The influence of dispositional optimism and gender on adolescents' perception of academic stress.

Huan, Vivien S. ; Yeo, Lay See ; Ang, Rebecca P. 等

Cumulative evidence from a variety of sources suggests that optimism contributes positively to an individual's physical and psychological well-being. For example, Aspinwall and Taylor (1992) found that optimism exerted a direct and positive effect on an individual's level of adjustment to life's stressful events. Students who are optimistic were better able to cope with school-related stress than students who are pessimistic. In an earlier study, Scheier and Carver (1985) found that optimism helped students cope more effectively with stress. Students who reported themselves to be optimistic at the start of the semester were less likely to be bothered by stress-related symptoms by the end of the semester than those who reported themselves to be less optimistic initially. Other studies have also shown that having an optimistic disposition is a strong predictor of successful adaptation to stressful encounters and also found to be related to positive adjustment (Ben-Zur, Rappaport, Ammar, & Uretzky, 2000; Herman-Stahl & Peterson, 1996). A review of the literature also revealed limited research on the relationship between optimism and academic stress with regard to gender differences (Ben-Zur, 2003; Chang, 1996; Chang & Sanna, 2003; Scheier, Weintraub, & Carver, 1986). The objective of this study is to examine the influence of optimism together with gender, on adolescents' perception of academic stress, but with specific reference to the Singapore adolescent.

Dispositional Optimism

According to Scheier, Carver, and Bridges (2000), optimism is a dispositional tendency of an individual to hold generalized positive expectancies even "... when people confront adversity or difficulty in their lives" (p. 190). These generalized expectancies apply to the individual's entire life domain. This approach to understanding optimism measures expectancies directly by asking individuals to indicate the extent to which they believe their future outcomes will be good or bad. For the optimist, there is an expectancy that good outcomes will occur even when one is confronted with major obstacles (Scheier & Carver, 1985). With an optimistic disposition, Ben-Zur (2003) found that an individual tends to have a positive view of goal-fulfilling expectations which in turn affects his/her motivation and the amount of effort made to fulfill these expectations. Klaczynski and Fauth (1996) noted that to a large extent, optimism can be perceived as a motivational aspect of future expectations that may influence both the types of goals individuals set and the enthusiasm they have for fulfilling these expectations.

Research has also shown optimism to have a moderating effect on how people handle new or difficult situations. When faced with difficult situations, optimists are also more likely to have positive emotional reactions and expectations. They expect to have positive outcomes even when things are difficult; they tend to take an attitude of confidence and persistence. Optimists also tend to assume that adversity can be successfully handled in one way or another and they are more likely to employ active and problem-focused coping strategies than avoidance or withdrawal (Carver & Scheier, 1985; Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001; Scheier et al., 1986). They fare better and are more likely to persist in their goal-oriented efforts than do pessimists when faced with stressful occurrences (Scheier & Carver, 1985; Smith, Pope, Rhodewalt, & Poulton, 1989). Conversely, pessimists described themselves as being doubtful and hesitant when confronted with difficult situations. They are more likely to anticipate disaster under conditions of adversity (Scheier & Carver, 1992).

In an adolescent sample, Nurmi (1989) found that optimism which is often assessed by the perceived probability that a given goal would be attained, is described as the extent to which the adolescent feels that his or her goals will eventually be realized. Klaczynski and Fauth (1996) added that optimistic adolescents also possessed positive adaptive qualities. The more optimistic adolescents are, the more they will be motivated to pursue their goals and the more likely to plan how these goals can be realized.

In terms of gender differences, research was conducted to assess the difference in levels of optimism between males and females. In a study which assessed the level of optimism in first-year high school students in relation to a school setting, Boman, Smith, and Curtis (2003) found that both male and female students did not differ in their levels of dispositional optimism although male students with lower optimism scores tended to report higher levels of school hostility. Likewise in an Asian sample from Hong Kong, Lai and Cheng (2004) examined the effect of dispositional optimism of both adults and adolescents on their intention to take vaccines for prevention purposes. No significant difference was observed between gender and level of optimism in both adults and adolescents. In a separate study which examined the importance of optimism on health in both American and Chinese college students, Song (2003) also found no significant difference in levels of optimism between genders in both samples.

