Coherence and transituational generality in coping: the unity and the diversity.
We investigated the transituational coherence of coping strategy use by collecting coping data on multiple occasions, and assessing the effects of aggregation over varying numbers of occasions. Study 1 examined the effects of aggregating daily coping reports over three- and six-day periods. Study 2 extended the results of Study 1 by assessing the extent to which aggregation increased the correlation between a dispositional coping measure and daily coping reports. Both studies strongly supported the hypothesis that aggregation would enhance the consistency of coping preferences, suggesting some degree of coherence within the domain of coping strategy used. Aggregated coping reports correlated with each other at significantly higher levels (ranging from 0.46 to 0.77 in Study 1 and from 0.65 to 0.95 in Study 2), than unaggregated coping reports (ranging from -0.12 to 0.30 in Study 1 and from 0.12 to 0.53 in Study 2). Study 2 also showed that aggregated daily reports were better predictors of subsequent coping than scores derived from a standard dispositional coping survey.
Ptacek
J T
JT
Department of Psychology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17937, USA. ptacek@bucknell.eud
Smith
Ronald E
RE
Raffety
Brian D
BD
Lindgren
Kristen P
KP
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013694:Temperament