South African Journal of Psychology

This article discusses the age at which criminal responsibility should begin and whether there is still a need for the rebuttable presumption of doli incapax. It clarifies the various meanings given to the concept of the age of criminal responsibility and considers its importance. Some common law countries have moved away from the traditional position of a minimum age level of 7 years and a rebuttable presumption of doli incapax from 7 years until 14 years. In doing so, there has been a tendency to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years and abolish the rebuttable presumption of doli incapax. After analysising these changes, the article argues that there is still a place for this presumption unless and until the minimum age of criminal responsibility is raised to the level preferred by the United Nations Committee on the Right of the Child.

Measurement invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition across race (Blacks and Whites) was examined in a sample of university students, from two universities from diverse geographical areas of South Africa (N = 870). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (i.e., means and covariance structures) was used to test the factorial invariance of the hierarchical four-factor structure, composed of three first-order factors (i.e., Negative Attitude, Performance Difficulty, and Somatic Complaints) and one second-order general factor (Depression) found with South African students. Evidence of measurement invariance was established at the level of configural, metric, and scalar invariance. However, there were some evidence of differential additive response style across race—with two non-invariant intercepts (Item 5 and 14) being identified. Results also revealed significant latent mean differences favoring Black students on the Performance Difficulty and Somatic Complaints factors but not on the Negative Attitude factor. Findings suggest that the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition provides an assessment of the severity of depressive symptoms that is equivalent across race in university students.

In this article, the authors report on the development of an interest inventory (the Maree Career Matrix) for South Africans with a minimum of Grade 9 second language English or Afrikaans proficiency. The instrument was completed by 1106 learners in Grade 11 in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West provinces of South Africa. Rasch analysis was done; inter-category correlations, reliability coefficients, and differential item functioning values were calculated; and validity and norm tables were established. We concluded that the Maree Career Matrix is easy to use and has good psychometric qualities, takes relatively little time to administer, provides reliable and valid results, is standardised, and can be applied to large groups with relative ease. Additional research is needed to gather data on the profiles of people in other age brackets and to trace their progress, the aim being to further investigate and enhance the predictive value of the Maree Career Matrix.

The present study examined the competing factor structures, validity, and reliability of the state and trait versions of the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule – Short Form and the effect of the number of response categories on the scale qualities among Nigerians. Undergraduates (N-1510) completed a trait version of the scale with 5-point and 7-point response formats and a state version with a 7-point response format. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed alongside other techniques to gauge the psychometric properties of the scale. The obtained factor structures for the trait and state versions were in line with the theoretical assumptions of the scale and previous findings. A correlated two-factor model provided the best fit for the trait version, while an orthogonal two-factor model provided the best fit for the state version. The scale performed well with the 7-point response format, but it performed poorly with the 5-point response format, suggesting that the behaviour of the scale depends on the number of response categories. The findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies are discussed.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the world. The South African mass media have been recognised as playing an important role in influencing individual cognitions of social issues, including intimate partner violence. However, few studies have investigated how such violence is represented within the South African media. This article explores how the print media constructs men’s perpetrated violence against female partners, attending in particular to how and to what effect extreme acts of violence are represented in data from three newspapers that attract the highest readership in the Western Cape. Guided by social representations theory, an inductive thematic analysis was conducted to identify social representations of intimate partner violence as evident in 17 articles reporting on men’s perpetration of violence against intimate female partners. The analysis suggests that this form of violence is predominantly represented in terms of extreme acts of physical violence. This representation functions to reduce violence against women to a simplistic binary of male perpetration and female victimhood, undermining the complexities of this social phenomenon in South Africa. The article highlights the importance of representing intimate partner violence in a more comprehensive manner.

Sexuality constitutes a central feature of what it is to be human, yet health practitioners, families, and caregivers frequently perceive romantic and sexually intimate relationships among persons with intellectual disabilities to be inappropriate tending to regard such individuals as either ‘asexual’ or ‘hyper-sexed’. A number of myths, stereotypes, and prejudices intersect in a manner that has deleterious consequences for persons with intellectual disabilities. This article reviews the literature on sexuality and barriers to sexual expression among persons with intellectual disabilities. Relevant legislative frameworks and human rights issues, in particular, the tensions between protecting persons with intellectual disabilities from exploitation, and the promotion of sexual autonomy also receive consideration. In addition, the article explores issues relating to competency to consent to sexual acts and concludes with a synthesis of the current knowledge.

Viewed in the context of an older-growing population, pressure on health-care and social (family and community) resources, and a perceived changed intergenerational ‘care contract’, relationships are often the only avenue open to address the care needs of both older and younger generations in economically deprived environments. This study explored how empathy manifested in the care experiences of older people (8 women and 1 man, aged between 60 and 85 years) in relation to middle adolescents (aged 16 years and younger). Empathy is proposed as an essential quality that can benefit care in any relationship, and indications of this were obtained by applying the Mmogo-method®, a projective visual data collection method. Textual data were analysed thematically, and visual data were analysed using Roos and Redelinghuys’ method of analysis. Findings indicated that older people viewed the relational interactions from a self-centred perspective and in a linear manner, referred to mid-adolescents in judgemental terms, and expressed conditional acceptance of these younger people. The findings indicated the antithesis (the opposite) of empathy, with the implication that older people might not give or elicit empathy in relation to younger people, particularly when the latter reach independence and exercise their autonomy. A lack of giving and receiving empathy holds serious implications for the future care needs of older people.

Despite the personal and organisational benefits and pitfalls associated with Impression Management, and considering the diverse nature of its population, South Africa is yet to develop, validate or adapt its own measure of impression management. The aim of this study was to validate the Bolino and Turnley Impression Management Scale for use in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed using a sample of students from a South African university in Gauteng (N = 296). The exploratory factor analysis results show support for the five-factor model of the Impression Management Scale. The validation of the measure indicates sound psychometric properties and is therefore a valid predictor of impression management behaviour. The instrument may therefore be used in the South African university context to measure impression management behaviour. Recommendations include a validation of the same scale in an organisational setting.

This article describes a study with two major objectives: first, to investigate whether prospective memory functioning is dissociated from retrospective memory functioning and, second, to examine whether field-independent cognitive style will differ significantly from field-dependent cognitive style in prospective and retrospective memory functioning. A total of 76 undergraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (41 men, 35 women; mean age: 19.66 years; standard deviation = 2.02) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire. Omnibus statistic showed that prospective and retrospective memory was not dissociated (p < .001) and the field-dependent versus field-independent cognitive styles differed significantly on prospective (p < .001) and retrospective memory (p < .001). The results were viewed as tentative; the study maintains that future studies are required to provide converging evidence. Authors concluded with some suggestions for further research.

The Resilience Scale for Adults is considered a valid and reliable measure of resilience resources and has received validation support across several populations. This study attempted to validate and examine the psychometric properties of the instrument in a sample of competitive tennis players to prospectively appropriate the inventory for use among athletes. The tennis athletes (n = 365) completed the Resilience Scale for Adults, the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire, and the stress items included on the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes. Confirmatory factor analysis model fit indices revealed an acceptable level of fit for the original six-factor structure. The Resilience Scale for Adults scale and subscales were negatively associated with stress and correlated positively with mental toughness, providing evidence of the convergent validity of the Resilience Scale for Adults. Collectively, the findings offer initial support for using the Resilience Scale for Adults to assess a broad range of protective factors among competitive tennis players. Further research is required to explore the adaptation or refinement of the Resilience Scale for Adults for use in multiple sporting contexts.