The most general aim of the research is to learn about coping with stress in everyday life, with special emphasis on constructive thinking, defined as the ability to solve problems in living at a minimal cost in stress. The Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) has been shown to be related to mental and physical health and the successful work, love, and social relations. It is distinct from intellective intelligence and is unrelated to academic achievement. A 5-year study will be conducted in which students in small classes in coping with stress will be trained to keep records of their daily stressful experiences, recording, on special forms, their emotions, stress reactions, and automatic construals of and mental and behavioral reactions to potential stressors. Physiological responses will be obtained following a stress test and under repeated baseline conditions. Factor analysis will determine to what extent the structure of constructive thinking indicated in construals and coping reactions in everyday life data parallels that of the CTI structure. Habitual ways of construing and coping mental and physical well-being. The data will be analyzed by intersubject and composite intrasubject analysis, thereby providing information on individual differences as well as on the organization of variables within individuals. This program for improving constructive thinking will be evaluated. A series of studies will examine the sources and correlates of constructive thinking. Including 1) the developmental course of constructive thinking over the life-span. 2) the symptoms of different mental disorders. 3) the influence of specific experiences in the work place, the college environment, and the family on constructive and destructive thinking, and 4) constructive thinking as a moderator of the effects of stress and """"""""productive load"""""""" on well-being. The results of this research will not only be valuable in its own right, but will contribute to the Pl's development of a new theory of personality.
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