: The sense of coherence scales have been empirically tested in different cultures, both Western and cultures in Africa and Asia. The Validity and Reliability of the Sense of Coherence One needs to have a clear desire to resolve difficulties, and willingness to invest energy to get through experiences of stress that have the potential to cause distress. Meaningfulness, the motivational dimension, refers to the extent to which one feels that life has an emotional meaning, that at least some of the problems faced in life a face are worth commitment and dedication, and are seen as challenges rather than only as burdens (Antonovsky, 1991, p. This leads to the third dimension of the sense of coherence, meaningfulness. Coping also requires that one is motivated to solve the problems that cause stress, is willing to invest energy to solve the problem, and finds meaning in being able to manage the situation. Informal resources include, for example, family, circle of friends, colleagues, and significant others in other words, people who are trusted and who can be relied on difficult situations. Formal resources include, for example, social services and care staff in public and private organizations. , the instrumental or behavioral dimension, defined as the degree to which one feels that there are resources at one’s disposal that can be used to meet the requirements of the stimuli one is bombarded by (Antonovsky, 1991, p. What one comprehends is easier to manage. A prerequisite to be able to cope with a stressful situation is that one can to some extent understand it. The ability to create structure out of chaos makes it easier for us to understand one’s context and one’s own part in it, for example, one’s role in the family or in the workplace.

, the cognitive dimension, refers to the extent to which one perceives internal and external stimuli as rationally understandable, and as information that is orderly, coherent, clear, structured rather than noise-that is, chaotic, disordered, random, unexpected, and unexplained (Antonovsky, 1991, p. When you think about your life, you very often: (from ‘feel how good it is to be alive’ to ‘ask yourself why you exist at all’) This issue is taken up again later in this chapter. 12.1), since he theorized that it was the sense of coherence in its totality that influenced movement along the ease/dis-ease continuum. Antonovsky intended that the sense of coherence scales be scored with a single total score and not component scores (Fig. A shorter version of 13 questions (SOC-13) of the original form was developed by Antonovsky (1987), where the score ranges between 13 and 91 points. The questionnaire is a summed index with a total score ranging from 29 to 203 points for the original scale of 29 questions (SOC-29). The response alternatives are a semantic scale of 1 point to 7 points, where 1 and 7 indicate extreme feelings about questions (and statements) about how one’s life is experienced (e.g., ‘when you talk to people, do you have the feeling that they do not understand you?’ is scored from 1 = never have this feeling to 7 = always have this feeling). The original form, the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, consists of 29 items, 11 items measuring comprehensibility, 10 items measuring manageability, and 8 items measuring meaningfulness. Criticism of the SOC concept is described and discussed.Īntonovsky (1987) developed a questionnaire to measure the sense of coherence. As Antonovsky hypothesized, a wealth of research shows his scales to be reliable, valid, and cross-culturally applicable instruments. This assumption finds no support in subsequent empirical research.

Antonovsky maintained that the SOC develops until the age of 30 years, thereafter remaining relatively stable until retirement, and decreasing in old age. Recent research shows that the SOC seems to be a multidimensional construct rather than unidimensional as Antonovsky believed. Antonovsky’s scales have been used in at least 49 different languages in at least 48 different countries. A shorter version of 13 questions of the original form was developed by Antonovsky, where the score ranges between 13 and 91 points, and other scales have been developed, for example, to measure the sense of coherence at the family and community levels.

The questionnaire yields a summed score with a range from 29 to 203. The response alternatives are a semantic scale of 1 point to 7 points. Antonovsky developed the 29 item Orientation to Life Questionnaire to measure the sense of coherence, having 11 items measuring comprehensibility, 10 items measuring manageability, and 8 items measuring meaningfulness.

Coherence definition