Thesis For Tourism Students

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Iloilo City
Stress and Coping Mechanisms of Tourism Students

of West Visayas State University
An Undergraduate Thesis Presented to the

Faculty of the College of Business and Management
West Visayas State University
Iloilo City
In Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirement for the Degree
Bachelor of Tourism Science and Business Management
by:
Kaycee Ruby K. Genterola
Christopher Job Aranda
February 2016

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Introduction of the Study
Chapter 1 is divided into five parts: (1) Background and Theoretical

Framework of the Study, (2) Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses,
(3) Significance of the Study, (4) Definition of Terms, and (5) Delimitation of
the Study.
Part One, Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study,
presents the reasons for choosing the problem and the theoretical framework
upon which the study was anchored.
Part Two, Statement of the Problem and the Hypothesis, identifies the
main and specific problems that the research hoped to answer as well as the
hypothesis tested.
Part Three, Significance of the Study, cites the benefits that may be
derived from the results of the investigation.
Part Four, Definition of Terms, gives the conceptual and operational
meanings of the important terms used in the study.
Part Five, Delimitation of the Study, specifies the scope and coverage
of the study.

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Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study
Education is one of the most important aspects of human resource

development. Poor school performance not only results in having a low selfesteem, but also causes negative behaviours among students. There are
many reasons for students to underperform at school and one of these is
stress.
Stress has become an important topic in academic circle as well as in
our society. Many scholars in the field of behavioural science have carried out
extensive research on stress and its outcomes and concluded that the topic
needed more attention (Rees and Redfern, 2000; Ellison, 2004; Ongori and Ag
olla, 2008; Agolla, 2009). Stress in academic institutions can have both
positive and negative consequences if not well managed (Smith, 2002; Tweed
et al., 2004; Steven son and Harper, 2006). Academic institutions have
different work settings compared to non-academic and therefore one would
expect the difference in symptoms, causes, and consequences of stress in the
two set up (Elfering et al. , 2005; Chang and Lu, 2007). It is important to the
society that students should learn and acquire the necessary knowledge and
skills that will in turn make them contribute positively to the development of

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the general economy of any nation. However, the intricate academic

environment sometimes poses great medical problems to the students' lives
(Danna and Griffin, 1999; Dyck, 2001; Grawitch et al.,
2007; Ongori, 2008) that tend to negate the positive gains that one
would expect after completion of University.
A disturbing trend in college student health is the reported increase in
student stress nationwide. Stressors affecting students can be as academic,
financial, time or health related, and self-imposed stress (Goodman, 1993;
LeRoy, 1988). Academic stressors include the student's perception of the
extensive knowledge base required and the perception of an inadequate time
to develop it (Carveth, et al. 1996). Students report experiencing academic
stress at predictable times each semester with the greatest sources of
academic stress resulting from taking and studying for exams, grade
competition, and the large amount of content to master in a small amount of
time (Abouserie, 1994; Archer & Lamnin, 1985; Britton & Tesser, 1991; Kohn
& Frazer, 1986).
It is important for the university to maintain well-balanced academic
environment conducive for better learning, with the focus on the students'
personal needs. Students' expectations vary with respect to personality and
their backgrounds which influences on how one perceive the environment
around him/her. Students at the university have different expectations, goals,
and values that they want to fulfil at the university, which is only possible if

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the students' expectations, goals, and values are integrated with that of the
university (Goodman, 1993) .
The future of any nation lies heavily on the young people since they
are the tomorrow's leaders; therefore, it is important to identify the different
stressors and the coping mechanisms of these students. This will help the
university administrators to come up with the best
strategies to enable the students to cope up with these stressors while
pursuing their academic careers. The negative effect of stress on students is
likely to pose challenge to the individual students, their colleagues, and the
institution as a whole.
With this concern, the researcher is interested to identify the different
stressors and coping mechanisms of fellow tourism students.
Figure 1. shows the conceptual framework of the study.
Dependent Variable
Independent
Variable
Personal Details
Gender
Stressors
Year Level
Stress Coping Mechanisms
Figure 2. Stressors and Stress Coping Mechanisms of Tourism Students
No. Of
Siblings
as influence
by their personal factors.
Annual
Family
Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis

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This study aims to determine the stress coping mechanisms of tourism

students of West Visayas State University.
Specifically this study seeks to answer to the following question:

1. What are the stress coping mechanisms of tourism students when
taken as an entire group?
2. What are the dominant stressors among tourism students when
taken as an entire group?
3. Are the differences in the stress coping mechanisms of the students
when classified as an entire group?
4. Are there significant significant differences in the academic
5.
stressors of the students when classified as an entire group?

