The impact of privilege, threat, and guilt on prosocial attitudes among white South Africans

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Klaaren
Keyword(s):  
South Africans ◽  
Prosocial Attitudes ◽  
The Impact

The Relevance of Personal Domain Satisfaction for the Quality of Life in South Africa

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Møller
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
South African ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Personal Domain ◽  
The Impact

South African psychologists have identified the improvement of quality of life as a major goal of the 1980s. This paper reviews the impact of satisfaction with personal aspects of life on perceived well-being. The results of an exploratory study of South African quality of life conducted among 5 587 individuals of all population groups are discussed. Findings confirm the salience of the personal domain and the positive influence of personal satisfactions on subjective well-being. However, results of regression analyses suggest that the relative contribution of satisfactions in the personal domain is too low to play a major role in improving the quality of life of all South Africans in the longer term.

The COVID-19 Lockdown and Changes in Routine-Oriented Lifestyle Behaviors and Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia in South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Davy ◽  
Karine Scheuermaier ◽  
Laura C. Roden ◽  
Candice J. Christie ◽  
Alison Bentley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Exercise Time ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Sleep Timing ◽  
Sleep Debt ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Habitual Routines

Background: The authors assessed the impact of lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on routine-oriented lifestyle behaviors and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia in South Africans. Methods: In this observational study, 1048 adults (median age = 27 y; n = 767 females; n = 473 students) responded to an online survey on work, exercise, screen, alcohol, caffeine and sleep behaviors, depression, anxiety, and insomnia before and during lockdown. Comparisons were made between males and females, and students and nonstudents. Results: During lockdown, males reported larger reductions in higher intensity exercise and alcohol use than females, while depressive symptoms increased more among females, more of whom also reported poorer sleep quality. Students demonstrated larger delays in work and sleep timing, greater increases in sitting, screen, sleep duration, napping, depression and insomnia and larger decreases in work hours, exercise time, and sleep regularity compared with nonstudents. Conclusions: Students experienced more changes in their routine-oriented behaviors than nonstudents, coupled with larger increases in depression and insomnia. The dramatic change in their work and sleep timing suggests habitual routines that are at odds with their chronotype, with their sleep changes during lockdown likely reflecting “catch-up” sleep in response to accumulated sleep debt under usual routines.

scholarly journals Examining the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intervention on the health of urban South Africans

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Whitesman ◽  
Michelle Hoogenhout ◽  
Linda Kantor ◽  
Katherine J. Leinberger ◽  
Anik Gevers
Keyword(s):  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Mindfulness Skills ◽  
Urban South ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction ◽  
Clinical Records ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Medical Symptoms

Background: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been found to have significant health benefits in studies conducted in the global North.Aim: This study examined the effects of MBSR on stress, mood states and medical symptoms among urban South Africans to inform future research and clinical directions of MBSR in local settings.Setting: Participants completed an 8-week MBSR programme based in central Cape Town.Method: A retrospective analysis of 276 clinical records was conducted. Mindfulness, stress, negative and positive mood, medical symptoms and psychological symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention using self-report questionnaires. We compared pre and postintervention scores and examined the relationship between changes in mindfulness and changes in stress, mood and medical symptoms.Results: Mindfulness scores were significantly higher after intervention, both on the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Changes on the KIMS were associated with reductions in stress, negative mood, psychological symptoms and total medical symptoms, and improvement in positive mood. Changes in mindfulness, as measured by the MAAS, were significantly correlated only with reduced total number of medical symptoms.Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence for the positive health impact of MBSR on urban South Africans, and in turn acceptability and feasibility evidence for MBSR in South Africa and supports the case for larger trials in different local settings.

scholarly journals Helping South Africans achieve a better income in retirement: a critical evaluation of the impact of treasury proposals

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-202
Author(s):  
Jesse A. De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
Retirement Income ◽  
Policy Proposal ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Retirement income security is an issue relevant to the majority of South Africans, many of whom are financially inexperienced and illiterate. South Africa has a sophisticated retirement industry offering a very wide range of choice of annuity products, but these are often not designed to optimise choices by rather unsophisticated investors. This article provides an overview of issues in the South African income withdrawal market, as well as policy remedies proposed by National Treasury to deal with these issues. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of these policy proposals, using a behaviourally informed framework to financial regulation (Barr, Mullainathan & Shafir, 2008). It recognises that policy remedies need to take into account the realities of how people make retirement income decisions, and how the institutional environment impacts on this. The results of the research suggest that the main policy proposal – simplifying the retirement income withdrawal landscape through the use of default options – is only a partial solution to the problem of unsophisticated consumers who must make several challenging decisions. The research contributes to the literature by providing a more complete, integrated view of the factors that shape retirement income withdrawal decisions and offers practitioners several insights into appropriate reform of the retirement income market.

scholarly journals The impact of the COVID-19 regulations on rent obligations

De Jure ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue-Mari Viljoen
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Rental Sector ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Force Majeure ◽  
Regulatory Measures ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Detrimental Impact

SUMMARY The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of a range of regulatory measures, which has had a detrimental impact on the rights of South Africans, in general, and specifically the ability of commercial lessees to trade. A large number of commercial lessees were forced to close their businesses for lengthy periods of time, which effectively meant that they were deprived of the use and enjoyment of their leased premises. It is unclear whether such lessees, who have been either partly or absolutely deprived of the use of their premises, should continue to make rental payments. The common law is explored to cast light on this issue, taking account of the use of force majeure clauses and the operation of the lockdown measures as a form of vis maior. The common law position regarding vis maior and its impact on rent obligations is further considered with reference to regulatory measures that were specifically introduced to assist parties that were negatively affected due to the lockdown measures in the commercial rental sector.

Do migrants lives matter? A comparison of causes of death between African migrants from SADC countries and South Africans in the post-Apartheid era (2002-2015)

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-468
Author(s):  
Lorena Núñez Carrasco ◽  
Abha Jaiswal ◽  
Jairo Arrow ◽  
Michel Kasongo Muteba ◽  
Bidhan Aryal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
South African ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Content Type ◽  
South Africans ◽  
African Migrants ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Migrants historically and currently form an integral part of South Africa. Their importance and contribution to the country’s economy and development are undeniable. Yet, life for African migrants in South Africa is becoming increasingly difficult. An analysis of migrants mortality until now has not been conducted. The purpose of this paper is to compare the trends of the cause of death among South African Citizens (RSA) and African migrants from countries that form part of the South African Development Community (SADC), that make up nearly 70% of the migrants in the country. Design/methodology/approach Using Stats SA data of all registered deaths in South Africa (2002-2015), this paper compares all causes of death (COD) between RSA and SADC migrants. This paper studies the patterns in COD among these population groups for the years 2002 to 2015 in deaths due to infectious diseases and unnatural causes. Logistic regression was used to quantify the odds of dying due to infectious disease and unnatural causes for each population group. This paper included a calculation of the odds of dying due to assault, as a sub-group within unnatural deaths. Findings A total of 7,611,129 deaths were recorded for the local South African population and 88,114 for SADC migrants for the period under study (2002–2015). The burden of mortality for both infectious diseases and unnatural causes was higher for SADC migrants as compared to RSA. SADC migrants were 1.22 times more likely to die from infectious diseases than RSA (P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.12, 1.23). Similarly, SADC migrants were 2.7 times more likely to die from unnatural causes than South Africans (P < 0.001, 95% CI (2.17, 2.23). The odds of dying from assault was the same as that of unnatural causes. Also, it was found that women were more likely to die from infectious diseases (OR = 1.11, P < 0.001, 95% CI (1.11, 1.11) compared to men, regardless of nationality. Research limitations/implications The bias resulting from migrants who return home to die due to illness, described in the literature as the salmon bias, is present in this paper. This paper, therefore, concludes death due to infectious diseases could be higher among migrants. Practical implications The heightened mortality among SADC migrants can be related to the impact of social determinants of health such as living and working conditions and barriers to access to health care. Moreover, the higher probability of death due to unnatural causes such as assaults constitute a proxy to estimate the impact of xenophobic violence observed in the country over the past decade. Policy interventions should focus on migrant health-care systems. Also, programmes to mitigate and curb xenophobic sentiments should be carried out to address the growing disparity of preventable unnatural causes of death. Originality/value This study offers the first quantification of mortality due to infectious diseases and unnatural causes among RSA and SADC migrants.

The Impact of an Online Mindfulness Program on Self-Compassion, Prosocial Behavior, and Trait Mindfulness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Bailey ◽  
Whitney Comte ◽  
Richard Chambers ◽  
Larissa Bartlett ◽  
Sherelle Connaughton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Prosocial Attitudes ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Online mindfulness programs have gained traction in recent years due to their increased accessibility and feasibility compared to face-to-face programs. Although much research has demonstrated that face-to-face mindfulness programs can increase trait mindfulness, self-compassion and prosocial attitudes, fewer studies have explored these outcomes in online mindfulness programs. Additionally, the relative importance of formal and informal facets of mindfulness practice (i.e., practicing formal sitting meditation or practicing informally by bringing more awareness to daily activities) has not been extensively examined in either face-to-face or online contexts. This study aimed to test whether participating in a free 4-week online mindfulness program improved trait mindfulness, self-compassion and prosocial behavior, and whether improvements were related to self-reported quality and quantity of mindfulness practice. Using a longitudinal design, a total of 209 matched pre- and post-program survey responses were analysed. Results suggested that participation in the mindfulness program improved participants’ levels of trait mindfulness, self-compassion and prosociality (all p &lt; 0.01). Exploratory analysis indicated the mindfulness program had a significantly greater impact upon prosociality scores for males (p &lt; 0.05). Results also suggested that there was an association between the quality of formal mindfulness practice in the last week of the program and improvements in self-compassion and trait mindfulness (p &lt; 0.01), but this relationship was not present for prosociality, nor for the quality of informal practice or quantity of formal practice. Lastly, exploratory mediation analysis suggested the association between quality of formal practice and self-compassion was mediated by changes in trait mindfulness (p &lt; 0.05). These results suggest participating in an online mindfulness program can lead to improved trait mindfulness, self-compassion, and prosociality. Our results also indicate that practice quality is related to improved trait mindfulness, and that the changes to trait mindfulness mediate improved self-compassion.

scholarly journals Editorial Comments/ Redaksionele Kommentaar

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
Full Text ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Prevention Of Hiv ◽  
Hiv Aids

This edition of Health SA Gesondheid reflects strongly on two extremes on the health continuum with which South Africans struggle on a daily basis, namely the impact but also the possible prevention of HIV/AIDS and obesity. Opsomming In hierdie uitgawe van Health SA Gesondheid word daar onder meer gekyk na twee uiterstes waarmee Suid Afrikaners op die gesondheidskontinuum worstel, naamlik die gevolge, maar ook die moontlike bekamping van HIV/VIGS en obesiteit. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

scholarly journals South Africa and COVID-19: A Medical Student Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahil Maharaj
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Medical Student ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Academic Year

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in an unprecedented manner. South Africans waited anxiously for the disease to enter the country. I recount my experience of the first COVID-19 case and the impact it has had on the academic year.  

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