Is your stress the same as my stress? The role of the role of stressor appraisal, future-oriented coping, and resilience from a transactional stress perspective.
Occupational stress is known for its negative outcomes on employee wellbeing, particularly various mental health disorders including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, the costs of occupational stress are increasing, with recent estimates to be approximately US$187 billion across the developed world, mainly due to productivity loss, healthcare, and medical costs. Despite this trend, research has found that not all stress is harmful; in fact, some stress leads to beneficial outcomes, including positive affect and work engagement. While the challenge-hindrance framework has been successful in categorising occupational stressors into job challenges and job hindrances in predictions of occupational wellbeing, it has been criticised for ignoring employee challenge and hindrance appraisals, as well as threat demands and appraisals as hypothesised by Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional model of stress and coping. In addition, examinations of challenge, hindrance, and threat appraisals have rarely been integrated with future-oriented coping theory to help distinguish between proactive and preventive coping behaviours. Finally, trait resilience has gained much empirical attention to understand how trait resilience can influence the relationships between primary appraisals and work-related emotional outcomes over time. As such, this thesis addresses four key aims. The first aim is to provide evidence of the proposed three-factor challenge-hindrance-threat appraisal and demand framework. The second aim is to distinguish between two future-oriented coping behaviours: proactive and preventive coping, through their relationships with challenge, hindrance, and threat appraisal. The third aim is to integrate the transactional model with conservation of resources theory to provide support for the challenge appraisal-positive affect, hindrance appraisal-anger, and threat appraisal-anxiety relationships and how they are moderated by employee trait resilience. The final aim of this thesis is to provide further evidence of the feasibility of daily diary designs in stress research, by investigating both the daily and person-level relationships between job demands, appraisals, coping, and wellbeing. As this is a thesis by publication, three papers (studies) comprise this program of research. Study One aimed to validate the challenge-hindrance-threat framework and to test the direct and indirect effects of proactive and preventive coping on daily appraisals. The study utilised a student sample (N = 89) who completed a series of five daily diaries (N = 396 observations) focused on a common future stressor, which was a course assessment. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses supported the three-factor challenge-hindrance-threat appraisal model and the dichotomous proactive/preventive coping model. Furthermore, a distinction between proactive and preventive coping was found as proactive coping moderated the relationships between days and challenge appraisal, and days and hindrance appraisal: as the stressor approached, challenge appraisal increased, and hindrance appraisal decreased when proactive coping was high. When preventive coping was high, both daily hindrance and threat appraisal decreased. Overall, the study supported the distinction between hindrance and threat appraisal and the proposed challenge appraisal-proactive coping and threat appraisal-preventive coping relationships. Study Two extended the findings of Study One to test a comprehensive model of the stress and coping process. Data were collected via daily diaries consisting of daily job demands, appraisals, proactive and preventive coping, as well as work engagement and work-related anxiety over five consecutive workdays, resulting in a total sample of 318 employees (N = 1,505 observations). While the beneficial effects of challenge appraisal and proactive coping in increasing work engagement and reducing work-related anxiety occurred, similar effects occurred between hindrance and threat appraisal. Red tape and conflicting demands were appraised as both hindering and threatening, and no indirect effects of hindrance and threat appraisal and preventive coping between job demands and outcome variables occurred, indicating a dominance of proactive coping over preventive coping in the stress process. Despite the mixed findings of this study, the results still provide insight into the complexity of the occupational stress and coping process and provides indications of the benefits of challenge appraisal and proactive coping in sustaining occupational wellbeing. Study Three combined the transactional model of stress (i.e., appraisals and emotion) with conservation of resources theory (i.e., trait resilience) to assess the various appraisal-emotion relationships hypothesised by the transactional model and how they are moderated by employee trait resilience. Utilising the same method and employee sample from Study Two (N = 318; N = 1, 502 observations), the findings supported the distinction of challenge, hindrance, and threat appraisal in predicting various work-related emotional outcomes. Challenge appraisal positively predicted work-related positive affect, hindrance appraisal positively predicted work-related anger, and threat appraisal positively predicted work-related anxiety, providing support for the distinction between hindrance and threat appraisal and emotional outcomes. While trait resilience increased work-related positive affect and reduced work-related anger and anxiety, the moderating effects of trait resilience on the appraisal-emotion relationships were mixed. Trait resilience only reduced the positive relationship between hindrance appraisal and anger when trait resilience was high, indicating other personal resources may influence the various appraisal-emotion relationships. However, this study provides support of the integration of the transactional model of stress and coping with conservation of resources theory, as well as the role of trait resilience in predicting emotional work-related wellbeing. Overall, the findings of this research make several important contributions to the occupational stress and coping literature. First, factor analyses in both samples provided support for the proposed three-factor challenge-hindrance-threat appraisal framework and the dichotomous proactive and preventive coping factor structure. Furthermore, this research highlights the proposed multi-dimensionality of the occupational stress and coping process through the challenge-hindrance-threat framework and future-oriented coping theory, particularly the influence of primary appraisal and future-oriented coping between job demands and occupational wellbeing outcomes. Finally, this research highlighted the feasibility of combining resource-based theories with the transactional model to better understand the various appraisal-emotion relationships over time. These findings can assist in the development of occupational interventions targeted at the employee or occupation-level, particularly minimising employees’ perceived hindrance and threat demands or by improving proactive coping behaviours to enhance occupational wellbeing.
