When their sense of personal control is threatened people try to restore perceived control through the social self. We propose that it is the perceived agency of ingroups that provides the self with a sense of control. In three experiments, we for the first time tested the hypothesis that threat to personal control increases the attractiveness of being part or joining those groups that are perceived as coherent entities engaging in coordinated group goal pursuit (agentic groups) but not of those groups whose agency is perceived to be low. Consistent with this hypothesis we found in Study 1 (N = 93) that threat to personal control increased ingroup identification only with task groups, but not with less agentic types of ingroups that were made salient simultaneously. Furthermore, personal control threat increased a sense of collective control and support within the task group, mediated through task-group identification (indirect effects). Turning to groups people are not (yet) part of, Study 2 (N = 47) showed that personal control threat increased relative attractiveness ratings of small groups as possible future ingroups only when the relative agency of small groups was perceived to be high. Perceived group homogeneity or social power did not moderate the effect. Study 3 (N = 78) replicated the moderating role of perceived group agency for attractiveness ratings of entitative groups, whereas perceived group status did not moderate the effect. These findings extend previous research on group-based control, showing that perceived agency accounts for group-based responses to threatened control.
Background: Cancer patients have to undergo a difficult medical therapy and are also confronted with various psychological, social and economic problems. Support is available from many providers, but patients often gain no access to it. Accordingly, there is a need for a single point of contact that can provide advice, information and assistance. In the state of Saarland, Germany, a supportive new consulting and information path (PIKKO) for all types of cancer is currently evaluated by the German Cancer Society, the Cancer Society of the Saarland, three statutory health insurances and the Jena University Hospital. PIKKO is designed to improve quality of life, self-efficacy, health literacy and patient satisfaction and to reduce psychological distress, related health care costs and the days of inability to work. This methodical work presents the process and analysis planning of this evaluation.
Zusammenfassung
Ziel der Studie Soziale Unterstützung ist bei schweren chronischen Erkrankungen wie z. B. Krebs eine wichtige Ressource zur Krankheitsbewältigung. Die verfügbaren Fragebögen zur Erfassung der sozialen Unterstützung sind meist recht umfangreich. Bisher vorliegende Kurzformen zielen inhaltlich nicht vollständig auf die situationsspezifischen Anforderungen an das soziale Umfeld ab. Deshalb wurde eine Kurzform zur Messung der wahrgenommenen sozialen Unterstützung bestehend aus 4 Items entwickelt: der SUCE-4.
Methoden Es wurde eine Stichprobe von Krebspatienten (N=424) zu 2 Messzeitpunkten betrachtet. Die Faktorenstruktur wurde mit einer explorativen und einer konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalyse (CFA) evaluiert und Reliabilität und Validität wurden geprüft.
Ergebnisse Die angenommene Faktorenstruktur wurde bestätigt (bei der CFA: RMSEA=0,028). Die Kurzform hatte eine gute interne Konsistenz (Cronbachs α>0,86). Im Sinne erster Hinweise auf Validität fanden sich zu beiden Zeitpunkten signifikante erwartungskonforme Zusammenhänge mit psychischer Lebensqualität, Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung, Depressivität und Ängsten.
Schlussfolgerung Der SUCE-4 ist ein ökonomisches, reliables und valides Instrument zur Erfassung wahrgenommener sozialer Unterstützung im Kontext schwerer chronischer Erkrankungen wie z. B. Krebs.
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