Coping Behaviour Patterns Among Different Psychological Types Under Conditions of Uncertainty

Abstract

Prolonged uncertainty that is caused by socio-political turmoil, places high adaptation demands on individuals. This study examined how personality psychological types (character accentuations) relate to preferred coping strategies under conditions of prolonged uncertainty. An empirical study was conducted on 57 university students (ages 18–45) using the Character Accentuation Questionnaire by K. Leonhard (H. Schmieschek adaptation), the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI), and S. Norman’s Coping Inventory. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were used to identify relationship between personality traits, accentuation types, and coping strategies. Results show that the most prominent accentuation types in the sample were Emotive, Exalted, Excitable, and Cyclothymic, indicating high emotional reactivity. Overall, 63% of participants primarily used problem-focused (active) coping, 26% used emotion-focused coping, and 7% relied on avoidance strategies. Significant correlation has been found between personality traits and coping: for example, extraversion and openness were associated with greater use of adaptive, problem-focused coping, whereas depressiveness and emotional lability were associated with emotion-focused or avoidant coping. These findings suggest distinct coping behavior patterns for different psychological types under uncertainty. Individuals with high emotional reactivity (e.g. emotive and exalted types) tended to employ more emotion-oriented coping, while more stable and energetic types (e.g. hyperthymic) favored problem-solving strategies. The study’s outcomes contribute to understanding how personality influences stress responses in uncertain contexts and highlight the need for psychological type-tailored interventions to foster adaptive coping and resilience.

Keywords: Coping Strategy, Personality Type, Character Accentuation, Uncertainty, Stress, Emotion-focused Coping, Problem-focused Coping

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007391