Investigation of the cognitive process in selection of stress coping behavior

The purpose of this study was to explore the cognitive process in selection of stress coping behavior. Subjects were 182 undergraduate students, who were asked to answer the questionnaire about their own stress experience and coping behavior. Factor analysis showed that the cognitive process in selection of coping behavior included four factors: "Expectation of positive outcome", "Expectation of emotion regulation", "Selection of habitual coping", "Selection in the elimination". Regression analysis showed that the score of "Expectation of positive outcome" was negatively correlated with stress response, the score of "Selection in the elimination" was positively correlated with stress response. Furthermore, interaction between the individual differences of cognitive process and coping behavior was found. People who engaged in emotion-focused coping style with elimination thinking felt more stressful than the others.