Coping with Anger-Provoking Situations

Abstract

This article examines how adolescents cope with different types of anger-provoking situations. Also explored is the degree to which coping changes or remains the same across different situations. Results showed that focusing-on-the-positive coping was negatively associated with anger reactivity in the face of both affiliation and achievement stress. In addition, individuals who engaged in wishful thinking coping in dealing with angerprovoking interpersonal stressors showed exaggerated anger reactivity, whereas seeking social support was positively related to anger reactivity in the context of stressful situations that threatened achievement needs. Results supported the notion that the emotional consequences of being exposed to stressful anger provocations may be mediated by individual differences in coping, and that the adaptiveness or maladaptiveness of some coping strategies depends on contextual factors such as the nature of the stressor. Moreover, the present data also supported the conceptualization of coping as a dynamic, situation-sensitive process.