P.DURS UN

192 Pages·2012·0.92 MB·Turkish

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THE ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE, OPTIMISM, HOPE, AND COPING

STYLES IN SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

PINAR DURSUN

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1 DECEMBER 2012
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THE ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE, OPTIMISM, HOPE, AND COPING
STYLES IN SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

PINAR DURSUN

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

DECEMBER 2012

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Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık
Director

I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy.

Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir
Head of Department

This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully
adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy.

Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer
Supervisor

Examining Committee Members

Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban (METU, SSME)
Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir (METU, EDS)
Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer (METU, EDS)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oya Yerin Güneri (METU, EDS)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Ece Mana Tuna (TEDU, RPD)

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I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained
and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I
also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited
and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name: Pınar Dursun

Signature :

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ABSTRACT

THE ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE, OPTIMISM, HOPE, AND COPING
STYLES IN SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Dursun, Pınar
Ph.D., Department of Educational Sciences
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Esin TEZER

December 2012, 176 pages

The objective of this study was to explore the roles of meaning in life (presence
and search), optimism, hope (pathway and agency), additional contribution of
coping styles (cognitive-affective coping and instrumental-emotional support)
in prediction of life satisfaction and positive affectivity components of
subjective well-being. A pilot study was conducted with 519 (327 female, 192
male) students at various faculties at Afyon Kocatepe University for Turkish
adaptation of Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ). The findings of
exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that 10-item scale with
two factors- presence of meaning and search for meaning. Validity and
reliability analyses displayed that MLQ has good psychometric properties. For
the main purpose of the study, MLQ, Life Orientation Test (LOT), Hope Scale,
and Brief COPE, Positive-Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and Satisfaction
with Life Scale (SWLS) were adminstered to 1160 students but analyses were
completed with 984 (582 female and 402 male) students from Afyon Kocatepe
University. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were run separately
for positive affectivity, and life satisfaction. First analysis revealed that
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optimism, pathway and agency dimensions of hope significantly and positively
predicted positive affectivity when instrumental-emotional support added into
the model, this variable resulted in significant increase of .05% explained
variance. The second analysis indicated that presence and search dimensions of
meaning in life, optimism, and agency dimension of hope scale significantly
predicted life satisfaction and when instrumental-emotional support added into
the model, this variable resulted in significant increase in .01% explained
variance. Results were discussed in relation to the findings in the literature.

Keywords: Subjective well-being, meaning in life, optimism, hope, coping
styles with stress

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ÖZ

YAŞAMIN ANLAMI, İYİMSERLİK, UMUT VE BAŞA ÇIKMA
STİLLERİNİN ÖZNEL İYİ OLUŞ ÜZERİNDEKİ ROLÜ

Dursun, Pınar
Doktora, Eğitim Bilimleri Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Esin TEZER
Aralık 2012, 176 sayfa

Bu çalışmanın amacı, yaşamın anlamı (anlamın varlığı ve anlam arayışı),
iyimserlik, umudun (amaca ulaşma yolları ve güdülenme) ve stresle başa çıkma
stillerinin (bilişsel-duygusal başa çıkma ve araçsal-duygusal sosyal destek)
katkısının öznel iyi oluşu (yaşam doyumu ve olumlu duygulanım) yordama
üzerindeki rollerini belirlemektir. Yaşamın Anlamı Anketinin (YAA)
Türkçe’ye uyarlanması için Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi’nin çeşitli
fakültelerinde okuyan 519 öğrenci ile (327 kız, 192 erkek) bir pilot çalışma
yapılmıştır. Açıklayıcı ve Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi 10 maddelik iki faktörlü-
Anlam Varlığı ve Anlam Arayışı- bir ölçek olduğunu ortaya koymuştur.
Geçerlik ve güvenirlik analizleri Yaşamın Anlamı Anketi’nin psikometrik
özelliklerinin kabul edilebilir düzeyde olduğunu göstermiştir. Araştırmanın
temel amacına yönelik olarak, Yaşamın Anlamı Anketi, Yaşam Yönelimi Testi,
Umut Ölçeği, Stresle Başa Çıkma Kısa Formu, Pozitif-Negatif Duygu Ölçeği
ve Yaşam Doyumu Ölçeği, Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesinden 1160 öğrenciye
uygulanmış ancak analizler 984 (582 kız, 402 erkek) öğrenci ile
tamamlanmıştır. Olumlu duygulanım ve yaşam doyumu için iki ayrı hiyerarşik
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regresyon yapılmıştır. İlk analiz, iyimserlik, umut ölçeğinin her iki alt
ölçeğinin olumlu duygulanımı olumlu ve anlamlı olarak yordadığını, modele
araçsal ve duygusal destek başa çıkma stili eklendiğinde ise açıklanan varyans
üzerinde %.05 düzeyinde anlamlı bir yükseliş olduğu bulunmuştur. Ikinci
analiz, yaşamın anlamı anketinin her iki alt ölçeği, iyimserlik, umut ölçeğinin
yalnızca amaca güdülenme alt boyutunun yaşam doyumunu anlamlı olarak
yordadığı, modele araçsal ve duygusal destek başa çıkma stili eklendiğinde ise
açıklanan varyans üzerinde %.01 düzeyinde anlamlı bir yükseliş olduğu
bulunmuştur. Elde edilen sonuçlar alanyazındaki bulgularla tartışılmıştır.

Anahtar Sözcükler: Öznel iyi oluş, yaşamın anlamı, iyimserlik, umut, stresle
başa çıkma stilleri

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To Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer
for her endless patience and support …

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr.
Esin Tezer for her being more than just a supervisor. Her guidance, advices,
criticisms, encouragements, care and love enabled me to complete this difficult
journey. Also, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir. It was really
pleasure to know him and work with him as well as to have been exposed to his
original ideas, comments, humors to progress this study. I also owe special
thanks to Assistant Prof. Dr. Mana Ece Tuna for her encouragements and
supports throughout this dissertation. She always made me feel motivated with
her sincere smile. I would like to thank my commitee members Prof. Dr. Ömer
Geban and Associate Prof. Dr. Oya Yerin Güneri for their help, trust, and
sincerity.

I would like to thank to Associate Prof. Dr. Mustafa Güler and Associate Prof.
Dr. Osman Konuk for their encouragements, support and care when I needed
most. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Assistant Prof. Dr. Ayşe
Aydın, Assistant Prof. Dr Okan Cem Çırakoğlu and Assistant Prof. Dr. Sinan
Saraçlı for their continued warm and supports as well as emotional
encouragement that made me feel more self-confident and relieved.

I owe many thanks to my dearest friends Şerife Özgün Çıtak, Eylem Dalkılınç,
Hasan Hüseyin Güneş, Pınar Alyağut, Selin Onaylı, Fevziye Dolunay and
Çiğdem Topçu for their help, love, altruism, endless encouragement, support,
sincere understanding, valuable suggestions, and finally tolerance as well as
patience that helped me reduce my anxiety and motivated me even in the
hardest time of the dissertation process. Furthermore, I am very grateful to
Rana Ceylandağ for her statistical support and advices. Finally, I am forever
indepted to my family for their unconditional love, care, understanding, and
trust when I needed most.
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