- Research Article
25
- 10.1002/smi.2984
- Sep 25, 2020
- Stress and Health
Recent research has identified the value of distinguishing between employee's appraisals of their work-based challenge, hindrance, and threat job demands, and of how employee's future-oriented coping is associated with key occupational outcomes. The current study extends this research by assessing the extent to which employee's proactive and preventive coping techniques each directly and indirectly predicted challenge, hindrance and threat appraisals. Utilizing a daily diary design, 89 undergraduate students completed five daily surveys focused on a common future stressor. Results suggested daily appraisals do not change as much as expected, with only challenge appraisals reducing across the 5-day period. However, both proactive and preventive coping moderated daily stress appraisals, such that when proactive coping was high, challenge appraisals increased and hindrance appraisals decreased. Similarly, preventive coping appeared to reduce both hindrance and threat appraisals. Theoretical and practical implications of the multi-level and dynamic nature of appraisals and future-oriented coping are discussed.
- Research Article
44
- 10.1080/01443410.2021.1954601
- Aug 6, 2021
- Educational Psychology
It is essential to understand how teachers cope with stress and how this affects their well-being as teachers work in very demanding environments. The study employed the transactional model of stress and coping as a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between the Psychological Capital dimensions (self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism), future-oriented coping (proactive and preventive coping), and work-related well-being (job satisfaction and work engagement). An online survey was completed by 213 secondary school teachers in Germany. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses indicated that optimism and self-efficacy were significant predictors of proactive coping, and hope predicted preventive coping. Optimism, hope, and resilience had a significant impact on job satisfaction. Furthermore, hope, optimism, and proactive coping significantly predicted work engagement. Proactive coping mediated the relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and work engagement as well as between optimism and work engagement, whereas preventive coping was not a significant mediator. The results imply that developing the Psychological Capital dimensions and proactive coping through interventions can be a valuable avenue to increase teacher well-being.
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19
- 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110981
- May 18, 2021
- Personality and Individual Differences
Future-oriented coping: Dispositional influence and relevance for adolescent subjective wellbeing, depression, and anxiety
- Research Article
28
- 10.1016/j.paid.2015.12.029
- Dec 29, 2015
- Personality and Individual Differences
Proactive coping and preventive coping: Evidence for two distinct constructs?
- Research Article
61
- 10.1007/bf03395737
- Oct 1, 2010
- The Psychological Record
The current study compared the relative importance of proactive coping and preventive coping in the adjustment to university life among 403 freshmen at a Chinese university and evaluated the function of proactive coping in the stress process. Participants completed the Future-Oriented Coping Inventory (Gan, Yang, Zhou, & Zhang, 2007), the Student-Life Stress Inventory (Gadzella, 1994), and the College Maladjustment Scale (Kleinmuntz, 1960). Bolger and Zuckerman’s (1995) differential exposure model of personality was borrowed to examine whether the students were exposed to different levels of current stress and to explore the impact of stress on maladjustment. The results suggest that stress has a mediating effect between proactive coping and maladjustment but not between preventive coping and maladjustment. The results also suggest that only proactive coping plays an important role in university adjustment, and proactive coping is a dispositional trait rather than a coping strategy.
- Research Article
4
- 10.3390/bs10040080
- Apr 24, 2020
- Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
This article presents the Proactive and Preventive Coping with Bad Weather in Outdoor Sports Scale, a tool for diagnosing future oriented coping with bad weather in outdoor sports. A study of the psychometric properties of the Proactive and Preventive Coping with Bad Weather in Outdoor Sports Scale was conducted, with an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis being carried out. The first set of data (N = 326) was analysed by exploratory factor analysis, and the second set of data (N = 183) was analysed by confirmatory factor analysis. The results of factor analyses verified the two-factor structure. The Proactive and Preventive Coping with Bad Weather in Outdoor Sports Scale showed satisfactory internal consistency. The coefficient alpha reliabilities were 0.81 for the Preventive scale, and 0.80 for the Proactive scale. The divergent and convergent validity of the Preventive and Proactive Coping in Outdoor Sports Scale was indicated by correlations with scales of coping, general self-efficacy, sensation seeking and the personality NEO-FFI. The results indicate that the Proactive and Preventive Coping with Bad Weather in Outdoor Sports Scale is a valid and reliable instrument.
