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Subject: search.filters.subject.Adaptability (Psychology)

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    The role of bridge employment in the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Kuriger, Aaron
    New Zealand’s older population is increasing, meaning that increased research needs to be undertaken to consider older individual’s needs. The present study uses the resource-based dynamic perspective postulated by Wang, Henkens and van Solinge (2011) to examine the relationship between bridge employment, personality and retirement adjustment. It was hypothesised that personality traits (as represented by the Five-Factor Model (FFM)) would be positively related to engagement in bridge employment; and that they would also influence wellbeing in retirement (retirement adjustment). The study also explored whether bridge employment mediated the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment. This study used longitudinal data from the New Zealand Aotearoa Health, Work and Retirement (HWR) study and focused on older adults aged of 55-70. The HWR postal survey included questions about socio-demographics, personality, employment and well-being. Results in the present study show that bridge employment was not significantly related to personality. The traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness were found to significantly relate to retirement adjustment in a hierarchical regression model. Economic standard of living, age and time spent in retirement were also found to be associated with retirement adjustment in the same model. Bridge employment was not found to mediate the relationship between personality and retirement adjustment. The findings indicate that individual’s personality traits have no bearing on whether they decide to engage in bridge employment. Individuals high in conscientiousness appear to adjust to retirement more easily compared to individuals low in conscientiousness. Similarly, individuals with high neuroticism appear to find it more difficult to adjust to retirement than individuals with low neuroticism. The findings also indicate that individuals find it easier to adjust to retirement with higher socioeconomic status; indicating the importance of access to resources in retirement. Additionally, the present study provides evidence that the longer that individuals spend in retirement, the more likely it is that they will adjust to the retirement process. Implications for future research are discussed with an emphasis on motivations and reasons for bridge employment, and other variables to consider in the fields of bridge employment and retirement adjustment.
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    Optimising visual solutions for complex strategic scenarios : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Huggins, Thomas Jack
    Attempts to pre-emptively improve post-disaster outcomes need to reflect an improved understanding of cognitive adaptations made by collaborating researchers and practitioners. This research explored the use of visual logic models to enhance the quality of decisions being made by these professionals. The research looked at the way visual representations serve to enhance these decisions, as part of cognitive adaptations to considering the complexity of relevant pre-disaster conditions constituting community resilience. It was proposed that a visual logic model display, using boxes and arrows to display linkages between activities and downstream objectives, could support effective, efficient and responsive approaches to relevant community resilience interventions being carried out in a pre-disaster context. The first of three phases comprising this thesis used Q-methodology to identify patterns of opinions concerning building a shared framework of pre-disaster, community resilience indicators for this purpose. Three patterns identified helped to assess the needs for applied research undertaken in phase two. The second phase of this thesis entailed building an action-focused logic model to enhance associated collaborations between emergency management practitioners and researchers. An analysis of participant interviews determined that the process used to build this logic model served as a catalyst for research which could help improve community resilience interventions. The third phase used an experimental approach to different display formats produced during phase two to test whether a visual logic model display stimulated a higher quality of decisions, compared with a more conventional, text-based chart of key performance indicators. Results supported the use of similar methods for much larger scale research to assess how information displays support emergency management decisions with wide-ranging, longer-term implications. Overall, results from these three phases indicate that certain logic model formats can help foster collaborative efforts to improve characteristics of community resilience against disasters. This appears to occur when a logic model forms an integrated component of efficient cognitive dynamics across a network of decision making agents. This understanding of logic model function highlights clear opportunities for further research. It also represents a novel contribution to knowledge about using logic models to support emergency management decisions with complex, long term implications.
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    Psychosocial factors relating to adaptive capacity in a New Zealand District Health Board : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Ellis, Debra Elizabeth
    The purpose of the current research was to examine how factors identified in the Organisational Health Framework (Hart & Cooper, 2001) may relate to stress and wellbeing in a sample of the New Zealand health workforce. It was anticipated that the findings would provide information as to what adaptive strategies may be utilised in the health sector in both routine and emergency management contexts. The research focusses on the individual and situational factors identified as having the potential to contribute to positive outcomes. Salutogenesis (Antonovsky, 1979) is used as an overarching paradigm for the context of the research to understand mechanisms which promote adaptive capacity between individuals, teams and their organisation in relation to predictors of stress and growth in a large New Zealand District Health Board (DHB). Two New Zealand national emergency response exercises took place shortly before data collection for the studies. The exercises provided examples of realistic contexts within which to assess the individual and situational factors associated with positive outcomes and adaptive capacity given that the health sector will have a large part to play in the response and recovery to such emergency events. The methodology applied self-report surveys. The first study comprised 155 participants across clinical, medical and nursing professions and management and administration roles. Study 2 comprised 199 participants from the same role categories as Study 1. In both studies, stress and growth were related to both individual and situational factors but individual factors such as personality and coping strategies appeared to play a more significant role than situational factors. The emotion–focussed coping strategies adopted by these groups were positive rather than maladaptive. Results show that emotion–focussed coping strategies may contribute to adaptive capacity by successfully neutralising stressors in the sample. Implications of these findings are discussed.