Development of the Coping Flexibility Scale: evidence for the coping flexibility hypothesis

Coping flexibility was defined as the ability to discontinue an ineffective coping strategy (i.e., evaluation coping) and produce and implement an alternative coping strategy (i.e., adaptive coping). The Coping Flexibility Scale (CFS) was developed on the basis of this definition. Five studies involving approximately 4,400 Japanese college students and employees were conducted to test the hypothesis that flexible coping produces more adaptive outcomes. Studies 1, 2, and 3 provided evidence of the reliability of the CFS scores as well as of its convergent and discriminant validity for Japanese samples. Study 4 further demonstrated that flexible coping was positively associated with improved psychological health, including reduced depression, anxiety, and distress. In Study 5, coping flexibility as measured by the CFS was associated with reduced future depression, even after controlling for the effects of other coping flexibility measures and popular coping strategies. Overall, these results suggest that a valid approach for assessing coping flexibility has been developed and that flexible coping can contribute to psychological health. The implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.     

Need for cognitive closure and coping strategies

This study investigated the hypothesis that the process of coping may be motivated by an interaction of directional motivational factors represented by job satisfaction/dissatisfaction and by non‐directional or epistemological motivational factors represented by the level of Need for Cognitive Closure. Need for Cognitive Closure is based on two general tendencies: the urgency tendency (“to seize”) and the permanency tendency (“to freeze”). The urgency tendency reflects the desire to attain closure as quickly as possible (“to seize”) whereas the permanence tendency refers to the inclination to maintain closure for as long as possible along with a desire to preserve or “freeze on” past knowledge and to safeguard future knowledge. The urgency and permanence notions both rest on the assumption that people under a heightened need for closure experience its absence as aversive. In relation with this, we predicted that if job satisfaction is low, the increased need for closure is related to the choice of problem‐oriented coping strategies. Alternatively, we hypothesized that with high job satisfaction an increased need for closure is related to use of avoidance coping. Questionnaires pertaining to need for cognitive closure, to coping strategies and to a measure of job satisfaction were completed by a group of 146 Croatian immigrants living in Italy. Results of the analyses confirmed that when subjects were highly satisfied with their job, their primary concern was to preserve their position. So, here the high need for closure enhanced the tendency to freeze and induced the choice of avoidance coping strategies. On the other hand, our results confirmed that when persons are not satisfied with their job, high need for closure increases the desire for change and improvement. Immigrants increased the tendency to seize manifests itself in extensive and quickened information processing relative to the use of problem‐oriented coping strategies.     

Dialectical Thinking and Coping Flexibility: A Multimethod Approach

ABSTRACT Coping flexibility refers to the formulation of flexible coping strategies that meet distinct demands under changing circumstances. Dialectical thinking was proposed to be related to flexible coping across situations. The hypothesized link between dialectical thinking and coping flexibility was explored by a multimethod approach. In Study 1 , the association between dialectical thinking and coping flexibility was examined using a cross-sectional design. In Study 2 , the hypothesized link was tested using an experimental paradigm in which dialectical thinking was manipulated by priming procedures. Participants' responses to different hypothetical stressful situations were assessed after priming. Study 3 adopted a prospective design in which dialectical thinking assessed at an initial phase was a predictor of changes in coping flexibility and state anxiety over a 12-month period. Results from the three studies consistently revealed a positive relationship between dialectical thinking and coping flexibility.     

Processes Underlying Gender‐Role Flexibility: Do Androgynous Individuals Know More or Know How to Cope?

This research examined gender-role flexibility across a variety of stressful events, and tested two proposed hypotheses that explicate the processes underlying gender-role flexibility. The knowing-more hypothesis posits that androgynous individuals have a broad coping repertoire. The knowing-how hypothesis posits that androgynous individuals know how to cope according to changing situational characteristics. The coping responses of Chinese university students were assessed in both real-life (Study 1) and hypothetical (Study 2) stressful situations. Results revealed that androgynous participants, who were less depressed than others, were characterized by (a) cognitive astuteness in distinguishing among situational characteristics and (b) deployment of strategies that fit specific situational demands. Results supported the knowing-how hypothesis only.     

Need for closure effect on collective action intentions and behavior toward immigrants in Italy: The mediation of binding foundations and political conservatism

Why are people (de)motivated to mobilize in favor of immigrants? Addressing this question, we investigated the role of individuals' epistemic motivation (i.e., need for closure) in influencing the process of becoming motivated to participate in collective action in favor of immigrants in Italy. Specifically, the mediational role of binding moral foundations and political conservatism in explaining the relationship between need for closure and collective action in favor of immigrants was examined in three studies. It was hypothesized that a heightened need for closure would be indirectly and negatively associated with collective action in favor of immigrants, sequentially mediated first through binding moral foundations and then political conservatism. We found support for this prediction when either dispositional measure (Study 1 and Study 2) or an experimental induction (Study 3) of need for closure were used, and when both collective action intentions (Study 1 and Study 3) and behavior (Study 2) were assessed. The results suggest that need for closure constitutes a powerful motivational force that leads individuals to engage in uncertainty‐reducing evaluations and actions. We discuss these results regarding how they are related with previous work and their implications for research and practice.     

