THE INFLUENCE OF ENDORSED IMPLICIT THEORIES ON THE EMOTIONAL QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS WITH HEARTH DISEASE

The article highlights the problem of the influence of endorsed implicit theories on the emotional quality of life and on the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation of patients with ischemic heart disease being immediately after myocardial infraction and those being after a long cardiac rehabilitation. Numerous studies indicate that entity theorists (people who believe in fixed traits) are more emotionally vulnerable, anxious, less psychologically resistant and exhibit stronger tendency to encounter negative emotions than incremental theorists (people who believe in malleable traits) do. It was predicted that entity theorists would display stronger negative feelings after experiencing myocardial infraction and they would be more reluctant to rehabilitation treatment.Two groups of heart disease patients participated in the study. The first group consisted of patients immediately after cardiac infract, being at the beginning of the cardiac rehabilitation (N = 26; 15 incremental theorists, 10 entity theorists) and the second group - patients about 20 months after cardiac infract, having attended in approximately 6-month cardiac rehabilitation.The results indicate that implicit theories play an important role in the quality of life assessment of cardiac patients only after rehabilitation treatment. The level of anxiety, depression and tension decreased, mood improved, self-image and self-esteem enhanced and the level of achievement motivation increased but only among incremental theorists who have attended a long-term rehabilitation in comparison to entity theorists whose psychological indicators of quality of life did not alter in the group before and after the cardiac rehabilitation.