Optimism, self-mastery, and symptoms of depression in women professionals.
The construct validity and predictive utility of dispositional optimism were examined in a sample of 192 women professionals. By using covariance structure modeling with latent variables, opotimism (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and self-mastery (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978) were found to be empirically distinct, although substantially correlated, constructs. Furthermore, although optimism and self-mastery were significant and negatively correlated with symptoms of depression, only self-mastery was independently associated with symptom levels. In addition, no evidence was found that optimism and self-mastery interact to influence depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the apparent predictive power of optimism may derive from its substantial overlap with self-mastery. Implications for the assessment and interpretation of optimism and self-mastery are discussed.
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48106-1248.
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Marshall
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Lang
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010556:Personality Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D012649:Self Concept; D012718:Set, Psychology; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*