This study of 90 adults (aged 55–80) who lost their vision assessed their dispositional optimism, social comparisons, coping strategies, and well-being. The findings suggest that optimism and positive social comparisons play an important role in stimulating the motivation to cope adaptively with vision loss and that enhancing optimism and social comparisons may facilitate the rehabilitation of persons who are legally blind.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AspinwallL. G. (1997). Future-oriented aspects of social comparisons: A framework for studying health-related comparison activity. In BuunkB. P., & GibbonsF. X. (Eds.), Health, coping and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 125–165). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
2.
BaggettH. L., SaabP. G., & CarverC. S. (1996). Appraisal, coping, task performance, and cardiovascular responses during the evaluated speaking task. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 483–494.
3.
BeggsW. D. A. (1992). Coping, adjustment, and mobility-related feelings of newly visually impaired young adults. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 86, 136–140.
4.
Ben-ZurH. (2002a). Coping, affect and aging: The roles of mastery and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 357–372.
5.
Ben-ZurH. (2002b). Monitoring/blunting and social support: Associations with coping and affect. International Journal of Stress Management, 9, 357–373.
6.
Ben-ZurH., DuvdevanyI., & LuriL. (in press). Associations of social support and hardiness with mental health among mothers of adult children with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.
7.
Ben-ZurH., GilbarO., & LevS. (2001). Coping with breast cancer: Patient, spouse and dyadic models. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 32–39.
8.
Ben-ZurH., RappaportB., AmarR., & UretzkyG. (2000). Coping strategies, lifestyle changes, and pessimism after open-heart surgery. Health & Social Work, 25, 201–209.
9.
Ben-ZurH., & ZeidnerM. (1995). Coping patterns and affective reactions under community crisis and daily routine conditions. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 8, 185–201.
10.
Ben-ZurH., & ZeidnerM. (1996). Gender differences in coping reactions under community crisis and daily routine conditions. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 331–340.
11.
BjorckJ. P., HoppD. P., & JonesL. W. (1999). Prostate cancer and emotional functioning: Effects of mental adjustment, optimism, and appraisal. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 17, 71–85.
12.
BuunkB. P., CollinsR. L., TaylorS. E., VanyperenN. W., & DakofG. A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1238–1249.
13.
BuunkB. P., GibbonsF. X., & Reis-BerganM. (1997). Social comparison in health and illness: A historical overview. In BuunkB. P., & GibbonsF. X. (Eds.), Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 1–23). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
CarverC. S., & ScheierM. (1993). Vigilant and avoidant coping in two patient groups. In KrohneH. W. (Ed.), Attention and avoidance (pp. 295–319). Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.
15.
CarverC. S., & ScheierM. F. (2000). On the structure of behavioral self-regulation. In BoekaertsM., PintrichP. R., & ZeidnerM. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 41–84). New York: Academic Press.
16.
CarverC. S., ScheierM. F., & WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267–283.
17.
DeVellisR. F., HoltK., RennerB. R., BlalockS. J., BlanchardL. W., CookH. L., KlotzM. L., MikowY., & HarringK. (1990). The relationship of social comparison to rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and affect. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 11, 1–18.
18.
DienerE., & FujitaF. (1997). Social comparisons and subjective well-being. In BuunkB. P., & GibbonsF. X. (Eds.), Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 329–357). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
DoddsA., FergusonE., NgL., FlanniganH., HawesG., & YatesL. (1994). The concept of adjustment: A structural model. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 88, 487–497.
20.
DunnD. S. (1996). Well-being following amputation: Salutary effects of positive meaning, optimism, and control. Rehabilitation Psychology, 41, 285–302.
21.
ElliottJ. L., & KuykT. K. (1994). Self-reported functional and psychosocial outcomes of blind rehabilitation. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 88, 206–212.
22.
Epping-JordanJ. E., CompasB. E., OsowieckiD. M., OppedisanoG., GerhardtC., PrimoK., & KragD. N. (1999). Psychological adjustment in breast cancer: Processes of emotional distress. Health Psychology, 18, 315–326.
23.
GolubD. B. (2003). Exploration of factors that contribute to a successful work experience for adults who are visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97, 774–778.