Assessing coping flexibility in real-life and laboratory settings: a multimethod approach

This research sought to formulate a theoretically based conceptualization of coping flexibility and to adopt a multimethod approach in assessing this construct. A self-report daily measure and an experiment were designed geared to theoretical and empirical grounds. The new daily measure was used in Study 1 to examine coping flexibility in a life transition. Findings showed individual differences in patterns of coping flexibility across different real-life stressful events. In Study 2, coping flexibility was examined in both real-life and laboratory settings. Results replicated those of Study 1 and further revealed consistency between the self-report and the experiment data. Study 3 extended previous studies by adopting a longitudinal design over a 3-month time span. Participants' flexibility in coping with laboratory tasks was found to predict how flexible they would be in handling real-life stressful events.     

The influence of need for cognitive closure on the attention‐recognition stage of preventive coping

The current study explored the influence of need for cognitive closure (NFCC) on preventive coping via its effects on the attention‐recognition stage and sought to determine whether this influence was moderated by individuals' existing knowledge. An experiment involving 90 university students used the vignette‐reading paradigm to explore the relationships between NFCC, attention and preventive coping behaviour. The results indicated that when preventive coping situations were consistent with participants' previous knowledge, people with high, relative to low, NFCC were more inclined to use preventive coping strategies. As a stage of preventive coping, gaining awareness of potential stressors mediated the relationship between NFCC and preventive coping. However, when coping situations were inconsistent with participants' knowledge, the relationship between NFCC and preventive coping was non‐significant.     

Need for closure and heuristic information processing: The moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure

In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information‐processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre‐decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation–cognition interactions influence the information‐processing style.     

Psychological responses to outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome: a prospective, multiple time-point study

This study examined anxiety and coping responses to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong. Trait anxiety, situation-specific coping strategies, and coping flexibility were proposed as predictors of state anxiety during the early phase of the SARS epidemic. Seventy-two Hong Kong undergraduates (31 men, 41 women) participated in a prospective, multiple time-point study. Participants' trait anxiety and coping flexibility had been assessed in an earlier study. Five months later, they reported their anxiety and coping at each of the four time points during the outbreak. Results revealed fluctuations in state anxiety across time points. Results from hierarchical linear modeling showed that trait anxiety as well as the situation-appropriate coping strategies of avoidance and personal hygiene practice accounted for changes in state anxiety.     

Coping concordance in couples

Romantic partners' daily coping behavior can be viewed as a context for one's own coping. These three studies found that individuals were more likely to cope actively, seek support, or use alcohol, food, and drugs as means of coping when they perceived their partners doing so on a given occasion (Study 1, a cross‐sectional study) and when their partners reported using these strategies (Studies 2 and 3, longitudinal couples studies). These effects were evident regardless of whether or not one partner was dealing with an acute stressor (Study 2) or if both partners were dealing with day‐to‐day hassles (Study 3). Although these patterns are correlational, they raise important questions about how individuals choose to cope with acute stressors.     

A dual-process model of brand extension: Taxonomic feature-based and thematic relation-based similarity independently drive brand extension evaluation

The success of a brand extension depends largely on the similarity between the brand and its extension product. Recent psychological and neuroscientific evidence supports a dual-process model that distinguishes taxonomic feature-based similarity from thematic relation-based similarity. In addition to providing a parsimonious organizational framework for prior brand extension research, this dual-process model also provides novel predictions about the processing and evaluation of taxonomic brand extensions (e.g., Budweiser cola) and thematic brand extensions (e.g., Budweiser chips). Results indicate that taxonomic and thematic similarities independently contribute to branding professionals' and lay consumers' evaluations of real and hypothetical brand extensions (Studies 1A and 1B). Counter-intuitively, thematic brand extensions are processed more rapidly (Study 2), judged more novel, and evaluated more positively than taxonomic extensions (Study 3). When induced to consider the commonalities between the brand and the extension product, however, taxonomic extensions are judged more novel and evaluated more positively (Study 3). Implications for brand extension and marketing more generally are discussed.     

