The interrelation of the type of coping and gender with the personality traits of individuals after the dissolution of a love relationship

• Main Authors: Arellano, Camilla Cassandra, Belen, Katherine Marie, Yusay, Karina
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Coping behavior; Sex differences; Love-hate relationships; Personality; Separation (Psychology); Interpersonal relations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/7136
• Institution: De La Salle University

The interrelations between the type of coping an individual employs and personality traits namely, (1) anxiety, (2) resiliency, (3) self-esteem, (4) optimism, and (5) restraint were investigated within the context of the dissolution of a premarital love relationship. In addition to this, gender differences among individuals employing each type of coping was examined. A 2 X 2 factorial design was used to study 74 males and 76 females, aged 20 to 25 years old, who had just experienced a dissolution of a love relationship within the past year. The participants were asked to answer four personality tests namely: (1) Filipino Self Appraisal Inventory, (2) Neuroticism Scale Questionnaire, (3) Guilfor Zimerman Temperamental Survey, (4) Resiliency Attitude Scale; and a Coping Style Inventory. These tests were arranged in different sequences to control foe sequencing effects. Results of the study indicate that there were significant main effects of the type of coping on the anxiety level (p<.03), resiliency (p<.005), self-esteem (p<.02), optimism (p<.02), and restraint (p<.002) of both male and female copers. On the other hand, there were no interaction effect (p>.05) found between the type of coping and gender on the level of anxiety, resiliency, self-esteem, optimism, and restraint. Further, approach copers were found to be less anxious, more resilient, more optimistic, more restraint, and they had higher self-esteem than avoidance copers. Furthermore, male copers in general were more anxious, less resilient, less optimistic, less restraint, and had lower self-esteem than female copers. In addition, more males were verified to be avoidance copers than females. From the results of the study, it can be inferred that there is an interrelation between the type of coping and the personality traits of the copers. There was a significant difference in the all five personality traits of the copers. There was a significant difference in the all five personality traits (anxiety, resiliency, self-esteem, optimism, and restraint) of approach and avoidance copers. However, gender differences were only evident for resiliency and self-esteem. Females apparently were more resilient and had greater self-esteem compared to the male copers. Moreover, there were no interaction effects between the type of coping and gender on all the personality traits. The findings suggest that approach coping was associated with less anxiety, more resilience, greater self-esteem, more optimism, and more restraint compared to avoidance coping. Furthermore, females were found to have more resources in coping after the dissolution of a love relationship as a result of the significant difference even for just the two personality scores.