Abstract:
This research examined the effects of male and female students gender roles on their problem-solving appraisal and coping strategies, through quantitative and qualitative data. For quantitative data participants were 543 Rajabhat University students. The instruments used were the Gender Role inventory, the Problem Solving Inventory, and the Coping Scale. Data was analyzed using a Two-Way ANOVA design followed by post-hoc multiple comparisons with Dunnetts T3 and Scheffe test and Pearson Product Moment Correlations. The major findings were as follows: 1. Most male and female students were sex typing persons and there were more female androgynies than male androgynies. 2. Students reported moderately high levels of problem-solving abilities, problem-solving confidence and willingness to approach problem-solving situations, and had moderate levels of personal control. 3.Students used high levels of Problem-focused Coping and Seeking Social Support and used moderately low levels of Avoidance Coping. 4. Masculine, feminine, and androgynous students were not differ in their perceived problem-solving abilities, problem-solving confidence, and their usage of Problem-focused Coping, Active Coping and Planning, and Positive Reinterpretation and Growth strategies. However these 3 groups had higher perceptions of their abilities to solve problems and used more of those coping strategies than undifferentiated students. 5. Female, feminine, and androgynous students used more Seeking Social Support strategies than male, masculine, and undifferentiated students. The qualitative data was obtained through interview with 15 volunteers: masculine, feminine, and androgyny, 5 persons in each group, drawn from 543 participants of the quantitative part. The content analysis indicated that: 1) Most students had academic problems, some had financial and family problems, and a few of them had problems with friends and with opposite-sex relationships. 2) Most students had confidence in their problem-solving abilities and use Active Coping and Planning, Seeking Social Support for Instrumental Reasons and Relaxation strategies to deal with their problems. 3) Feminine and androgynous students also used Seeking Social Support for Emotional Reasons and only few students also used Not Coping strategies. 4) Most students learned from past experiences, and gained more strength and growth through adversity.