Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T20:12:56.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - The Development of Accommodative Coping

Conditions and Consequences from a Lifespan Perspective

from Part IV - Psychological Foundations of the Development of Coping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2023

By
Werner Greve  and
Cathleen Kappes
Edited by
Ellen A. Skinner  and
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
Ellen A. Skinner
Affiliation:
Portland State University
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Get access

Summary

The concept of accommodative coping refers to a "family" of processes by which goal blockages, losses, and similar threats to quality of life are coped with by adjusting individual goal and valuation structures, i.e., in particular by devaluing or "letting go" of threatened or blocked goals and upgrading and pursuing alternative, more attainable goals in their place. While the functionality of accommodative regulatory processes in older and older adulthood has long been elaborated theoretically in several compatible modeling approaches and well studied empirically, accommodative processes in childhood and adolescence have only recently attracted scientific attention. It is helpful here to distinguish the efficacy of accommodative processes in childhood and adolescence itself from the developmental conditions for accommodative processes in adulthood and old age. Combining these perspectives opens up the prospect of an actual lifespan perspective on developmental regulation.

Keywords

Accommodationdevelopmental conditions of adult copinglifespan perspectivedevelopmental regulationgoal adjustmentgoal disengagementgoal reengagement
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the Development of Coping , pp. 382 - 400
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Affleck, G., & Tennen, H. (1996). Constructing benefits from adversity: Adaptational significance and dispositional underpinnings. Journal of Personality, 64(4), 899–922. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00948.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldwin, C. M. (2007). Stress, coping, and development: An integrative perspective (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23(5), 611–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.23.5.611Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In Baltes, P. B. & Baltes, M. M. (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511665684.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (2006). Life span theory in developmental psychology. In Lerner, R. M. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 569–664). Wiley.Google Scholar
Barlow, M. A., Wrosch, C., & McGrath, J. J. (2019). Goal adjustment capacities and quality of life: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Personality, 88(2), 307–323. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12492Google Scholar
Bjorklund, D. F. (2021). How children invented humanity. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Boerner, K., & Jopp, D. (2007). Improvement/maintenance as reorientation as central features of coping with major life change and loss: Contributions of three life-span theories. Human Development, 50(4), 171–195. https://doi.org/10.1159/000103358Google Scholar
Bonanno, G. A., & Burton, C. L. (2013). Regulatory flexibility: An individual differences perspective on coping and emotion regulation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(6), 591–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691613504116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandtstädter, J. (1992). Personal control over development: Some developmental implications of self-efficacy. In Schwarzer, R. (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action (pp. 127–145). Hemisphere.Google Scholar
Brandtstädter, J. (2006). Action perspectives on human development. In Damon, W., Lerner, R. M. (Eds.-in-Chief), & Lerner, R. M. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 516–568). Wiley.Google Scholar
Brandtstädter, J., & Greve, W. (1994). The aging self: Stabilizing and protective processes. Developmental Review, 14(1), 52–80. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1994.1003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandtstädter, J., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.). (1999). Action and self-development: Theory and research through the life-span. Sage.Google Scholar
Brandtstädter, J., & Renner, G. (1990). Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: Explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. Psychology and Aging, 5(1), 58–67. https://doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.5.1.58CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandtstädter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22(1), 117–150. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2001.0539CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandtstädter, J., Wentura, D., & Greve, W. (1993). Adaptive resources of the aging self: Outlines of an emergent perspective. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16(2), 323–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/016502549301600212Google Scholar
Chapman, M. (1988). Constructive evolution: Origins and development of Piaget’s thought. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, E., & Miller, G. E. (2012). “Shift-and-persist” strategies: Why low socioeconomic status isn’t always bad for health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(2), 135–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612436694CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chun, C.‐A., Moos, R. H., & Cronkite, R. C. (2006). Culture: A fundamental context for the stress and coping paradigm. In Wong, P. T. P. & Wong, L. C. J. (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 29–53). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-26238-5_2Google Scholar
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127(1), 87–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.87Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Eggum, N. D. (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children’s maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 495–525. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131208Google Scholar
