This study examined the functional relationships among cognitive appraisal, coping processes, and their short-term outcomes within a stressful context for law enforcement officers. The subjects were 203 officers from North Florida who voluntarily completed a questionnaire. / The variables investigated were primary and secondary appraisal, coping, and encounter outcome. Primary appraisal referred to individuals' evaluations of encounters with respect to their significance for well-being. Secondary appraisal referred to the subjects' assessment of their own coping resources in relation to the task at hand. Coping referred to those cognitive/behavioral efforts individuals used to manage demands appraised as stressful. Encounter outcome referred to the subjects' judgment of the degree to which the situation was resolved successfully. / Five separate analyses were conducted using one canonical correlation analysis and four regression analyses. / From the canonical correlation analysis three significant roots emerged, suggesting that the primary and secondary appraisal variables were related to coping responses. / A multi-variate regression analysis revealed that a significant relationship existed among the primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, and coping response variables. / The data indicated that when law enforcement officers thought they had sufficient resources to change a stressful encounter they tended to accept responsibility and engage in confrontive coping behaviors. When they appraised their resources as inadequate, they embarked on different coping pathways that were less directive and designed to minimize their affective reactions. Successful encounter outcomes were associated with positive reappraisal coping and also when the losing respect for others appraisal was not at stake. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: B, page: 4764. / Major Professor: Harman D. Burck. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78086 |
| Contributors | Braunsdorf, Mark S., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 164 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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