Answer to Question #318121 in English for Whitney

Question

Psycho social factors and their risk to learner's especially when not supported: stress, family, motivation, social support, anxiety and depression, adjustment

Answer 1

Coping can be defined as a positive response outcome expectancy. This expectancy is based on the interaction between an exposure and the response to the same exposure. When the result is negative, the individual stores this experience as negative outcome expectancy and feels “hopeless”. If the individual learns that there is no relationship between his or her responses and the outcome, the individual develops “helplessness”. If an individual perceives a situation as manageable, it promotes feelings of coping and mastery. Many of these expectancies represent learning that occurs early in life and contributes to future learning episodes, and they may influence understanding, motivation, and adherence to lifestyle decision.

The concept of “sense of coherence” covers the ability to define life events as less stressful (comprehensibility), to mobilize resources to deal with encountered stressors (manageability), and experience motivation, desire, and commitment to cope (meaningfulness). The perception of self-esteem, depicting feelings of self-worth, is also a prevalent psychological resource in the literature. The concept of self-efficacy refers to one’s belief in the ability to perform a specific behavior, such as, physical activity. Bandura differentiates between self-efficacy and outcome expectations.

While the latter refers to the anticipation of results of one’s own action, the former refers to one’s ability of performing a certain action. High perceived self-efficacy enables a person to cope with confidence and high motivation. The coping scale developed by Pearlin aims to capture feelings of mastery, that is, feelings of control over one’s life, i.e., internal control.