The psychological literature on disaster and loss has until recently concentrated on individual reactions. Over the last few years, however, there has been greater interest in collective factors. The question then becomes whether there are features of the community as a whole, or shared perceptions among members of the community, that enable the community to deal more effectively with hardship and trauma.
The research is still at an early stage. However, a number of related concepts are emerging that appear to be relevant. We will look briefly at studies that have examined the notions of communal mastery and collective efficacy.
Work by Hobfoll and his colleagues has proposed that collective factors may be more significant in certain types of community. Hobfoll et al. have published research on communal mastery carried out among Native American women living on reservations in Montana, USA. Communal mastery is defined as the extent to which individuals see themselves as able to be effective in achieving their goals and coping with life challenges when they feel attached to significant others. The scale used to measure communal mastery can be found at http://www.personal.kent.edu/~shobfoll/Mastery.htm. Hobfoll et al. found that women with higher scores on the scale experienced less increase in depressive mood and anger in circumstances of high stress. In addition it was found that communal mastery produced more benefit than the individual sense of self mastery.
Hobfoll S E, Jackson A, Hobfoll I, Pierce C A, and Young S, The impact of communal-mastery versus self-mastery on emotional outcomes during stressful conditions: A prospective study of native American women, American Journal of Community Psychology, 2002, 30, 853-871.
A very similar concept is the idea of collective efficacy. There is an enormous literature on individual self efficacy, a concept originally proposed by Bandura. Self efficacy is the amount of confidence individuals have in their own ability to take effective action. We are now aware of the wide range of influences self efficacy has upon a person's thinking, perceptions, setting of goals, motivation, and actions. Bandura himself has argued that in group or community settings beliefs about the efficacy of the group as a whole are also important. Collective efficacy is the shared belief that the group can meet environmental demands and improve their lives through concerted action. According to Bandura it affects the types of goals people will set, how well they use resources available to them, the amount of effort they will put into group tasks, their staying power when they encounter obstacles or opposition, and their vulnerability to discouragement when things become more difficult.
Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 75-78, available at this address.
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