1. Target Research article: Chan, D. W., (2008). Emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and coping among Chinese prospective and in-service teachers in Hong Kong. Educational Psychology, 28(4), 397-408, doi: 10.1080/01443410701668372
Summary: Past research on the teaching environment has emphasised the severity of stress experienced by teachers. Considering this, this study aims to understand how Hong Kong Chinese teachers cope with the stress demanded in their environment. The study hypothesised that teachers that expressed higher levels of self-efficacy would are able to develop numerous coping strategies against the stress they experience. They had a sample of 273 Chinese teachers, in the position of prospective and in-service. With this participation of 118 men and 155 women they used the measurements of the Emotional Intelligence Scale, General Teacher self-efficacy scale and the Chinese ways of coping Questionnaire. Participants were to simply complete these measurements. The researchers found that generally, the teachers depicted higher levels of intrapersonal emotional intelligence in correlation to active coping in contrast to passive coping. The more experienced teachers were also seen to have more coping strategies as well as control over their emotional intelligence. The study suggests that experience in stressful situations can help teachers develop a higher level of self-efficacy and learn how to cope with situations. There were also limitations to the study, as the sample was small and the possibility remains that participants had higher self-motivation. These elements of the study make it difficult to generalise the findings over a larger population.
2. Article cited by Target Research article: [Hjerto, K. B., Paulsen, J. M. (2016). Beyond Collective Beliefs: Predicting Team Academic Performance from Collective Emotional Intelligence]
Summary: The concept of emotional intelligence has become both a popular and controversial topic for researchers. With the influence of interest within the topic, this study to aims to examine the effects of collective emotional intelligence and self-efficacy on team performance in an academic context. The study hypothesised that collective emotional intelligence will have a positive correlation with the academic performance of participants in teams. Collective general self-efficacy was also predicted to have a positive correlation with the academic performance of the sample group. The sample group consisted of 818 students currently in their master’s degree, who were then split into 199 teams. Teams were to complete two projects to determine academic performance in addition to completing items that measured emotional intelligence and self-efficacy. The results showed a positive correlation between thee variables. Although the interaction effect between emotional intelligence and general self-efficacy was observed. This suggests that these variables can replace each other in the context of collective academic performance, and the combination of the two is not needed for collective academic success. A limitation of the study is that it is highly contextual and has a very specific sample group, and cannot be easily generalised over a larger population and different contexts.
3. Article cited by Target Research article: [Chang, K., Chou, T. R., Tang, H. V. (2016). Developing a short- form of personal excellence for use among university students in Taiwan. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 25(5-6), 560-580, doi: 10.1080/14783363.2015.1016870]
Summary: In recent years, the Taiwanese community has taken an interest in more holistic approaches to their education system rather than having a sole concentration on academic success. In response to their government’s efforts to create a more balanced education system, this study aims to refine the Chinese version of the Personal Excellence Map (PEM), making it more suitable for the higher education students of Taiwan. Thus, allowing educational organizations to put it into use in improving the education of students. The sample of participants included Taiwanese university students split into two sample groups, 700 and 600 students respectively. The students received the Chinese PEM questionnaire and were instructed to complete them. Researchers then took these results to determine the reliability and validity of the items for the Taiwanese population. Many items were found to lie below the accepted value, such as item 1 and 2, that measured Self-control and Assertion, respectively. A limitation of this study is that the removal of certain items to create a more suitable questionnaire for Taiwanese students may compromise the validity of the questionnaire. As items were analyzed individually and not as a whole, it cannot be generalized that the refined questionnaire as a unity will have the same level of suitability as its individual items. This article gives light to a cultural factor in which most of the others do not put into consideration. Further studies on influences on the outcomes of stressful situations should reflect on this, as some of the other articles generalize their findings.
4. Article citing Target Research article: [Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J.T. (2000). Stress, positive emotion, and coping. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 115–118, doi: 10.1111/1467-8721.00073]
Summary: With the growing interest of positive outcomes of stress, including the process of individuals viewing stressful situations as challenges to overcome, this article explores the significance of this positivity. It explores the process in which individuals cope with stress and sustain positive emotions during this process. Discussed, is the function of positive emotions under different contexts of chronic stress and use of positive coping methods. The article predicted that participants would experience negative emotions in the stress invoking situations that they were exposed to. Contrary to this idea, participants were observed to express positive emotions in these situations and in the process of coping with stress. Homosexual men that were the main caregivers to AIDS carrying partners were at first reported to be in depressed moods. However, with further observation, the frequency of positive moods was reported that were equal to negative moods reported. For further research in this area, more development to the question of why certain individuals not only able to withstand but are able to prosper in the face of stress. The positive outcomes of stress inducing situations can also be found in the target research article by Chan, D. W., as long term exposure to stress inducing environments in teachers gave way to the development of coping skills.
5. Article citing Target Research article: [Knoll, N., Rieckmann, N., & Schwarzer, R. (2005). Coping as a mediator between personality and stress outcomes: A longitudinal study with cataract surgery patients. European Journal of Personality, 19, 229–247, doi: 10.1002/per.546]
Summary: With the confrontation of stress inducing situations, people express many different behaviours. The outcome of stressful situations has been known to be influenced by the personality and coping abilities of individuals. Considering these ideas, the article aims to explore whether different coping methods maintain their validity in different personalities and emotional shifts in the face of stress. The population used were cataract patients with a sample of 4110 participants. These participants were tested four times over a six-week period within their surgery. The method of dispositional coping was not found to mediate the stress of participants, while situational specific coping was able to mediate the stress of participants. The research found, conclusively suggests that the success of coping and personality traits in mediating stress is correlated to the method that these factors are used. The article contributes to other evidence on the relation of personality factors and coping methods of individuals in the face of adversity. In relation to the other articles, the factor of different coping methods could be included in further studies, to explore a possible correlation with self-efficacy to further understand the outcomes to stress.