Predictors of Proactive Coping in Early Adulthood: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

This work is aimed at identifying predictors of proactive coping as well as direct and indirect effects of reactive coping strategies and dispositional optimism on proactive coping. The data of empirical research of two samples, Russian and South Ossetian, is presented. The sample from Russia consisted of 97 students (75 women and 22 men) between the ages of 19 and 25 (Mage=20.31 years, SDage=1.80 years), and the sample from South Ossetia consisted of 103 students from Ossetia (57 women and 46 men) between the ages of 19 and 25 (Mage=21.60 years, SDage=1.81 years). Among the Russian respondents 97% identified themselves as Russians, among the Ossetian respondents 100% identified themselves as Ossetians. The study was conducted using the Life Orientation Test, the Coping Ways Questionnaire and the Proactive Coping Questionnaire. Analysis of the results suggests that fantasizing and relying on outside forces contribute negatively to Russian youth's proactive coping, while both seeking help from their social environment and confrontation contribute positively. Mediation analysis showed that confrontation weakens the relationship between fantasizing and proactive coping. For South Ossetian youth, gender and confrontation were significant predictors of proactive coping; in mediation analysis, confrontation suppressed self-blaming but increases the appeal for help to the social environment in the implementation of proactive coping. Ossetian young women, compared to Ossetian men, are less prone to confrontation and, consequently, do not build proactive coping around it. Thus, in terms of proactive overcoming, confrontation weakens the effect of fantasy and hopes for external forces among Russian youth, and self-blame among Ossetia youth.