It’s Tough to Cope in Rural Mali: Financial Coping Style, Mastery, Self Confidence, and Anxiety in a Bad and Worsening Socioeconomic Environment

Abstract

Concerns over a series of “differences” have been central to Leonard Pearlin’s research and thought. Throughout his career, his focus has been on the different ways in which different kinds of people deal with the different stresses that result from different types of strain (Pearlin 1989; Pearlin et al. 1981; Pearlin and Schooler 1978). A particular focal point of his research and thought has centered on the effects of different mechanisms for coping with the stresses brought on by these strains on individuals’ psychological well being (Pearlin and Schooler 1978). Early in his career, Pearlin was also the first author of the first paper (Pearlin and Kohn 1966) that specifically aimed at examining the cross-cultural validity of the hypotheses about the effects of social-structurally determined environmental conditions on individuals’ orientations and values – hypotheses based on differences in orientations and values among U.S. social strata differing in their requirements for job success (Kohn 1963).