Emotion-oriented coping strategy for reducing stress may involve:

Maintaining hope and controlling emotions

The correct answer is Option 3: Maintaining hope and controlling emotions

NCERT : "Emotion-oriented Strategy : This can involve efforts to maintain hope and to control one’s emotions; it can also involve venting feelings of anger and frustration, or deciding that nothing can be done to change things. For example, tell myself that it is not really happening to me, or worry about what I am going to do."

Let's look at why the other options are less aligned with emotion-oriented coping:

• Option 1: Suppressing stressful thoughts: While this deals with thoughts, suppression is often considered an avoidance-oriented coping strategy. It doesn't address the underlying emotions and can sometimes be counterproductive in the long run.

• Option 2: Denying the seriousness of the situation: This is also often categorized as an avoidance-oriented coping mechanism. It involves trying to escape the reality of the stressor rather than managing the emotional response.

• Option 4: Deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation: This is a task oriented strategy