Behavior strategies in demanding life situations

The empiric-inductive approach to drafting a method for delineating behavior strategies in demanding life situations lead to the creation of a questionnaire: 16 specific situations representing 4 basic types of demanding situations (health, interpersonal relationships, employment and finances, personal crisis) and 3 strategies used in solving these (escape, searching for support, solving a problem alone). 207 university students (110 women, 97 men, mean age 21.4 yrs.) assessed, on a 6-point scale, individual possibilities of behaving in various situations. Factor analysis made it possible to extract 4 factors - behavior strategies used in demanding situations. The existence of the three expected behavior strategies was confirmed but, at the same time, the strategy - searching for support in others - revealed itself as specific for situations in the area of health and employment and for situations in the area of personal crisis and interpersonal problems.