ABSTRACT
Coping is receiving growing attention as a critical process that mediates the relationship between stressful events and somatic, psychological, and social outcomes. This chapter suggests an approach to conceptualizing and measuring coping based on Lazarus’ theory of stress and coping that can be applied to the investigation of mass psychogenic illness. In contrast to traditional approaches to understanding mass psychogenic illness in which chronic environmental conditions and presumably stable psychological tendencies are correlated, the approach offered here is transactional and process-oriented. Within this framework, determinants of coping are briefly discussed, and a metric for measuring coping is described. Findings from a recent study are used to suggest mechanisms through which coping might be related to mass psychogenic illness.
