Abstract

This study examines the stress experience of salaried employees and the unemployed during the economic crisis in Korea (i.e., in which Korea received economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund). By using a questionnaire developed by the present researchers in 1997, participants were asked to write, in an open-ended response format, what they consider to be the most stressful, their cognitive and emotional reactions, from whom they received social support, the type of social support received, the type of coping strategy used, and the effectiveness of their coping strategy. The questionnaire was distributed to a total of 553 participants; salaried employees working in a small to mid-size firm (n=269), salaried employees working in a large firm (n=98), and those who were unemployed (n=186). The salaried employees are most like to report financial difficulties and the unemployed the future uncertainty as being the most stressful. In terms of coping style, the unemployed are most likely to use active coping strategies, while the salaried employees are most likely to use self-regulation. The unemployed are most likely receive social support from both family members and friends, while the salaried employees are most likely to receive social support from friends. Similar to previous studies, although the nature of stressful event has changed the type of coping strategies used and the nature of social support received remains constants across different samples.