Intercorrelations between Individual Personality Factors and Anxiety
Previous research has shown five characteristics correlate highly with anxiety and with each other; these are self-efficacy, locus of control (LOC), subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and optimism (Mills, Pajares, & Herron, 2006; Park, Beehr, Han, & Grebner, 2012), but
most studies have examined these factors in business professionals or undergraduate students. The present study focused on graduate students. Participants included 113 graduate students from three graduate programs who completed measures examining depression, anxiety, stress, and the five
aforementioned factors. Results showed expected correlations between anxiety and other measures. Additionally, subjective happiness and life satisfaction were the only two variables correlated with all of the other variables. Results of stepwise regression analyses showed that optimism, self-efficacy,
depression, and life satisfaction accounted for 64% of the variance in subjective happiness. For the life satisfaction variable, the same variables (substituting subjective happiness as a predictor for life satisfaction) accounted for 57% of the variance, but LOC also made a significant independent
contribution to this 57%. Lastly, we found psychology students reported more depression and stress and less satisfaction with life, less optimism, less subjective happiness, and more internal locus of control than either occupational therapy or physical therapy students.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 March 2014
College Student Journal publishes original investigations and theoretical papers dealing with college student values, attitudes, opinions, and learning. Topics include the areas of undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, and may also include selected contributions dealing with college preparation.
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