Personality and coping: three generations of research

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Stress and Coping Studies

Background:

• The study of coping has evolved through distinct theoretical generations.
• Early theories (psychoanalytic, ego development) often conflated personality and coping.
• The transactional approach (1960s) emphasized situational and cognitive factors, minimizing individual differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a special issue on coping and personality.
• To provide a historical overview of coping research.
• To highlight the focus of the "third generation" of research on personality's role in coping.

Main Methods:

• Historical review of psychological theories and research on coping.
• Identification of three distinct generations of coping research.
• Introduction to contemporary research presented in the special issue.

Main Results:

• Coping research has progressed from equating personality with coping strategies to emphasizing situational influences, and finally to a nuanced understanding of personality's role.
• The "third generation" maintains clear distinctions between coping, personality, appraisal, and outcomes.
• Unresolved conceptual and methodological issues remain in the field.

Conclusions:

• The "third generation" of coping research integrates personality factors with an understanding of coping processes.
• Further research is needed to address conceptual and methodological challenges in studying coping and personality.
• This special issue showcases current advancements in understanding the interplay between personality and coping.