Gender differences in coping styles or just individual differences in the stress appraisal process
Authors
Carpenter, Andy
Issue Date
2013
Degree
BA (Hons) in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in coping strategies and to see if any differences were due to the appraisal process. One hundred participants from a sample of convenience using the snowball effect were surveyed over the internet on survey monkey. An additional 22 participants came from the Dublin fire brigade. Perceived stress, optimism, problem based coping, emotional based coping and maladaptive coping were measured. Women reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress, higher levels of emotional based coping and maladaptive coping. Perceived stress was found to be a strong predictor of maladaptive coping strategies and men were found to have a stronger correlation between perceived stress and maladaptive coping.