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    Agency, Optimism, and the Longitudinal Course of Anxiety and Well-Being

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    Gallagher_ku_0099D_10732_DATA_1.pdf (904.8Kb)
    Issue Date
    2010-02-12
    Author
    Gallagher, Matthew
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    91 pages
    Type
    Dissertation
    Degree Level
    Ph.D.
    Discipline
    Psychology
    Rights
    This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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    Abstract
    Positive expectancies for the future provide an important pathway to the development of mental health and resilience against the development of mental illness. Generalized expectancies in the form of optimism beliefs and specific positive expectancies regarding personal agency have both been shown to predict higher levels of mental health and lower levels of mental illness. Previous research, however, has generally been limited by the failure to establish the incremental validity of agency and optimism theories and the reliance on cross-sectional designs. Therefore, the present study attempted to improve our understanding of how positive expectancies relate to mental health by longitudinally examining the unique effects of agency and optimism on anxiety and well-being. Results demonstrated that agency and optimism both have robust effects on mean levels of anxiety and well-being across time, but that agency beliefs are consistently a better predictor of improved psychological functioning than is optimism. These results therefore demonstrate that positive expectancies are important contributors to the development of mental health and the prevention of mental illness, and that positive expectancies regarding a sense of personal agency are the more important predictor of adaptive psychological functioning.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/9772
    Collections
    • Dissertations [4660]
    • Psychology Dissertations and Theses [459]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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