Is there significant relationship between the stressors and coping
mechanisms of tourism students when classified as an entire group.
In view of the problems stated, the following hypotheses was

formulated
1.There are no significant differences on the stress and coping

mechanisms of the tourism students of West Visayas State University,
classified according to a) gender, b) year level, c) number of siblings in
the family, and d) family income.

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Significance of the Study
The results of this study may be beneficial to the following:

Curriculum Planners. The findings will help them properly plan the
offering of the different subjects that will not become stressors to students.
Future Researchers. Results will be useful for them in the course of
their future studies on the same issues utilizing other variables.
Guidance Counselors. The results will serve as baseline data to
institute and facilitate improved services and provide supportive environment
to students needing guidance.
Parents. This study will provide in-depth information to parents that
will help them provide supportive home environment that will be helpful in
improving academic performance of these students.
School Administrators. By knowing the different stressors of these
students, they will be prepared to provide a well-balanced academic
environment conducive for better learning, with the focus on the students'
personal needs.
Tourism Students. The findings will provide students proper awareness

on the different stressors they are facing. This will also inform them how they
could be able to cope with the stress.

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Future researchers. This study would be beneficial as this would serve

as a basis for their own study and provide useful information that they may
use.
Definition of Terms
For a reason of clarity and precision, the following terms used in this
study were given their conceptual and operational meanings:
Coping Mechanisms- Coping has been defined in psychological terms
by Susan Folkman and Richard Lazarus (1990) as 'constantly changing
cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal
demands that are appraised as taxing. Coping is thus expending conscious
effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master,
minimize or tolerate stress or conflict.
In this study coping mechanisms are cognitive and behavioral efforts
done by BS Tourism students to manage stress in their lives as students. The
coping mechanisms used are either of the following
(http://changingminds.org, September, 2011):adaptive, attack, avoidance
behavioural, conversion and defence.
Stress (psychology)- is an unpleasant state of emotional and
physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive

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as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. The word stress means

different things to different people.
Stressors - are circumstances that cause stress and vary in severity
and duration. In this study stressors are situations or circumstances that
cause stress among BS Tourism students and are classified as interpersonal,
intrapersonal, academic and environmental stressors.
Tourism defined as the practice of travelling for pleasure
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tourism, 2011).
In this study, tourism is operationally defined as a four year degree
course.
Students defined as one who is enrolled or attends class at a school,
college or university (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/student, 2011).
In this study, students are operationally defined as the participants of
the study, studying at West Visayas State University, College Of Business and
Management taking up Bachelor of Tourism.
Delimitation of the Study
This study will cover students enrolled in the Bachelor of Tourism at
West Visayas State University, Iloilo city this academic year 2011-2012.
The independent variables will be the different sources of stress called
stressors present among students. The different stressors as identified will be

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interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic and environmental. The dependent

variable will be the coping mechanisms such as: Adaptive, Attack,
Avoidance, Behavioral, Conversion, and Defense.
The study will use the survey and correlation techniques of the
descriptive method of research. The primary instrument to be used in
gathering the data needed will be the questionnaire. The questionnaire will
have three (3) parts.
Part I will be questions for the personal characteristics of tourism
students in terms of gender, year level, number of siblings in the family,
sibling rank, occupation of parents, and family income. Part II will be
questions identifying the level of stress. Part III will be questions identifying
the different coping mechanisms of students such as: Defense Mechanism,
Avoidance Mechanism, Behavioral Mechanism, Adaptive Mechanism,
Avoidance Mechanism, Cognitive Mechanism

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CHAPTER 2
Review of Related Literature
This chapter deals with the review of literature related to the present
study. This is divided into six parts: (1) Conceptual Literature, (2) Definition of
Stress, (3) Sources of Stress, (4) Coping Mechanisms of Stress, and (5)
Summary.
Conceptual Literature
Stress (psychology), is an unpleasant state of emotional and
physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive
as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. The word stress means
different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or
situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions
such as anxiety and anger. Others view stress as the response to these
situations. This response includes physiological changessuch as increased
heart rate and muscle tensionas well as emotional and behavioral changes.

