A Comparison of Alternative Models of Coping: Identifying Relationships Among Coworker Support, Workload, and Emotional Exhaustion in the Workplace

Over the past 20 years, hundreds of studies have examined the construct of coping and its role in the stressor-strain relationship. Although coping is commonly viewed as a buffer in the stressor-strain relationship, multiple alternative models—buffering and direct effects—have been proposed. This study reviews alternative models of coping and then discusses the nature of the empirical support for these models. As a means of efficiently testing the relative soundness of these models, 3 work-related variables that represent a subset of all possible coping mechanisms, stressors, and strains (coworker support, workload, and emotional exhaustion, respectively) are employed. The results suggest that coping resources tend to serve as direct deterrents of strain and, thus, are general health maintenance mechanisms independent of preexisting levels of stressors.