Faculty of Humanities
School of Social Sciences
Department of Psychology
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
Two studies were conducted on motivations for rape among African, British and German participants. Consistent with feminist theories of sexual violence, the first study showed that anticipated enjoyment of sexual dominance and not sexual arousal mediates the relationship between rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity. The findings were published in Journal of Interpersonal Violence Vol 19 (April 2004). The second study examined the relationship between rape myth acceptance, rape proclivity, type of rape and hostile-benevolent sexist attitudes. We found that rape proclivity correlates highly with hostile sexism but not with benevolent sexism. Similar data are currently being gathered from Chinese, Indian and South African participants.
Contact person: Dr P Chiroro.
A study, commissioned by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) (Pretoria Office) through the Project Support Group (South Africa), explored the acceptability of home-based VCT services (voluntary counseling and testing services for HIV in resource constrained areas) in Mzinoni Township. Focus group discussions were held with both male and female participants. The results showed strong support for home-based VCT services, provided resident peer educators and health workers are not involved. Reasons given for excluding local health personnel were primarily to do with issues of confidentiality and stigmatization. The findings were published by the CDC in the form of a monograph. An electronic, short version of the monograph can be obtained from Prof Chiroro.
Contact person: Dr P Chiroro.
A current project, as part of MA Research Psychology students' training with prof Maree and dr Cassimjee, explores the phenomenon of change blindness (CB). Change blindness refers to persons' inability to perceive changes in their visual field when the change takes place simultaneously with an interruption in the visual field. The interruption can be an eye blink, mud splash (on a car wind screen) or a flicker induced on a monitor while persons watch alternating images on it. This study explored trends in change detection within the CB-flicker paradigm. A sample comprising 92 university students was tested for speed in change detection. A number of alternating photographic scenes with and without changes in objects were shown in a computer laboratory. There were significant differences between males and females for central and marginal interest changes on different change types, which included changes in colour, presence and location of objects. The results were used to illustrate the methodological restrictions of previous studies and to expand on theoretical explanations for this phenomenon. The study also challenged the various notions pertaining to the nature of the representations one forms when perceiving visually. The first study was followed up with a second to explore gender differences systematically.
Contact person: Prof DJF Maree.
Evaluation of a peer support programme in secondary schools was done to investigate if a peer support programme would enhance psychological well-being and reduce high-risk behaviour of adolescents. It was found, using a quasi-experimental design and learners from 13 secondary schools, that there were not significant differences between the pre- and post measures of learners in schools where there was a peer support programme in terms of psychological well-being and high-risk behaviour. In the control group there was significantly lower psychological health, more high-risk sexual behaviour and a more negative evaluation of the school climate in the post-test than in the pre-test. The conclusion was that the peer support programme may have a preventive impact in schools.
Contact person: Prof MJ Visser.
It was found, in a community survey in Mamelodi and Attridgeville, that respondents evaluated their own attitude towards people with HIV much more positive than what they perceived the other members of the community to be. Knowledge of HIV played a huge role in the respondents' level of stimga attached to HIV.
Contact person: Prof MJ Visser.
In this research using 44 couples from arranged and autonomous marriages it was found that couples who selected their own marital partners and were in love when they got married experienced significantly more marital satisfaction than couples in arranged marriages who were not in love when they got married.
Contact person: Prof MJ Visser.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) recently emphasised the importance of tax awareness and tax compliance, especially in terms of business. At the same time tax behaviour came under the spotlight. Therefore, a tax awareness campaign has been launched by SARS, targeting the informal sector - the so-called second economy in South Africa.
Factors influencing tax collection, such as behavioural responses to maximum utilisation and getting value out of services delivered by government for example, has become a highly sought after concern. These factors can become economic, psychological and social in nature. Various constraints exist in such a campaign, for example the type of information to disseminate and inability to cover the total informal sector market are the most prominent. This study is a first attempt in a South African context to address the economic psychological basis for behavioural response towards tax evasion and/or tax filing.
The study delivers dual results predicting, in general, a controlled consistency of psychological theory — the Prospect theory of Tversky and Kahneman, 1981 with economic explanations of expected utility theory. This holds immediate consequences for especially individual, but also business behaviour, which necessitate a continuous review of tax awareness and collection campaigns and/or strategies regarding revenue options by authorities such as SARS.
Contact person: Ms RPE Gcabo.
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