PERSONALITY PREDICTORS OF COPING STRATEGIES: MEDIATION MECHANISMS IN THE HEXACO MODEL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/psych.studies/2025.4.13Keywords:
coping behavior, HEXACO, emotionality, regression analysis, mediation analysisAbstract
This study presents an analysis of personality traits in predicting primary coping strategies among young adults beginning their careers in law enforcement. Our main objective was to examine whether personality traits (HEXACO) influence various adaptive or maladaptive stress coping strategies. The research design involved a series of sequential regression and mediation analyses with multiple variables from the Brief-COPE scale, the Scale for assessing coping behavior in situations of danger, and the six-dimensional HEXACO personality model. The study sample comprised 128 young adults aged 17–19 years during the post-training camp period from several Ukrainian higher education institutions with special training conditions. Data were analyzed using JASP 0.19.5.3 and STATISTICA 13.3. The findings demonstrated that the personality trait of emotionality emerged as the most significant predictor in the regression models and directly enhanced the likelihood of employing specific types of coping-namely, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and avoidant coping strategies. Several indirect effects were identified: the personality trait of conscientiousness demonstrated a significant negative mediating effect, indicating suppression of the direct effect by indirect influences (suppression effect). The relationship between emotionality and various mediators (primarily conscientiousness) in individual models created oppositely directed indirect effects that partially or completely neutralized the direct effect. The presence of competitive mediation highlights the importance of considering multiple pathways through which personality traits influence coping strategies, as well as the need to analyze both direct and mediated effects in coping behavior research.
References
Vaillant G. E. Adaptive mental mechanisms: Their role in a positive psychology. American psychologist. 2000. № 55(1). С. 89–98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.89
Carver C. S., Scheier M. F. & Weintraub J. K. COPE inventory. Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Science. 2013. URL: https://www.midss.org/sites/default/files/cope.pdf
Carver C. S. You want to measure coping but your protocol’ too long: Consider the brief cope. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 1997. № 4(1). C. 92–100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6
Lazarus R. S., Folkman S. Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York : Springer, 1984. 445 с.
Родіна Н. В., Доценко О. Ю., Кернас А. В., Перевязко Л. П., Ворнікова Л. К. Створення шкали для дослідження копінг-поведінки у ситуаціях небезпеки. Офтальмологічний журнал. 2022. № 3 (506). С. 65–73. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31288/oftalmolzh202236573
Jonason P. K., Talbot D., Cunningham M. L., & Chonody J. Higher-order coping strategies: Who uses them and what outcomes are linked to them. Personality and Individual Differences. 2020. № 155, 109755. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109755
Gojković V., Očovaj S. B., Dostanić J. & Djurić M. P. The First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: HEXACO Profiles Affect Coping Mechanisms and Adaptability of Response. Psihologija. 2021. № 54(3). С. 285–305. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/PSI200730001G
Nei R. I. G., Rostami M. Role of honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience personality dimensions, emotion regulation and stress coping strategies in predicting the quality of life in migraine peoples. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. 2014. № 24(112). С. 67–76.
Bacon A. M., Krupić D., Caki N., Corr P. J. J. Emotional and Behavioral Responses to COVID-19: Explanations from Three Key Models of Personality. European Psychologist. 2021. № 26(4). С. 334–347. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000461
Herchenröder A. J. D., Gorzka R. J., Herzberg P. Y., Brinkmann N. Effects of avoidance in German military police resilience training. Military Psychology. 2025. № 37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2025.2525655
Крапива М. Теоретична модель долаючої поведінки цивільного населення в умовах воєнного стану. Вісник Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна. Серія «Психологія». 2025. № 78. С. 19–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2225-7756-2025-78-03
The HEXACO personality inventory – revised. A measure of the six major dimensions of personality. URL: https://hexaco.org/scaledescriptions
Яблонська Т., Верник О., Гайворонський Г. Українська адаптація опитувальника Brief-COPE. Інсайт: психологічні виміри суспільства. 2023. № 10. С. 66–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32999/2663-970X/2023-10-4
