Associations Between Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Depression Among Same-Sex Couples: Moderating Effects of Dyadic Coping

Drawing from minority stress theory and the systemic–transactional model, we examined whether perceptions of partner's dyadic coping behavior moderated the association between sexual orientation discrimination stress and symptoms of depression among individuals in a same-sex relationship. Data from 95 same-sex couples revealed that, overall, sexual orientation discrimination stress was positively associated with depressive symptoms; however, perceived partner emotion-focused supportive dyadic coping weakened this association. Specifically, higher sexual orientation discrimination stress was associated with greater depressive symptoms only for individuals perceiving low partner emotion-focused supportive dyadic coping. Implications for researchers and clinicians are presented.     

Perceived social status and learning experiences in Social Cognitive Career Theory

The purpose of this study was to test a model based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) that placed perceived social status as an antecedent of career-related learning experiences, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. Gender was included in the present model and results indicated that gender related as expected to differential exposure to career-related learning experiences in Holland's (1997) RIASEC domains. After controlling for the effects of gender, results demonstrated that perceived social status related positively to learning experiences in the Investigative, Enterprising, and Conventional areas among 380 college students. Further, these enhanced learning experiences mediated the relationships between perceived social status and self-efficacy, and between perceived social status and outcome expectations, for the Investigative, Enterprising, and Conventional areas. These findings highlight the importance of perceived social status as a predictor of exposure to different types of career-related learning experiences that subsequently shape students' self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and (presumably) interests in particular RIASEC areas. Results are discussed in terms of exposure to career-related learning experiences in RIASEC domains with differing levels of prestige and implications of these results for developing interventions to enhance the learning experiences of students who report lower levels of perceived social status are presented.     

Self-efficacy and perceived control: cognitive mediators of pain tolerance

The cold-pressor task was used with 102 female undergraduates in 2 experiments to determine (a) whether self-efficacy has validity as a true causal determinant of behavior change or is a correlate of change that has already occurred and (b) how perceptions of control and self-efficacy interact to determine choice behavior, persistence, and the impact of an aversive stimulus. Results of Experiment 1 indicate that self-efficacy expectations affected performance beyond what would have been expected from past performance alone. Changes in self-efficacy expectations predicted changes in cold-pressor tolerance. These findings suggest that self-efficacy expectations can be causal determinants of behavior in an aversive situation. Results of Experiment 2 indicate that self-efficacy was separable from control and that performance was best if both high levels of perceived control and self-efficacy were present. These findings support the notion that self-efficacy expectations can mediate the desirability of providing control, in that those who benefit most from control are those who are most confident they can exercise it.     

Coping strategies from the perspective of two developmental markers: age and social reasoning

In this study, we examined coping from a developmental perspective, including its relation to age and social cognitive maturity. The 60 participants, who ranged from adolescents to mature adults, were given Lazarus' Ways of Coping Scale. This consists of both an emotion-focused and problem-focused coping score and two measures of social reasoning performance. Social reasoning was the best predictor of emotion-focused coping, above and beyond years of education and age. None of the developmental variables predicted problem-focused coping. Analyses examining the effect of perceived controllability of the stressful situation on coping demonstrated that it differentially mediated choice of coping strategy across age groups. Whereas older participants endorsed more problem-focused strategies in perceived controllable situations and emotion-focused strategies in perceived uncontrollable situations, adolescents endorsed emotion-focused and defensive coping styles, irrespective of perceived controllability. Implications for the study of development of coping styles in affectively salient contexts is discussed.     

General self-efficacy and control in relation to anxiety and cognitive performance

The present investigation employed a general measure of self-efficacy, a measure of perceived control, and items relating to expectation and evaluation (pre and post). The purpose was to determine whether general self-efficacy or perceived control best predicted the criterion variables of state anxiety and performance on a stressful cognitive task (solving anagrams) under conditions of high versus low control. These relationships were tested under the experimental conditions of high and low objective control (i.e., the actual control afforded by the situation). Results showed that general self-efficacy, relative to perceived control was a better predictor of state anxiety in the high and low control conditions but neither predicted actual performance. Participants’ expectations of task difficulty, their own performance, and their performance relative to the performance of others taken before the task were compared with their evaluations of difficulty and performance after completing the task. Participants indicated that the task was easier than anticipated, but rated their own performance more poorly after completion of the task. The study reported in this article was supported, in part, by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant No. 410-94-1473 to Norman S. Endler.     

Manipulation of responsibility in non-clinical subjects: does expectation of failure exacerbate obsessive-compulsive behaviors?

