External Locus-of-Hope and Collectivist Coping in Students from Three Asian Cities

Abstract

The positive education movement has called attention to the importance of student well-being and the role of positive constructs, such as hope, in the educational process. The external locus-of-hope dimensions, or positive cognitions about the role of external actors in the pursuit of important goals, positively predict student well-being, learning approaches, and achievement. However, external locus-of-hope dimensions were found to be associated with maladaptive coping styles among Asian students. In this study, we revisit this relationship between external locus-of-hope dimensions and coping among students, by focusing on collectivist coping strategies that are assumed to be more relevant to Asian students. A total of 780 university students from three Asian cities (Hong Kong, n = 295; Macau, n = 225; Manila, n = 260) were asked to complete a questionnaire on collectivist coping styles, internal and external locus-of-hope dimensions. Separate multiple regression analyses indicated that the coping style of acceptance/reframing/striving was mainly predicted by internal locus-of-hope in the three groups, but the coping styles of family support and religious coping were consistently predicted by external locus-of-hope dimensions in all three groups of students. The two other coping styles of avoidance/detachment and personal emotional outlets were also predicted by specific external locus-of-hope dimensions, but only in particular groups. The results are discussed in terms of how external locus-of-hope dimensions might evoke both adaptive and maladaptive coping among Asian students, which may be associated with primary and secondary control dimensions of the collectivist coping styles.