Differences in Self-Regulation of Stress Among Students Starting and Finishing Studies. The Comparison of Students of Polish and Spanish Universities

The research focused on identifying differences in the sense of self-efficacy and self-regulation of stress among 470 students from Polish and Spanish universities and on determining the differences between students starting and finishing their studies. The following tests were used in the study: General Self-Efficacy Scale, COPE Inventory and Self-Regulatory Formative Questionnaire. Statistical analysis confirmed the correctness of the 6 hypotheses. The obtained results showed that the level of self-efficacy and self-regulation and the choice of coping strategies are related to gender, nationality, age, and multiple attitudes to a stressful situation. Moreover, other confirmed hypotheses show the conclusions that self-efficacy is higher in the group of men than in the group of women. On the other hand, women have higher self-regulatory skills and are more likely than men to choose favourable stress regulation methods. In contrast, the hypotheses about cross-cultural differences show that Spanish students have better self-regulatory skills and choose adaptive coping strategies, while Polish students use non-adaptive strategies.

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