A Study on Cognitive Flexibility and Proactive Coping Among Day Scholars and Hostel Residents

Hostellers are confronted with challenges such as parental absence, homesickness, minor or major cultural indifferences, differences in curriculum which may result in physical, psychological and social consequences that adversely affects academic performance. Student’s cognitive adaptability, perceived control over the situation and coping of stressors plays a pivotal role in withstanding hardships. The ability to adapt to the changes by shifting their cognitive sets is called Cognitive Flexibility. Proactive Coping is a multidimensional approach to coping which includes the commitment to strive and facilitate growth. The study was conducted to examine how Cognitive Flexibility and Proactive Coping differ among day scholars and hostel residents, using a comparative research design. The variables were reported by self-administered questionnaires Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (Dennis & Vander Wal, 2010) and Proactive Coping Inventory (Greenglass et al., 1999). The study samples included 220 young adults in college, from other cities and/or states and native residents. The sampling method used for the study was purposive sampling. Collection of data was made by google forms. The form collected data including the participant’s socio-demographic details, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI). Results inferred that there exists no difference in the variables among the groups and both the groups account for higher level of cognitive flexibility and proactive coping.