A Comparative Study of Cross Gender Identified Males and Females on Coping Strategies, Emotion Regulation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms

Abstract

Gender is the fundamental reality of our biology which impacts our psychology. Gender Identity is typically a focal part of a person‟s sense of self as a male or a female that is the inner experiences of having a place with one sexual orientation. There are various strategies (coping, emotion regulation and defense mechanisms) and therapeutic techniques used in problematic situations that differentiate male from female or masculinity from femininity as they use different strategies and techniques. The present investigation was conducted to examine the relationship among coping strategies, emotion regulation strategies and defense mechanisms in cross gender identified males and females. It was hypothesized that masculine female used more of confrontive coping, self-controlling, cognitive reappraisal and projection and feminine male used more of distancing, expressive suppression and denial (coping, emotion regulation strategies and defense mechanisms) respectively. In order to verify the above hypotheses a sample of one hundred (N=100) students, from which fifty were males (N=50) and fifty were females (N=50) taken in the present study. To measure the Gender Identity, Coping Strategies, Emotion Regulation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms; the Masculine Gender Identity (MGI) for females and Feminine Gender Identity (FGI) for males developed by Blanchard and Blanchard (1987), ways of coping questionnaire by Folkman and Lazarus (1988), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire by Gross and John (2003) and the Thematic Apperception Test by Murray (1943) was administered respectively. The data were subjected to correlation, regression and „t‟ analysis and the major finding of the study reveals that masculine female used more of confrontive coping, self-controlling, cognitive reappraisal and projection and feminine male used more of distancing, expressive suppression and denial (coping, emotion regulation strategies and defense mechanisms) respectively.