The current study sought to determine if program type along with gender could predict the type of coping styles students are more likely to use. Secondly, it endeavored to uncover whether a college student’s gender and program type might affect their locus of control and the amount of perceived stress reported. It was hypothesized that female students in Human Service programs would exhibit the most adaptive coping styles, while males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs utilize the most maladaptive coping styles. Moreover, it was postulated that females in Human Service programs would report a more internalized locus of control while males in STEM programs would report a more external locus of control. Additionally, it was believed that females in Human Service programs would report less perceived stress than males in STEM programs. 122 students from Stephen F. Austin State University participated in the study. Participants completed a demographics survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, Brief COPE, and Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale by way of Qualtrics.com. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted, and the final results indicated that there is not a significant effect of gender and program type on the amount of perceived stress, reported coping style, and locus of control. There was a reported significant effect of gender on each of the dependent variables.
","abstract_html":"<p>The current study sought to determine if program type along with gender could predict the type of coping styles students are more likely to use. Secondly, it endeavored to uncover whether a college student’s gender and program type might affect their locus of control and the amount of perceived stress reported. It was hypothesized that female students in Human Service programs would exhibit the most adaptive coping styles, while males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs utilize the most maladaptive coping styles. Moreover, it was postulated that females in Human Service programs would report a more internalized locus of control while males in STEM programs would report a more external locus of control. Additionally, it was believed that females in Human Service programs would report less perceived stress than males in STEM programs. 122 students from Stephen F. Austin State University participated in the study. Participants completed a demographics survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, Brief COPE, and Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale by way of Qualtrics.com. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted, and the final results indicated that there is not a significant effect of gender and program type on the amount of perceived stress, reported coping style, and locus of control. There was a reported significant effect of gender on each of the dependent variables.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lowe, Dawn M"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - School Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Human Services","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Nina Ellis-Hervey, Ph.D.","Frankie Clark, Ph.D.","Luis E. Aguerrevere, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-05-09T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-05-09T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z","subjects":["School Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/324","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Nina Ellis-Hervey, Ph.D.","Frankie Clark, Ph.D.","Luis E. Aguerrevere, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lowe, Dawn M"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-07-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Services"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/324"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The current study sought to determine if program type along with gender could predict the type of coping styles students are more likely to use. Secondly, it endeavored to uncover whether a college student’s gender and program type might affect their locus of control and the amount of perceived stress reported. It was hypothesized that female students in Human Service programs would exhibit the most adaptive coping styles, while males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs utilize the most maladaptive coping styles. Moreover, it was postulated that females in Human Service programs would report a more internalized locus of control while males in STEM programs would report a more external locus of control. Additionally, it was believed that females in Human Service programs would report less perceived stress than males in STEM programs. 122 students from Stephen F. Austin State University participated in the study. Participants completed a demographics survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, Brief COPE, and Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale by way of Qualtrics.com. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted, and the final results indicated that there is not a significant effect of gender and program type on the amount of perceived stress, reported coping style, and locus of control. There was a reported significant effect of gender on each of the dependent variables.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Differences in Perceived Stress, Locus of Control, and Coping Styles Used by Male and Female STEM and Human Service Majors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Nina Ellis-Hervey, Ph.D.","Frankie Clark, Ph.D.","Luis E. Aguerrevere, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Lowe, Dawn M"],"dc:date.available":["2018-07-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The current study sought to determine if program type along with gender could predict the type of coping styles students are more likely to use. Secondly, it endeavored to uncover whether a college student’s gender and program type might affect their locus of control and the amount of perceived stress reported. It was hypothesized that female students in Human Service programs would exhibit the most adaptive coping styles, while males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs utilize the most maladaptive coping styles. Moreover, it was postulated that females in Human Service programs would report a more internalized locus of control while males in STEM programs would report a more external locus of control. Additionally, it was believed that females in Human Service programs would report less perceived stress than males in STEM programs. 122 students from Stephen F. Austin State University participated in the study. Participants completed a demographics survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, Brief COPE, and Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale by way of Qualtrics.com. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted, and the final results indicated that there is not a significant effect of gender and program type on the amount of perceived stress, reported coping style, and locus of control. There was a reported significant effect of gender on each of the dependent variables.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/324"],"dc:subject":["School Psychology"],"dc:title":["Differences in Perceived Stress, Locus of Control, and Coping Styles Used by Male and Female STEM and Human Service Majors"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Services"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z"}