مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - CONSTRUCTIVIST THINKING AND COPING STRESS: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING STUDY

Abstract :

The purpose of this study was to define the effects of the constructivist thinking on coping with stress for teachers. The study was designed in a causal research type. The universe of the research was 2447 primary school teachers working primary schools in the 2008–2009 academic years at Ataşehir district of Istanbul. The sampling group was defined by cluster sampling method taking account of the socio-economic levels of the school environments and 334 participants took part in the study. Data were collected with the help of two scales. Constructivist Thinking Inventory was originally developed by Epstein (1993) and adapted in Turkish culture by Tosun Karadag (2008). Inventory is 5 point likert, total 85 items, 7 components and 14 factors. Coping with Stress Scale Styles was originally developed by Folkman and Lazarus (1988) and adapted by Sahin and Durak (1995) in Turkish culture. Pearson Moment Correlation and Path Analyze Technique were used in the analysis process. Findings indicated that constructive thinking styles of teachers affect their some styles of coping with stress in different levels. In the study, it was suggested that teachers positive constructive thinking styles must improve for lesser stress.