This project examined the similarities and differences of the coping process of English and Turkish adults. It focused on stress in close relationships and how individuals from these two cultures coped with it. A mixed method approach with a sequential mixed design consisting of an initial qualitative study followed by a quantitative study was applied. The qualitative study was exploratory and investigated the coping process of 10 English adults, 10 Turkish adults living in Turkey and 10 Turkish adults living in the UK through semi structured interviews. Turkish adults living in the UK were included in the study to investigate the effect of acculturation on the coping strategies of Turkish people. A grounded theory analysis was used which provided detailed information on the coping process of these groups. The results suggested that the Turkish participants used the coping strategies self expression, seeking social support, avoidance and problem solving more than the English participants. It was also found that as Turkish participants lived in UK for a while they used these coping strategies less frequently than the Turkish participants living in Turkey. Also as a result of the grounded theory analysis a model of coping patterns emerged which depicted the tendential order of successive coping strategies employed by the participants. In the quantitative study eight hypotheses about the primary appraisals and coping strategies of Turkish and English adults were formulated based on the findings of the grounded theory analysis and literature review. 300 Turkish (150 living in Turkey and 150 living in the UK) and 150 English adults completed the COPE and ALE scales. The hypotheses were tested through ANOVAs and hierarchical regression analysis. The findings of the quantitative study suggest that Turkish adults living in Turkey and the UK use active coping, planning, restraint coping, focus on and venting of emotions, and religion as coping strategies significantly more than English adults. There were also differences between the two Turkish groups. Turkish adults living in Turkey used significantly more planning, venting of emotions, seeking instrumental and emotional social support and religion than the Turkish adults living in the UK. Culture also affected the appraisal process. Turkish adults living in Turkey and UK appraised the stressful situation more as loss than the English adults. Overall the findings suggest that culture is a significant factor influencing the appraisal and coping process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:629208 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Kortantamer, Z. I. |
| Publisher | Nottingham Trent University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/291/ |
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