The Role of Optimism in Social Network Development, Coping, and Psychological Adjustment During a Life Transition
Ian Brissette
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Michael F. Scheier
Carnegie Mellon University
Charles S. Carver
University of Miami
留学生论文The authors investigated the extent to which social support and coping account for the associationbetween greater optimism and better adjustment to stressful life events. College students of both genderscompleted measures of perceived stress, depression, friendship network size, and perceived socialsupport at the beginning and end of their 1st semester of college. Coping was assessed at the end of the1st semester. Greater optimism, assessed at the beginning of the 1st semester of college, was prospectivelyassociated with smaller increases in stress and depression and greater increases in perceived socialsupport (but not in friendship network size) over the course of the 1st semester of college. Mediational
analyses were consistent with a model in which increases in social support and greater use of positivereinterpretation and growth contributed to the superior adjustment that optimists experienced.differences in optimism play an important role in the
adjustment to stressful life events (reviewed in Scheier, Carver, &Bridges, 2001). Greater optimism has been found to be associatedwith less mood disturbance in response to a variety of stressors,including adjustment to law school (Segerstrom, Taylor, Kemeny,& Fahey, 1998), breast cancer and coronary bypass surgery (Carveret al., 1993; Scheier et al., 1989), and exposure to SCUD
missile attacks (Zeidner & Hammer, 1992).One explanation for the associations that have been found is that
optimists cope more effectively with their stressors than do pessimists.There is substantial evidence that optimists use differentstrategies tocope than do pessimists and that these coping differencescontribute to the positive association between optimism and
better adjustment (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989; Scheier,Weintraub, & Carver, 1986; Stanton & Snider, 1993; for a review,see Scheier et al., 2001, or Carver & Scheier, 1999). Studies alsoindicate, however, that differences in coping can account for onlypart of the association between optimism and better adjustment
(e.g., Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Carver et al., 1993; Scheier et al.,
1989; Segerstrom et al., 1998). This raises questions about otherpsychological and behavioral pathways that may underlie the
relationships that have been observed. In the present study, weevaluate the possibility that optimists adjust to stressful life circumstances
more successfully because they also possess moreextensive and supportive social networks than do pessimists.
The idea that social networks play an important role in mentalhealth maintenance is well established (Cobb, 1976; Cohen & |
