Culture, Stress, and Coping

Two studies examined internally and externally targeted control strategies in response to life stressors in European Canadians, East Asian Canadians, and Japanese. In Study 1, European Canadian, East Asian Canadian, and sojourning Japanese university students in Canada recalled a stressful life event and reported their coping strategies. Respondents also reported current and retrospective self-evaluations that allowed assessment of perceived self-changes over time. Study 2 included East Asian Canadian and European Canadian university students in Canada and Japanese university students in Japan. Both studies revealed that several types of internally targeted control strategies were more prevalent among East Asian participants but that a particular type of internally targeted control strategy, self-enhancing interpretive control, was more prevalent among people with Western English-speaking backgrounds.