Psychological resources and strategies to cope with stress at work

Abstract

Introduction: the choice of strategies to cope with stress has differential effects on individual and organizational outcomes (e.g. well-being and performance at work). This study examined to what extent individuals differing in their positive psychological resources (optimism, hope, self-efficacy and resilience) implement different strategies to cope with stress in terms of change, acceptance, or withdrawal from a source of stress in an organizational setting. Method: A questionnaire was filled out by 554 employees from different organizations representing a wide range of jobs and positions. Results: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM; χ 2 (7) = 27.64, p < .01, GFI = .99, NFI = .91, CFI = .93, RMSEA = .07) Conclusion: the results indicated that psychological resources (optimism, hope, self-efficacy and resilience) were positively related to coping by change and by acceptance and negatively related to withdrawal. The theoretical implications are discussed.

Keywords

• Psychological resources
• coping
• self-efficacy
• hope
• optimism
• resilience