Dimensions of Personality and Preferred Ways of Coping: An Empirical Enquiry among Rural Anglican Clergy

Abstract

The present study was designed to test the thesis that preferred ways of coping assessed by the Ways of Coping (Revised) Checklist are related to two major dimensions of personality proposed by Eysenck, extraversion and neuroticism. Data provided by 613 Anglican clergy serving in rural ministry in England demonstrated that: two ways of coping were significantly correlated with both extraversion and neuroticism (escape-avoidance, and self-controlling); two ways of coping were significantly correlated with neuroticism (accepting responsibility, and confronting); three ways of coping were significantly correlated with extraversion (planful problem solving, seeking social support, and positive reappraisal); and one way of coping was independent of both neuroticism and extraversion (distancing). The implications of these findings are discussed for three fields: the connection between personality and ways of coping; the construct validity of the measures proposed by the Ways of Coping (Revised) Checklist; and the role of personality in predicting and interpreting individual differences in clergy behaviours and work-related psychological health.