- Research Article
6
- 10.1002/pchj.172
- Jul 14, 2017
- PsyCh journal
The present study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of age on the relationship between future time perspective (FTP) and future-oriented coping. A total of 1,915 participants aged 9-84 years completed measures of FTP and future-oriented coping. Moderation analyses were conducted to examine whether age played a role in the association between FTP and future-oriented coping (proactive and preventive). Results showed that proactive and preventive coping were negatively correlated with age, and age moderated the association between FTP and preventive coping but not proactive coping. Furthermore, the strength of the positive association between FTP and preventive coping was strongest among the older participants, moderate among the middle-aged participants, and weakest among the younger participants. These results suggest that the association between FTP and preventive coping varies across the lifespan.
- Research Article
- 10.25136/2409-8701.2024.3.70099
- Mar 1, 2024
- Психолог
The article presents the results of a theoretical analysis and empirical study of the relationship between proactive coping strategies with psychological well-being and life satisfaction. The object of the study is proactive coping among students. The subject of the study is psychological well–being, life satisfaction as predictors of proactive coping. Currently, it is noted that proactive coping makes a significant contribution to the formation of psychological health. Among the distinctive characteristics of proactive coping strategies is the assessment of future stressors, that is, the process of preadaptation. It is proactive coping that leads a person to development more than strategies to avoid failure. Accordingly, the study of the links between psychological well-being, life satisfaction and the coping process allows us to expand our understanding of the most effective coping strategies, which include proactive coping. The research method is a theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign sources, as well as empirical psychodiagnostics of 144 respondents in the age period of early and middle adulthood. According to the results of the correlation analysis, statistically significant correlations between the formation of proactive coping strategies, psychological well-being and life satisfaction are demonstrated and described. The scientific novelty lies in the identification of predictors of proactive coping behavior, in this regard, it seems relevant to search for significant relationships. It is revealed that psychological well-being, life satisfaction as personal characteristics can be considered in the perspective of further research as factors of the severity of the formation of proactive and preventive coping, abilities to meet needs and achieve goals, self-realization, having goals in life, positive self-acceptance and adequate self-esteem demonstrate a great formation of proactive coping strategies. The new data obtained may be relevant in the development of psychological support aimed at the development of proactive coping strategies among adults.
- Research Article
12
- 10.1186/s12889-024-18654-z
- Apr 29, 2024
- BMC public health
BackgroundHealthcare staff in China, especially females, work in a high-pressure, high-load, and high-risk environment, which affects the physical and mental health, the efficiency and quality of work, and increases turnover intention. The present study investigated the relationship between perceived stress and turnover intention in female healthcare staff, and the effects of future-oriented coping and work-family balance on this relationship.MethodsFour hundred thirty-five female medical workers were recruited to perform a perceived stress scale, future-oriented coping inventory, work-family balance scale and turnover intention scale. Meanwhile, serial multiple mediation analysis was performed using PROCESS.Results1) Perceived stress positively predicted the level of turnover intention in female healthcare staff; 2) Preventive coping and proactive coping showed mediation effects on the relationship between perceived stress and turnover intention, and preventive coping positively related to proactive coping; 3) The work-family balance also showed mediation effects on the relationship between perceived stress and turnover intention; 4) Preventive coping, proactive coping and work-family balance showed a serial multiple mediation on the relationship between perceived stress and turnover intention in female healthcare workers.ConclusionsPerceived stress affects the level of turnover intention in female healthcare staff through preventive coping, proactive coping, and work-family balance. In addition, the sequential model of future-oriented coping was validated among female healthcare staff.
- Research Article
2
- 10.1177/02762366241236759
- Feb 29, 2024
- Imagination, Cognition and Personality
Given the associations between mastery imagery ability, challenge and threat appraisal tendencies, perceived stress and proactive coping, and the implications for health, this research utilised a two-study approach to assess these associations and was the first study to examine whether appraisal states had a mediating role on the relationships of mastery imagery ability with perceived stress and proactive coping. Study 1 used a sample of 148 participants (M age = 22.52, SD = 4.36 years) and Study 2 used a sample of 338 participants (M age = 19.26, SD = 1.58 years). Participants completed online questionnaires measuring mastery imagery ability, challenge and threat appraisal tendencies, perceived stress, and proactive coping. In Study 1, only threat appraisal mediated the relationship between mastery imagery ability and perceived stress. However, both challenge and threat appraisal mediated the relationship between mastery imagery ability and proactive coping. Study 2 results showed challenge appraisal also mediated these relationships, but threat appraisal played no mediating role. Both studies demonstrate the important mediatory role of stress appraisal states, and the role they can have in regulating stress, but further research is warranted to establish when one stress appraisal may mediate the relationship over the other.
