Appraisals, Coping and Affective and Behavioral Reactions to Academic Stressors英文文献资料.docVIP

Psychology 2012. Vol.3, No.9, 713-721 Published Online September 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/psych) /10.4236/psych.2012.39108 Appraisals, Coping and Affective and Behavioral Reactions to Academic Stressors Hasida Ben-Zur, Moshe Zeidner University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Email: zbz@.il Received June 3 , 2012; revised July 5 , 2012; accepted August 3 , 2012 rd th rd This study, based on the cognitive model of stress (Lazarus, 1999), examined 294 Jewish and 234 Arab students’ stress appraisals, coping strategies, and emotional and behavioral reactions to academic stressors. Perceived stress was positively related to emotion/support and avoidance coping, which, in turn, were re- lated to high negative affect and risk taking. The findings suggest interventions among students to aid them to successfully adapt to academic stress. Keywords: Academic Stressor; Coping; Negative Affect; Risk Taking; Jewish/Arab Cultural Groups Introduction challenges and life tasks characteristic of late adolescence and the transition into young adulthood, and are also exposed to many normative lire events. Work, social relations, familial re- sponsibilities, hobbies, professional interests, and cultural back- grounds often place constraint on students’ degree of freedom, draining student time resources, and plunging students into within-role conflicts (e.g., academic vs work or social demands) which many may find difficult to resolve. The need to negotiate a multitude of environmental demands may severely tax and exceed the coping capacities of many, often leading to in- creased feelings of frustration and anxiety, problems of adjust- ment and to depressed student performance (Zeidner Schwar- zer, 1996). This study is theoretically grounded in the cognitive model of stress (Lazarus,