3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Dimensions of health and well-being in South Africa(2022) Dobreva, RalitzaRecent welfare research has widened its focus, incorporating dimensions of satisfaction and health, while relative status, inequality, and perception-based indicators have come to the fore in the array of material well-being measures. This thesis focuses on the relationship between health and material well-being. It has two aims: first, to investigate the reliability of self-rated health (SRH) as an overall health measure in the South African context; and second, to examine the relationships between SRH and socioeconomic status and inequality, taking into account the role of perceptions. Further, the innate gender disparities in these relationships are explicitly recognised throughout. Chapters 2 and 3 approach the first aim from opposing angles. Chapter 2 addresses the reporting heterogeneity in SRH, which is its main disadvantage. The heterogeneous reporting patterns found are similar for men and women, with notable differences in the role of household material resources and location type. Nevertheless, the analysis corroborates international evidence that SRH is an internally consistent measure when employed in panel data analysis. Chapter 3 tests the validity of SRH in the South African context, based on its main advantage as a predictor of the most reliable health indicator: death. Chapter 4 examines the relationships of health with absolute income, rank, and inequality, using both measured and perceived indicators of rank and inequality. The findings show that perceived measures of rank and inequality have a greater impact on SRH than measured indicators, and these effects are stronger for women.Item Choice/Freedom and Happiness/Well-Being in a time of ecological limits(2019) Hestenes, MathewThis Research Report analyzes happiness/well-being as a normative conception and as an empirical phenomenon. This report explores happiness specifically in relation to the 21st century ecological crisis of overconsumption and overproduction. The report interrogates divergent conceptions/theories of happiness (whether normative or empirical) both in trying to understand the causes of ecological problems and in seeking a potential solution in resolving these problems. The report critiques all the major normative theories of happiness/well-being (hedonism, life satisfaction and desire/preference satisfaction). It argues that each normative theory carries structural limitations in analyzing 21st century problems and in potentially resolving them. The report then interrogates empirical-natural/physical theories of happiness/well-being. Whilst these theories are empirical many authors utilize their foundations to construct normative theories. The report argues that, overall, the emotional state theory is the most helpful in addressing happiness and development in a context of ecological crisis. The emotional state theory is essentially a hybrid normative/empirical theory, as happiness is encompassed in a person’s emotional condition understood according to empirical models (emotions/affects, moods/mood dispositions and central affective states) and in the normative idea of self-fulfillment). After the philosophical-psychological analysis of happiness/well-being this report analyzes/critiques and illustrates the complexities of choice/freedom’s relationship to happiness/well-being. This report is particularly interested in choice/freedom’s relationship to happiness/well-being because of the linkage of both concepts to the economic system. This report argues that the economic system at its core is a choice/freedom phenomenon. Economies are made up of individual micro choice actors and macro choice architects. The micro choice actors are individuals involved in the micro production and consumption of resources. This reports analysis of happiness/well-being particularly relates to the macro choice environment. The macro choice architects are national/global economic policy organizations/departments/officials who structure the micro choice environment in divergent ways utilizing divergent economic models/theories, such as gross domestic product (GDP) or human development/capabilities. These models create divergent environments that provide divergent choices/freedoms to attain divergent bundles of resources. Some structured environments have narrower choice/freedom sets; these require less consumption and production to achieve. Other structured environments have significantly wider choice/freedom sets, requiring mass consumption and production. Utilizing 21st century notions of ecological limits/boundaries this report argues that significantly wider choice sets are ecologically harmful and models asserting that choice/freedom sets should be continually expanded are not realizable under 21st century conditions. Furthermore this report critiques the over-emphasis on choice/freedom as a constituent of happiness/well-being. This report critical illustrates that wider choice/freedom sets do not provide choice actors with increasingly greater happiness/well-being. In fact psychological research illustrates that wider choice/freedom sets place many burdens onto individual choice actors’ cognitive system. Finally this report utilizes two case studies, Denmark and Bhutan to analyze the relationship between happiness/well-being and choice/freedom under 21st century conditions. The reason this report selected Denmark and Bhutan is based on their vital contributions to happiness research. Since 1972 Bhutan is renown for utilizing Gross National Happiness (GNH) as their indicator for economic progress over GDP.1 This move radically challenged conventional economic growth models. Since 2011 Denmark is regularly ranked number one in international happiness