The role of gender and negative affectivity in stressor appraisal and coping selection.

Individual differences in stress may arise from many sources. This study investigated the role of gender and negative affectivity (NA) in stressor appraisal and coping selection. Differential exposure to stressors was controlled by requiring participants to rate the stressfulness of identical hypothetical scenarios. As predicted, women rated the scenarios as more stressful than men, and perceptions of stressfulness increased with participant NA. Women endorsed the use of emotion-focused coping strategies more than men, even when perceived stressfulness was controlled. NA predicted use of both emotion- and avoidance-focused coping, although only the latter association remained significant after controlling for stressor appraisals. Gender × NA interaction effects were not significant. Implications for the prediction and management of stress are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)