1. The Relationship Between Psychological Sense of Community Communal Coping, and Other Factors
Justin D. Hackett, Benjamin J. Marcus, and Allen M. Omoto
Claremont Graduate University
Abstract
Research suggests an overlap between the constructs psychological sense of community (PSOC) and communal coping (CC). For example, both are positively associated with subjective well being resulting from community interactions. Further, research has shown a consistent overlap between these and constructs relating to the availability and satisfaction with available resources, for example emotional social support. This project sought to investigate the relationship between PSOC and CC by performing secondary data analysis on a Los Angeles area study of the well being of retired persons. In addition we explored the relationship between these constructs and emotional social support. Analyses support a prediction that PSOC is more strongly related to CC than either measures of independent coping orientation or measures of emotional social support. However, analyses provide surprising results negating the prediction that both PSOC and CC should better predict subjective well-being than either independent coping (IC) or measures of social support. Theoretical reasons for the results are presented.
Materials and Methods
Source: Secondary survey data from a larger study exploring helping behavior and well being among participants from 3 L.A. area retirement communities and 2 local senior-community centers (Ns range 190 to 204 depending on missing data).
PSOC was measured with an 18 item scale, (M = 4.27 on a 5 point scale)
Coping strategy A 10 item anxiety about death and aging scale was used to derive two measures of coping strategies. One considers coping with anxiety from a community perspective (4 items, M = 3.664, e.g. Members of my retirement community influence my concerns and fears related to aging). The other scale considers coping with anxiety from an individual perspective (6 items, M = 3.26, e.g. The older I become, the more alone I feel). Scores on these subscales were significantly different from each other (t = , p < .001).
Emotional social support A 6 item measure of perceived emotional social support (M = 1.26 on 3 point scale), and one of satisfaction with support (M = 1.44).
Subjective well-being was tapped by three items of participants’ perceptions of their own health independently and compared to fellow community members (M = 3.18 on a 4 point scale).
Table 3:
Summary of Simultaneous Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Subjective Well Being (N = 177)
Variables r B
SE B β
Constant
2.190
.326 .
Independent Coping Orientation
.326***
.240
.056
.307***
Satisfaction with Perceived Emotional Social Support
.236***
.357
.114
.265**
Perceived Emotional Social Support
.048
-.230
.131
-.152+
Psychological Sense of Community
.030
-.011
.075
-.012
Communal Coping Orientation
.003
.054
.005
Note: Cumulative R2 = .155, p < .001.
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, +p indicates marginal effects
Key Findings
Analyses show a significant positive relationship between PSOC and CC.
PSOC emerged as the best predictor of CC even when analyzed with measures of social support.
Contrary to predictions IC and satisfaction with emotional social support emerged as significant predictors of subjective well-being while PSOC and CC did not.
Tests of Hypotheses
Prediction 1: Significant differences between the correlations of PSOC and CC and PSOC and IC (z = 4.183, p < .001), see Table 1.
Prediction 2: Simultaneous regression analyses (Table 2) confirm that PSOC was a better predictor CC than emotional social support. PSOC emerged as the only significant predictor in the model (β = .469, p < .001). Additional regression analyses using the same variables to predict IC did not yield a significant result.
Prediction 3: As shown in Table 1, IC was unexpectedly more strongly related to subjective well-being than CC (z = 2.765, p < .01). Further, simultaneous regression analysis (Table 3) revealed IC (β = .307, p < .001) and Satisfaction with Perceived Social Support (β = .265, p < .01) as the only significant predictors of subjective well-being contrary to predictions.
Conclusions
•Surprisingly, the only significant predictors of subjective well-being were IC and participants’ satisfaction with social support.
•Some findings may be explained by the idea that social support itself functions as coping.
•The strong relationships obtained between social support, PSOC, and CC may indicate a great deal of overlap between these constructs, with satisfaction with social support being more salient for this particular population.
•Our results do not explain the differences between perceived availability of social support and satisfaction with social support. Further research should attempt to disentangle these constructs.
•Future research should also attempt to address theoretical issues surrounding the importance of coping styles in predicting subjective well-being. In particular, more research on communal coping is needed.
Introduction and Predictions
Psychological sense of community includes feelings of belonging, similarity, and interdependence with a larger, stable, collective
Communal coping is defined as the pooling of resources and efforts of several individuals to confront adversity Prediction 1: PSOC should be more related to communal coping than to independent coping
Prediction 2: PSOC should better predict communal coping than measures of emotional social support
Prediction 3: PSOC and CC should better predict subjective well-being than independent coping and social support measures
Table 1
Correlation (Pearson r) Differences between Communal and Independent Coping (Ns range from 190 to 204)
Variable
Communal
Coping
Independent
Difference
(z-score)
Psychological Sense of Community
.448**
.058
4.183***
Perceived Emotional Social Support
.179*
.159*
.202
Satisfaction with Perceived Emotional Social Support
.156*
.182
.260
Subjective Well Being
.016
.291**
2.765**
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
Table 2:
Summary of Simultaneous Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Communal Coping (N = 183)
Variables r B
SE B β
Constant
.769
.390 .
Psychological Sense of Community
.489***
.629
.093
.469***
Perceived Emotional Social Support
.219***
.166
.182
.073
Satisfaction with Perceived Emotional Social Support
.163*
-.024
.160
-.012
Note: Cumulative R2 = .243, p < .001.
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001,
Acknowledgements
Original funding was provided by the Fetzer Institute and the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
Contact
Direct Inquiries to: Benjamin J. Marcus, Institute for Research on Social Issues, Claremont Graduate University, 175 E. Twelfth, Claremont, CA Via Electronic Mail: