A comparison of two approaches to the assessment of coping styles

This study examined the association of coping style classifications based on (a) dispositional vigilance (VIG) and cognitive avoidance (CAV) and (b) trait anxiety and social desirability (SD). 281 subjects (123 men, 158 women) completed questionnaires to assess these variables. By applying median splits, subjects were divided into high and low scorers on each dimension. According to both classifications, four coping style groups were operationally defined on the basis of the respective dichotomized variables. Results yielded convergent assignments of repressers (low anxiety and high SD; low VIG and high CAV, respectively), sensitizers (high anxiety and low SD; high VIG and low CAV), and low-anxious individuals (low anxiety and low SD; low VIG and low CAV), but not for individuals with high scores on both scales of each classification system. Implications of these findings concerning the conceptualization and measurement of coping styles are discussed.