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The mediating role of locus of control between social resource stability and psychological well‐being
Author(s) -
Strong Shelby L.,
Gore Jonathan S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12674
Subject(s) - locus of control , psychology , social psychology , resource (disambiguation) , psychological distress , mental health , computer science , psychotherapist , computer network
Past research has shown that social resources and locus of control are strongly linked to well‐being, but most research has focused on the amount rather than the stability of those resources. The goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role that locus of control had on the relationship between social resource stability and psychological well‐being. All three studies measured social resources and well‐being through online surveys (Studies 1 and 2 through SONA, and Study 3 through Mechanical Turk). Study 1 ( n = 298 college students) demonstrated that social resource stability predicted lower psychological distress, while controlling for social resource amount. Study 2 ( n = 300 college students) revealed that social resource stability predicted higher subjective well‐being, while controlling for social resource amount, and that locus of control mediated the association. Study 3 ( n = 346 working adults) replicated the findings of Studies 1 and 2 using a nonacademic sample and alternative measures of well‐being.