Stress and coping among students in India and Canada

In this cross-cultural study of stress and coping, students in India (n = 198) and Canada (n = 344) were compared with respect to stress, coping, and selected psychosocial variables, namely, locus of control, self-esteem, life orientation (optimism-pessimism). and social support. The two main hypotheses postulated that, compared to the Canadian students, Indian students would experience more stress and would prefer emotion-focused coping strategies for dealing with stress. It was also predicted that the Indian students would have an external locus of control, low self-esteem, pessimistic life orientation, and greater social support satisfaction. The results reveal instead that the Indian students report less stress than the Canadian students and prefer emotion-focused coping strategies. The Indian students score higher on chance control, but are similar to the Canadian students on powerful others and internal control. The Indian students are less satisfied with social support than are their Canadian counterparts.