Greve, W. (2005). Maintaining personality: The active and adaptive self as core of individuality and personhood. In Greve, W., Rothermund, K., & Wentura, D. (Eds.), The adaptive self: Personal continuity and intentional self-development (pp. 49–70). Hogrefe & Huber.Google Scholar
Greve, W., & Enzmann, D. (2003). Self-esteem maintenance among incarcerated young males. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27(1), 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250143000562CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greve, W., Enzmann, D., & Hosser, D. (2001). The stabilization of self-esteem among incarcerated adolescents: Processes of accommodation and immunization. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45(6), 749–768.Google Scholar
Greve, W., Kersten, K., Koch, M., & Rasche, V. (2021). Extending the scope of the ‘cognitive advantage’ hypothesis: Multilingual individuals show higher flexibility of goal adjustment. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1922420Google Scholar
Greve, W., Leipold, B., & Kappes, C. (2017). Fear of crime in old age: A sample case of resilience? Journals of Gerontology Series B, 73(7), 1224–1232. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbw169Google Scholar
Greve, W., Leipold, B., & Meyer, T. (2009). Resilienz als Entwicklungsergebnis: Die Förderung der individuellen Adaptivität [Resilience as developmental product: The promotion of individual adaptivity]. In Linden, M. & Weig, W. (Eds.), Salutotherapie in Prävention und Rehabilitation [Salutotherapy in prevention and rehabilitation] (pp. 173–184). Deutscher Ärzte-Verlag.Google Scholar
Greve, W., & Staudinger, U. M. (2006). Resilience in later adulthood and old age: Resources and potentials for successful aging. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 796–840). Wiley.Google Scholar
Greve, W., & Thomsen, T. (2013). Developmental conditions of adaptive self-stabilization in adolescence: An exploratory study. International Journal of Developmental Science, 7(3–4), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.3233/DEV-120101Google Scholar
Greve, W., & Thomsen, T. (2016). Evolutionary advantages of free play during childhood. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704916675349Google Scholar
Greve, W., Thomsen, T., & Dehio, C. (2014). Does playing pay? The fitness-effect of free play during childhood. Evolutionary Psychology, 12(2), 434–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491401200210Google Scholar
Greve, W., & Wentura, D. (2007). Personal and subpersonal regulation of human development: Beyond complementary categories. Human Development, 50(4), 201–207. https://doi.org/10.1159/000103360Google Scholar
Haase, C. M., Heckhausen, J., & Wrosch, C. (2013). Developmental regulation across the life span: Toward a new synthesis. Developmental Psychology, 49(5), 964–972. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029231Google Scholar
Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental perspective. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., & Heckhausen, H. (2018). Development of motivation. In Heckhausen, J. & Heckhausen, H., Motivation and action (3rd ed., pp. 679–743). Springer International Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2010). A motivational theory of life-span development. Psychological Review, 117(1), 32–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017668Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2019). Agency and motivation in adulthood and old age. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 191–217. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103043Google Scholar
Holodynski, M., & Friedlmeier, W. (2006). Emotionen: Entwicklung und Regulation [Emotion: Development and regulation]. Springer.Google Scholar
Kappes, C., & Thomsen, T. (2020). Imitation of goal engagement and disengagement processes in romantic relationships. European Journal of Personality, 34(2), 234–244. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2244Google Scholar
Kappes, C., & Thomsen, T. (2022). Observing parental behavior in challenging tasks: Its role for goal engagement and disengagement in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 221, Article 105463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105463Google Scholar
Keller, H., & Bard, K. A. (Eds.). (2017). The cultural nature of attachment. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kunzmann, U., Rohr, M., Wieck, C., Kappes, K., & Wrosch, C. (2017). Speaking about feelings: Further evidence for multidirectional age differences in anger and sadness. Psychology and Aging, 32(1), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000142Google Scholar
Leipold, B., Bermeitinger, C., Greve, W., Meyer, B., Arnold, M., & Pielniok, M. (2014). Short-term induction of assimilation and accommodation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67(12), 2392–2408. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.931443Google Scholar
Leipold, B., & Greve, W. (2009). Resilience: A conceptual bridge between coping and development. European Psychologist, 14(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.1.40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, R. M. (2018). Concepts and theories of human development (4th ed.). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lessing, N., Kappes, C., Greve, W., & Mähler, C. (2019). Developmental conditions of accommodative coping in childhood: The role of executive functions. Cognitive Development, 50, 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.02.002Google Scholar
Lessing, N., Mähler, C. & Greve, W. (2015). Erfassung akkommodativer Bewältigungsfähigkeiten im Kindesalter: Ein Erfassungsinstrument [Assessment of accommodative coping capacities in childhood: A measurement]. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie [Journal of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology], 47(4), 210–218. https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000138Google Scholar
Lessing, N., Thomsen, T., Mähler, C., & Greve, W. (2017). Selbstregulation und flexible Zielanpassung im Vorschulalter [Self-regulation and flexible goal adjustment in preschool age]. Kindheit und Entwicklung [Childhood and Development], 26(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1026/0942-5403/a000212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marek, K., Kappes, C., Hosser, D., & Greve, W. (2022). Accommodative self-regulation: The sample case of imprisonment in young adulthood. Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12775Google Scholar
