The research was designed to investigate the moderating effect of some personality traits on subjective distress caused by daily hassles. The traits were internal locus of control, repression, ego strength, and barrier (as studied and defined by S. Fisher). The last two variables were negatively correlated both with the somatic and emotional distress indications and with the frequency of hassles reportED; internal locus of control showed an inverse relationship only with frequency of hassles. The hypothesis is formulated that ego strength and barrier are personality factors influencing not only the outcomes of coping (ie the stress response), but also event appraisal.
The moderation exerted by two personality variables on objective signs of distress, represented by S‐IgA concentrations, was investigated; the stressors analysed were daily hassles and the personality variables were ‘barrier’ (B, as studied and defined by S. Fisher) and ‘repression’ (R, the defence mechanism as measured by the Welsh's MMPI‐R scale). The results show: (1) that the effect of daily hassles on S‐IgA concentrations was very clear and significant; and (2) that this stress response was substantially moderated by the R mechanism, while the B variable exercised no moderation. In a previous research on the relationship between daily hassles and subjective indications of distress, both somatic and emotional, the reverse action by the two personality factors was observed (Stress Med. 1992, 8, 161–165). Some data are presented in order to achieve an interpretation of these opposite results.
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