The impact of communal-mastery versus self-mastery on emotional outcomes during stressful conditions: a prospective study of Native American women.
Past research has examined the stress resiliency of individuals high in sense of personal-mastery. However, it has been theorized that within more collectivist cultures, a sense of shared efficacy, which we call communal-mastery, may be more central to people's resiliency in the face of challenging life circumstances. We compared the impact of sense of self-mastery (ie., "I am the key to my success") to that of communal-mastery (ie., "I am successful by virtue of my social attachments") in a prospective study among a group of rural 103 Native American women residing on Indian Reservations in Montana. We found that women high in communal-mastery experienced less increase in depressive mood and anger, especially when faced with high stress circumstances, than women who were low in communal-mastery. In addition, the beneficial impact of communal-mastery was found to be more effective than self-mastery for these women.
Hobfoll
Stevan E
SE
Applied Psychology Center, Kent State University, Ohio 44242, USA. shobfoll@kent.edu
Jackson
Anita
A
Hobfoll
Ivonne
I
Pierce
Charles A
CA
Young
Sara
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology*; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009009:Montana / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health