A FRAMEWORK FOR STUDYING PERSONALITY IN THE STRESS PROCESS

This article presents a framework for studying personality in the stre ss process. The framework specifies that personality may affect both e xposure and reactivity to stressful events and that both processes may explain how personality affects health and psychological outcomes. Th e framework also specifies that personality differences in reactivity may be due to differential choice of coping efforts and differential e ffectiveness of those efforts. In a 14-day daily diary study of 94 stu dents, this framework was used to analyze the links among neuroticism, daily interpersonal conflicts, coping with conflicts, and distress. R esults showed that high-neuroticism participants had greater exposure and reactivity to conflicts. Furthermore, high- and low-neuroticism pa rticipants differed both in their choice of coping efforts and in the effectiveness of those efforts, a possibility not considered in previo us models of personality in the stress process.