The role of workload and driver coping styles in predicting bus drivers' need for recovery, positive and negative affect, and physical symptoms

A survey was conducted on a sample of 159 Australian bus drivers to determine the extent to which workload and self-reported driver coping styles predicted their subjective health status. The model that was proposed incorporated the hours spent driving as a measure of workload, both adaptive and maladaptive driver coping styles, and self-report measures of need for recovery (i.e., fatigue), positive and negative affect (PA and NA), and physical symptoms. The results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the workload was a significant predictor of drivers' need for recovery, but not of their PA and NA nor of their physical symptoms. Need for recovery was in turn a significant predictor of PA and NA and of their physical symptoms, indicating that it mediates the influence of workload on PA and NA and physical symptoms. Two maladaptive coping strategies added to the prediction of need for recovery, as well as to the prediction of NA, even after controlling for the influence of need for recovery. One adaptive coping strategy added to the prediction of PA. Strategies for management of fatigue in bus drivers should focus on the assessment and remediation of maladaptive coping strategies which impact of drivers' need for recovery, which in turn predicts PA and NA and physical symptoms.     

“When the going gets tough,the tough get going”: Motivation towards closure and effort investment in the performance of cognitive tasks

Previous studies have demonstrated that the need for closure (NFC), which refers to an individual’s aversion toward uncertainty and the desire to quickly reduce it, leads to reluctance to invest effort in judgments and decision making. However, we argue that NFC may lead to either an increase or a decrease in effort depending on the availability of easy vs. difficult means to achieve closure and perceived importance of the task goal. We found that when closure could be achieved via both less and more demanding means, NFC was associated with decreased effort unless the task was perceived as important (Study 1). However, when attaining closure was possible via demanding means only, NFC was associated with increased effort, regardless of the task importance (Study 2). Moreover, NFC was related to choosing a more instrumental strategy for the goal of closure, even if this strategy required effort (Study 3). The results are discussed in the light of cognitive energetics theory.     

新冠肺炎疫情下的评估、应对与抑郁和焦虑的关系：多元多重中介模型

作为全球性公共卫生事件,新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情成为潜在心理应激事件。本研究以线上问卷调研形式在疫情爆发上升期考察了民众对此疫情的可控性评估及应对方式对抑郁焦虑的影响。结果表明：（1）自控性显著负向预测抑郁焦虑,他控性对抑郁焦虑无显著预测作用;（2）前行应对显著负向预测抑郁焦虑,创伤应对显著正向预测抑郁焦虑;（3）前行应对在自控性与抑郁焦虑之间起中介作用,即自控性通过正向预测前行应对进而负向预测抑郁焦虑;（4）前行应对在他控性与抑郁焦虑之间起中介作用,即他控性通过正向预测前行应对进而对抑郁焦虑产生积极影响;（5）然而,创伤应对也在他控性与抑郁焦虑之间起中介作用,即他控性通过正向预测创伤应对对抑郁焦虑产生消极影响。本研究对可控性评估和应对方式对抑郁焦虑的影响以及应对方式的中介作用进行了探究与讨论。     

Father and mother contributions to family functioning when the child has a mental delay

Less is known about the father's than the mother's role in family adaptation to children with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships of both father and mother use of coping strategies and perceptions of the child with measures of family functioning style. Subjects were 26 families of 30-month-old children with a mental delay and a comparison group of 26 families of same-aged children with no delay. Functioning style for study families showed a balance of cohesion and adaptability; comparison families were more chaotically flexible on the adaptability scale. Mothers and fathers agreed on family functioning style. Study parents made the greatest use of external coping strategies, while in both groups mothers used more external and fathers more internal coping strategies. Relationships between coping and family functioning varied by parent and by group. Results suggest the need for further exploration of the separate needs of fathers and mothers in maintaining balanced family functioning.     

Depression and Social Anxiety in Children: Differential Links with Coping Strategies

Strategies that children use for coping with stressors are known to be related to emotional adjustment, but not enough is understood about specific links with social anxiety and depression. The present investigation tested differentiated associations of social anxiety and depression with specific types of coping strategies, and evaluated the direction of these associations over time. In Study 1, 404 children aged 8–13 years completed a coping scale modified from Kochendefer-Ladd and Skinner (Developmental Psychology 38:267-278, 2002) in order to evaluate factor structure and subscale internal consistency. In Study 2, 270 8–11-year-old children completed depression and social anxiety scales, a sociometric survey, and the coping scale from Study 1, with a follow-up timepoint 9 months later. In Study 1, factor analysis revealed six internally consistent coping subscales. In Study 2, social anxiety and depression were found to have distinctive longitudinal associations with subsequent coping strategies. Decreased problem-solving, social support-seeking, and distraction were uniquely predicted by depression but not by social anxiety. Internalising coping was a stronger outcome of social anxiety, and increased externalising was uniquely predicted by depression. There was also some evidence for a moderating role of peer relations. However, none of the coping strategies predicted changes in depression or social anxiety over the two timepoints. These results highlight the impact that emotional adjustment may have on children’s coping strategies, and clarify important distinctions between social anxiety and depression in relation to coping.     

