Alina Sanda Bălan, Stela Ivanova
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stress, coping strategies, biological variables, ABO blood type, interaction of factors
When dealing with everyday life problems, people use a variety of coping strategies, depending on the actual situation and on their psychological and biological constitution. Biological variables may have a role in influencing the stress response and, thus, the use of specific coping mechanisms. The aim of our study was to examine this association. We have measured the preference for specific coping strategies using The Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Carver, Scheier, Weintraub, 1989). As biological variables we have considered the ABO blood type, the RH, sex and age of our respondents. Our sample is composed of 265 people, 85 from Bulgaria and 180 from Romania. Out of them, 62 of are men and 203 women. The mean age of the respondents is 32,08 years. The distribution of the blood types in our sample is: 90 blood type O, 113 blood type A, 42 blood type B and 20 blood type AB. A number of 173 respondents have positive Rh, while 54 have negative Rh (38 of the respondents do not know their Rh). Descriptive analysis shows that the most used coping mechanisms are: positive reinterpretation, planning and direct approach of problems. Seeking instrumental social support or emotional social support and acceptance are also preferred. The strategies less preferred are denial, behavioral disengagement and substance use. While the Rh shows no relevance for coping in the univariate analysis, the blood type appears to create a difference in using the social support dimension (F=2.742 p=.044), with the A blood type being the last willing to make use of such support. We have also found differences between men and women. Women obtain significantly higher scores (p<.05) on the scales measuring venting of emotions, the use of social support, active coping, planning and religious coping. Age shows positive correlations with active coping, planning and religious coping (p=.001), and negative correlations with mental disengagement and substance use (p=.01). We have also considered the joint influence of the biological variables upon the coping style, using GLM ANOVA-based statistical models. We have found some interaction effects, mainly for Rh and sex; for example, for the problem-focused dimension, we have found the highest mean for women with negative Rh (F=5,60, p=.019). Based on the results we can conclude that the coping profile of each person is complex and can be linked to specific biological variables.
Cite this paper: Bălan, A.S., Ivanova, S. (2025). ABO BLOOD TYPE AND OTHER BIOLOGICAL VARIABLES RELATED WITH COPING MECHANISMS. Current Trends in Natural Sciences, 14(27), 136-157. https://doi.org/10.47068/ctns.2025.v14i27.016