Academic Stress

Studies have provided evidence that school issues are generally a concern felt among adolescents around the world, although for Asian societies, the pressure to perform in school is more acute (e.g., Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore) (Friedman, 1991; Isralowitz & Ong, 1990; Stark, Spirito, Williams, & Guevremont, 1989). For example, a study conducted to compare studying patterns between adolescents in Korea and America revealed that twelfth-grade Koreans were found to spend twice as much time in completing homework than their American counterparts, while the latter was found to spend twice as much time socializing and in leisure activities (Lee & Larson, 2000). In examining the relationship between academic stress and depression, this same study also found 36% of the Korean students to be clinically depressed compared to 16% of their American counterparts. Korean adolescents also devoted large amounts of time studying and many attended private cram schools after school and on weekends in order to do well on the entrance examination of a high ranking university (Chung, Kim, Lee, Kwon, & Lee, 1993).

In Hong Kong, students were also found to be highly competitive and have a strong drive to achieve academic excellence. These students faced strong pressure from their parents and themselves to excel academically (Gow & Kember, 1990; Smith, 2001). In a study which examined the perception of stress of Hong Kong adolescents, Li and Ng (1992) found that students rated school demands as one of their main sources of stress. Similarly, Sadler-Smith and Tsang (1998) reported in their study with Hong Kong adolescents that the students tended to be more anxious than their British counterparts. They were also more likely to worry about their studies and be overwhelmed by their work load. In a recent study investigating the personal concerns of secondary school students in Hong Kong, Hui (2000) found that academic achievement was perceived as their most pressing concern.

Likewise in Singapore, adolescents face a highly stressful educational environment. Ang and Huan (2006) found that adolescents experienced

stress arising from both their own expectations to excel in school as well as those of their parents and teachers. Schoolwork pressure was reflected in the stress felt by the students (Ho & Yip, 2003; Isralowitz & Ong, 1990). In a study of 220 Singapore school students it was found that they ranked "being pressured to keep up with schoolwork" as their major concern (Isralowitz & Ong, 1990). Ho and Yip (2003) conducted a national survey of youth in Singapore and found that the majority of the 1,500 adolescents surveyed ranked education to be the most stressful aspect of their lives. Furthermore, when asked to rank the importance and satisfaction level of seven different aspects of school life, these youths ranked examination grades to be most important, but indicated being the least satisfied with it. Such a finding suggests that while examination grades are considered to be highly important, these adolescents felt that they could not attain standards that were perceived to be satisfactory. In summary, studies on the Asian adolescents indicated a close association between negative consequences such as excessive stress and the emphasis on academic excellence (Shek, 1995).

Optimism and Academic Stress

Research with adolescents has revealed a positive association between optimism and positive adjustment. Optimism was found to contribute to adolescents' well-being by buffering the effects of stress as well as in promoting healthful coping and engagement in positive behaviors (Ben-Zur, 2003). Other research studies has also mentioned that optimism exerts a positive influence over an individual's physical and psychological well-being. Optimistic students were found to adjust and cope better with school-related stress than students who were pessimistic (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992, Scheier & Carver, 1985). Based on the definition of dispositional optimism where positive expectancies of the future are held by the individual, theorists in this field posited that there would be greater engagement in academic tasks for such students than those who are doubtful about their abilities (Bandura, 1997; Eccles, 1983). More specifically, Scheier and Carver (1987) argued that optimistic students strongly believed the desired goal to be attainable and will overcome adversity to reach that goal, while pessimistic students ceased to strive for the desired goal in the face of adversity as they viewed the goal to be unattainable. In another study which examined the adaptation of students to college life in terms of optimism and perceived stress, Scheier and Carver (1992) found that optimistic students became less stressed, depressed, and lonely over time when compared to their pessimistic counterparts in college.

