Shivi watches TV when she is stressed due to pending assignments in school. According to Endler and Parker, she is using ______ mechanism of coping.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Avoidance oriented
Endler and Parker gave three coping strategies: task-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented.
Option (1) Avoidance oriented — Correct. This strategy involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation and consciously suppressing stressful thoughts, replacing them with self-protective ones. Watching TV, phoning a friend or trying to be with other people are its examples, and Shivi turns to TV instead of facing her pending assignments.
Option (2) Emotion oriented — Incorrect. It involves efforts to maintain hope and control one’s emotions, or venting anger and frustration, or deciding that nothing can be done. Shivi does not work on her feelings; she moves her attention away from the problem.
Option (3) Task oriented — Incorrect. It involves obtaining information about the situation, deciding priorities and acting directly on it, as in scheduling one’s time better. Shivi would then be planning and finishing her assignments.
Option (4) Problem oriented — Incorrect. This is not one of Endler and Parker’s strategies. The nearest idea is problem-focused coping of Lazarus and Folkman, which acts on the problem itself, as in making a plan of action; watching TV does nothing to the problem.
NCERT (2025-26): “Coping with Stress … The three coping strategies given by Endler and Parker are: Task-oriented Strategy : This involves obtaining information about the stressful situation and about alternative courses of action and their probable outcome; it also involves deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation. For example, schedule my time better, or think about how I have solved similar problems.…” “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.…” “Avoidance-oriented Strategy : … This involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation; … Examples of this are watching TV, phone up a friend, or try to be with other people.…” “… Problem-focused strategies attack the problem itself, with behaviours designed to gain information, to alter the event, and to alter belief and commitments.…” |