- Research Article
13
- 10.3390/bs11020015
- Jan 24, 2021
- Behavioral Sciences
The aim of the study was to explore temperamental personality traits as predictors of fu-ture-oriented coping with weather stress in a group of Polish mountain hikers. The subjects were 209 young mountain hikers (M = 21.20; SD = 3.70) who took three temperament–personality questionnaires, i.e., FCZ-KT Temperament Questionnaire, Sensation Seeking Scale IV and NEO-FFI- Personality Inventory, alongside a recently constructed scale for diagnosing future-oriented coping with weather stress in outdoor context, Preventive and Proactive Coping with Bad Weather Scale in Outdoor Sports. The regression analysis indicated that preventive coping with weather stress in hiking was predicted by activity, emotional reactivity, briskness, sensory sensitivity, experience seeking, agreeableness and conscientiousness. In turn, proactive coping with bad weather in hiking was predicted by endurance, activity, thrill and adventure seeking and extraversion. In turn, the cluster analysis revealed three distinct clusters of hikers characterized by diverse re-sults on the scales of preventive and proactive dealing with adverse weather, namely, prudent hikers (high preventive coping/high proactive coping), reckless hikers (low pre-ventive coping/high proactive coping) and wary hikers (high preventive coping/low proactive coping). The hikers in these clusters differed in terms of temperamental per-sonality traits.
- Research Article
5
- 10.5465/ambpp.2021.69
- Aug 1, 2021
- Academy of Management Proceedings
Job insecurity has become a major theme for most workers in our new, COVID-19-induced, world of work. While prior research indicates how workers can cope with the experience of job insecurity in order to mitigate its negative consequences (i.e., reactive coping), little research offers insights into preventive measures workers can use to minimize the further development of job insecurity. Therefore, this study investigates whether proactive coping (i.e., future-oriented coping that tries to detect and proactively manage stressors before they can fully develop) can help workers manage their future job insecurity experience. Additionally, to clarify the difference between proactive and reactive coping, this study explores whether theoretically proactive coping behaviors can also function reactively to buffer the negative consequences of job insecurity. Multilevel path modelling results based on weekly data of 266 workers over a 5-week period indicate that proactive coping is generally related to an increase of job insecurity, instead of the expected decrease. Regarding the reactive functioning of proactive coping behaviors, the results indicate no buffering effect in the relationship between job insecurity and its consequences. The discussion elaborates on possible explanations for these results and the (in)difference between proactive and reactive coping.
- Research Article
- 10.2139/ssrn.3350231
- Mar 10, 2019
- SSRN Electronic Journal
Impact of Aggression on Coping Strategies of Female Players during Sports Competition
- Research Article
- 10.47391/jpma.02-336
- Sep 28, 2021
- JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association
To investigate the interaction effect of psychological place attachment and proactive coping on psychological distress and mental well-being in sojourners. The cross-sectional study was conducted from July 12, 2019 to July 12, 2020 at University of Sargodha, Pakistan and comprised academic sojourners who stay in a place for a limited period of time. Data was collected using four self-reporting tools: Psychological Place Attachment Scale, Proactive Coping Inventory, Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and Kasler Psychological Distress Scale. Data was analysed using SPSS 24. Of the 300 subjects, 181(60.3%) were females; 164(54.7%) were from Punjab; and 261(87%) were aged 17-22 years. Proactive coping, preventive coping and reflective coping significantly moderated the relationship between affective and psychological distress (p<0.05). Proactive coping and reflective coping significantly moderated the relationship between affective bonding and mental well-being (p<0.05). Proactive coping, preventive coping and avoidance coping significantly moderated the relationship between home meaning and psychological distress (p<0.05). Proactive coping moderated the relationship between home meaning and psychological distress. Proactive coping and reflective coping moderated the relationship between place identity and psychological distress (p<0.05). Proactive coping moderated the relationship between place identity and mental well-being (p<0.05). Instrumental support-seeking moderated the relationship between place dependence and psychological distress (p<0.05). Preventive coping and reflective coping moderated the relationship between psychological place attachment and psychological distress (p<0.05). Reflective coping, strategic planning and preventive coping significantly moderated the relationship between psychological place attachment and mental well-being (p<0.05). Positive coping strategies were effective in re-educating the negative impacts of place attachment on well-being and buffering against psychological distress.
- Research Article
135
- 10.1016/j.paid.2007.02.009
- Apr 20, 2007
- Personality and Individual Differences
The two-factor structure of future-oriented coping and its mediating role in student engagement