Furthering conservation of resources theory: how our values influence out stress response

Conservation of resources (Hobfoll, 1989) theory is an increasingly applied conceptualization of the stress process (Hobfoll & Lilly, 1993; Neveu, 2007). To evaluate and expand this theory, an exploratory research study was conducted to determine the influence of personal psychosocial values (e.g., self-transcendence and conservation; Schwartz, 1994) on coping processes, using resource-importance appraisal as a mediating factor. The primary tenets of conservation of resources theory, as conceptualized by Hobfoll (1989), and personal values, as conceptualized by Schwartz (1992), were defined and linked using coping behavior as the common procedural outcome. Two studies were conducted using a student sample and an organizational sample of human resources professionals. Results from both studies indicated that while resource-importance did not clearly mediate all of the coping outcomes, values did have an influence on the importance an individual assigns to resources. The implications from these findings, such as how values can be an important individual difference to consider when measuring and explaining stress resiliency, according to conservation of resources theory, are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Morelli, Neil

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cunningham, Christopher J. L.
• Watson, Paul J.; Weathington, Bart L.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Stress (Psychology)

Licence

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/345

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1485