'n Verheldering van die kognitiewe komponent van psigologiese welsyn

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the cognitive component of psychological well-being. From the relevant literature it was clear that a cognitive component of psychological well-being may be distinguished. Constructive thinking, cognitive flexibility, hope, optimism, automatic positive thoughts and self-efficacy were examined as aspects of the cognitive component of psychological well-being. It emerged that these aspects can be described as "positive cognitions". It also became apparent that these cognitive aspects overlap theoretically in many respects and that they can be divided into three groups of constructs on grounds of their nature, namely constructs that refer to cognitive thinking styles, attitudinal tendencies and behavioural tendencies. In an empirical investigation with an availability sample of 384 individuals comprising of different age and ethnic groups and both sexes, scales measuring general psychological well-being and cognitive functioning were administered in a one shot cross-sectional design. In this study psychological well-being was operationalised with the Affectometer 2 (AFM) of Kammann en Flett (1983), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) of Antonovsky (1987) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) of Diener, Emmons, Larsen en Griffen (1985). These scales appeared to be good operationalisations of psychological well-being in studies done by Wissing and Van Eeden (1997, 2002). The cognitive component of psychological well-being was operationalised in this study as follows: A shortened version of the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) of Epstein and Meier ( 1989) was used for the operationalisation of constructive thinking, thf Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS) of Martin and Rubin (1995) for cognitive flexibility, the Hunter Opinions and Personal Expectations Scale (HOPES) of Nunn, Lewin, Walton

and Carr ( 1996) and The Hope Scale (HS) of Snyder, Harris, Anderson, Holleran, Irving, Sigmon, Yoshinobo, Gibb, Langelle and Harney (1991) for hope, the Life Orientation Test (LOT) of Scheier and Carver (1987) for optimism, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive (ATQ-P) of Ingram and Wisnicki (1988) for automatic positive thoughts, and the Generalized Self-efficacy Scale (GSE) of Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1993) for self-efficacy. Statistical analyses performed include those for descriptive statistics, correlations, regression-analysis, factor analysis and the testing of structural equation models. Findings indicated relatively good reliability and validity indices for all (sub-)scales measuring cognitive aspects, except for the sub-scales of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive, where only 3 of the hypothesised 4 factors were identified. Scores obtained on indices measuring cognitive aspects showed significant positive correlations with scores on indices measuring general psychological well-being. The cognitive aspects were also significant predictors of the measured degree of psychological well-being. The indices measuring cognitive aspects overlapped significantly with each other, indicating that these indices refer to the same broad variable, namely constructive/positive thought processes. Three components of constructive/positive thought processes were also reflected. Indices that measure cognitive aspects also overlapped significantly with indices that measure psychological well-being. These indices therefore also refer to one broad variable, namely psychologically healthy thought processes. Psychologically healthy thought processes as identified here, can be described as ( 1) general psychological well-being and expectations of positive outcomes ( with the absence of a negative psychological disposition), (2) automatic positive thoughts regarding oneself and daily life, and (3) cognitions that facilitate the behavioural implementation of pathways to the achievement of positive outcomes. Recommendations for further research and for the practical implications of the findings were made.