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However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving a persons

interpretation and response to a threatening event.
The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in
severity and duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick
parent may be an ongoing source of major stress, whereas getting stuck in a
traffic jam may cause mild, short-term stress. Some events, such as the
death of a loved one, are stressful for everyone. But in other situations,
individuals may respond differently to the same eventwhat is a stressor for
one person may not be stressful for another. For example, a student who is
unprepared for a chemistry test and anticipates a bad grade may feel stress,
whereas a classmate who studies in advance may feel confident of a good
grade. For an event or situation to be a stressor for a particular individual, the
person must appraise the situation as threatening and lack the coping
resources to deal with it effectively.
Students experience stress due to the physical, mental, social and

emotional demands placed on them on a daily basis. While others are under a
constant state of stress, students can face particularly difficult daily episodes
of stress in relation to the unique environment of the school setting. Students
who have a basic knowledge of stress and effective stress coping

Iloilo City
mechanisms will ultimately be better suited to handle the demands of the

academic environment.
Coping with stress means using thoughts and actions to deal with
stressful situations and lower our stress levels. Many people have a
characteristic way of coping with stress based on their personality. People
who cope well with stress tend to believe
they can personally influence what happens to them. They usually make
more positive statements about themselves, resist frustration, remain
optimistic, and persevere even under extremely adverse circumstances. Most
importantly, they choose the appropriate strategies to cope with the stressors
they confront. Conversely, people who cope poorly with stress tend to have
somewhat opposite personality characteristics, such as lower self-esteem and
a pessimistic outlook on life.
Then stress coping mechanisms of BS Tourism students are influenced

by the different stressors. These stressors may likewise be influenced by their
personal characteristics.
Stress

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There are several theoretical positions devised for examining and

understanding stress and stress-related disorders. Brantley and Thomason
(1995) categorized them into three groups: response theories, stimulus
theories, and interaction (or transaction) theories.
According to Selye (1956), the stress response of the organism

represented a common set of generalized physiological responses that were
experienced by all organisms exposed to a variety of environmental
challenges like temperature change or exposure to noise. From his
perspective, the stress response was nonspecific; that is, the type of stressor
experienced did not affect the pattern of response. In other words, a wide
variety of stressors elicited an identical or general stress response. He termed
this nonspecific response the General Adaptation Syndrome, which consisted
of three stages: Alarm Reaction, Resistance, and Exhaustion.
Selye reasoned that the first stage, Alarm Reaction, involved the
classic fight-flight response described above. As a result, the bodys
physiological system dropped below optimal functioning. As the body
attempted to compensate for the physiological reactions observed in the

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Alarm Reaction stage, the organism entered the Resistance stage.

Physiological compensatory systems began working at peak capacity to resist
the challenges the entire system was confronting, and according to Selye,
actually raised the bodys resistance to stress above homeostatic levels.
However, because this response consumed so much energy, a body

could not sustain it forever. Once energy had been depleted, the organism
entered the stage of Exhaustion. In this stage, resistance to environmental
stressors broke down and the body became susceptible to tissue damage and
perhaps even death. In Selyes terminology, the Alarm Reaction Stage was
comparable to the acute stress response described above and the Exhaustion
Stage was comparable to a chronic stress response.
Researchers (Vermunt and Steensman, 2005; Topper, 2007; Ussery,
2007; Malach-Pines and Keinan, 2007) have defined stress as the perception
of discrepancy between environmental demands (stressors) and individual
capacities to fulfil these demands. While researcher (Campbell, 2006) defines
stress as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other
types of demands placed on them. Stress occurs when an individual is
confronted by a situation that they perceive as overwhelming and cannot
cope up with.

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Sources of Stress
Interpersonal
Stress is often the by-product of conflicts amongst peers, family or
colleagues. Such types of conflicts are referred to as interpersonal conflicts.
These types of conflicts take away the cohesiveness that would be otherwise
seen in a group situation and thus, cause stress amongst the members of the
group.
This type of a conflict is seen in almost every setting, be it home, work

or even a place as casual as a leisure club or cafeteria! However, the extent
to which the stress is felt depends upon the role played by each participant.
Thus, this conflict can be invoked on one way or two way lines.
For example, person A may feel a sense of conflict with person B, but
person B may not even be aware of it. In another situation, both A and B may
feel the conflict.
Thus, stress may be felt depending upon how active a person is in the state
of conflict. Usually, the person who holds grudges feels a lot of stress and so
does the person against whom the grudges are held.

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The extent of this feeling of stress also depends upon how involved a
person really is. However, if a conflict is one-way, it might result in a state of
stress for the person against whom a conflict is felt.
Such type of stress would then be called as 'perceived stress'. It is

imperative that the cause of conflict be removed in order to do away with
interpersonal conflict. The immediate consequence would be that the levels
of stress would reduce manifold.
The resolution of such a conflict starts with the step called 'originate'. It refers
to a process in which each person makes a mention of the other person's
problem behavior. However, what one person may perceive as a problem will
not be a cause for worry for another one (Jones, 2009).
The findings on the influence of gender on students' reported levels of

stress is inconsistent with that of Misra and McKean (2000) and Taylor and
Owusu-Banahene (2007).
Misra and Mckean found that although women are able to manage
their time more effectively than men, they express high stress and anxiety in
academic environment than males. Taylor and OwusuBanahene further gave
some plausible reasons to explain these differences as: women are more
concerned about their living and sleeping environment; they are often