Meyer, T., & Greve, W. (2012). Die Entwicklungsbedingungen der Adaptivität. Theoretische Überlegungen und empirische Befunde zu einem Entwicklungsmodell akkommodativer Regulationskompetenz [Developmental conditions of adaptivity: Theoretical considerations and empirical findings on a developmental model of accommodative regulation competences]. Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie [European Journal of Health Psychology], 20(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a000059CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morling, B., & Evered, S. (2006). Secondary control reviewed and defined. Psychological Bulletin, 132(2), 269–296. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.269Google Scholar
Morling, B., & Evered, S. (2007). The construct formerly known as secondary control. Psychological Bulletin, 133(6), 917–919. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.6.917Google Scholar
Rothermund, K., Grigutsch, L. A., Jusepeitis, A., Koranyi, N., Meissner, F., Müller, F., Urban, M., & Wentura, D. (2020). Research with implicit measures: Suggestions for a new agenda of sub-personal psychology. Social Cognition, 38(Suppl.), S243–S263. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2020.38.supp.s243Google Scholar
Rühs, F., Greve, W., & Kappes, C. (2017). Coping with criminal victimization and fear of crime: The protective role of accommodative self-regulation. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 22(2), 359–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rühs, F., Greve, W., & Kappes, C. (2022). Inducing and blocking the goal to belong in an experimental setting: Goal disengagement research using Cyberball. Motivation and Emotion, 46, 806–824. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09975-wGoogle Scholar
Seery, M., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010). Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability and resilience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 1025–1041. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021344Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A. (2007). Secondary control critiqued: Is it secondary? Is it control? Commentary on Morling and Evered, 2006. Psychological Bulletin, 133(6), 911–916. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.6.911Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216–269. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.216Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2007). The development of coping. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 119–144. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085705Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (Eds.). (2009). New directions for child and adolescent development: Coping and the development of regulation, 2009(124).Google Scholar
Skinner, E. A., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2016). The development of coping: Stress, neurophysiology, social relationships, and resilience during childhood and adolescence. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41740-0Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Viele Gründe sprechen dagegen, und trotzdem geht es vielen Menschen gut: Das Paradox des subjektiven Wohlbefindens [Many reasons speak against it, but many individuals are well aware of: The paradox of subjective well-being]. Psychologische Rundschau [Psychological Review], 51(4), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1026//0033-3042.51.4.185Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., & Lindenberger, U. (Eds.). (2003). Understanding human development: Dialogues with lifespan psychology. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Thomsen, T. (2016). Flexible goal adjustment from late childhood to late adolescence: Developmental differences and relations to cognitive coping and emotion regulation. International Journal of Developmental Science, 10(1–2), 57–72. https://doi.org/10.3233/DEV-150167Google Scholar
Thomsen, T., & Greve, W. (2013). Accommodative coping in early adolescence: An investigation of possible developmental components. Journal of Adolescence, 36(5), 971–981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.08.003Google Scholar
Thomsen, T., Fritz, V., Mößle, R., & Greve, W. (2015). The impact of accommodative coping on well-being and self-esteem in childhood and adolescence: Longitudinal findings. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(5), 467–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414551762Google Scholar
Thomsen, T., Kappes, C., Schwerdt, L., Sander, J., & Poller, C. (2017). Modelling goal adjustment in social relationships: Two experimental studies with children and adults. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12162Google Scholar
Wong, P. T. P., Reker, G. T., & Peacock, E. J. (2006). A resource-congruence model of coping and the development of the Coping Schemas Inventory. In Wong, P. T. P, & Wong, L. C. J (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 223–283). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-26238-5_11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Schulz, R. (2003). The importance of goal disengagement in adaptive self-regulation: When giving up is beneficial. Self and Identity, 2(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309021Google Scholar
Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., Miller, G. E., Schulz, R., & Carver, C. S. (2003). Adaptive self-regulation of unattainable goals: Goal disengagement, goal reengagement, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(12), 1494–1508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203256921Google Scholar
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Skinner, E. A. (2011). Review: The development of coping across childhood and adolescence: An integrative review and critique of research. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410384923Google Scholar
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Skinner, E. A. (2016). The development of coping: Implications for psychopathology and resilience. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, resilience, and intervention (pp. 485–545). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy410Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×