Culture, individual differences, and situation: influence on coping in French and Chinese table tennis players

Sylvain Laborde (1, 2) , Min You (3) , Fabrice Dosseville (2) , Agnès Salinas (3)

1 German Sport University Cologne [Germany]
2 CesamS - Centre d'étude sport et actions motrices
3 CERREV - Centre d'étude et de recherche sur les risques et les vulnérabilités

The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of culture, individual differences (i.e. trait emotional intelligence), and given situations on coping behaviours. The trait emotional intelligence of table tennis players (French, n=58; Chinese, n=53) was evaluated using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, while their use of coping strategies [task-oriented coping (TOC) and disengagement-oriented coping (DOC)] was assessed according to three stressful situations. There was a main effect of culture (η2 p = 0.28, P<0.001 for TOC and η2 p = 0.25, P<0.001 for DOC), trait emotional intelligence (η2 p = 0.05, P<0.001 for TOC and η2 p = 0.04, P<0.001 for DOC), and situation (η2 p = 0.06, P<0.001 for DOC) on coping. From a theoretical and applied point of view, our results indicate the need to take account of these three to understand and provide appropriate support for coping.

Keywords: Sport; Culture; Coping; Emotional intelligence; Situation

Domains: Cognitive science; Psychology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Linguistics

Sylvain Laborde, Min You, Fabrice Dosseville, Agnès Salinas. Culture, individual differences, and situation: influence on coping in French and Chinese table tennis players. European Journal of Sport Science, 2012, 12 (3), pp.255-261. ⟨10.1080/17461391.2011.566367⟩. ⟨hal-01943506⟩