ABSTRACT
Resumen La prosocialidad comprende aquellas conductas intencionales que se realizan para el beneficio de otras personas. Entre las variables que tienen una incidencia en la decisión de ayudar, se incluyen los patrones atribucionales: interpretaciones que se realizan sobre las causas de un determinado acontecimiento. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el rol que tiene la atribución que un individuo realiza sobre una situación de potencial ayuda en la elicitación de la conducta prosocial. A partir de un muestreo intencional, no probabilístico, participaron 359 adolescentes de clase media, de una institución privada de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina. Se aplicó la Escala de Conducta Prosocial Adolescente y, para la evaluación del estilo atribucional ligado a las conductas de ayuda, se redactaron cuatro situaciones con el objetivo de identificar la atribución causal predominante. Se realizó un ANOVA unifactorial para conocer si la conducta prosocial presenta una variabilidad en función del estilo atribucional. Se encontró que la puntuación promedio de conducta prosocial obtenida por los sujetos con un patrón atribucional externo incontrolable fue significativamente superior al de quienes presentaron un estilo atribucional neutro e interno controlable. Estos hallazgos aportan evidencias a favor de que la conducta es influida por patrones de atribuciones causales. Estos resultados se encuentran en concordancia con estudios previos, los cuales encontraron que las representaciones dinámicas y los modelos mentales sustentados en las propias creencias sobre el mundo, más que los hechos en sí, ejercen un control sobre las acciones que se llevan a cabo.
Abstract Prosociality includes those intentional behaviors that are performed for the benefit of other people. Framed in the field of study of positive psychology, the study of prosocial behavior has deepened in recent years, considering different ways in which it can manifest itself. Examples of this type of actions are volunteering and helping in general, and more specifically, acts of cooperation, positive revaluation of the other, condolence, physical or verbal help in the face of a difficulty, consolation at a time of anguish and the rescue. Several variables have been identified that have an incidence in the decision to help; among these are variables specific to the person, factors that have more to do with early development, and variables from the context. These include attributional patterns, that is, interpretations made about the causes of a particular event. In general, the attributional process arises unconsciously, with little effort and in a quick and spontaneous way. The objective of this work was to evaluate the role of the attribution that an individual makes about a situation of potential help in the elicitation of prosocial behavior. An ex post facto research design was used. An intentional non-probabilistic sampling was carried out, from which 359 middle-class adolescents were selected from a private institution in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. For the evaluation of the help behaviors, the Adolescent Prosocial Behavior Scale was applied. This one-dimensional instrument consists of 30 items written in the first person, which express help behaviors, which must be answered using a five-point Likert type scale, indicating how often such behavior is performed. Then, to know the predominant attributional style linked to the help behaviors, four situations were written that express a problem or a need of a specific person, presenting four response options for each case: two corresponding to an internal style of attribution, and two referring to a non-controllable external attribution. A unifactorial ANOVA was performed to determine if prosocial behavior presents variability depending on the attributional style, whether internal, neutral or external. Regarding the main hypothesis of this study, it was found that the average prosocial behavior score obtained by the subjects who presented an uncontrollable external attributional pattern (. = 3.30; DE = .59) was significantly higher than those who presented a neutral attributional style (. = 3.07; DE = .54) and a controllable internal attributional style (. = 2.98; DE = .56) (. (2 351) = 7.88; . < .000). It was found that those subjects, in whom an uncontrollable external attribution predominated, obtained a higher score in prosocial behavior, since they would be attributing the problematic of the situation posed in the instrument mainly to the context, to the circumstances or to chance. On the contrary, those who chose controllable internal causes as a predominant causal explanation would have a lower tendency to be prosocial, since they would be placing more responsibility on the subject who is in the situation described in the instrument, which would have an unfavorable impact on the carrying out of aid actions. These findings provide evidence in favor of the behavior being influenced by patterns of causal attributions. These results are in agreement with previous studies, which found that dynamic representations and mental models based on beliefs about the world, rather than the facts themselves, exert a control over the actions that are carried out.
ABSTRACT
RESUMEN Introducción: El Trastorno depresivo mayor (TDM) es una enfermedad multifactorial en la que, por interacción con diversas variables, se incrementa la vulnerabilidad a padecerla. Diversos modelos han explicado las interacciones, como el de diátesis-estrés. Vivir eventos estresantes no siempre lleva a la aparición del TDM, y se ha planteado que la atribución y la valoración de los eventos estresantes podrían ser un mejor predictor de la aparición de los síntomas. Objetivo: Determinar la asociación y el poder predictivo de la frecuencia y la valoración de eventos vitales estresantes en la presencia de sintomatología del TDM. Métodos: Estudio de casos y controles con 120 pacientes psiquiátricos y 120 personas de la población general. Se utilizó una entrevista clínica estructurada y el Cuestionario de Sucesos Vitales de Sandín y Chorot. Los datos se analizaron con pruebas no paramétricas y regresión logística binaria. Resultados: El grupo de casos obtuvo significativamente más altos en afecto negativo, frecuencia de eventos estresantes, nivel de estrés percibido, valoración negativa de la situación y percepción de no control. El modelo de regresión logística binaria indicó que la baja percepción de control frente al evento estresante es el factor más determinante, seguido por la evaluación negativa del evento. Conclusiones: Las atribuciones realizadas sobre los eventos estresantes son determinantes en la presentación del TDM, en especial la valoración del control percibido frente a los sucesos vitales, en concordancia con los modelos etiológicos del TDM de diátesis cognitiva al estrés.
ABSTRACT Introduction: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifactorial disease in which, due to the interaction of several variables, the vulnerability of suffering from it increases. Several models, such as the diathesis-stress model, have explained these interactions. However, experiencing stressful events does not always lead to the development of MDD, and the attribution and appraisal of stressful events contributing to further development of depression symptoms has been considered as a possible explanation. Objective: To determinate the association and the predictive power of the frequency and appraisal of stressful life events to predict MDD symptomatology. Methods: Case-control study with 120 psychiatric patients and 120 people from the general population. A structured clinical interview and the life events questionnaire (Sandín and Chorcot) were used to evaluate the sample. The data were analysed with non-parametric tests and binary logistic regression. Results: The psychiatric patients reported significantly higher levels of negative affect, frequency of stressful life events, perceived stress, negative appraisal of the situation and lack of perceived control. The binary logistic regression model indicated that poor perception of control of the stressful event is the most determining factor, followed by negative evaluation of the situation. Conclusions: The attributions that are made regarding a stressful event are variables that predict MDD, specifically the assessment of the perceived control over the situation. These results concur with the aetiological models of MDD, such as the cognitive diathesis-stress model.