Individual and Dyadic Coping and Fear of Progression in Mothers and Fathers of Children with Hematologic Cancer

This study investigated the association of individual and dyadic coping strategies with fear of progression (FoP) in mothers and fathers of children with hematologic cancer. Parental couples (N = 44) whose children had been diagnosed with hematologic cancer were recruited at a university hospital and a rehabilitation clinic in Germany between 03/2017 and 08/2017. Data included parents' self-report on FoP (Fear of Progression Questionnaire—parent version, FoP-Q-SF/PR), individual coping (Coping Health Inventory for Parents, CHIP-D), and dyadic coping (Dyadic Coping Inventory, DCI). Statistical analyses were carried out for mothers and fathers individually as well as for parental couples using dyadic data analyses (e.g., actor-partner interdependence model, APIM). Individual and dyadic coping strategies were significantly correlated with FoP in mothers, but not in fathers. Fathers' evaluation of the couple's dyadic coping significantly predicted mothers' FoP. The more frequent use of familial integration (CHIP-D FAM) and maintaining social support (CHIP-D SUP) as well as a better evaluation of their partners' dyadic coping was significantly associated with lower FoP in mothers. Differences in individual and dyadic coping in parental couples were not associated with FoP. Individual and dyadic coping strategies should be addressed in the psychosocial care of mothers and fathers of children with hematologic cancer. Study results support the benefits of involving fathers in psychosocial interventions, for example, in couple-based interventions that acknowledge interpersonal effects of coping on FoP. Future research should further explore coping strategies applied by fathers of children with hematologic cancer for the regulation of FoP.     

Person–Job Fit and Work-Related Attitudes Among Chinese Employees: Need for Cognitive Closure as Moderator

The current research examined the moderating role of employees' need for cognitive closure in the relationship between their perceived person–job fit and their work-related attitudes. In Study 1, a survey was conducted among 176 Chinese employees from various organizations, and the results confirmed that both demand–ability fit and need–supply fit were positively related to employees' job satisfaction; moreover, these relations were stronger among people with higher need for closure than those scoring lower in need for closure. In Study 2, a survey was conducted among 242 employees from a Chinese city government, and the results replicated the findings of Study 1, but also found that need for closure moderated the relation between demand–ability fit and turnover intention. These results have important implications for research in organizational psychology and human resource management.     

Models of recognition: A review of arguments in favor of a dual-process account

The majority of computationally specified models of recognition memory have been based on a single-process interpretation, claiming that familiarity is the only influence on recognition. There is increasing evidence that recognition is, in fact, based on two processes: recollection and familiarity. This article reviews the current state of the evidence for dual-process models, including the usefulness of the remember/know paradigm, and interprets the relevant results in terms of the source of activation confusion (SAC) model of memory. We argue that the evidence from each of the areas we discuss, when combined, presents a strong case that inclusion of a recollection process is necessary. Given this conclusion, we also argue that the dual-process claim that the recollection process is always available is, in fact, more parsimonious than the single-process claim that the recollection process is used only in certain paradigms. The value of a well-specified process model such as the SAC model is discussed with regard to other types of dual-process models.     

Temporal Discounting Mechanisms of Future‐oriented Coping: Evidence from Delay Discounting and Task Prioritization Paradigms

Four studies were conducted to examine the relationship between future‐oriented coping and temporal discounting under different situational conditions. In Study 1, 138 participants were primed with either stressful or neutral stimuli, followed by a delay‐discounting task. In Study 2, 118 participants were primed with either stressful or neutral stimuli, followed by a task‐prioritization activity. The results of both studies indicated that future‐oriented coping had a significant negative association with temporal discounting or the number of rational choices in the neutral‐priming condition, but the relationship was not significant in the stress‐priming condition. In Study 3, qualitative data revealed that the major reason for shifting choices from larger but later payoffs to smaller but sooner rewards in a stressful condition was to reduce the stressful mood, create a positive mood, and promote a sense of accomplishment. This explanation was corroborated by Study 4, in which one group was allowed to choose an immediate payoff and the other group was blocked from choosing that immediate payoff. We confirmed that post‐test anxiety was significantly lower in the immediate payoff group compared with the delayed‐payoff group in proactive and preventive coping, using pre‐test anxiety as a covariate. Preventive coping helped to reduce anxiety levels in a stressful condition only when there was a choice to obtain an immediate payoff. These findings underscore the relationship between future‐oriented coping and temporal discounting, as well as the flexibility of discounting in the face of stress. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.