reports, particularly the UN published World Happiness Report (WHR).2 A deep divergence in happiness is noted in these reports between Bhutan and Denmark. For example in 2016 the WHR ranks Denmark 1st whilst Bhutan is ranked 84th.3 In Bhutan, the report notes the over-restriction of choice freedom in favor of a culturalist conception of happiness/well-being. Instead of being free to choose which values appeal to them, the Bhutanese are rather coerced into a state endorsed value system. This report argues that this drastically affects their ability to achieve happiness/well-being. In contrast to Bhutan, Denmark does not restrict choice sets in such a demanding fashion. Instead individuals are largely free to choose a philosophy of life (pluralism) and how they spend their time. This report argues that Denmark’s environment provides wide enough choice/freedom sets for individuals to achieve happiness/well-being, whilst not being so wide that the negativities associated with increased choice arise. Ecologically Denmark is also concerned in resolving the 21st century ecological crisis. Thus Denmark-Bhutan is a nice comparison as both countries are talked about in regards to happiness/well-being and ecological considerations, whilst each structures the choice/freedom-happiness/wellbeing relationship in a different way. This provides an interesting discussion that will be explored in this report.Item The effects of workspace office layout on aspects of employee wellbeing(2018) Laughton, Keren-AmyWith the change in nature of work, the spaces in which work is done has also changed, prompting research into the effects of the work environment on employees. The purpose of this study is to investigate how different types of workplace office spaces will have different impacts on aspects of wellbeing in employees. The facets explored are how employees perceive their satisfaction of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) attributes, how they perceive their performance and health within these IEQ conditions, how they perceive their current workspace affecting their physical and psychological discomfort, and how they perceived their own psychological wellbeing. A quantitative survey was compiled from previous literature, appropriate to exploring these variables. The questionnaire was piloted at a company that owns, develops, and manages property before being conducted over a two-week period at a large health insurance company in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The final survey consisted of three subscales of the Green Building Survey (Hedge & Dorsey, 2012) measuring perceived satisfaction of indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and performance; the GABO questionnaire (Pierrette et al., 2015) assessed six aspects of perceived noise; the extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire assessed physical discomfort in nine body regions; perceived psychological comfort; and perceived psychological wellbeing using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Data were collected using an online survey platform. The final sample consisted of 1853 participants of different genders, races, ages, and organisational levels of a prominent South African organisation. The results of this study are beneficial to the field as literature pertaining to workspace layout is outdated and new research is needed as innovative trends in layout types are emerging. Most previous research on employee perceptions addresses productivity but not necessarily different aspects of perceived health, wellbeing, and comfort. It is expected that this study will contribute to finding clarity in a still-ambiguous field and will add to the present-day change in how and where work is done.Item Users' experiences and feelings of a green building and perceived organisational outcomes.(2014-07-24) Hart, SharmiThere has been numerous research that has hypothesised that ‘green’ buildings contribute to more positive outcomes than that of their conventional counterpart, such as increased well-being (psychological and physical) and productivity. However, recent studies have shown that results have been inconclusive, showing a discrepancy within this realm. In the present study, the researcher investigated the relationship between ‘green’ buildings and organisational outcomes (well-being, productivity, job satisfaction, absenteeism, and presenteeism), as well as, factors that may impact on this relationship. This was achieved by examining a sample of participants within the Nedbank Menlyn Maine building, whereby, a 5-star ‘As-Built’ Green Rating has been achieved. A non-experimental, longitudinal, correlational mixed methods design was employed. Quantitative data was collected using a demographic questionnaire, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental well-being scale, Sick Building Syndrome Questionnaire, perceptions of physical work conditions questionnaire, and single item scales measuring productivity, job satisfaction, absenteeism, and presenteeism. Data was compared over three time frames (approximately 6 months apart) in order to see if there was a change. Qualitative data was collected by means of nine in-depth interviews. Most the results demonstrated that the ‘green’ building did not produce significantly better physical or psychological wellbeing, increased job satisfaction or higher perceived productivity. Qualitative data revealed that green buildings could not be examined in isolation, and that aspects, such as legitimacy of the green concept, education, resistance, unconscious impacts, office design, culture, and health effects needed to be examined in order to understand the quantitative results. The implications of the results and the limitations of the study are discussed, and suggestions for further research are made.