A Study on the Perceived Stress, Coping, and Personal Satisfaction according to DISC Behavioral Style of College Students

Abstract

Abstract Background: College students experience stress related to its demands. Providing adequate resources to improve stress management remains a challenge. Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness (DISC) is an instrument that accounts for multidimensionality of personality and has been used widely in research and industry. The purpose of this study was to examine DISC behavioral style with perceived stress, coping behavior, and personal satisfaction among college students. Methods: Data were collected from 255 college students using self-reported questionnaire. Univariate descriptive statistical analysis was performed to explore sociodemographic characteristics of the sample. Possible association between sociodemographic variables and perceived stress, coping, personal satisfaction were examined using bivariate analysis with T-tests for independent samples and Chi-square. ANOVA was used to assess possible association between DISC profiles and the following three variables: perceived stress, coping, and personal satisfaction. A Scheffe test was performed post hoc to test for differences in DISC behavioral style and measures of perceived stress, coping, and personal satisfaction. Results: The distribution of DISC behavioral styles were 49.4%, 23.2%, 18.8%, and 8.6% respectively for dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. Perceived stress and personal relationship varied significantly with DISC behavioral style (p=.001 and p=.019 respectively). Variation in DISC behavioral style did not demonstrate a significant association with stress coping (p=.383). Conclusions: Providing stress coping management tailored to DISC behavioral style may be an effective way to improve stress reduction and personal satisfaction among college students.