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Potency: a stress-buffering link in the coping-stress-disease relationship
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|January 1, 1985
Summary
A strong sense of personal and societal potency acts as a buffer against stress, helping maintain emotional balance even when coping with challenges fails. This finding highlights the importance of confidence in oneself and a predictable society for overall well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Health Studies
Background:
- Maintaining emotional homeostasis is crucial for health, yet stressors can overwhelm coping mechanisms.
- Resource inadequacy can lead to initial coping failures, impacting emotional balance.
- The role of psychological factors in buffering stress requires further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors that help individuals maintain emotional homeostasis despite coping failures.
- To investigate the stress-buffering potential of a feeling of potency.
- To examine the relationship between coping, stress, and health, moderated by potency.
Main Methods:
- A study was conducted on a representative sample of Israeli adults.
- Data were collected to assess emotional homeostasis, coping strategies, stress levels, and feelings of potency.
- Statistical analyses were used to examine the proposed stress-buffering mechanism.
Main Results:
- A feeling of potency significantly weakened the association between coping, stress, and health.
- Potency acted as a tension-bounding mechanism, moderating the negative effects of coping failures on homeostasis.
- Successful coping experiences and social support were found to enhance feelings of potency.
Conclusions:
- Potency serves as a crucial stress-buffering mechanism, protecting emotional homeostasis.
- Interventions aimed at enhancing personal and societal confidence may improve resilience to stress.
- Accumulated successful coping and social support are key factors in developing and maintaining potency.