Pattern of Relationship Between Self-Construal and Coping Style in College Students

This study examined the pattern of self-construal and preferred coping styles in a group of male adolescents (n=84) enrolled in B.Tech. first year at IIT Roorkee. The participants completed self-report measures of the following variables: self-construal, coping style, and perceived control. The group level analysis of data indicated the following trends: (a) The group displayed the presence of both kinds of self-construal i.e. independent and interdependent in equal strength. (b) Resilient coping scored highest than other forms of coping. Next in order were emotional and cognitive coping strategies. The behavioral coping was lowest. The correlational analysis of data revealed several significant correlations. It was found that there was a significant positive relationship between the independent and interdependent self construal (r=.49, p<.01). The interdependent self-construal was positively associated with behavioral coping (r=.43, p<.01) and cognitive coping(r=.49, p<.01). The coping strategies yielded interesting relationships. Emotional coping was positively related to behavioral coping (r=.48, p<.01). Behavioral coping was positively related to cognitive coping (r=.64, p<.01) and resilient coping(r=.51, p<.01).