Abstract
The article gives an overview of a social cognitive perspective on psychosocial well-being and adjustment (Lent, 2004), along with a model of educational and work-related satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006) that has been derived from it. The theoretical perspective integrates cognitive, behavioural, social, and personality variables hypothesized to jointly promote positive adjustment, both generally and within particular life domains, such as work and school. We also review initial findings testing these social cognitive models and consider their implications for cross-cultural practice and research.
Résumé
Une perspective sociocognitive sur le bien-être dans les contextes éducatifs et de travail: considérations interculturelles. L’article donne une vue d’ensemble d’une perspective sociocognitive sur le bien-être et l’ajustement psychosocial (Lent, 2004) selon un modèle de satisfaction qui en a été dérivé pour des contextes éducationnel et lié au travail (Lent & Brown, 2006). La perspective théorique intègre des variables cognitives, comportementales, sociales et de personnalité présumées favoriser conjointement un ajustement positif, à la fois en général et dans des domaines particuliers de la vie, tels que le travail et l’école. Les premiers résultats relatifs à l’examen de ces modèles sociocognitifs et la prise en considération de leurs implications pour la pratique et la recherche interculturelles sont également passés en revue.
Zusammenfassung
Eine sozialkognitive Betrachtung des Wohlergehens in Bildung und Arbeit: Interkulturelle Überlegungen. Dieser Artikel gibt einen Überblick über eine sozialkognitive Betrachtung der Bedingungen für ein psychosozial verstandenes Gefühl des Wohlergehens (Lent, 2004), in Verbindung mit einem Modell der Zufriedenheit in Bezug auf Bildungs- und Arbeitsumgebungen (Lent & Brown, 2006), welches aus ersterem abgeleitet wurde. Die theoretische Betrachtung umfasst kognitive, verhaltenswissenschaftliche, soziale und persönlichkeitsbezogene Variablen, von denen angenommen wird, dass sie gemeinsam eine positive Anpassung fördern, und zwar sowohl im Allgemeinen als auch in besonderen Lebensbereichen wie Arbeitsplatz und Schule. Weiterhin werden erste Ergebnisse zur Überprüfung dieser sozialkognitiven Ansätze vorgestellt, sowie daraus abzuleitende Schlussfolgerungen für die interkulturelle Praxis und Forschung.
Resumen
Una Perspectiva Socio-Cogntiva sobre el Bienestar en Contextos Educativos y Laborales: consideraciones cross-culturales. Este artículo presenta una panorámica general de la perspectiva socio-cognitiva aplicada al bienestar y ajuste (Lent, 2004), junto con un modelo de satisfacción educativa y relacionada con el trabajo (Lent & Brown, 2006) derivado de la misma. La perspectiva teórica integra variables cognitivas, de comportamiento, sociales y de personalidad que hipotéticamente promueven el ajuste positivo, tanto a nivel general como en ámbitos concretos de nuestra vida, como el trabajo y la escuela. Se han aplicado pruebas para probar estos modelos socio-cognitivos, se ofrecen aquí los resultaos iniciales y se revisan sus implicaciones para la práctica e investigación desde una perspectiva cross-cultural.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandura, A. (1995). On rectifying conceptual ecumenism. In J. E. Maddux (Ed.), Self-efficacy, adaptation, and adjustment: Theory, research, and application (pp. 347–375). New York: Plenum.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Brown, S. D., Ryan, N. E., & McPartland, E. B. (1996). Why are so many people happy and what do we do for those who aren’t? A reaction to Lightsey (1996). The Counseling Psychologist, 24, 751–757.
Byrne, B. M., Shavelson, R. J., & Muthén, B. (1989). Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 456–466.
Christopher, J. C. (1999). Situating psychological well-being: Exploring the cultural roots of its theory and research. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77, 141–152.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575.
Diener, E., Sapyta, J. J., & Suh, E. (1998). Subjective well-being is essential to well-being. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 33–37.
Diener, E., & Suh, E. M. (Eds.). (2000). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302.
Duffy, R. D. (2008). Testing a social cognitive model of job satisfaction among teachers. Unpublished dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.
Judge, T. A., & Ilies, R. (2002). Relationship of personality to performance motivation: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 797–807.
Lent, R. W. (2004). Toward a unifying theoretical and practical perspective on well-being and psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 482–509.
Lent, R. W. (2008). Understanding and promoting work satisfaction: An integrative view. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (4th ed., pp. 462–480). New York: Wiley.
Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2006). Integrating person and situation perspectives on work satisfaction: A social-cognitive view. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 236–247.
Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2008). Social cognitive career theory and subjective well-being in the context of work. Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 6–21.
Lent, R. W., Singley, D., Sheu, H., Gainor, K. A., Brenner, B. R., Treistman, D., et al. (2005). Social cognitive predictors of domain and life satisfaction: Exploring the theoretical precursors of subjective well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 429–442.
Lent, R. W., Singley, D., Sheu, H., Schmidt, J. A., & Schmidt, L. C. (2007). Relation of social-cognitive factors to academic satisfaction in engineering students. Journal of Career Assessment, 15, 87–97.
Lent, R. W., Taveira, M., Sheu, H., & Singley, D. (2008). Testing a social cognitive model of college adjustment in Portugal. Manuscript in preparation.
Locus, R. E., Diener, E., Grob, A., Suh, E. M., & Shao, L. (2000). Cross-cultural evidence for the fundamental features of extraversion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 452–468.
McGregor, I., & Little, B. R. (1998). Personal projects, happiness, and meaning: On doing well and being yourself. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 494–512.
Miller, M. J., & Sheu, H. (2008). Conceptual and measurement issues in multicultural psychology research. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (4th ed., pp. 103–120). New York: Wiley.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaemonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.
Ryff, C. D. (1995). Psychological well-being in adult life. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 99–104.
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 1–28.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.
Sheu, H., & Sedlacek, W. E. (2009). Cross-cultural issues in counseling research. In C. Lee, D. Burnhill, A. Butler, C. P. Hipolito-Delgado, M. Humphrey, O. Muñoz, et al. (Eds.), Elements of culture in counseling: Theory & Practice (pp. 226–241). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Singley, D., Lent, R. W., & Sheu, H. (2008). Longitudinal test of a social cognitive model of domain satisfaction and life satisfaction. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Suh, E. M. (2000). Self, the hyphen between culture and subjective well-being. In E. Diener & E. M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 63–86). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Suh, E. M., Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Triandis, H. C. (1998). The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 482–493.
Super, D. E. (1955). Transition: From vocational guidance to counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2, 3–9.
Synder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2001). The evolution of cross-cultural research methods. In D. Matsumoto (Ed.), The handbook of culture and psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Walsh, W. B. (Ed.). (2003). Counseling psychology and optimal human functioning. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sheu, HB., Lent, R.W. A social cognitive perspective on well-being in educational and work settings: Cross-cultural considerations. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance 9, 45–60 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-008-9147-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-008-9147-7