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saddled with domestic activities in their halls of residence, for example

cooking and washing; and they often attend to family and marital demands at
home. However, among the part-time female students, these reasons do not
largely apply to them because most of them do not stay on campus.
Rather, both male and female students on the part-time programme are
faced with similar stressors on the programme, for example, changes in sleep
and eating habit, having to combine job, schooling and family life, and having
to worry about their academic performance and the financial demands that
the programme places on them. A comparison of the mean score for the
stress level reported by the students shows that although female students
reported a higher level of stress than male students, this difference was
statistically insignificant (http://periodicals.faqs.org /201003)
Intrapersonal
Stress among part-time (working) students has, in recent times, caught
the attention of educational researchers. Studies have found that college
students holding jobs experience more stress than those without a job. The
purpose of this study was, therefore, to identify the sources and levels of
stress among part-time students among part-time business students in a
Ghanaian university. A total of 300 part-time business students were selected
for this study. The Student Stress Survey Scale and the Overload Assessment
Test were adopted and adapted as the main instrument for the study. It was

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found that "change in sleeping habits", "change in eating habit" and

"combining job and schooling" were the three most common sources of stress
reported by the students. Again, the students are reported that they
perceived the part-time programme to be stressful. The researchers
recommend, among others, that part-time (working) students should reduce
their social commitments and engagements in other areas of life in order to
concentrate more on their jobs and schooling (http://periodicals.faqs.org /
201003).
Academic Stress
Academic stress among students have long been researched on, and
researchers have identified stressors as too many assignments, competition
with other students, failures, lack of pocket money (Fairbrother and Warn,
2003), poor relationships with other students or lecturers, family or problems
at home. Institutional (university) level stressors are overcrowded lecture

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halls, (Ongori, 2007; Awino and Ag olla, 2008), semester system, and
inadequate resources to perform academic work.
Erkutlu and Chafra (2006) for instance opines that, when these events
take place, an individual becomes disorganised, disoriented and therefore
less able to cope up, thus resulting in stress related health problems. The
pressure to perform well in the examination or test and time allocated makes
academic environment very stressful (Erkutlu and Chafra, 2006;
Polychronopoulou and Divaris, 2005; Misra and Mc Kean, 2000). This is likely
to affect the social relations both within the University and outside
(Fairbrother and Warn, 2004) since there is conflict with the social aspect of
ones life. This not the only affect the social relations within or outside the
University, but this goes to affect the individual person's life in terms of
commitment to achieving
the goals.
Knowing the causes of students stress will make the University

administrator know how to monitor and control the stress factors that are
responsible for the students stress. scholars (Ornelas and Kleiner, 2003;
Jaramillo et al. , 2004; Verment and Steesma, 2005; Ongori, 2007; Topper,
2007; Ongori and Agolla, 2008; Agolla, 2009) for instance identified the
symptoms and the causes of stress in work environments as sitting for a long
period of time, poor work performance, poor interpersonal relationship,
inadequate or lack of resources, inadequate time to perform particular

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assignments, poor working conditions, overcrowded work stations, excessive

paperwork, and many others.
Whereas these factors have been found to be responsible for stress, it
is worth noting that in order to minimise the stress among students, the
University administrators must develop appropriate strategies that will
enable them to detect in advance the symptoms and causes of the stress.
Researchers (Malach-Pines and Keinan, 2007; Ongori, 2007; Ongori and
Agolla, 2008; Agolla, 2009) have long identified stress symptoms as lack of
energy, taking over the counter medication, high blood pressure, feeling
depresssed, increase in appetite, trouble concentrating, restlessness,
tensions and anxiety among others. An individual experiencing one of these
factors is likely to be a victim of stress. Although this may also depend on
how the individual appraises the situation, and how resilient is the person.
While the negative effects of stress on an individual may vary considerably
from one student based on their previous encounter with situations and the
resilient of the individual student. In their findings (Jaramillo et al. , 2005;
Stevenson and Harper, 2006) point out that, the perception of the individual
determines whether or not the stressor has a detrimental effect; that is
whether it causes physical or psychological symptoms of stress in the
individual. Earlier study by Siegrist (1998) also indicated a close link between
high amounts of occupational stress and ill health. This means that
deterioration in health of the individual is likely to affect the individual

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performance. In a higher learning institution such as University (Smith et al.,

