-significant findings. Considering these results, study limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed, followed by outlining theoretical and practical implications.