An exaggerated sense of responsibility is currently considered as the ground for the obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-like behaviors, such as hesitations and checks, may be induced in non-clinical subjects by increasing perceived responsibility (i.e., perceived personal influence on negative outcomes). In line with Salkovskis' proposal [The cognitive approach to anxiety: threat beliefs, safety-seeking behavior, and the special case of health anxiety and obsessions, in: P.M. Salkovskis (Ed.), Frontiers of Cognitive Therapy, Guilford, New York], we tested the hypothesis that reduced coping abilities (i.e., an exaggerated expectation of failure) are another effectual factor contributing to obsessive-like behaviors. We examined 47 normal volunteers in a visuo-spatial memory task, and manipulated their perceived personal influence and expectation of failure by giving differential instructions and feedback about their performance. Increase of perceived personal influence induced slowness, hesitations and checks without enhancing performance. Expectation of failure exacerbated obsessive-like behaviors, again without affecting performance. These results confirm the role of responsibility in obsessive-like behavior and indicate that reduced coping abilities may contribute to worsen dysfunctional strategies.     

General self-efficacy and control in relation to anxiety and cognitive performance

The present investigation employed a general measure of self-efficacy, a measure of perceived control, and items relating to expectation and evaluation (pre and post). The purpose was to determine whether general self-efficacy or perceived control best predicted the criterion variables of state anxiety and performance on a stressful cognitive task (solving anagrams) under conditions of high versus low control. These relationships were tested under the experimental conditions of high and low objective control (i.e., the actual control afforded by the situation). Results showed that general self-efficacy, relative to perceived control was a better predictor of state anxiety in the high and low control conditions but neither predicted actual performance. Participants’ expectations of task difficulty, their own performance, and their performance relative to the performance of others taken before the task were compared with their evaluations of difficulty and performance after completing the task. Participants indicated that the task was easier than anticipated, but rated their own performance more poorly after completion of the task. The study reported in this article was supported, in part, by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant No. 410-94-1473 to Norman S. Endler.     

Cognitive processes mediating behavioral change.

The present experiment was designed to test the theory that psychological procedures achieve changes in behavior by altering the level and strength of self-efficacy. In this formulation, perceived self-efficacy. In this formulation, perceived self-efficacy influences level of performance by enhancing intensity and persistence of effort. Adult phobics were administered treatments based upon either performance mastery experiences, vicarious experiences., or they received no treatment. Their efficacy expectations and approach behavior toward threats differing on a similarity dimension were measured before and after treatment. In accord with our prediction, the mastery-based treatment produced higher, stronger, and more generalized expectations of personal efficacy than did the treatment relying solely upon vicarious experiences. Results of a microanalysis further confirm the hypothesized relationship between self-efficacy and behavioral change. Self-efficacy was a uniformly accurate predictor of performance on tasks of varying difficulty with different threats regardless of whether the changes in self-efficacy were produced through enactive mastery or by vicarious experience alone.     

创新期望差距与团队突破性创新：自我调节理论视角

本研究以自我调节理论为基础, 探讨团队领导的创新期望差距推进团队突破性创新的过程。根据实验结果以及一项多时点、多来源的问卷调查发现: 创新期望差距对领导创新投入产生U型影响; 领导创新投入中介创新期望差距与团队突破性创新之间的U型关系; 知觉资质过剩和组织晋升标准共同调节创新期望差距通过领导创新投入对团队突破性创新的影响, 具体地, 当领导知觉资质过剩高且组织实行相对晋升标准时, 创新期望差距通过领导创新投入对团队突破性创新施加更强影响。     

Repressors benefit from reappraising a threatening emotional event

Background and Objectives: The malleability of emotion-focused coping was investigated by manipulating the situational context so that dispositional repressors, who typically utilize an avoidant strategy when confronted with a stressor, were led to use reappraisal and then were reexposed to the stressor. Design: A mixed design with one measured between-subjects factor (dispositional repression), two randomized between-subjects factors (performance feedback and coping strategy), and multimodal assessments across phases of the experiment was used. Method: During a face-perception task, participants (170 female and 120 male university students) received bogus performance feedback that was inconsistent with and thus threatening to self-concept. Participants then completed a writing activity encouraging them to perceive a face-perception task as either an invalid (reappraisal) or a valid (control) assessment tool. Afterward, participants continued with the task. Results: A repressive disposition was associated with a defense response (decreased perceived emotion to actors' expressions, increased skin conductance levels, and increased heart rates) during the face-perception task that participants perceived as threatening, but not during reexposure to the event after they had reappraised it as nonthreatening. Conclusions: This research provides a more detailed understanding of the dynamic nature of emotion-focused coping by exploring how the disposition-situation interaction affects self-regulation of emotion.     