2000) where the demand placed on students is based on deadlines and
pressure for excelling in tests or examination, students are likely to be the
victims of stress. Our argument is that, students stress has not gained much
attention since most scholars were preoccupied with the conventional work
related stress as opposed to academic students stress. Institutions worldwide
have not taken serious steps to find out the health of students, this could be
attributed to the fact that students who stay at the university is based on
short period, and therefore their stress have little direct impact on the
activities or operations of the institution. Another reason why little have been
done on students stress could be due to the fact that students' presence in
the institution have no direct relationship to the quality of education they get.
We argue that, unless the university put appropriate measures that take care
of well being of the students, the student's health may compromise the
quality of education they are supposed to get (Daniels and Harris, 2000;
Smith et al. , 2000; Finlayson, 2003).
Environmental Stress
The outcome associated with stress such as suicide, violence, and drug
abuse among others have been witnessed in the institution often, and are
worth paying attention to. Stress poses a great threat to quality of life for

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students (Danna and Griffin, 1999; Dyck, 2001). Students interact amongst
themselves as well as with their lecturers, therefore unduly stressed and
unhappy students will reflect this in the process of the engagement that may
result in conflict (Ongori, 2007; Awino and Ag olla, 2008) .
It has been found that one traditional manifestation of increased stress

among college stress is a corresponding drop in grade-point average
(Schroeder, 2002). Cochran (2001) also identified some of the effects of
stress among students with jobs as depression, suicide, substance abuse and
eating disorders. Snelgar (1990) summarized the literature on effects on
stress by stating that stress has been related to physical and mental, health,
coronary heart disease, absenteeism and the value of work.
Coping Mechanisms of Stress
Adaptive Mechanisms. People cope with difficulties in various ways,

where many of them negative and uncomfortable as one try to repel or hide
from uncomfortable feelings. Sometimes people manage to act in more
positive and helpful ways. Some of these mechanisms are
(http://changingminds.org, September, 2011):
Compartmentalization: separating conflicting thoughts into separated

compartments.

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Compensation: Over-doing one thing to compensate for another

weakness.
Displacement: shifting of intended action to a safer target.
Idealization: playing up the good points and ignoring limitations of

things desired.
Identification: copying others to take on their characteristics.
Intellectualization: avoiding emotion by focusing on facts and logic.
Performing rituals: Getting time to think.
Post-traumatic growth: Using the energy of trauma for good.
Sublimation: Channel psychic energy into acceptable activities.
Substitution: Replacing bad things with good things.
Undoing: actions that psychologically 'undo' wrongdoings for the

wrongdoer.
These are some of the more positive mechanisms or methods that can
be used positively. In practice, a number of other coping methods work well
enough without doing any harm.

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Attack Mechanisms. We cope with difficulties in various ways. Some

are more positive than others. Perhaps the worst kind is where we may attack
others. Arguably, all attacks on others are forms of coping with our own
internal troubles.
Acting out: not coping - giving in to the pressure to misbehave.
Fight-or-Flight reaction: Reacting by attacking.
Passive aggression: avoiding refusal by passive avoidance.
Projection: seeing your own unwanted feelings in other people.
Reaction Formation: avoiding something by taking a polar opposite

position.
Trivializing: Making small what is really something big.
Avoidance Mechanisms. Whilst avoidance and denial is a relatively

harmless method that can be useful in the short term, it can still result in
significant internal damage and may end up coming out in other ways
(http://changingminds.org, September, 2011):.

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Avoidance: mentally or physically avoiding something that causes

distress.
Denial: refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred.
Fantasy: escaping reality into a world of possibility.

things desired.
Performing rituals: Patterns that delay.
Rationalization: creating logical reasons for bad behavior.

position.
Regression: returning to a child state to avoid problems.
Repression: subconsciously hiding uncomfortable thoughts.
Symbolization: turning unwanted thoughts into metaphoric symbols.
In some ways, most forms of coping include denial as the person avoids the
real issue.

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Behavioral Mechanisms. Here are various mechanisms that change

how we behave.
Aim inhibition: lowering sights to what seems more achievable.
Altruism: Helping others to help self.
Attack: trying to beat down that which is threatening you.

distress.
Compensation: making up for a weakness in one area by gain strength

in another.

position.
Undoing: actions that psychologically 'undo' wrongdoings for the

wrongdoer.
Cognitive Mechanisms. Here are various mental mechanisms that

help us cope.

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distress.
Compartmentalization: separating conflicting thoughts into separated

compartments.
Conversion: subconscious conversion of stress into physical

symptoms.
Denial: refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred.
Dissociation: separating oneself from parts of your life.
Fantasy: escaping reality into a world of possibility.

things desired.
Introjection: Bringing things from the outer world into the inner world.
Rationalization: creating logical reasons for bad behavior.

position.

