In your classroom or work group, you may share each other ’s experience with proactive coping behaviors, and, thus, provide and find role models for future situations. In the following you find the proactive coping subscale of the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI) by Greenglass, Schwarzer, and Taubert (1999). The statements deal with reactions you may have to various situations. Indicate how true each of these statements is depending on how you feel about the situation. Do this by responding to one of the four statements “ not at all true, ” “ barely true, ” “ somewhat true, ” or “ completely true. ”

1. “ I am a ‘ take charge ’ person. ”

2. “ I try to let things work out on their own. ” ( – )

3. “After attaining a goal, I look for another, more challenging one. ”

4. “ I like challenges and beating the odds. ”

5. “ I visualize my dreams and try to achieve them. ”

6. “ Despite numerous setbacks, I usually succeed in getting what I want. ”

7. “ I try to pinpoint what I need to succeed. ”

8. “ I always try to fi nd a way to work around obstacles; nothing really stops me. ”

9. “ I often see myself failing so I don’t get my hopes up too high. ” ( – )

10. “ When I apply for a position, I imagine myself filling it. ”

11. “ I turn obstacles into positive experiences. ”

12. “ If someone tells me I can’t do something, you can be sure I will do it. ”

13. “ When I experience a problem, I take the initiative in resolving it. ”

14. “ When I have a problem, I usually see myself in a no - win situation. ” ( – )

Complete the assignments and then, in small groups of four to five individuals, compare your own answers with those of your colleagues. Choose a statement on which you responded “ completely true ” (statements marked with a ( – ) demand reverse coding) as a positive example for proactive coping and one statement as a negative example ( “ not at all ” or “ completely true ” for ( – ) statements) and share your experience by illustrating a situation in which you responded in the way it is described in the statements.