Pathways from collectivist coping to life satisfaction among Chinese: The roles of locus-of-hope

•Two collectivist coping styles predict life satisfaction among Chinese.•Acceptance/Reframing/Striving indirectly predicts internal locus-of-hope which predicts life satisfaction.•Family support indirectly predicts external-family locus-of-hope which predicts life satisfaction.•Collectivist coping styles involve both personal and relational resources for dealing with stress.•Results provide further evidence and clarification on the importance of collectivist coping.

Collectivist coping styles describe approaches to coping in collectivist cultures, but there is not much research on these coping styles and their relationship to well-being. We propose that two collectivistic coping styles (acceptance/reframing/striving and family support) contribute to life satisfaction by drawing from both personal and relational resources, and these resources are reflected in the distinct roles of internal and external-family loci-of-hope. Chinese students completed scales on collectivist coping, locus-of-hope, and life satisfaction. Path analysis of three models indicates that the most parsimonious model describes distinct pathways where acceptance/reframing/striving relates to life satisfaction through internal locus-of-hope and family support relates to life satisfaction through external-family locus-of-hope. The use of specific collectivist coping styles and reports of life satisfaction involves distinct personal and relational resources for coping that are valued in collectivist societies.