Percieved Stress in Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Sense of Control and the Mediation Effects of Religiosity and Materialistic Values

Introduction

Humans are social creatures by nature, with a fundamental need to sustain healthy social relationships (Slavich et al., 2010). Social relationships can provide a means of securing the necessities of life, promote feelings of social integration, and sometimes help the pursuit of reproductive potential (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Anything that interferes (or threatens to interfere) with social relationships can cause social stress. Stress indicates “a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being” (Lazarus & Folkman, 1987, p. 19). Low social status in the community or in society, delivering a speech at a public gathering, interviewing with prospective employers, caring for a child or partner with a long-term illness, meeting new people in a crowd, the threat or actual loss of a loved one, divorce, and prejudice are among some of the things that generate stress (Taylor, 2015). Recent research has identified three basic sources of social stresses that require a different degree of adaptation. First, there are significant life changes to which a person must quickly adapt, such as sudden physical injury or sexual assault; second, there is a series of events that the person has to adapt to over a long period, such as unemployment or divorce; third, there are daily annoyances or minor events, such as bad traffic or an uncooperative workenvironment, that necessitate regular adaptation (Carr & Umberson, 2013). The transactional model of stress and coping proposes that people usually find it beneficial to maintain positive social ties, but often feel powerless to sustain them (Lazarus & Folkman, 1987).

Humans need to develop the capacity to adapt to change in healthy and flexible ways in the face of adversity (Masten & Reed, 2002). Because the key changes in functional capacity, educational attainment, and social roles are extensive and varied, and have a considerable influence on life course outcomes, emerging adulthood is a particularly crucial stage in the human lifespan for understanding the responses to stressors (Wood et al., 2018). Emerging adulthood is the period from the late teens to the twenties, when individuals not only experience multiple biological, social, and psychological transitions but also have to face educational choices, manage multiple roles, discover the novel meaning of such roles, and navigate tasks in an uncertain climate (Arnett, 2000). These transformations require a new set of skills, values, attitudes, and social capital if they are to progress toward selfsufficiency and adult modes of interdependence (Eccles et al., 2003). Positive development in emerging adulthood is related to stronger family and peer interactions, improved school adjustment, higher family financial status, and improved emotional regulation (O’Connor et al., 2011). The present study places particular emphasis on the effect of the sense of control on perceived stress in emerging adulthood and considers religiosity and materialistic values as the coping mechanism for them.

The present research focuses on emerging adults’ primary appraisals to extend our understanding of social stresses in terms of sense of control, which is yet to be conclusively outlined, particularly in the urban context of a developing economy like Bangladesh. Given that perceived stress consists of stressors that have high prevalence in urban areas, where emerging adults often endure high levels of discrimination, stressful life events, neighborhood problems, and family stress, what role does sense of personal control play in relation to perceived stress? Does religiosity help to reduce stress? Perhaps religiosity enhances the stresses by creating dissonance if they become materialistic? Do religiosity and materialistic values mediate the effect of sense of control on perceived stress? If it is found that perceived stress and sense of control are constantly associated with each other regardless of the degree of religiosity and materialism, it can be argued that neither religion nor materialistic ideals is a useful coping mechanism for emerging adults.

Background and hypotheses

A sense of control is the presumption and impression that one can (or cannot) regulate one’s immediate social circumstances through one’s behavior (Ross et al., 2001). Personal mastery and perceived constraints are two ends of the sense of control continuum (Lachman & Weaver, 1998), where personal mastery indicates «one’s sense of efficacy or effectiveness in carrying out goals» and perceived constraints express the «extent one believes there are obstacles or factors beyond one’s control that interfere with reaching goals” (Lachman & Weaver, 1998, p. 765). In other words, a high sense of control manifests in the belief that one can shape the circumstances and events in one’s life, whereas a low sense of control expresses the belief that one’s actions cannot affect immediate events and circumstances (Ross & Mirowsky, 1989). Sense of personal control is the learned, generalized belief that one’s decisions and behaviors will determine one’s outcomes; the person believes they can master, control, and effectively change their surroundings (Ross et al., 1983; Ross & Mirowsky, 1989; Rotter, 1966; Seeman, 2001). Perceived constraints, on the other hand, is the cognitive understanding of a misalignment between one’s objectives and the resources available for achieving them (Ross & Mirowsky, 1989). Conversely, ‘something’ or perhaps some ‘important things’ or even ‘all the things’ that are happening unexpectedly or that may happen in the future determine the frequency with which the person becomes nervous, stressed or upset, and makes them feel they are unable to control their lives, cope with the circumstances, and overcome the difficulties and get so angry at the intractable nature of their circumstances—all of which leads to perceived stress (Cohen, 1994). Feeling helpless and lacking in self-efficacy is the cognitive perception through which the outcome of social experiences are attributed to external forces, influential others, and fate or destiny (Foulk et al., 2020)prior social power research has predominantly focused on consequences of “powerfulness.” This has led to contradictory predictions for how experienced powerlessness influences employees’ social perceptions and behaviors. To resolve this theoretical tension, we build on Social Distance Theory (Magee & Smith. Therefore, where the objective circumstances of the constraints trigger a lack of control over the life events, this can contribute to social stress (Cohen & Edwards, 1989). Thus, we can predict the following:

H1: Emerging adults with a low sense of control have high perceived stress.