Several studies have examined the relationships between optimism and stress in diverse groups of people facing difficulty or adversity. Some of these studies which involved individuals who were survivors of missile attacks (Zeidner & Hammer, 1992); caring for cancer patients (Given et al., 1993); experiencing the progression of AIDS (Taylor et al., 1992); and starting college (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992) showed that those who were optimistic experienced less distress when dealing with difficulty or crises in their lives than those who were pessimistic. In a recent study which examined the role of dispositional optimism in African American students' perception of stress, Ben-Zur (2003) found that students' perception of stress was influenced by their level of optimism. Optimism was found to be negatively related to levels of perceived stress. Students who scored high on measures of optimism reported significantly less perceived stress than did those who were pessimistic. The findings revealed that students who were more optimistic about their future tended to report less perceived stress than did their pessimistic counterparts. Such findings are consistent with other studies that found dispositional optimism to moderate the experience of stress in individuals (Kiecolt-Glaser, Page, Marucha, MacCallum, & Glaser, 1998; Scheier & Carver, 1992; Scheier et al., 1986).

Based on the review on the relationship between optimism, gender, and different types of stress events, this study examines the role of dispositional optimism together with gender, on students' perception of academic stress. The study examines how Singapore adolescents' level of optimism influences their perception of academic stress which arises due to expectations from oneself and from others.

Participants

Four hundred and thirty secondary school students (211 boys, 219 girls) age ranging from 13 to 16 years (M = 13.52, SD = .80) participated in this study. The sample consisted of students from Grades 7 and 8 of a secondary school in Singapore. Self-reported ethnic identification for the sample was as follows: 77% were Chinese, 13.2% were Malay, 4.9% were Indian, 1.90% were Eurasian, and 2.3% endorsed other ethnic groups that were not listed, while 0.7% of the sample did not provide information on ethnicity.

Measures

Optimism. The Life Orientation Test (LOT) that was used to measure the level of dispositional optimism in the participants in this study, is a widely used optimism scale (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Ben-Zur, 2003; Chang & McBride-Chang, 1996; Chang & Sanna, 2003; Lai, 1997; Roysamb & Strype, 2002). This scale consists of 12 items, 4 of which were worded positively (e.g., "I'm always optimistic about my future"), 4 were worded negatively (e.g., "If something can go wrong for me, it will"), while the remaining 4 were filter items that were included to disguise the underlying purpose of the test. Internal consistency for the 8 items in the original LOT that was administered to undergraduates in America yielded a Cronbach alpha of .76 (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Similarly, Lai (1997) administered LOT (translated into Chinese) to 403 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates and working adults, obtained a Cronbach value of .69. In the present study, the Cronbach alpha yielded a value of .60 with Grades 7 and 8 students.

Academic stress. Participants were administered the Academic Expectations Stress Inventory (AESI) to measure their level of academic stress arising from self- and other-expectations (e.g., parents, teachers). The factor structure of AESI scores have been validated using EFA and CFA, resulting in a 9-item measure with two subscales: Personal (4 items) and others (5 items) (Ang & Huan, 2006). The Personal subscale assesses adolescents' academic stress that arises from their self-expectations (e.g., "I feel stressed when I do not live up to my own standards") while the Others subscale measures the adolescents' academic stress arising from expectations placed on them by parents and teachers (e.g., "I feel I have disappointed my parents when I do poorly in school"). The AESI total scores yielded a value of .87 while the other two subscale scores yielded alpha values of .81 (self) and .79 (others) in the present study.

Preliminary analyses were performed on the 8 items of the LOT and on the 9 items of the AESI. No significant departures from normality were detected; the means, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis of the mean scores are shown in Table 1.

Relationship between Dispositional Optimism, Gender, and Academic Stress

To investigate the influence of the participants' dispositional optimism and gender on their academic stress, three separate multiple regressions were conducted with the LOT and gender of participants as independent variables and the AESI (total), AESI (self and AESI (others) as dependent variables. As multiple statistical analyses were used to investigate the relationship between the variables, a more stringent p-value of .01 was used in order to reduce the likelihood of spurious results (Stevens, 1996). The results of the regression analyses are shown in Table 2.