Regulation of emotion and behavior among 3- and 5-year-olds

In this cross-sectional study, the authors examined the relationship between emotion and behavior regulation in 3- and 5-year olds. Eighty-seven children performed a compliance sorting task. The authors manipulated the demand for emotion regulation by presenting and then hiding toys (low) or making toys visible (high). Mothers and teachers rated children's coping responses. Five-year-olds sorted less in the high condition than in the low condition, and 3-year-olds spent equal time sorting in both conditions. Compliance was positively correlated with problem-focused coping and negatively correlated with emotion-focused coping. Correlations between emotion and behavior regulation were stronger for the 5-year-olds. Age groups were differently affected by the higher demands of emotion regulation, indicating that the child's resources for regulation interact with the task demands to determine behavioral outcome.     

内部人身份感知对员工创新行为的影响——创新自我效能感和遵从权威的作用

通过对325名员工及其领导的配对问卷调查,探讨内部人身份感知对员工创新行为的作用机制。研究发现:内部人身份感知与创新行为显著正相关;内部人身份感知与创新自我效能感显著正相关;创新自我效能感部分中介了内部人身份感知对创新行为的影响;遵从权威对创新自我效能感与创新行为之间的关系具有负向调节作用;遵从权威调节了创新自我效能感在内部人身份感知与创新行为之间的中介作用。     

Type D personality, physical symptoms and subjective stress: the mediating effects of coping and social support

Coping style and social support may represent mechanisms to explain the relationship between Type D personality and ill-health. This study investigated whether Type D is associated with physical symptoms and perceived stress in a non-cardiac population, and if these relationships are mediated by coping and social support. In a cross-sectional study, 304 participants (110 males, mean age 22.1 years) completed measures of Type D, physical symptoms, coping, perceived stress and social support. Results showed that Type D, the interaction of negative affectivity and social inhibition (NA × SI), was positively correlated with physical symptoms, perceived stress, and avoidant coping, and negatively correlated with social support, problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. A series of bootstrapped multiple mediator tests showed that social support and avoidant coping fully mediated the relationship between Type D and physical symptoms. Furthermore, social support and emotion-focused coping partially mediated the relationship between Type D and perceived stress. These findings demonstrate for the first time that Type D personality is associated with physical symptoms in a non-cardiac population. Social support and coping style represent mechanisms that can, in part, explain the relationship between Type D and physical symptoms, and Type D and perceived stress.     

Type D personality,physical symptoms and subjective stress: The mediating effects of coping and social support

Coping style and social support may represent mechanisms to explain the relationship between Type D personality and ill-health. This study investigated whether Type D is associated with physical symptoms and perceived stress in a non-cardiac population, and if these relationships are mediated by coping and social support. In a cross-sectional study, 304 participants (110 males, mean age 22.1 years) completed measures of Type D, physical symptoms, coping, perceived stress and social support. Results showed that Type D, the interaction of negative affectivity and social inhibition (NA?×?SI), was positively correlated with physical symptoms, perceived stress, and avoidant coping, and negatively correlated with social support, problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. A series of bootstrapped multiple mediator tests showed that social support and avoidant coping fully mediated the relationship between Type D and physical symptoms. Furthermore, social support and emotion-focused coping partially mediated the relationship between Type D and perceived stress. These findings demonstrate for the first time that Type D personality is associated with physical symptoms in a non-cardiac population. Social support and coping style represent mechanisms that can, in part, explain the relationship between Type D and physical symptoms, and Type D and perceived stress.     

COPING WITH AN ORGANIZATIONAL MERGER OVER FOUR STAGES

This longitudinal study examined how individuals cope over 4 stages of a merger. The study replicated and extended past coping research by examining changes in coping variables over time. Employee appraisals, coping resources, negative emotions, and emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies were measured. Negative appraisal, social support, perceived control, and emotion-focused coping significantly changed across stages. Coping variables exhibited linear, quadratic, and cubic trends over time, highlighting the complex and dynamic nature of the coping process. The findings provide important insight into how company management may influence employee coping during a merger. Implications for future research also are discussed.     

Self-Esteem, Discrimination, and Coping Among Refugees: The Moderating Role of Self-Categorization

The present study examines the relationship between the personal self and ethnic identity among Iranian refugees living in the Netherlands. The extent to which participants considered themselves to be typical members of their ethnic minority group moderated the relationship between (a) personal self-esteem and ethnic self-esteem; (b) perceived personal discrimination and group discrimination; and (c) ethnic self-esteem and the use of emotion-focused and problem-focused strategies for coping with discrimination. Participants who saw themselves as typical Iranians showed a stronger association between personal and ethnic self-esteem, less personal/group discrimination discrepancy, and a relationship between ethnic self-esteem and coping with discrimination. In addition, participants favored problem-focused coping over emotion-focused coping, and perceived greater group discrimination than personal discrimination overall.     

