Cross-Cultural Study of Coping Behavior Patterns in the University Youth

The purpose of this cross-cultural study was to examine characteristics of coping strategies in the samples of Egyptian Muslims(N=147); Egyptian Christians(N=68),and Ukrainian Christians(N=109). The study determined a weighted impact of ethnic and religious components of subject's identity on the coping behavior displayed in a stressful academic environment. Specific differences in coping strategies were identified in Egyptian Muslims, Egyptian Christians, and Ukrainian Christians. The empirical data were obtained using the ‘SACS'and ‘COPE'questionnaires. It was found out that the ethnic identity factor played a more significant role in predicting coping behavior of individuals of different ethnic-religious identities. In a particular stressful situation, a specific hierarchical coping pattern developed correlating with a person's ethnic identity and relying on a set of certain coping adaptive processes and coping families. Ambiguity of categorization of Ukrainian Christians and Egyptian Christians into an individualistic culture was emphasized