The Proactive Coping Inventory ( PCI ) : A Multidimensional Research Instrument

The present paper introduces a new psychometric tool, the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI), which takes a multidimensional approach to coping. A distinction between self-regulatory threat appraisal and self-regulatory goal attainment is made to account for a positive facet of coping, namely setting of, and striving for goals. It goes beyond traditional risk management when people face a threat and attempt to build up their resistance resources well ahead of time. Rather, proactive coping integrates processes of personal quality of life management with those of selfregulatory goal attainment as illustrated by the prototypical lives of entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, teachers, or missionaries, for example. The PCI is distinguished by three main features: (a) It integrates planning and preventive strategies with proactive self-regulatory goal attainment; (b) It integrates proactive goal attainment with identification and utilization of social resources, and (c) It utilizes proactive emotional coping for self-regulatory goal attainment. A large pool of test items was generated and administered to samples of Canadian and Polish-Canadian respondents. Scale reduction techniques were used to derive the seven scales (based on 55 items) that constitute the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI). Results reported indicated that the scales possess good reliability and validity.