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Repression: subconsciously hiding uncomfortable thoughts.
Somatization: psychological problems turned into physical symptoms.
Suppression: consciously holding back unwanted urges.
Conversion Mechanisms. One family of coping mechanisms acts to

transform the difficulty in some way.
Conversion: subconscious conversion of stress into physical

symptoms.

things desired.
Post-traumatic growth: Using the energy of trauma for good.

position.
Somatization: psychological problems turned into physical symptoms.
Sublimation: channeling psychic energy into acceptable activities.

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Substitution: Replacing one thing with another.
Trivializing: Making small what is really something big
Defense Mechanism. Defense mechanisms are automatic

psychological processes that protect an individual from anxiety and the
awareness of internal or external threats or stressors. People are often
unaware of these processes as they operate (although others may be
painfully aware of them!). Defense mechanisms can be classified into groups
or levels that indicate how they affect an individual's functioning.
Sigmund Freud describes how the Ego uses a range of mechanisms to
handle the conflict between the Id, the Ego and the Super ego. His daughter
Anna introduced the principle of inner mechanisms that defend the ego in
her 1936 book 'The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense'.
Anxiety and tension. Freud noted that a major drive for most people
is the reduction in tension, and that a major cause of tension was anxiety. He
identified three different types of anxiety.
Reality Anxiety. This is the most basic form of anxiety and is

typically based on fears of real and possible events, such as being bitten by
a dog or falling from a ladder.

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The most common way of reducing tension from Reality Anxiety is taking
oneself away from the situation, running away from the dog or simply
refusing to go up the ladder.
Neurotic Anxiety . This is a form of anxiety which comes from an

unconscious fear that the basic impulses of the ID (the primitive part of our
personality) will take control of the person, leading to eventual punishment
(this is thus a form of Moral Anxiety).
Moral Anxiety. This form of anxiety comes from the Superego in the
form of a fear of violating values and moral codes, and appears as feelings of
guilt or shame.
When anxiety occurs, the mind first responds by an increase in
problem-solving thinking, seeking rational ways of escaping the situation. If
this is not fruitful (and maybe anyway), a range of defense mechanisms
may be triggered. These are tactics which the Ego develops to help deal
with the Id and the Super Ego.All Defense Mechanisms share two common
properties :
They often appear unconsciously.
They tend to distort, transform, or otherwise falsify reality.

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In distorting reality, there is a change in perception which allows for a

lessening of anxiety, with a corresponding reduction in felt tension.
Anna Freud's Defense Mechanisms include:
Denial: claiming/believing that what is true to be actually false.
Displacement: redirecting emotions to a substitute target.
Intellectualization: taking an objective viewpoint.
Projection: attributing uncomfortable feelings to others.
Rationalization: creating false but credible justifications.
Reaction Formation: overacting in the opposite way to the fear.
Regression: going back to acting as a child.
Repression: pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the subconscious.
Sublimation: redirecting 'wrong' urges into socially acceptable actions.
Summary
Students experience stress due to the physical, mental, social and
emotional demands placed on them on a daily basis. While we all are under a
constant state of stress, students can face particularly difficult daily episodes
of stress in relation to the unique environment of the school setting. Students
who have a basic knowledge of stress and effective stress coping
mechanisms will ultimately be better suited to handle the demands of the
academic environment.

Iloilo City
There are different sources of stress challenging students in a

university which includes: interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic and
environmental stress. These sources may have been affecting students in
various levels. As a student there are several ways to cope with the internal
and external stresses that are a part of the school setting.These mechanisms
includes: adaptive, attack, avoidance, behaviour, conversion and defense.
Their mechanisms strategies may differ depending on their personal
characteristics.
CHAPTER 3
Research Design and Methodology

Iloilo City
Chapter 3 consists of three (3) parts: (1) Purpose of the Study and Research
Design, (2) Method, and (3) Data Analysis Procedure.
Purpose of the Study and Research Design

The purpose of this study is to find out the different stressors and the
stress coping mechanisms among BS Tourism students at West Visayas State
University, Iloilo City this academic year 2011-2012.
The study will utilize the survey and correlation techniques of the
descriptive research method. This design does not only focus on the
description of the phenomenon but also seeks to find out the relationship
between and among the variables (Sevilla et al, 1992). According to Ardales
(2008), descriptive research is designed to study what is, and finds out what
prevail in the present conditions or relationships, held opinions and beliefs,
processes and effects, and developing trends. It also seeks to determine
relationships between variables, explores causes of phenomena, tests
hypotheses and develops generalizations. On the other hand correlation
research according to David (2002), attempts to explain the possible factors
related to a problem which have been observed in a descriptive study. It
investigates relationships between factors or variables assumed to explain or
contribute to the existence of a problem or a certain condition. The

Iloilo City
researcher believes that this design will be appropriate for the proposed
study because it will seek to determine relationships among variables.
Method
The Participants
The participants of this study are the tourism students of West Visayas
State University, College of Business and Management, Iloilo. The Slovins
formula is used to determine the sample size. The researcher will used the
confidence level of 95 percent (giving a margin error of 0.05). The population
size is 180 and the margin error is 0.05 which is translated into formula.
After determining the sample size, the systematic stratified random
sampling technique will be utilized to determine the actual research
participants. A list of census of students will be obtained from the
organization Tourism Student Society of West Visayas State University,
College of Business and Management. From the sampling frame, a starting
point is chosen at random and thereafter at regular intervals.
The participants of the study will be the tourism students of West
Visayas State University, College of Business and Management.