Overall, LOT, gender of participants, and interaction between LOT and gender, accounted for 5.4% of the variance in the participants' total academic stress, F(1,429) = 8.15, p < .01. These same variables accounted for 6.5% of the variance in the participants' academic stress (self), F(1,429) = 9.85, p < .01, and 3.4% of the variance in the participants' academic stress (others), F(1, 429) = 5.0, p < .01. Further results revealed that the two-way interactions between dispositional optimism and gender were not predictive of the participants' overall academic stress ([beta] = .71, ns). They were also not predictive of the participants' academic stress that arose from both self-expectations ([beta] = .62, ns) and other-expectations ([beta] = .68, ns). However, dispositional optimism was a significant predictor of overall academic stress in the participants ([beta] = -.28), t(429) = -4.49, p < .01. It was also a significant predictor of the participants' academic stress that arose from both self-expectations ([beta] = -.29), t(429) = -4.58, p < .01, as well as other-expectations ([beta] = -.24), t(429) = -3.73, p < .01. Gender was also not predictive of the participants' overall academic stress ([beta] = -.78, ns).It was also not predictive of academic stress that arose from self-expectations ([beta] = -.73, ns) and from other-expectations ([beta] = -.71, ns).

DISCUSSION

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of dispositional optimism and gender on the academic stress experienced by the adolescents. Results revealed only a significant negative association between the adolescents' level of optimism and their academic stress. This indicated that adolescents who are optimistic tended to report less academic stress while pessimistic adolescents reported greater academic stress. This is consistent with a number of past studies which supported the role of optimism as a buffer for different life stressors including school-related issues (Chang, 1996; Carver et al., 1993; Lin & Peterson, 1990). Overall, optimistic students reported lower levels of psychological stress and loneliness, and higher levels of psychological well-being (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Chemers et al., 2001; Scheier & Carver, 1992). In some of his earlier studies, Scheier and his colleagues reported that having an optimistic nature helped people cope more effectively with stress when faced with difficult situations (Scheier & Carver, 1985; Scheier et al., 1989; Scheier et al., 1986).

Recent empirical studies have also shown that optimists are indeed more psychologically and physically better adjusted than their more pessimistic counterparts (Scheier & Carver, 1992; Peterson & Bossio, 1991). In their study of African American college students, Baldwin, Chambliss, and Towler (2003) found that optimism was a significant predictor of less perceived stress among optimistic students while pessimistic students reported significantly greater levels of perceived stress, which supported the findings in this study. Likewise, Chemers et al. (2001) in their longitudinal study of first-year university student adjustment, examined the effects of optimism on students' academic stress and found a strong negative association between optimism and perception of academic stress. The study also reported that optimistic students are more likely to hold higher expectations for themselves partly because they trusted in their own capabilities and viewed their environment as less threatening. They tended to perceive their worlds in ways that were more likely to result in successful adjustment. In summary, there is mounting evidence that dispositional optimismpessism is a significant correlate of psychological well-being.

As mentioned earlier, dispositional optimism measures expectancies directly by asking the participants to indicate the extent to which they believe if their future outcomes would be good or bad (Scheier & Carver, 1992). More specifically, optimism influenced how people perceived events in their lives which affect their subjective experiences when confronting problems. It also influenced the actions people employed in dealing with these problems. Both the optimist and the pessimist also differed in how they approached problems and challenges and the manner in which they handled adversity (Carver & Scheier, 2002).

