Coping with Occupational Problems: The Limits of Individual Efforts

Abstract

This analysis considers the effectiveness of four occupational coping efforts: direct action, optimistic comparisons, selective ignoring, and restricted expectations. Two criteria for effectiveness are considered: reduction in occupational distress, and reduction in later occupational problems. Data are drawn from two waves of interviews with a large metropolitan sample. Effectiveness is assessed net of age, gender, socioeconomic status, type, of employment, marital status, number of children, and initial level of difficulty. Lesser efforts to restrict expectations and greater use of optimistic comparisons were associated with lower concurrent occupational distress. as well as with reductions in distress over time. However, none of the coping efforts directly affected later occupational problems; rather, the initial level of difficulty, and characteristics of one's work life-full-time versus part-time, occupational prestige, and income level-were the key influences on later problem levels. When these findings are linked to earlier studies of coping effectiveness for marital and parental problems, they suggest that optimistic comparisons and avoidance of resigned, impotent stances are generally beneficial stances. The findings are also considered in light of recent discussions of social status and emotional distress, and it is concluded that neither lower social status nor female gender is consistently associated with less adaptive coping efforts.