The Impact of Communal‐Mastery Versus Self‐Mastery on Emotional Outcomes During Stressful Conditions: A Prospective Study of Native American Women

Abstract

Past research has examined the stress resiliency of individuals high in sense of personal-mastery. However, it has been theorized that within more collectivist cultures, a sense of shared efficacy, which we call communal-mastery, may be more central to people's resiliency in the face of challenging life circumstances. We compared the impact of sense of self-mastery (ie., "I am the key to my success") to that of communal-mastery (ie., "I am successful by virtue of my social attachments") in a prospective study among a group of rural 103 Native American women residing on Indian Reservations in Montana. We found that women high in communal-mastery experienced less increase in depressive mood and anger, especially when faced with high stress circumstances, than women who were low in communal-mastery. In addition, the beneficial impact of communal-mastery was found to be more effective than self-mastery for these women.

Social support, material circumstance and health behaviour: Influences on health in First Nation and Inuit communities of Canada

“…In examining the factors that promote sobriety among Alaska Natives, Mohatt, Rasmus, Thomas, Allen, Hazel, and Hensel (2004) identify ellangneq -an interdependent, constitutive, or expanded sense of self found among many Alaska Natives -which links the individual to a collective context and protects health. That individuals of 'collectivist cultures' organize their sense of self and well-being according to practices that promote connectedness with others was also demonstrated by Hofboll, Jackson, Hofboll, Pierce and Young (2002) who compared the impact of sense of self-mastery (''I am the key to my success'') to that of communal-mastery (''I am successful by virtue of my social attachments'') among Native American women residing on Indian Reservations in Montana. Women high in communal-mastery experienced less increase in depressive mood and anger than women who were low in communal-mastery, particularly when faced with high stress circumstances.…”

Adherence to tuberculosis care in Canadian Aboriginal populations Part 1: definition, measurement, responsibility, barriers

“…In collectivist cultures, a sense of shared efficacy, or communal mastery, is also important. A recent prospective study among Native American women suggests that a sense of shared or communal efficacy (i.e., "I am successful by virtue of my social attachments") was more closely associated with resiliency in the face of stress than a sense of self-efficacy (i.e., "I am the key to my success") (71).…”

Concepts of multifaceted social support in operational work in the lives of South African Police Service members

“…Social support is different from the concepts of self-mastery (belief in one's ability to handle stressful situations), communal mastery (belief of overcoming stressful situations by being part of a group that values one and shares efficacy in handling the situations without necessarily going to others for support) (Hobfoll et al, 2002) and communal social support (high mobilisation of support after the occurrence of a catastrophic situation, which is more complex than social support) (Ben-Zur, 2008). …”

“…Social support is a multidimensional construct that provides emotional, informational, appraisal and tangible resources for coping (Berkman, Glass, Brissette & Seeman, 2000;Kaniasty & Norris, 2000) by offering assistance within an interpersonal relationship that comprises reciprocal exchange of resources between those involved (Finfgeld-Connett, 2005;Hobfoll, Jackson, Hobfoll, Pierce & Young, 2002). Social support mainly takes the form of talking to someone about the problem encountered and gathering information on possible solutions and other resources in order to cope with the problem (Marivate & Madu, 2007;Patterson, 2003).…”