The paradigm of positive psychology was publicly launched by Martin Seligman in his Presidential Address to the American Psychology Association in 1998. Since then, the scientific study of optimal human functioning gained new momentum. This article provides an overview of research on positive psychology in South Africa. The article explores general trends and the main developments in the field, internationally as well as nationally. South African research in the paradigm of positive psychology was categorised according to a framework developed for the purposes of this article. Results indicate frequencies of South African research undertaken over the last 36 years. Possible future directions for research in the field are pointed out and integrated with recommendations from prominent South African and international authors.

Orientation: Although research on emotional intelligence in the context of leadership has remained a recurrent area of interest in theory and practice during the past decade, ongoing debate continues regarding the contribution of emotional intelligence to the understanding of leadership.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between self-reported emotional intelligence and leadership styles in a South African context and to determine whether emotional intelligence can predict an effective leadership style.Motivation for the study: Research is needed in order to determine a more detailed relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership in the dynamic and globalising South African petrochemical context.Research design, approach and method: The study was conducted in terms of a positivist paradigm, using quantitative research instruments. Leaders (N = 161) were selected from a business unit in a South African petrochemical organisation. Self-reports from the emotional quotient inventory and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X, Version 2009) were analysed. Correlation analyses indicated statistically-significant relationships between emotional intelligence and transformational and laissez-faire leadership.Main findings: Findings indicated positive correlations between self-reported emotional intelligence (specifically adaptability) and transformational leadership. Negative correlations were obtained between emotional intelligence (specifically intrapersonal skills) and laissez-faire leadership. The research also showed differences between specific demographic variables.Practical/managerial implications: This study provides valuable significance for organisations’ endeavours in improving, training and identifying alternative selection and assessment procedures for evaluating leaders’ strengths.Contribution/value-add: This research contributes to the South African research on emotional intelligence and leadership styles and thereby adds context-specific value to the topic within a specific cultural and organisational context

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness among senior leaders in a South African financial services organisation. The sample consisted of 973 participants. A convenience sample was used because the leaders were part of a strategic organisational initiative that included the completion of the measurement instruments used for the current study. The participants completed the Bar-On EQ-i, a measure of emotional intelligence, and the leadership effectiveness data were obtained from an organisation specific Multi-rater that accessed self-ratings, peer and subordinate ratings, as well as manager ratings in terms of leadership behaviours linked to organisational worldviews of leadership effectiveness. Partially due to the large sample size, the results showed that there were statistically significant correlations between emotional intelligence and the leadership variables as measured for the leaders, but the prediction value between these variables was not practically significant.

Whilst striving to create a balanced and healthy life, individuals experience challenges across their life span. Spirituality can contribute to mental health and well-being, as can cultural constructs. In South Africa, apartheid categories are still vivid, which affect spiritual, cultural and racial mental constructs and impact on the mental health of individuals across cultural groups. This article focuses on the long-term development of spiritual and cultural concepts within a selected individual in Cape Town, South Africa, during 11 years of field work. It also explores the impact of spirituality and culture on the researcher-researched relationship. A mixed-method approach was used, including various qualitative methods of data collection as well as content analysis to analyse the data and intersubjective validation to interpret them. Findings show a strong intrapersonal interlinkage of spirituality, culture and mental health and the researcher-researched relationship having a strong impact on spiritual, cultural and mental health constructions. We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1976).