Anticipatory Stress: The Relation of Locus of Control, Optimism, and Control Appraisals to Coping

Abstract

This paper examined the locus of control beliefs and optimism as predictors of control appraisals and coping associated with three different anticipatory stressful situations (employment decisions, teacher bias, and natural disaster). The 118 undergraduate participants completed measures of locus of control (Rotter I-E), optimism (Life Orientation Test) and control appraisals (Stress Appraisal Measure) 2 weeks prior to completing the Inventory of Coping Schemas to report their coping strategies used in dealing with each stressor. Regression analyses indicated that optimism and locus of control were relatively independent predictors of control appraisals and that control appraisals were generally better predictors of coping than either locus of control or optimism. As expected, somewhat different patterns of significant predictors were obtained for the three stressors. Results are discussed in terms of the congruence model of effective coping, which predicts relations among control appraisals and coping for various types of stressful situations.