Religiosity plays a role in dealing with stress and symptoms of depression (O. Harrison et al., 2001). Religiosity refers to “an individual’s beliefs and behaviors in relation to the supernatural and/or high-intensity values” (Roof, 1979, p. 18). Religious actions, such as prayer, congregational assistance, pastoral care, or even mere religious faith help people to cope with social stress by reducing their sense of powerlessness (Pargament et al., 2001). However, less is understood about how religious roles are linked to a sense of control. Previous studies have found that the belief in God’s intervention in earthly matters, or Godpower, is both negatively related (Spilka & Schmidt, 1983) and positively related (Silvestri, 1979), and at times has no association with personal control (Spilka et al., 1985). Believing in God is an active force in one’s life that necessitates a loss of personal or internal power (Schieman et al., 2006). Religion is often criticized for encouraging passivity and acceptance of the status quo (Marx & Engels, 1967). That is because individuals may have low expectations about their ability to manage their reinforcements after witnessing pronounced discriminatory action (Lefcourt & Ladwig, 1965). Belief in God’s control has also been linked to intrinsic religious devotion (Spilka et al., 1985), high religiosity (Pargament & Sullivan, 1981), and high church attendance (Spilka et al., 1985). Conversely, compared to those who believe more in chance, social powers, and internal unconscious dynamics, people believing everything is under God’s control feel they that can exert greater control over things by simply praying to God and doing good deeds (Furnham, 1982). Therefore, one significant point of contention concerns the impact of religious precepts and practices on one’s sense of personal control (Ellison & Burdette, 2012; Jackson & Coursey, 1988; Schieman et al., 2006)1988; Schieman et al., 2006. Hence, we can hypothesize:

H2: Emerging adults with high perceived constraints have high religiosity.

People with an acute sense of powerlessness may be more affected by others’ consumption attitudes toward buying high-end goods since they are more receptive to interpersonal input (Roberts et al., 2005). The term materialistic values refers to “the importance a person places on possessions and their acquisition as a necessary or desirable form of conduct to reach desired end states, including happiness” (Richins & Dawson, 1992, p. 307). People with higher materialistic ideals have more favorable attitudes toward the idea that luxury items and goods can aid the development of a positive self-image (Shrum et al., 2013). They may even choose to eat foods that others give positive feedback on and ignore those associated with negative comments (Netemeyer et al., 1995). Consequently, individuals who base their self-worth on external factors are often insecure in self-worth and negatively react to their own non-competitive personal appearance in social circumstances (Deci & Ryan, 1995; Roberts et al., 2014). Since certain possessions can provide some temporary comfort, individuals often proliferate their materialism levels in response to their feelings of threat and insecurity (Zeigler-Hill et al., 2011). Therefore, desired possessions can provide personal protection (Christopher et al., 2009), serve as a replacement for interpersonal dependence (Marcus et al., 2014), reinforce self-image (Dittmar & Drury, 2000), and symbolically provide a kind of recovery of self-identity (Wattanasuwan, 2005). Likewise, individuals with an acute sense of powerlessness achieve a sense of worth by cultivating a self-appealing appearance through their possessions and project dominance over others; thus, they believe that their materialistic values will satisfy their desire for social recognition (Crocker & Nuer, 2003), and enhance their social acceptance (Isaksen & Roper, 2012). While there are as yet no conclusive findings on whether a feeling of powerlessness is clearly connected to materialism across various cultures, we know that, to varying degrees, a dependence on external influences to sustain one’s self-worth makes people more likely to support materialistic ideals (Zhang et al., 2020). In addition, most previous research on materialism has consistently shown that challenges to self-esteem, such as poor task success, feelings of vulnerability, and social isolation, all lead to escalated materialistic values (J. Jiang et al., 2015). Therefore, we can predict the following:

H3: Emerging adults with a low self of control have high materialistic values.

H4: Emerging adults with high materialistic values have high perceived stress.

Based on this prediction, we would like to explore the following hypothesis:

H5: Religiosity and Materialistic values mediate the effect of the sense of control on perceived stress in emerging adulthood.

