OCCUPATIONAL AREA, STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES IN THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The study investigates the levels of perceived stress and coping strategies of the participants in relation to their occupation. We argue that the levels of perceived stress vary in relation to the area of occupation and that there are specific coping strategies for dealing with stress among the representatives of the different areas of occupation. The study was conducted online via the Kwiksurveys platform. The data were collected during the period of first lock down - last week of March 2020. A total number of 688 people took part in the survey. Four occupational areas were distinguished – Social work, law or politics; Education and science; Economics and business; Engineering and IT. The method used collects socio-demographic data, measures perceived stress and distinguish coping strategies. The results reveal the highest levels of perceived stress among representatives working in the area of Education and Science. They use Categorical thinking, Naïve optimism and Esoteric thinking as coping strategies significantly more often than other groups. An interesting outcome is that Emotional Coping, Behavioural coping and Superstitious thinking seem to be universal coping strategies. Possible factors underlying the stress among the representatives of the most stressed group and possible implications of the results are discussed.