Pacific and Pasifika Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/4764

The theses listed in this collection were all completed at Massey University in a range of different departments and institutes. They have been included in this collection if the topic is strongly related to Pasifika/the Pacific.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.451617 Pacific Peoples social, cultural, emotional and spiritual wellbeing

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    An explorative study on Pasifika students' wellbeing, experiences with feedback, coping, and protective factors at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025) Hussain, Shabeena
    There is a drive in clinical psychology towards increased awareness that mental wellbeing is important for achievement of sustainable mental health. This study focuses on the cultural perspectives of wellbeing, specifically Pasifika psychology. It does so by investigating the link between Pasifika wellbeing and feedback at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using the Kakala Research Framework, this study privileged the voices of Pasifika students by asking them about the impact of feedback on their wellbeing at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants’ stories revealed the impact of feedback across relational, cognitive, affective, and behavioural domains of Pasifika wellbeing. In addition, participants identified coping strategies (e.g., avoidance, psychological disengagement, and feedback-seeking) and protective factors (e.g., Pasifika identities) when navigating feedback at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand. This study recommends Pasifika cultural consideration in the feedback process and proposes the utilisation of a feedback model specifically designed for Pasifika students at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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    Exploring the role of Samoan youth in ‘Tausi Matua’ in Aotearoa New Zealand : a contribution to culturally-diverse elder care practises : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024) Leau, Kotalo
    Elders are held in high esteem and hold many roles in Samoan society. They are guardians of faasamoa [the Samoan way], way finders and prayer warriors for their family, village, and wider community. Youth in turn reciprocate values of faasamoa as they Tausi matua [care for elders]. Today Samoan youth living in the diaspora continue to Tausi matua despite challenges which stem from being away from their homelands. In doing so they resiliently bridge the divides between their elders and the Western world, focussed on finding the best care for their elders. This study is part of a wider project funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) entitled ‘Caring for our Pacific Wisdom Bearers,’ and focuses specifically on Samoan youth carers’ experiences of caring for elders. It contributes to the paucity of research exploring relationships between youth and elders, particularly the experiences of youth caring for elders while living as diaspora. Fa’afaletui [a Samoan metaphorical way of searching for wisdom] was undertaken with youth from two Samoan church congregations and revealed Samoan youth caregiving is grounded in faasamoa, which is enacted as Tausi matua. This is a cultural practice and way of being born out of their faasinomaga [essence of identity] with the belief that this results in faamanuiga [blessings] from elders that the youth can never repay. The results revealed Samoan youth as intergenerational carers, highlighting the Samoan proverb: E sui faiga ae tumau faavae [Practises may change, but the foundations remain]. Challenging the perpetuated narratives of elders as “burdens” and youth as absent in care, this research adds to a gap in literature from a youth carer and Pacific diasporic experience. Elders from the Samoan worldview are centred as Wisdom Bearers: beacons of traditional knowledge, care, and love and Samoan youth are present and active in the aiga [family] cycle of care that evolves seia i’u lau tausiga [until your duty of care is fulfilled].