Factors Affecting the Use of Coping Activities in Anxiety-provoking Situations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of anxious situations, personality characteristics, and cognitions on the use of coping activities in dealing with the anxiety and to examine their effectiveness on reducing anxiety. Participants were first asked to recall the most anxious event that they had experienced and to imagine that they were actually in the same or a similar situation. They were then asked to describe the situation along with their body reactions and emotions. Participants also completed Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1968) and the cognition and coping subscales of Anxiety Questionnaire (Harrigan, 2006). Results found that individuals were more likely to engage in relaxation coping than problem-focused coping when they were worried about another?s evaluation of them in interpersonal situation. Also, individuals were more likely to engage in problem-focused coping than physical distraction coping when they were in a performance situation. In addition, coping strategies alone did not effectively reduce anxiety, but they effectively reduced anxiety when individuals with particular personality characteristics used them.