Based on the above, research suggests that one possible explanation for the difference found in the perception of stress between the optimistic and pessimistic adolescents of this study lies in the manner in which they cope with the challenges in their lives (Chang, 1998; Chemers et al., 2001; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994; Scheier et al., 1986). Although the style of coping was not explicitly measured in this study, extensive research in this area revealed that optimists differ from pessimists in the kinds of coping responses they generate when faced with a stressful situation (Scheier et al., 1994). Research has also indicated that optimism is associated with more use of problem-focused coping strategies which involved action that has the goal of removing or circumventing the source of stress (Scheier et al., 1986). Optimists tended to emphasize the positive aspects of a stressful situation and reported being less focused on the negative aspects of their experience, their distressed emotions, and physical symptoms. They also tended to employ more adaptive emotion-focused strategies such as positive reframing, acceptance, and use of humor when the situation is deemed uncontrollable. Although they accept the reality of stressful events, optimists also reported trying to see the best in bad situations and to learn something from them (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Carver & Scheier, 2002; Scheier et al., 1994).

In contrast, pessimism was associated with greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies which are attempts to reduce the emotional distress caused by the stressors. Chronic use of avoidant coping responses is typical of pessimists which research indicates, may be a psychological risk factor for adverse responses to stressful life circumstances (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992). Pessimists tended to focus directly on negative aspects of their experience which raised the possibility that they are vulnerable to catastrophizing. They focused directly on their stressful feelings and tended to be disengaged from the goal with which the stressor is interfering. They also coped through overt denial and distancing from the event--strategies that lessened their awareness of the problem (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Carver & Scheier, 2002; Scheier et al., 1994). Carver and Scheier (1985) noted that if people cannot remove or reduce the threat, they may give up their efforts to attain the goals that are impeded by the stressor.

This study revealed no significant two-way interaction between dispositional optimism and gender in terms of academic stress. This finding supports those of other research on dispositional optimism where no significant difference was found in terms of level of optimism between male and female high school and college students (Boman et al., 2003; Song, 2003). Also no main effect was detected for gender which indicated that adolescent boys and girls in this study do not differ significantly in their academic stress level.

Implications

So far, the predictive relationship of optimism on academic stress in students has been found in studies that were conducted mainly in western countries. Results of the present study revealed a similar phenomenon but from an Asian perspective. In this study, optimism was observed to be a significant predictor of academic stress among adolescents in Singapore. Optimistic students were likely to perceive less academic stress while greater academic stress was experienced by their pessimistic counterparts. Future studies could examine the role of coping strategies used by these two groups to help explain the difference in their perception of academic stress. Based on adolescent coping literature, the optimistic student is likely to focus less on the distress emotions or physical symptoms arising from the stressor and employ greater effort to remove the stress. Subsequently, such steps could help reduce the level of perceived academic stress in the optimistic student. In contrast, the pessimistic student is more likely to emphasize the negative aspects of the academic stress experienced and be disengaged from the task associated with the stress. Focus is placed directly on the stressful feelings, which could possibly explain the greater level of academic stress perceived by the pessimist.

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This study was supported by a grant from the academic research fund of National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Vivien S. Huan, Lay See Yeo, and Wan Har Chong are Assistant Professors, Psychological Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Rebecca P. Ang, Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Vivien S. Huan, Psychological Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1, Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616. E-mail: slvhuan@nie.edu.sg Table 1 Descriptive Statistics for the LOT and the AESI (2 Subscales) Variable n M SD Skewness Kurtosis LOT 431 25.67 3.59 -.31 1.51 AESI (self) 431 11.55 3.40 .13 -.03 AESI (others) 431 14.07 4.09 -.02 -.06 Note. LOT = Life Orientation Test; AESI = Academic Expectations Stress Inventory. Table 2 Influence of Dispositional Optimism on Academic Stress in Adolescents Variable B SE B [beta] t p Academic Stress (Total) LOT -.54 .12 -.28 -4.49 <.01 Gender -10.77 4.71 -.78 -2.29 ns LOT * Gender .37 .18 .71 2.06 ns Academic Stress (Self) LOT -.27 .05 -.29 -4.58 <.01 Gender -4.97 2.31 -.73 -2.15 ns LOT * Gender .16 .09 .62 1.81 ns Academic Stress (Others) LOT -.27 .07 -.24 -3.73 <.01 Gender -5.81 2.83 -.71 -2.05 ns LOT * Gender .21 .11 .68 1.95 ns Note. LOT = Life Orientation Test.