Coping with Intimate Partner Violence: Battered Women's Use and Perceived Helpfulness of Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies

This study investigated intimate partner violence (IPV) victims' emotion-focused coping efforts, as well as their retrospective ratings of the perceived helpfulness of these efforts, in the context of a longitudinal study of battered women's experiences over time. Four hundred and six primarily African American, low-income battered women who had experienced IPV within the previous 12 months were interviewed. Patterns of coping use and perceived helpfulness were explored. The correlation between prevalence of use of emotion-focused coping strategies and perceived helpfulness of these strategies was examined, and results showed that the strategies used by more battered women were less helpful in dealing with feelings about abuse. Implications for clinical interventions with battered women are discussed.     

Self-efficacy moderates the relationship between stress appraisal and quality of life among rescue workers

Abstract

Rescue workers are frequently exposed to highly stressful situations during their everyday work activity. Stress and coping theory emphasizes the interaction between primary and secondary appraisal in determining coping responses to stressful events and quality of life. According to Social Cognitive Theory, stress reactions depend on self-appraisal of coping capabilities.

The present study investigated whether self-efficacy moderates the relationship between stress appraisal and professional quality of life. A self-administered questionnaire was submitted to a sample of 451 Italian rescue workers (firefighters, paramedics, and medical technicians), including the Professional Quality of Life Scale, which measures three dimensions of emergency workers' quality of working life: compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between stress appraisal and professional quality of life was significant only among rescue workers with low levels of self-efficacy but not among those with higher levels of self-efficacy. These results confirmed the expectations based on Social Cognitive Theory that self-efficacy buffers the impact of perceived stressful encounters on professional quality of life. Results suggest the usefulness of interventions aimed at increasing rescue workers' psychosocial skills.     

The role of risk perception and efficacy cognitions in the prediction of HIV-related preventive behavior and condom use

The salience of the Protection Motivation Theory to HIV preventive behavior was investigated in a sample of 468 heterosexual men 20-45 years of age recruited in Germany and at vacation spots in Spain. This theory conceptualizes self-protective behaviors as a function of the severity of the threat, perceived personal vulnerability to this threat, the availability of coping responses, and the effectiveness of these responses. Cognitive variables measured included perceived severity of the threat of AIDS, sexual self-efficacy expectancy, self-efficacy expectations in terms of sexual communication skills, response efficacy, and attitude toward condom use. On a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high), perceived severity of the AIDS threat averaged 5.3, individual susceptibility ratings averaged 3.5, and susceptibility of peers had a mean of 4.9. Although 33% of respondents had made behavioral changes in response to the AIDS epidemic, only 15% always used condoms while 12% used them occasionally. Self-efficacy expectancy with regard to assertiveness and use of preventive measures emerged as the most significant predictor of HIV-related behaviors. The causal analyses indicated that high communicative self-efficacy expectancy is associated with high-risk sexual behaviors, while self-efficacy expectancy regarding assertiveness and the use of preventive measures promotes risk reduction. These associations were strongest in men over 26 years of age, singles, and tourists. These findings suggest a need for interventions for couples such as assertiveness training and guidance on communicating about sex and AIDS. Also demonstrated was the need for AIDS education programs to identify where participants are in terms of perceiving the threat of and coping with the AIDS epidemic and promote conditions that will help people advance to the next stage.     

Salutary effect of daily coping self-efficacy: impact on day-by-day coping to mood effects within dyads following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Little is known how coping self-efficacy (CSE) interacts with coping in dyad everyday life. The present study examined the moderating role of daily CSE in the relationship between coping and the next-day positive (PA) or negative (NA) affect in patient-caregiver dyads, following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Design: This intensive longitudinal study was conducted during the first 28 days after post-transplant discharge.

Methods: Patients and their caregivers (N?=?200) maintained daily diaries on CSE, coping strategies, and affect.

Results: Daily CSE moderated daily coping–affect relationship: Positive emotion-focused coping increased PA in patients with higher than usual emotion-related CSE, whereas a buffering effect was found at lower than usual emotion-related CSE. A positive association between negative emotion-focused coping and NA in both patients and caregivers was stronger among those with lower than usual levels of emotion-related CSE. Higher than usual instrumental coping reduced NA in patients whose caregivers had higher than usual problem-related CSE, but increased NA for those whose caregivers had lower than usual instrumental CSE.

Conclusion: The findings show that daily CSE contributes to the effectiveness of daily coping within dyad, confirming its significance in effective adaptation and the role in the dyadic coping process.