2010 Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages 157-169
Four distinct cognitive strategies can be classified based on the combination of the acknowledgement of past experiences and the expectations for future outcomes: strategic optimism (SO), defensive pessimism (DP), unjustified optimism (UO), and regular/realistic pessimism (RP). This study investigated the relationship between these four cognitive strategies and self-handicapping and stress coping among university students. The findings indicated that DP and RP were associated with higher mean scores for anxiety and pessimism. However, individuals with DP strategies did not adopt self-handicapping or avoidance coping styles, unlike individuals with RP or UO strategies. The results suggest that the four cognitive strategies have different characteristics and different influences on the adoption of self-handicapping and stress coping.
