Rigid and flexible modes of coping: Related to coping style?

This study examined dispositional and situative antecedents of vigilant and avoidant coping behavior. Seventy-two subjects were classified in coping style on the basis of their responses to the vigilance and cognitive avoidance scales of the Mainz Coping Inventory (MCI, Krohne, 1989), and alternatively, on their trait anxiety and defensiveness scores (cf. Weinberger, Schwartz, & Davidson, 1979). In a subsequent laboratory task, subjects were exposed to various conditions of predictability of an aversive event. In anticipation of an aversive loud tone, coping behavior was operationally defined as choosing to listen either to a warning channel (i.e., vigilance) or instead to music (i.e., avoidance). Probability of occurrence of a warning signal while listening to the warning channel varied across trials, being either 0%, 33%, 66%, or 100%. Subjects were exposed to each level and were informed about the respective probability in advance. In general, listening to the warning channel increased with an...