Cultural and Gender Differences in Perceptions of Stressors and Coping Skills

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to test the universal nature of stress and coping behaviour among overseas college students in China and to provide basic information towards understanding the problems that result from stress and coping which can best be defined in cultural terms. The sample consisted of 83 students from Africa and 76 students from Western countries attending eleven universities in China. Results indicated that academic and interpersonal sources of stress were the most common stressors perceived by the two groups. High levels of pressures and challenges perceived by both African and Western student were classified as daily hassles. No group differences existed in subtotal perceptions of interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic and environmental stressors. Group variations existed only in their sub-divisional areas of stress. Minor differences in perception of stressors such as attaining lower grades, missing too many classes and working with unfamiliar people were observed between male and female students. In comparison to African students, Western students demonstrated the highest ability to cope with stress. The two groups differed on the level of most measures, with Western subjects scoring higher on all seven sub-scales. On the coping scale, they did best on `ability to relax'. Both African and Western students scored lowest on `the resourceful coping' scale. Significant differences were observed between Western and African students in four out of the seven sub-scales measured. No differences were found between men and women in their ways of coping with stress in China.