Factors Favorable for the Learned Optimism in Preadolescence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/15.1/709Keywords:
learned optimism, learned pessimism, self-efficacy, proactive coping, perceived autonomy-based parenting style, perceived controlling parenting styleAbstract
Prior research suggested that the learned optimistic explanatory style is positively associated with greater satisfaction in interpersonal relationships, a more effective approach of life stressors, better physical health and work productivity, less vulnerability to depression and also higher academic and athletic performances. Our research deals with how are learned optimism and learned pessimism predicted by academic, social and emotional self-efficacy, perceived autonomy-based parenting style, perceived control-based parenting style and proactive coping. Participants were 760 students (467 girls) - 12-year-old (20.5%), 13-year-old (31.8%) and 14-year-old (47.6%) – who voluntarily participated. They answered the questionnaires with which the research variables were operationalized. The present study contributes with its large number of participants to an overview of the factors that predict learned optimism and learned pessimism. Results indicated the importance of social self-efficacy, proactive coping and perceived control-based parental support in predicting learned optimism. Also, this paper shows that high learned pessimism coincides with high levels of difficult family situation (e.g. single-parent family) and reduced strength of social self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy, proactive coping and perceived control-based parental support. Important implications of this empirical research should be considered by social emotional learning programs for students, parents and teachers.
References
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., Teasdale, J. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87(1), 49-74. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49
Bacchini, D., & Magliulo, F. (2003). Self-Image and Perceived Self-Efficacy During Adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(5), 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024969914672
Bamford, C., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2012). Looking on the bright side: children’s knowledge about the benefits of positive versus negative thinking. Child Development, 83(2), 667–682.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York, NY: Freeman.
Bandura, A., Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Gerbino, M., & Pastorelli, C. (2003). Role of affective self-regulatory efficacy in diverse spheres of psychosocial functioning. Child Development, 74(3), 769-782. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00567
Bandura, A., Pastorelli, C., Barbaranelli, C., & Caprara, G. V. (1999). Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(2), 258–269. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.2.258
Barber, B. K., Stolz, H. E., & Olsen, J. A. (2005). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioural control: assessing relevance across time, culture, and method. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 70, 1–137. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5834.2005.00365.x
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4(1, Pt.2), 1–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030372
Butnaru, S., Gherasim, L. R., Iacob, L., & Amariei, C. (2010). The effects of parental support and attributional style on children's school achievement and depressive feelings. International Journal of Learning, 17(8). https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v17i08/47189
Caprara, G. V., Fida, R., Vecchione, M., Del Bove, G., Vecchio, G. M., Barbaranelli, C., & Bandura, A. (2008). Longitudinal analysis of the role of perceived self-efficacy for self-regulated learning in academic continuance and achievement. Journal of educational psychology, 100(3), 525.
Coleman, P. K. (2003). Perceptions of parent–child attachment, social self-efficacy, and peer relationships in middle childhood. Infant and Child Development, 12, 351–368. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.316
Costa, S., Cuzzocrea, F., Gugliandolo, M. C., & Larcan, R. (2015). Associations between parental psychological control and autonomy support, and psychological outcomes in adolescents: the mediating role of need satisfaction and need frustration. Child Indicators Research, 9(4), 1059–1076. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-015-9353-z
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Motivation, personality, and development within embedded social contexts: an overview of self-determination theory. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 85–107). New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
Filippello, P., Sorrenti, L., Buzzai, C., & Costa, S. (2015). Perceived parental psychological control and learned helplessness: the role of school self-efficacy. School Mental Health, 7, 298–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-015-9151-2
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of personality and social psychology, 50(5), 992. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992
Forgeard, M. J.C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2012). Seeing the glass half full: a review of the causes and consequences of optimism. Pratiques Psychologiques, 18(2), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prps.2012.02.002
Gherasim, L. R., Butnaru, S., Gavreliuc, A., & Iacob, L. M. (2012). Optimistic attributional style and parental behaviour in the educational framework: a cross-cultural perspective. In Well-Being and Cultures (pp. 195-217). Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4611-4_13
Gladstone, T. R., Kaslow, N. J., Seeley, J. R., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1997). Sex differences, attributional style, and depressive symptoms among adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25(4), 297-306. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025712419436
Greenglass, E. R. (2002). Proactive coping and quality of life management. In E. Frydenberg (Ed.), Beyond coping: Meeting goals, visions, and challenges (pp. 37–62). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780198508144.003.0003
Greenglass, E. R., & Fiksenbaum, L. (2009). Proactive coping, positive affect, and well-being: testing for mediation using path analysis. European psychologist, 14(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.1.29
Greenglass, E. R., Schwarzer, R., & Taubert, S. (1999). The Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI): A multidimensional research instrument. https://www.psych.yorku.ca/greenglass/
Grolnick, W. S., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1997). Internalization within the family: the self-determination theory perspective. In J. E. Grusec & L. Kuczynski (Eds.), Parenting and children's internalization of values: a handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 135–161). John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Icekson, I., Begerano, O.B., Levinson, M., Savariego, J., & Margalit, M. (2021). Learning difficulties and loneliness in college and beyond: the mediating role of self-efficacy, proactive coping, and hoper. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10508.
