Prosocial behaviour in South African students a qualitative enquiry
- Authors: Cholerton, Steven M
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Helping behavior , Interpersonal relations , Altruism , Social ethics , College students -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:2948 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002457 , Helping behavior , Interpersonal relations , Altruism , Social ethics , College students -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Description: The central aim of this study was to conduct a qualitative exploration of the prosocial inclinations possessed by young South African students. The literature review argues that traditional approaches to moral responding separate the individual from the social. An alternative approach that reinstates language and ideology is delineated. It is argued that such a paradigm is most appropriate to a study of prosocial responding during a period of social change. Hypothetical moral dilemmas were administered to twenty-nine students. Six students were selected and each was interviewed on two separate occasions. In this way six case studies were developed. The methodological traditions of phenomenology and hermeneutics were employed to analyze the protocols and subsequent interviews. Seven themes descriptive of a moral response were identified. These consisted of moral reasoning, empathy, mood, guilt, alienation, a sense of group-identity, and ambiguity regarding the relative interests of self versus other. These themes are fully discussed in terms of the literature. It is concluded that moral reasoning may be insufficient to motivate prosocial behaviour. Conventional moral narratives may be appropriated in order to make sense of conflicting emotions. Empathy was identified as a necessary but not sufficient condition for a prosocial response. Empathy might translate into either sympathy or personal distress. Mood was found to largely dictate attentional focus. Alienation was found to be a defensive formulation that inhibits the emergence of sympathy. Guilt might precipitate an alienated posture. It was found that guilt might be attributed to group-identity and thereby denied. Tension between a self- and other-oriented response, or between blame and sympathy, was common. It is suggested that this ambiguity reflects ideological contradictions that have been internalized. It is postulated that during periods of social change such contradictions are accentuated.
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- Date Issued: 1995
The small business entrepreneur : a psychological profile
- Authors: Street, David Michael
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Businessmen -- Psychology , Businesswomen -- Psychology , Self-employed -- Psychology , Entrepreneurship -- Psychological aspects , Small business -- Psychological aspects , Businessmen , Businesswomen , Businesspeople
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:3065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002574 , Businessmen -- Psychology , Businesswomen -- Psychology , Self-employed -- Psychology , Entrepreneurship -- Psychological aspects , Small business -- Psychological aspects , Businessmen , Businesswomen , Businesspeople
- Description: With the growing importance being placed on the small business environment as having a positive influence on economic growth and vitality (Erwee, 1987: Burns & Dewhurst, 1989), there has been a corresponding increase in attention being paid to entrepreneurship and the characteristics of the entrepreneur. This increased attention is due to the fact that entrepreneurs have long been linked to small business creation and recognised as an important factor in the small business development process (Boyd & Gumpert, 1983). Despite the quantity of research on entrepreneurship, there appears to be an ongoing controversy oyer what characterises an entrepreneurial business. and the specific characteristics of the small business entrepreneur. It has been argued that although there is an overlap between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial businesses. they are in fact different entities (Carland, Hoy, Boulton & Carland, 1984: Drucker, 1985), and that not every individual who starts a business is an entrepreneur (Drucker. 1985). Small business entrepreneurship has been found to be specifically related to the psychological characteristics of the owner-manager who controls the business (Miller. 1983). The purpose of this research was to identify and describe psychological characteristics displayed by a group of South African small business entrepreneurs, thereby compiling a psychological profile of the small business entrepreneur. Given the nature of entrepreneurial activities and processes, Hofer and Bygrave (1992) recommend that accurate, precise qualitative data that is rich in its descriptive characterisation of the situation and the phenomenon involved be collected. As a result the researcher used qualitative rather than quantitative methods of investigation. Innovative behaviour has long been linked to entrepreneurship (Schumpeter. 1934) and entrepreneurial businesses were distinguished from other small businesses by their use of innovative strategic practices. Two sample groups consisting of entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial businesses, were created and the data collected were analysed independently. The results, based on personal interviews with 32 small business owner-managers and the administration and interpretation of tihe Structured Objective Rorschach Test (SORT), indicate that small business entrepreneurship should not be used as a term synonymous with small business ownership and/or management. Despite similarities between small business entrepreneurs and other small business owner-managers. the results suggest that a distinction between the two groups is necessary for accurate future research on entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs differed from other small business owner-managers in terms of their psychological characteristics including their motives, their perception and attitude towards the external environment, and various sociological factors. The entrepreneurial businesses were also different in that they were more innovative and growth oriented than the non-entrepreneurial businesses. The research contributes towards a clarification of the concept of small business entrepreneurship and indicates a need for more precise sampling techniques to be used in entrepreneurial research.
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- Date Issued: 1995