Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate possible relationships between psychological strengths, temperament and choice of coping strategy. The study was based on the assumption that a positive life orientation possibly has biological roots. Temperament was defined as a biological factor that influences a positive life orientation and psychological strength. Psychological strength was conceptualised as the presence of a sense of coherence and locus of control. Coping was defined as the choice of coping strategy. A secondary aim of this study was to determine if there are any gender differences between adolescents regarding psychological strengths, temperament and choice of coping strategy.
Although there are telling indicators of the influence of temperament on negative life outcomes, the influence of temperament in positive life outcomes are not as clearly delineated. This is especially true regarding adolescents. Even though younger children and adults have been extensively studied regarding salutogenesis and temperament, few studies reported on adolescent salutogenesis and temperament. It was postulated that temperament would have a significant influence on a salutogenic view of life in adolescence and that this would in turn influence the typical ways in which adolescents cope or their choice of coping strategy.
The research questions were concerned with the relationship between psychological strength measured as sense of coherence and locus of control, temperament and choice of coping strategy respectively, as well as the ways in which temperament could predict a salutogenic life orientation and ways of coping.
A dearth was noted in the literature regarding salutogenesis, temperament and the developmental aspects related to salutogenesis in adolescence. Few studies include adolescents as participants and few concentrate on biologically
based variables related to salutogenesis. Few studies report on positive outcomes specifically as it relates to temperament. Lastly a lack of integrative thought in psychology regarding divergent fields like biology and psychology and how it relates to salutogenic functioning, are in evidence.
Research questions were explored in a sample of 141 pupils completing Grade 11 at two multi-racial schools in the east of Johannesburg. This sample was taken from a population of urban adolescents with average socio-economic status, completing public schooling in either English or Afrikaans. The average age of participants was 17 years. The sample consisted of 65.2% girls and 34.8% boys. The sample further consisted of 12.8% Black English speaking participants, 77.3% White Afrikaans speaking participants and 9.9% Coloured Afrikaans speaking participants.
Four self-report measures were used to measure sense of coherence, temperament and choice of coping strategy. These were the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987), the Locus of Control Inventory (Schepers, 1999), the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (Zuckerman et al., 1993) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). The Orientation to Life Questionnaire measures Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness. The Locus of Control Inventory measures Internal locus of control, External locus of control and Autonomy. The Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire measures Impulsive sensation seeking, Neuroticism-anxiety, Aggression-hostility, Activity and Sociability. The Adolescent Coping Scale measures eighteen coping strategies. Four subscales were removed due to low levels of internal reliability. Choice of coping strategy was therefore only measured by fourteen of the original subscales which were Seek social support, Focus on solving the problem, Work hard and achieve, Worry, Invest in close friends, Wishful thinking, Tension reduction, Social action, Ignore the problem, Self-blame, Keep to self, Seek spiritual support, Seek professional help and Physical recreation.
Data collected from the completed questionnaires were tested for normality of subscale distributions. T-tests for independent samples were used to determine
whether adolescent boys and girls differed significantly on the mean test scores for sense of coherence, locus of control, choice of coping strategy and temperament. Pearson’s correlation analysis and canonical correlation analyses were conducted to ascertain whether there were any meaningful patterns of relationships between the two sets of variables, i.e. salutogenic functioning and temperament. Finally logistical regression analyses were used to predict salutogenic outcomes based on a set of independent temperament variables.
Results indicated gender differences regarding psychological strengths, temperament and coping behaviour. Adolescent boys presented with higher levels of Comprehensibility and Manageability than girls. Adolescent girls generally displayed higher levels of Internal locus of control and Neuroticism-anxiety. They tended to make use of Social support, Worry, Tension reduction and Self-blame as coping strategies.
There are strong relationships between the dimensions of psychological strength, temperament and choice of coping strategy. Certain temperament traits like Neuroticism-anxiety and Aggression-hostility contributed to low levels of coherence and external locus of control, as well as the use of dysfunctional coping strategies. Temperament traits like Activity and Sociability contributed to high coherence, Autonomy and a choice of adaptive coping strategies. These results indicate possible links between biological functioning and perception as well as coping behaviour.
It may be concluded that there are links between psychological strengths like sense of coherence and locus of control, temperament and coping. The dynamics of the interaction between these variables are complex but becoming increasingly clear. Temperament traits contribute separately and in combination to perceptions of Comprehensibility, Manageability, Meaningfulness, control attributions and coping. It would therefore seem that constellations of traits exist that predict life orientation and behavioural outcomes. The ability to regulate emotion and attention, social adeptness and activity seem to be of particular importance in salutogenic perceptions and adaptive coping.
The results of this study pertain to a particular sample of adolescents that cannot necessarily be generalised to other populations. It is recommended that this study should be replicated in more diverse samples especially from other cultures and communities. Care should be taken to develop and use measuring instruments applicable in a multi-cultural South African context and other indexes of biological functioning, salutogenesis and coping could be used. The findings of this study should be integrated to applicatory models when working with youths.
Professor Anita Stuart