EFFECTS OF SITUATION AND LEARNED RESOURCEFULNESS ON COPING RESPONSES, THE

Social Behavior and Personality, 2004 by Akgun, Serap

Learned resourcefulness theory suggests that people high in resourcefulness can minimize the negative effect of stress on their performance, therefore, they can do better than less resourceful individuals under stressful conditions (Rosenbaum, 1990). This study was designed to examine whether individuals high and low in resourcefulness, differ in their perceived stress levels, self-efficacy expectancies, and coping strategies. In the study, 255 students were asked to imagine themselves in two different stressful academic situations (controllable and uncontrollable) and to complete measures of perceived stress level, selfefficacy expectancy, and coping ways (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988). Data analyses indicated that highly resourceful students have higher self-efficacy expectancies. They use more problem-focused coping, more positive reappraisal, are more likely to seek social support, and less likely to use escape-avoidance strategies during the stages of an examination situation.

When people encounter stressful life events they try to change the adverse effect of these events on their well-being by using a number of coping strategies. The transactional theory defines coping as The person's cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage (reduce, minimize, master or tolerate) the internal and external demands of the person-environment transaction that is appraised as taxing or exceeding the person's resources (Folkman, Lazarus, Gruen, & Delongis, 1986, p.2). Folkman and Lazarus (1985) emphasize that an individual's coping responses will change depending on the changing person-environment relationship. To examine this proposition a number of studies based on transactional theory have focused on students' ways of coping at different stages of an examination.

In their classic study, Folkman and Lazarus (1985) examined changes in emotions and coping responses during three stages of an examination. Students decreased their use of problem-focused coping, and were less likely to seek social support, or to emphasize the positive, and self-isolation, but increased distancing from the preparation stage to the waiting stage. Students also decreased wishful thinking and distancing from the waiting stage to the outcome stage.

Results of the studies examining students' appraisals and coping responses in different stages of an examination have supported transactional theory indicating significant changes in students' appraisals and coping strategies (Carver & Scheier, 1994; Raffety, Smith, & Ptacek, 1997). Researchers have consistently reported that students have tended to use more planful problem-solving during the preparation stage compared to the waiting stage. Similarly, seeking social support has been used more during the preparation stage. Research findings for other forms of coping are mixed rather than consistent. For example, Folkman and Lazarus (1985) found that positive reappraisal was utilized more during the preparation stage, whereas Carver and Scheier reported no significant difference in the use of positive reframing depending on the situation.

A number of studies have reported a significant relationship between personality dispositions and coping responses (Parkes, 1984; Terry, 1991). For example, Boiger (1990) examined the effects of both situation and neuroticism on coping responses. Results indicated a significant effect of neuroticism by time on coping. Specifically, subjects high in neuroticism used more wishful thinking and more self-blame compared to their low-neuroticism counterparts in the preexamination stage, but not in the postexamination stage. Boiger interpreted these findings as a contribution to "the understanding of how static personality traits reveal themselves dynamically under stress" (p. 536). The literature suggests that personality variables as well as situational factors are associated with individuals' appraisals and coping responses.

Learned resourcefulness has been defined as an acquired repertoire of behaviors and skills (mostly cognitive) by which a person self-regulates internal responses (such as emotions and cognitions) that interfere with the smooth execution of a target behavior (Rosenbaum & Jaffe, 1983, p. 216). Learned resourcefulness includes four aspects; the use of self-statements to control emotional responses, the application of problem-solving strategies, the tendency to delay immediate gratification, and perceived self-efficacy. Rosenbaum (1990) suggests that learned resourcefulness does not influence an individual's perceived stress level, but it does influence an individual's self-efficacy expectancy. The concept of self-efficacy expectancy refers to a person's beliefs about whether he or she can cope with a situation effectively (Bandura, 1977). Studies have found a significant positive relationship between learned resourcefulness and self-efficacy (Lewinsohn & Alexander, 1990; Rosenbaum & Ben-Ari Simira, 1986)

Learned resourcefulness theory suggests that people high in resourcefulness can minimize the negative effect of stress on their performance, therefore, they can do better than low resourceful individuals under stressful conditions (Rosenbaum, 1990). Empirical studies have supported this prediction, indicating a significant effect of learned resourcefulness on performance in the face of stressful situations (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003; Kennett, 1996; Rosenbaum & Ben-Ari, 1985; Rosenbaum & Jaffe, 1983).