Approaching Stress and Coping Research from a Social Cognition Perspective: A Two-Way Street

Abstract

This article explores the usefulness of work on stress and coping from a social cognition perspective. It is suggested that a synthesis of social cognition and coping could benefit both research domains. Social cognition offers various methodological techniques and theoretical constructs that could prove useful in understanding coping processes. The focus of stress and coping research on environmental demands, emotion, motivation, goal-directed behaviors, and the self could provide social cognition researchers with important questions about the functioning of individuals in a social world. Research exemplifying this synthesis is briefly discussed.