Passive Co** Strategies

Synonyms

Avoidance; Helplessness

Definition

Co** is the set of intentional, goal-directed efforts people engage in to minimize the physical, psychological, or social harm of an event or situation (Lazarus and Folkman 1984; Lazarus 1999). There are many different theoretical and empirical frameworks for understanding co** and many different ways of classifying co** strategies, but one such classification is “passive co**.” Passive co** refers to feeling of helplessness to deal with the stressor and relying on others to resolve the stressful event or situation (Zeidner and Endler 1996). Those engaging in passive co** relinquish to others the control of the stressful situation and of their reaction to that situation, or allow other areas of their lives to be adversely affected by the stressful event or situation (Field, McCabe, & Schneiderman, 1985). This reliance on external resources is contrasted with “active co**,” in which the individual is relying upon their own...