Ivanova, M. Y., & Israel, A. C. (2005). Family stability as a protective factor against the influences of pessimistic attributional style on depression. Cognitive therapy and research, 29(2), 243-251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-005-3167-0
Jaycox, L. H., Stein, B. D., Paddock, S., Miles, J. N., Chandra, A., Meredith, L. S., Tanielian, T, Hickey, S., & Burnam, M. A. (2009). Impact of teen depression on academic, social, and physical functioning. Pediatrics, 124(4), 596-605. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-3348
Lazarus, R. S., Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
Lopez, S. J., Pedrotti, J. T., & Snyder, C. R. (2018). (4th ed.). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Sage Publications, Inc.
Mabbe, E., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., van der Kaap-Deeder, J., & Mouratidis, A. (2018). Day-to-day variation in autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting: the role of parents’ daily experiences of need satisfaction and need frustration. Parenting: Science and Practice, 18(2), 86–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2018.1444131
Mageau, G. A., Ranger, F., Joussemet, M., Koestner, R., Moreau, E., & Forest, J. (2015). Validation of the perceived parental autonomy support scale (P-PASS). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 47(3), 251–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039325
Mishra, P., Pandey, C. M., Singh, U., Gupta, A., Sahu, C., & Keshri, A. (2019). Descriptive statistics and normality tests for statistical data. Annals of cardiac anaesthesia, 22(1), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.4103/aca.ACA_157_18
Muris, P. (2001). Brief questionnaire for measuring self-efficacy in youths. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 23, 145–149. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010961119608
Muris, P. (2002). Relationships between self-efficacy and symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression in a normal adolescent sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 32(2), 337–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00027-7
Muris, P., Meesters, C., Pierik, A., & de Kock, B. (2016). Good for the self: self-compassion and other self-related constructs in relation to symptoms of anxiety and depression in non-clinical youths. Journal of child and family studies, 25(2), 607-617. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0235-2
OECD (2017), PISA 2015 Results (Volume III): Students’ Well-Being, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264273856-en
Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American Psychologist, 55(1), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.44
Peterson, C., & Steen, T. A. (2021). Optimistic explanatory style. In C. R. Snyder, S. J. Lopez, L. M. Edwards, S. C. Marques. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 244–256). New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
Ratelle, C. F., Duchesne, S., & Guay, F. (2017). Predicting school adjustment from multiple perspectives on parental behaviors. Journal of Adolescence, 54, 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.11.008
Reivich, K., Gillham, K., Shatté, A., & Seligman, M. (2007). Penn resiliency project: a resilience initiative and depression prevention program for youth and their parents. Executive Summary. Philadelphia, PA: University of Philadelphia
Reis, H. T., Sheldon, K. M., Gable, S. L., Roscoe, J., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Daily well-being: the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 419-435 https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200266002
Reuter, T., & Schwarzer, R. (2009). Manage stress at work through preventive and proactive coping. Handbook of principles of organizational behavior, 499-515. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119206422.ch27
Saunders, J., Davis, L., Williams, T., & Williams, J. H. (2004). Gender differences in self-perceptions and academic outcomes: a study of African-American high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33, 81-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1027390531768
Schwarzer, R. (1994). Optimism, vulnerability, and self-beliefs as health-related cognitions: a systematic overview. Psychology & Health, 9(3), 161–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870449408407475
Schwarzer, R., & Luszczynska, A. (2008). Reactive, anticipatory, preventive, and proactive coping: a theoretical distinction. The Prevention Researcher, 15(4), 22-25.
Schwarzer, R., Taubert, S. (2002). Tenacious goal pursuits and striving toward personal growth: proactive coping. In E. Frydenberg (coord.), Beyond coping: Meeting goals, visions and challenges. London: Oxford University Press
Seligman, M., Reivich, K, Jaycox, L., Gillham, J. (1995). The optimistic child: how learned optimism protects children from depression. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R., & Reis, H. T. (1996). What makes for a good day? Competence and autonomy in the day and in the person. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1270–1279. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672962212007
Soenens, B., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2010). A theoretical upgrade of the concept of parental psychological control: proposing new insights on the basis of self-determination theory. Developmental Review, 30(1), 74–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.11.001
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., Luyckx, K., Goossens, L., Beyers, W., & Ryan, R. M. (2007). Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 633–646. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.3.633
Steinberg, L., Elmen, J. D., & Mounts, N. S. (1989). Authoritative parenting, psychosocial maturity, and academic success among adolescents. Child Development, 60, 1424 –1436. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1130932
Suldo, S. M., & Shaffer, E. J. (2007). Evaluation of the self-efficacy questionnaire for children in two samples of American adolescents. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25(4), 341–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282907300636
Tak, Y. R., Brunwasser, S. M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Engels, R. C. (2016). The prospective associations between self-efficacy and depressive symptoms from early to middle adolescence: a cross-lagged model. Journal of youth and adolescence, 46(4), 744–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0614-z
Thompson, M., Kaslow, N. J., Weiss, B., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Children’s attributional style questionnaire-revised: psychometric examination. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 166–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.166
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 The Authors & LUMEN Publishing House
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant this journalright of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work, with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as an earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala Journal has an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND
