Culture, Gender, Self-Efficacy, and Life Satisfaction: A Comparison Between Americans and Chinese People with Spinal Cord Injuries

Journal of Rehabilitation,  July-Sept, 2000  by Nan Zhang Hampton,  Amy Marshall

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Implications for Rehabilitation Practitioners

The results of this study have several implications for rehabilitation practitioners in both the U.S. and China. First, the findings of this study signify the importance of self-efficacy beliefs to life satisfaction in Americans and Chinese people with SCI. To assist people with SCI in living a happy and productive life, rehabilitation practitioners should help them enhance their beliefs about their abilities to cope with life's exigencies. This enhancement can be achieved through building successful coping experiences for the client, providing positive reinforcement and accurate feedback, using role models, and providing appropriate counseling to reduce their anxiety level (Strauser, 1995). Bandura (1993) suggests that environments which construe ability as an acquirable skill, de-emphasize competitive social comparisons, and highlight self-comparison of progress and personal accomplishments are well suited for building a sense of efficacy. From this perspective, rehabilitation practitioners should create an environment which emphasizes the acquirable nature of coping skills and encourages clients' self-comparison of rehabilitation progress.

Second, the results of this study indicate that life satisfaction may be predicted by a subjective interpretation of health. As Diener et al. (1999) pointed out, perceived health status reflected not only one's actual physical condition but also one's emotional adjustment level. Thus, rehabilitation professionals in both the U.S. and China should continue to address not only health-related issues but also negative emotion that influences their clients' life satisfaction.

Third, the findings of this study suggested that Chinese people with SCI in China placed a high value on family integrity. When working with people with SCI, Chinese rehabilitation professionals need to take this issue into consideration. Family members and community should be involved in developing and carrying out rehabilitation plans.

Limitations

There several limitations of the present study. First, the afore-mentioned findings are derived from a purposive convenience sampling process, therefore, the generalizability of the findings is limited.

Second, this study used the LSS developed in the U.S. to assess life satisfaction of Chinese individuals with SCI. Although the constructs measured by the instrument reflect the values that represent three universal requirements of human existence (meeting biological needs, coordinated social interaction, and the survival and welfare needs of groups; Schwartz, 1994), the instruments may not cover the components that are unique to life satisfaction of Chinese people.

Finally, this study did not include social support - an important correlate of life satisfaction. Future investigations should include this variable and explore relationships among social support, self-reliance, and other value variables. Also, the joint contributions of self-efficacy, values, and social support to life satisfaction should be examined.