Iloilo City
The participants of the study are classified according to year level 1 st to 4th
year, gender, socioeconomic status. The categories of variables are as
follows:
As to year level, participants are grouped as 1 st year, 2nd year, 3rd year and 4th
year. As to gender, male or female. As to socioeconomic status, whether with
low income ( below P16841), moderate income (P16841-P26841) and high
income (P26842) and above (National Statistical Coordination Board, 2009).
Table 1 shows the data.

Iloilo City
Table 1
Distribution of Participant
Category
A. Entire Group
___
100
B. Year Level
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
C. Sex
Male
Female
D. Socioeconomic Status

Iloilo City
Low Income (below P16841)

Moderate Income (P16841-P26841)
High Income (P26842 and above)
Data Gathering Instruments
The data for this study will be gathered using a researcher-made
questionnaire. It is composed three parts. Part One, Personal Data, gathers
information about the respondent, such as year level and section, number of
siblings, gender and monthly family income.
Part Two, Stress Test Questionnaire, is composed of fifteen (15) items
regarding the participants level of stress. The participants will be asked to
check the number from one to five in five responses: Never, Seldom,
Sometimes, Often and Always to describe their stress level. Then the total
number of their answer will be summed up and will be divided to the number
of test items to get the mean and to determine their stress level.
The mean scores will be obtained and will be interpreted in the
following manner:
Response
Score
Super Stress
12
Stress
34

Iloilo City
Unstressed
45
Part Three, Stress Management questionnaire, this test is composed of

different stress management in thirty (30) items. The participants will be
asked to
check the most accurate number that express their feelings in each item.
Then their answer will be summed up and will be divided to the number of
test items.
The mean scores will be obtained and will be interpreted in the following
manner:
Response
5
4
Score
Completely True
Mostly True
Partly True
Rarely True
Not True
The research instrument will be submitted to face and content validity

to a panel of evaluators composed of a research expert, a statistician, a
grammarian and a professional specializing in such field. The comments and

Iloilo City
suggestions of the validators will be incorporated in the final English version,

which will be translated into local dialect for better comprehension of the
questions by the participants.
A reliability test will be done using a test retest method. This involves
the same test twice to the same group of individuals after a certain time has
elapsed. A test or any measuring device is reliable if it consistently yields the
same or nearly the same score an individual taking the test several times. If
the coefficient is significant, the instrument is reliable (David, 2005). The
instrument will be administered between a one week span among six (6) (5%
of the sample size) students with the characteristics similar to that of the
target population but not included as the participants of the study. The
Cronbach Alpha will be computed to determine the reliability of the
instrument.
Method
Permission to conduct the study will be secured from the office of the
Dean of the College of Business and Managementof West Visayas State
University.
Informed consent will be secured from the participants and only those
who gave their consent will be taken as participants. The participants will be
then given at least thirty (30)

Iloilo City
minutes to answer the questionnaire. The direction of filling up of the

personal data sheet will be explained thoroughly by the researcher.
The researcher will personally distribute the questionnaire to the
participants.
Upon the retrieval of the accomplished questionnaires, the data will be
tallied, computer-processed and interpreted.
Data Analysis Procedure

The data that will be gathered for this study will be subjected to the
following descriptive and inferential statistical treatments using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software:
Mean. The mean will be used, basing on the corresponding value
equivalent to the answers, to ascertain the level of perceptions toward
international on-the-job training program
Standard deviation.To determine the dispersion of means.
Manna Whitney U Test This will be used to find out the significant
differences between variables year level and section, year level, gender,
monthly family income.

Iloilo City
Knuskal Wallis Test. This will be used to ascertain significant

differences between variable (socioeconomic status) and perceptions toward
international on-the-job training program.
Spearmen Who. To determine the significant relationship among the
students level of perception
Abousiere, 1994
Agolla, 2009
Agolla and Awino, 2008
Brantley and Thomson, 1995
Divinagracia, Ma. Donna B. et. al. (2002). Stress and Stress Coping
Mechanisms Bachelor of Secondary Education. Unpublished Thesis, University
of Negros Occidental Recoletos Bacolod City.
Sevilla, et al, 1992
Topper, 2007
Tweed, et al, 2004

Iloilo City
Ussery, 2007
Please encircle the number corresponding to your responses. How often do

you do the following?
Almost
Infre
Some Fre
Never
quently times quently
Almost
Always
1. I can recognize anxiety and keep
it from interfering with my daily
5
activities.
2. I relax my mind and body without
5
using drugs.

