Dealing With Stress and Complex Problem Solving Volume 6 - Issue 2

Ulrike Kipman¹*, Stephan Bartholdy², Günter Schiepek³ and Wolfgang Aichhorn³

• ¹Institute of Educational Sciences and Research, College of Education, Austria
• ²University of Salzburg, Austria, University of Greifswald, Germany
• ³Paracelsus Medical Private University, Germany

Received:December 01, 2021;   Published:December 08, 2021

Corresponding author: Ulrike Kipman, Institute of Educational Sciences and Research, College of Education, Austria

DOI: 10.32474/SJPBS.2021.06.000232

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Abstract

The ability to solve complex problems (‘CPS performance’) enables persons to achieve goals under complex conditions, which are characterized by their complexity, connectivity, dynamics, intransparency, and polytely. This study was designed to investigate the following hypothesis: The way to deal with stress is related to CPS performance. Participants in the present study (N=126) at first provided their demographical data, then subsequently completed a detailed test measuring stress processing strategies and finally were given a mission in a complex scenario implemented in Cities: Skylines, a microworld scenario. Results show that people who tend to make many thoughts after stress situations and people who question (or even self-incriminate) themselves (internal attribution) in stress situations have better chances to succeed in complex problem solving tasks. In men, we found significant and positive correlations between situation control, reaction control, as well as positive self-instruction and successful problem solving, whereas we did not find any significant positive correlations in women. For this group, we only found significant negative correlations, namely that trivializing and playing down stress are negatively correlated with successful problem solving.

Keywords: Cps; Decision Making; Stress; Internal and External Stress Processing

Abstract| Introduction| Theoretical Background| Measurement Approaches| Methods| Conditions in the Study| Instruction| Short Questionnaire| Procedure| Results| Discussion| Conclusion| References|