Stressors and problem-solving: the individual as psychological activist

Sociological researchers have tended to deemphasize the degree to which people are conscious, active agents in their own lives, focusing instead on factors which promote vulnerability to stress. But people are often motivated to act deliberately to resolve both acute and chronic role-related stressors. Thus, the relationship between stress experiences and negative psychological outcomes may be attributable primarily to stressors which individuals are unable to resolve. Using panel data on 532 married and divorced respondents in Indianapolis, I illustrate the effects of solved and unsolved problems (in the domains of work and love/marriage) on changes in psychological distress and substance use. People who failed to solve their job or love problems had more psychological symptoms, while the symptoms of successful problem-solvers did not differ from those of individuals whose situations were nonproblematic. Further exploratory analyses showed that the personality characteristics of mastery and self-esteem served to select individuals into--and out of--stressful circumstances, and that individuals were affected by the outcomes of problem-solving efforts in the work domain, or by attempts to solve problems in the love/marriage domain. These illustrative findings suggest that it can be theoretically and empirically fruitful to view individuals as agents making and shaping their lives, rather than primarily as passive subjects overwhelmed by situational stress.