Employability capacities and organisational commitment foci of human resource professionals: An exploratory study

This study explored the relationship between employees’ employability capacities and their organisational commitment foci. A convenience sample of 196 South African human resource professionals participated in the study, consisting of 73% females and 88% black African people, predominantly within their early career stages (aged > 45 years). Data on individuals’ employability capacities and organisational commitment were collected via questionnaires. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was performed to assess the association between the variables of employability capacities and organisational commitment foci. Participants’ lifelong learning capacities (goal-directed behaviour and continuous learning orientation) were positively associated with their career commitment. This finding suggests that a strong lifelong orientation is likely to increase involvement in one’s occupation within the organisation, which contributes to organisational commitment. Lifelong learning capacities appear important to human resource professionals’ career development within their employer organisation.     

The Need for and Possibility of a Christian Forgiveness Education in Schools

Individuals and communities occasionally need asking and giving forgiveness. Because the process of forgiving is not always well understood, it has become necessary to consider including forgiveness education in school pedagogy and in formal school programs such as Citizenship Education. This possibility is illustrated with examples from South Africa and The Netherlands. To date, forgiveness education has mostly taken the form of brief research interventions. It is recommended that forgiveness education, also from a Christian viewpoint, be given a more prominent place in school curriculums as well as in teacher education programs.     

Mood states during a successful world record underwater diving attempt

The mood states of a diver were recorded over a period of almost 10 days of submersion. Scores on the Profile of Mood States obtained on the components of Depression, Anger, and Confusion suggested that there were no signs of psychological disintegration over this period. As expected, scores on Fatigue increased whereas perceived Vigor diminished over time. High Esteem remained consistent. It is proposed that profiling of mood states can be a useful monitoring tool of an acclimatization process.     

EMPIRICALLY DERIVED INJURY PREVENTION RULES

This study describes a set of empirically derived safety rules that if followed, would have prevented the occurrence of minor injuries. Epidemiologists have criticized behavioral interventions as increasing “safe” behavior but failing to demonstrate a decrease in injury. The present study documents retrospectively the link between safe behavior and injury. It demonstrates that these empirically derived rules are very similar to rules for the prevention of serious injury. The study also shows that these rules are not widely accepted and implemented by parents. Suggestions for future research in this area are advanced.     

DECREASING CHILDREN'S RISK TAKING ON THE PLAYGROUND

Playground mishaps are some of the most common sources of injury and are the leading killer of children. The present study used a multiple baseline design across three classrooms (N = 379 children). With minimal teaching and rewards, children decreased and maintained decreased risky playground behaviors on slides. Floor effects on climbers prevented the demonstration of similar effects. The decreases seen in risky slide behavior are discussed within the context of preventive safety training for playground injuries.