24.
HorowitzA., & ReinhardtJ. P. (1998). Development of the adaptation to age-related vision loss scale. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 92, 30–41.
25.
JacksonW. T., TaylorR. E., PalmatierA. D., ElliottT. R., & ElliottJ. L. (1998). Negotiating the reality of visual impairment: Hope, coping, and functional ability. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 5, 173–185.
26.
LawtonM. P. (1984). The varieties of wellbeing. In MalatestaC. Z., & IzardC. E. (Eds.), Emotion in adult development (pp. 67–85). London: Sage.
27.
LazarusR. S. (1999). Stress and emotion: A new synthesis.London: Free Association Books.
LoweR., NormanP., & BennettP. (2000). Coping, emotion and perceived health following myocardial infarction: Concurrent and predictive associations. British Journal of Health Psychology, 5, 337–350.
30.
LinnM. W., & LinnB. S. (1984). Self-evaluation of life function self-scale: A short, comprehensive self-report of health for elderly adults. Journal of Gerontology, 39, 603–612.
31.
MoosR. H., & SchaeferJ. A. (1993). Coping resources and processes: Current concepts and measures. In GoldbergerL., & BreznitzS. (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (2nd ed., pp. 234–257). New York: Free Press.
32.
NtoumanisN., & BiddleS. (1998). The relationship of coping and its perceived effectiveness to positive and negative affect in sport. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 773–788.
33.
PenleyJ. A., TomakaJ., & WiebeJ. S. (2002). The association of coping to physical and psychological health outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 551–603.
34.
PrisentB. (2000). Promoting empowerment among disabled elderly: Home care vs. day center [in Hebrew]. Unpublished master's degree thesis, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel.
35.
RimmermanA., & MorgensternH. (2003). Quality of life of visually impaired adults who are employed in extended-employment programs in Israel. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97, 551–561.
36.
ScheierM. F., & CarverC. S. (1985). Optimism, coping and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219–247.
37.
SteffensM. C., & BerglerR. (1998). Blind people and their dogs. In WilsonC. C., & TurnerD. C. (Eds.), Companion animals in human health (pp. 149–157). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
38.
Stevens-RatchfordR., & KrauseA. (2004). Visually impaired older adults and home-based leisure activities: The effects of person-environment congruence. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 98, 14–27.
39.
TellegenA. (1985). Structures of mood and personality and their relevance to assessing anxiety with an emphasis on self-report. In TumaA. H., & MaserJ. D. (Eds.), Anxiety and the anxiety disorders (pp. 681–706). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
40.
TennenH., McKeeT. E., & AffleckG. (2000). Social comparison processes in health and illness. In SulsJ., & WheelerL. (Eds.), Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research (pp. 443–483). New York: Kluwer Academic.
41.
UptonL. R., BushB. A., & TaylorR. E. (1998). Stress, coping and adjustment of adventitiously blind male veterans with and without diabetes mellitus. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 92, 656–665.
42.
Van der ZeeK., BuunkB., SandermanR., BotkeG., & BerghF. V. D. (2000). Social comparison and coping with cancer treatment. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 17–34.
43.
WahlH.-W., SchillingO., OswaldF., & HeylV. (1999). Psychosocial consequences of age-related visual impairment: Comparison with mobility-impaired older adults and long-term outcome. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 54B, 304–316.
44.
WatsonD., & ClarkL. A. (1992). On traits and temperament: General and specific factors of emotional experience and their relation to the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 60, 442–476.
45.
WatsonD., ClarkL. A., & TellegenA. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
46.
WillsT. A. (1997). Modes and families of coping: An analysis of downward comparison in the structure of other cognitive and behavioral mechanisms. In BuunkB. P., & GibbonsF. X. (Eds.), Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 167–193). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
47.
ZeidnerM. (1995). Coping with examination stress: Resources, strategies, outcomes. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 8, 279–298.
48.
ZeidnerM., & Ben-ZurH. (1993). Coping with a national crisis: The Israeli experience with the threat of missile attacks. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 209–224.
49.
ZeidnerM., & Ben-ZurH. (1994). Individual differences in anxiety, coping, and posttraumatic stress in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 459–476.
