External locus‐of‐hope, well‐being, and coping of students: A cross‐cultural examination within Asia

Abstract

Intervention programs to strengthen hope in students have been developed and implemented in schools. The programs are based on Snyder's theory that defines hope as thoughts regarding personal capacities and pathways for goal attainment. Hope theory was recently extended to include external loci‐of‐hope, which derive from conjoint models of agency emphasized in collectivist societies. But evidence on external loci‐of‐hope's positive influence on students’ well‐being is limited. Two studies (involving student samples from four universities in Asian cities) explored how external loci‐of‐hope relate to students’ life satisfaction, personal well‐being (self‐esteem, self‐mastery), relational well‐being (relational self‐esteem, communal mastery), and coping styles for school‐related stress. Results show that external loci‐of‐hope dimensions predict students’ life satisfaction and relational aspects of well‐being, but also predict maladaptive coping. The results are discussed in relation to how the work of psychologists in schools benefit from approaches that contextualize theoretical precepts in cultural meanings and experiences in different parts of the world.

Measuring hope during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines: development and validation of the state locus-of-Hope scale short form in Filipino

“…Much of the evidence points to positive associations with different facets of well-being even after controlling for the effects of internal locus-of-hope. For example, external locus-of-hope dimensions are positively associated with life-satisfaction (Bernardo and Estrellado 2017b;Bernardo et al 2018a;Munoz et al 2019), relational self-esteem and communal mastery (Bernardo et al 2018b;Du et al 2015), coping (Bernardo et al 2017), among other positive outcomes. Some positive correlates in the educational domain have also been observed, such as with spontaneous collaborative learning (Bernardo et al 2016) and academic achievement (Lucas and Ouano 2018).…”

A working definition and conceptual model of internationalization for school and educational psychology

“…In my view, although multinational collaboration is common as a type of internationalization work, it is not a requirement of doing work related to Category 1 or the other two categories described later. More specific types of Category 1 internationalization work include (1) empirical work that adapts, evaluates, and describes a school‐based intervention, assessment, or other form of practice (e.g., consultation) from one cultural or linguistic context to another (e.g., Dang et al., ); (2) scholarship that describes and utilizes theories, constructs, and/or methods that are not often described or used within Western scholarship or practice (e.g., Amesty & Paez, ; Bernardo, Yeung, Resurreccion, Resurreccion, & Khan, ); (3) scholarship focusing on topics of importance for school psychologists that come from regions or countries otherwise underrepresented in the scholarship (e.g., Amesty & Paez, ; Bernardo et al., ; Dang et al., ; Kim et al., ); (4) multi‐country collaboration that through theory, practice, or methodology utilizes values or norms that are representative of multiple cultures (e.g., Bernardo et al., ); and (5) scholarship that gathers relevant information to improve understanding about the discipline in an international context (e.g., generating estimates about the number of school psychology professionals in one or more countries, or conducting survey research about school psychology practices or needs within one or more countries).…”

An overview of internationalization and its relevance for school and educational psychology

“…Indeed, by adopting a more international perspective and participating in professional development opportunities that strengthen such a perspective, researchers and practitioners will encounter worldviews, practical tools, and research paradigms that improve research and practice across nations and cultures (Hatzichristou, & Polychroni, ; Leong & Ponterotto, ). Also related to issues of professional training—where for many applied disciplines in psychology, North America and Western Europe are home to a sizable percentage of the doctoral training programs (Kim et al., )—it is worth highlighting that common ideologies of “Western psychology” (e.g., positivism and individualism) may be inconsistent with many cultures around the world (Bernardo, Yeung, Resurreccion, Resurreccion, & Khan, ). Thus, promoting internationalization should help to improve training for international trainees who might otherwise feel that their experiences or perspectives are poorly understood, devalued, or ignored (Marsella & Pedersen, ; Ng et al., ).…”

“…Also related to issues of professional training—where for many applied disciplines in psychology, North America and Western Europe are home to a sizable percentage of the doctoral training programs (Kim et al., )—it is worth highlighting that common ideologies of “Western psychology” (e.g., positivism and individualism) may be inconsistent with many cultures around the world (Bernardo, Yeung, Resurreccion, Resurreccion, & Khan, ). Thus, promoting internationalization should help to improve training for international trainees who might otherwise feel that their experiences or perspectives are poorly understood, devalued, or ignored (Marsella & Pedersen, ; Ng et al., ).…”