Совладающий интеллект: человек в сложной жизненной ситуации

Multidimensional Coping Intelligence™ Model (Libin, 2003a) strives to overcome limitations in studying coping by suggesting one basic and three auxiliary cross-cutting parameters for the unified classification of efficient and inefficient strategies. Coping Intelligence™ is defined by the quality, functionality, repertoire, and efficiency of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies of varying orientation and intensity. Taking into account the new findings on generalized properties of human intelligence described by Gardner (1999), the proposed model categorizes efficient and inefficient strategies primary based not on their modality, but on their functionality or the organization of coping efforts applied toward the resolution which includes achievement of meaningful result and it evaluation by person as efficient or inefficient. According to the Multidimensional Coping Intelligence Model each strategy is characterized by:

> The primary cross-cutting parameter: organization of the efforts applied toward the resolution (efficient or inefficient);

> The secondary cross-cutting parameter: modality of manifestation of the efforts (emotional, cognitive or behavioral);

> The tertiary cross-cutting parameter: primary orientation of the efforts that can be directed toward self, others or subject (self-, socially– or subject-oriented);

> The fortiori cross-cutting parameter: intensity of the efforts (active or passive).

Thus, the organization of the efforts (a primary cross-cutting parameter) defines a coping activity as efficient or inefficient, whereas the modality characterizes any given efficient or inefficient strategy as emotional, cognitive or behavioral. In addition, each emotional, cognitive or behavioral strategy can be evaluated as self-, others– or subject-oriented depending on the direction of provided efforts. Accounting the intensity of provided efforts any given efficient or inefficient strategy of each modality and orientation can be evaluated as active or passive. Hereby, a strategy is defined as a vector of emotional, cognitive, or behavioral efforts of varying intensity resulting either in an effective or ineffective outcome for dealing with life difficulties. Efficient coping strategies focus on the resolution of the difficult situation. Accordingly, inefficient coping, also known as defensive strategies, diverge from the resolution of life difficulties (See Figure 1). During the experimental phase of the Coping Intelligence™ project a new assessment tool, named Coping Intelligence Questionnaire (CIQ), was development and tested. According to the proposed model there are 36 basic strategies: 18 efficient and 18 inefficient that describe a variety of individual behaviors in difficult situations. Four consequential steps were performed in CIQ™ design including (1) literature analysis and the development of a pool of items, (2) studying content validity of the new measure through the expert review panel, (3) exploring psychometric properties of the CIQ via Cronbach alphas, (4) and validation of the proposed measure via the analysis of individual differences in efficient and inefficient coping strategies with relation to age, gender, temperament, and subjective evaluation of meaningful life outcomes. The data were collected as part of a larger cross-cultural study on coping with life difficulties currently being conducted in the U.S.A., Russia, and Ukraine.

Figure 1