Methods

Results

Mediation effects of religiosity and materialism on the relationship between LCB and PSS

The standardized total effect of sense of control on perceived stress was 0.641, where the direct effect was 0.636 and the indirect effect was 0.005. There was no significant difference between the standardized total effects and the direct effects by religiosity in the equation.

Materialism did not affect the equation. Therefore, it can be said that neither religiosity nor materialism mediates the predictive capacity of the sense of control for perceived stress. For the rest of the results, see Figure 1 and Table 5.

Figure 1

Estimated Structured equation model (AMOS output)

Table 5

The Standardized mediation effects in multivariate structural equation model

Effects	Variables	LCB	Materialism	Religiosity
Standardized Total Effects	Materialism	.11
	Religiosity	.21*	.00
	PSS	.64*	-.04	.04
Standardized Direct Effects	Materialism	.11
	Religiosity	.21*	.00
	PSS	.64*	-.04	.04
Standardized Indirect Effects	Materialism	.00
	Religiosity	.00	.00
	PSS	.01	.00	.00

1. Note. *significant, p<0.001

Discussions

Emerging adulthood, the transition from adolescence to adulthood, is a critical normative shift that typically entails extensive and frequent changes in social roles (Schulenberg et al., 2004). While late adolescence to the mid-twenties is no longer about settling into traditional adult roles, there is an increasing sense of family obligation and emerging adults are likely to contribute financially to their families (Arnett & Tanner, 2006). Since sense of responsibility was found to be connected with a higher level of emotional well-being, its effect is associated with level of education and employment opportunities (Fuligni & Pedersen, 2002). Hence, the emphasis has changed to higher education, self-discovery, and crafting a future that best fits the individual’s personal objectives and family preferences (Arnett & Tanner, 2006). Besides, the functioning and adjustment trajectories established during childhood and adolescence are likely to persist into early adulthood, interacting with (or opposing) the pervasive changes in roles and settings, where the stressors of the transition can contribute to the consolidation of transient mental health during adolescence (Schulenberg et al., 2004).

Hence, stress and depression – which are the most predictive indication of early mental disorders – emerged as a frequent temporal concern in emerging adulthood (Kessler & Walters, 1998)comorbidities, and cohort effects of DSM-III-R major depression (MD. Many youths continue to struggle significantly with transition outcomes (Berzin, 2010). Degree of exposure to violence is related to increased perceived stress in emerging adulthood (Heinze et al., 2017). Therefore, it is at this period of the transition that risky health behaviors such as substance abuse tend to peak, but it is also a period of opportunities for growth and development as young adults assume the responsibilities that come with becoming an adult (Hussong & Chassin, 2004). The current research addressed the perceived stress experienced by emerging adults living in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Given that the urban social environment, such as Dhaka, contains stressors that are common in urban areas, and emerging adults often face prejudice, traumatic life events, community issues, and family stress, we asked what role a sense of control plays in perceived stress, and whether religiosity or materialistic values contribute to reducing stresses. The results show that while emerging adults with high perceived constraints or an external locus of control have high perceived stress (H1) and high religiosity (H2), their external sense of control does not affect their materialistic values (H3). There is no relationship between materialistic values and perceived stress (H4), and neither religiosity nor materialistic values mediate the effect of sense of control on perceived stress in emerging adulthood (H5). We can therefore say that sense of control is a strong determinant of perceived stress.

The transactional model of stress and coping suggested that the less control a person feels in a dangerous situation, the more stressful the situation is (Lazarus & Folkman, 1987). External locus of control has invariably been found to lead to a high degree of religiosity (Geist & Bangham, 1980), and emerging adults seem to be no different. However, while it is considered that religion can give comfort to deal with stress (Chen & Koenig, 2006), and high religiosity enhances people’s perceived ability to adapt to stressful life conditions (Pargament et al., 2001), the religiosity of emerging adults plays no role in reducing their perceived stress. A recent study indicates that materialism is a stable trait of emerging adults (W. Jiang et al., 2021), but the present research found otherwise, indicating that materialistic ideas vary from one context to another. In addition, it is often argued that external locus of control leads to high materialism, and high materialism leads to high stress (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Burroughs et al., 1991)such as family values and religious values. This state of values conflict leads to psychological tension (disharmony, but the present study found no significant relationships as such.

The generalizability of the results of this research is limited by two significant conditions; first, in a developing economy, the proliferation of materialistic values is constrained by buying capacity (Güliz & Belk, 1996); second, most people in Bangladesh are religious (Bielefeldt, 2015). Hence religion is a ubiquitous personality trait shaped by cultural values (Masoom, 2020). However, our urban shopper sample is unlikely to be a complete representation of the emerging adults in Bangladesh. Hence, despite high religiosity being conclusive here, there is a need to validate in a further study the predictive capacity of a low sense of control in determining high religiosity, and particular consideration should be given to samples from rural contexts.