COPING AND CULTURE - A RESEARCH NOTE ON DIAZ-GUERREROS THEORY

Diaz-Guerrero hypothesized in 1967 that Anglo-Americans differed from Mexicans along a dimension of active versus passive coping styles. Spe cifically, he thought Anglo-Americans preferred to engage in other-mod ifications (active coping) whereas Mexicans preferred to engage in sel f-modifications (passive coping) in response to stressful events. In a test of Diaz-Guerrero's proposal the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced was given to 108 Anglo- and Hispanic-American female inmat es; no differences between the groups were found on measures of active and passive coping. The Hispanic group did not differ on active or pa ssive coping as a function of measured acculturation; however, for bot h groups, education and active coping mildly correlated, suggesting th at socioeconomic status may be more related to active coping than cult ure.