Affiliation:
York University, Canada
Short bio:
Esther Greenglass is professor of psychology at York University in Canada. She has published widely in the areas of positive psychology, health psychology, women, gender roles, work-family conflict, coping, burnout, and stress. Her research has focused on the psychological study of the effects of the Great Recession (2007-8), consequences of COVID-19, as well as psychological factors and watching the Russian-Ukraine war. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP). She is past president of the Division of Health Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and she is the Canadian representative to STAR, the Stress, Trauma, Anxiety, and Resilience Society. Her over 200 scholarly works include books, invited encyclopedic and book chapters, as well as articles in refereed scientific journals. She is widely cited for her work on stress and coping. She has given keynotes and invited talks in over 16 countries. She has co-authored The Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI), which has been translated into more than 19 languages and is being used internationally to assess coping both in the lab as well as in real life stressful situations.
Title:
Coping, Happiness and Well-Being
Abstract:
The study of coping has presented a formidable challenge to psychology. For the most part, coping has been regarded as reactive, a strategy to be used once the stressor had been experienced. An alternative way of conceptualizing coping has been put forth, namely proactive coping, that is something one can do before stress occurs. Proactive coping incorporates planning and building resistance factors to ward off future crises. It involves goal setting, having efficacious beliefs, and is associated with resources, including social support, for self improvement. Since it is associated with self-efficacy and vigor, demands are perceived as a challenge rather than a threat. Proactive coping predicts positive outcomes important to the promotion of health and well-being. It incorporates a confirmatory and positive approach to dealing with stressors and is often associated with life satisfaction and well-being. In this talk, research will be presented that illustrates the relationship between proactive coping, positive affect and outcomes. Theoretically, through a social cognitive perspective, the study of coping is broadened to include self-efficacy principles, planning and utilization of social support in the prediction of outcomes.