Sequential Mediating Effect of Proactive Coping and Perceived Stress in the Relationships between Self-Esteem Stability and Life Satisfaction

While the effect of self-esteem stability on life satisfaction is widely verified, it is not very known how coping strategies explain this relationship. The present study focused on proactive coping, a preliminary step to minimize the impact of expected stressors, and a process of recognizing stressful events as challenges and actively managing them. Specifically, this study (N = 280) examined whether proactive coping and perceived stress mediated the relationship between self-esteem stability and life satisfaction in a sequential manner. The results indicate that proactive coping and perceived stress sequentially mediated the relationship between self-esteem stability and life satisfaction, respectively. This demonstrates that proactive coping and perceived stress are factors that link self-esteem and life satisfaction. However, there was no direct effect between self-esteem and life satisfaction. These findings suggest the need to consider combining proactive coping interventions to increase the effectiveness of a self-esteem stability promotion program. The practical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.