Relationship between Coping Strategies and Subjective Well-Being at Different Levels of Relative Deprivation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to control the demographic variables (age, gender and perceived social-economic status) and investigate the relationships between coping strategies (task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping, and avoidance-oriented coping) and cognitive and affective dimensions of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and perceived stress, respectively) in low-level and high-level deprived samples. The research data were collected from 218 low-level deprived and 193 high-level deprived individuals aged between 18 and 26 years. Basic research hypotheses were tested with hierarchical regression analysis. Consistent with the hypothesis, regardless of the relative deprivation level, task-oriented coping strategy was positively associated with subjective well-being, whereas emotion-oriented coping strategy was negatively associated. The significance of the relationship between avoidance-oriented coping strategy and subjective well-being depended on the perceived deprivation level. This research has demonstrated the importance of providing the correct cognitive responses in the process of coping with a negative situation such as deprivation. Results supported that the effectiveness of the coping strategy is related to the severity of the negative situation and the cognitive and affective needs of the individual.

Keywords

• subjective well-being,life satisfaction,perceived stress,coping strategies,relative deprivation theory

Farklı Göreli Yoksunluk Seviyelerinde Başa Çıkma Stratejileri ve Öznel İyi Oluş Arasındaki İlişki

Öz

Bu araştırmanın amacı demografik değişkenleri (cinsiyet, yaş ve algılanan sosyo-ekonomik statü) kontrol ederek, düşük seviyede ve yüksek seviyede yoksun örneklemlerde, başa çıkma stratejileri (çözüme dönük başa çıkma, duygusal başa çıkma ve kaçınmacı başa çıkma) ve öznel iyi oluşun bilişsel ve duygusal boyutları (sırasıyla, yaşam doyumu ve algılanan stres) arasındaki ilişkileri incelemektir. Araştırma verisi, yaşları 18 ile  26 arasında değişen 218  düşük seviyede yoksun ve 193 yüksek seviyede yoksun bireyden toplanmıştır. Temel araştırma hipotezleri hiyerarşik regresyon analizleriyle test edilmiştir. Hipotezlerle tutarlı olarak, göreli yoksunluk seviyesine bakmaksızın, çözüm odaklı başa çıkma stratejisi öznel iyi oluşla olumlu yönde ilişkiliyken, duygusal başa çıkma stratejisi olumsuz yönde ilişkili bulunmuştur. Kaçınmacı başa çıkma stratejisi ve öznel iyi oluş arasındaki ilişkinin anlamlılığı ise algılanan yoksunluk seviyesine bağlıdır. Bu araştırma yoksunluk gibi olumsuz bir durumla başa çıkma sürecinde doğru bilişsel tepkilerin verilmesinin önemini göstermiştir. Bulgular başa çıkma stratejisinin etkinliğinin olumsuz durumun ciddiyeti ve bireyin bilişsel ve duygusal ihtiyaçlarıyla ilişkili olduğunu desteklemişti

Anahtar Kelimeler

• öznel esenlik,yaşam doyumu,algılanan stres,başa çıkma stratejileri,göreli yoksunluk kuramı

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