Iloilo City
3. I respect my own accomplishment.
5
4. I get enough satisfying sleep.

5
5. I enjoy my life.
5
6. I fall asleep in 20 minutes or less.

5
7. l sleep soundly at night.

5
8. I take enough time to eat.

5
9. I am in control and not feeling

hyper with mind and body going
5
too fast.
10. I can make decisions without
5
difficulty.
Please express freely how you cope stress by truthfully answering the items.
Encircle the number that most accurately reflects your feelings. Use this key
5
Completely True
Mostly True
Partly True
Rarely True

Iloilo City
1
Not True
A.
1. I did something, which I did not
5
think would work, but at least I
was doing something.
2. I try to get the person
responsible to change his or

her mind.
3. I express anger to the person(s)
5
who caused the problem.
4. I let my feeling out somehow.
5. I stood my ground and fought for
2
1
3
2
4
3
5
4
5
what I wanted.
6. I took a big chance and did
something very risky

B.
1. I went along with faith sometimes
5
I just have bad lucks.

Iloilo City
2. I went on as if nothing had
happened.
3. I looked for the silver lining, so to speak;
5
tried to look on the bright side of
things.
4. I tried to forget the whole thing.
5
5. I did not let it get me; refused
5
to think about it too much.
6. I made light on the situations

5
refused to get serious about it.
C.
1. I tried to keep my feeling to
5
2. I kept others from knowing how
5
3. I tried to keep my feelings
5
myself.
1
bad things were.

1
from interfering from others
to much.
4. I went over in my mind what
5
do.
I would say or

Iloilo City
5. I thought about how a person
I admire would handle the
situation and use that as model.

6. I tried not to act too hastily
follow my first hunch.

7. I tried not to burn my bridges,
but leave things open somewhat.
D.
1. I accepted sympathy and
understanding from someone.

2. I got professional help.
3. I talked to someone who

could do something concrete
about the problem.
4. I asked relative or a friend
I respect for advice.

5. I talked to someone about
how I am feeling.
6. I talked to someone to find
out more about the situation.

Iloilo City
E.
1. I hoped a miracle would happen.
5
2. I avoided being with people in general.
5
3. I had fantasies or wishes
about how things might turn out.
5
4. I wish that situation would go
away or somehow be over it.
5
5. I refused to believe that it
5
had happened.
6. I slept more than usual.
5
F.
1. I was inspired to do something
5
creative.
2. I changed and grew as a

5
person in a good way.
3. Rediscovered what is
5
1
important in life.

Iloilo City
4. I changed something
5
6. I prayed.
about myself.
5. I came out of the experiences

5
better than I went in.

1

Thesis For Tourism Students

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WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Stress and Coping Mechanisms of Tourism Students

An Undergraduate Thesis Presented to the

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Introduction of the Study

Chapter 1 is divided into five parts: (1) Background and Theoretical

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study

Education is one of the most important aspects of human resource

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

the general economy of any nation. However, the intricate academic

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

This study aims to determine the stress coping mechanisms of tourism

Specifically this study seeks to answer to the following question:

stressors of the students when classified as an entire group?

In view of the problems stated, the following hypotheses was

1.There are no significant differences on the stress and coping

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Significance of the Study

The results of this study may be beneficial to the following:

Tourism Students. The findings will provide students proper awareness

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Future researchers. This study would be beneficial as this would serve

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. The word stress means

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic and environmental. The dependent

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Review of Related Literature

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving a persons

Students experience stress due to the physical, mental, social and

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

mechanisms will ultimately be better suited to handle the demands of the

Then stress coping mechanisms of BS Tourism students are influenced

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

There are several theoretical positions devised for examining and

According to Selye (1956), the stress response of the organism

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Alarm Reaction stage, the organism entered the Resistance stage.

However, because this response consumed so much energy, a body

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

This type of a conflict is seen in almost every setting, be it home, work

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Such type of stress would then be called as 'perceived stress'. It is

The findings on the influence of gender on students' reported levels of

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

saddled with domestic activities in their halls of residence, for example

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

found that "change in sleeping habits", "change in eating habit" and

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Knowing the causes of students stress will make the University

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

assignments, poor working conditions, overcrowded work stations, excessive

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

performance. In a higher learning institution such as University (Smith et al.,

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

It has been found that one traditional manifestation of increased stress

Coping Mechanisms of Stress