PERSONALITY TRAITS, WORK-RELATED MENTAL

STRESSORS, AND COPING MECHANISMS OF

TOMAS CABILI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHERS IN THE NEW NORMAL

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 8
Pages: 1251-1264
Document ID: 2023PEMJ725
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7953799
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-20-5
Psych Educ, 2028, 8: 1251-1264, Document ID:2023 PEMJ725, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7953799, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Personality Traits, Work-Related Mental Stressors, And Coping Mechanisms of

Tomas Cabili National High School Teachers in the New Normal
Daven D. Saga*, Omar Q. Hussien
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to determine the personality traits, work- related mental health
stressors, and coping mechanisms of Tomas Cabili National High School teachers in the new normal
during the School Year 2021 – 2022. A descriptive-correlational method was used. There were 68
respondents for this study, a complete enumeration of the school’s whole teaching force. The research
instrument was composed of three parts: the personality traits which were adopted from the
International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big-Five Factors Markers developed by Goldberg; the
work-related mental stressors adopted from the Health and Security and Executive (HSE)
Management Standards (2019); and the coping mechanisms adopted from Ways of Coping Checklist
(WCCL) of Lazarus and Folkman. Frequency and percentage distribution, average- weighted value,
and Pearson product-moment correlation were used in the analysis of data. The consolidated results
of the study revealed that most of the respondents’ personality trait was conscientiousness. Their
primary source of work-related mental stressors was on demands and their most preferred coping
mechanism for stress was positive re-appraisal. Based on the gathered data, a personality traits and
stress management program was proposed.

Keywords: personality traits, coping mechanisms, new normal, mental stressors

Introduction ability to cope with encountered stress and come up

with coping mechanisms to battle this mental struggle
is largely affected by their personality. According to
What your mind can conceive, your body can achieve. Dumitru and Cozman (2012), personality types were
One’s psychological well-being weighs significantly in important factors in determining stress. These were
the totality of his or her everyday activities, especially capable of explaining how certain people manage to
in the performance of his or her job. Teaching is a function for years while handling huge amounts of
noble profession but is also one of the most demanding stress. Others collapse after several months under
and stressful jobs. At times, this career leads to similar amounts of stress. For example, those with a
psychological and physiological pressures resulting in high level of neuroticism were more likely to view life
a deficiency in the quality of work the teacher can events as highly stressful, whereas those with a high
perform. School year 2021–2022 is one of the most level of extraversion were less likely to perceive life
challenging times in the lives of teachers. They were essences as stressful (Ebstrup et al., 2011). Therefore,
also casualties of the COVID- 19 Pandemic --- “neuroticism was negatively related to the use of some
economic crisis, feeling of isolation, fear for their effective coping styles such as problem-focused and
health, and a considerable shift and increase in their active coping and positively associated with avoidance
workloads. They were still expected to perform their coping. Furthermore, extraversion is positively related
duties as educators while risking their beings in the to active coping styles like problem-focused coping
exigency of such service being public servants. styles and looking for social support. It predicted
avoidance negatively” (Afshar et al., 2015, p.4).
A massive amount of stressors experienced by teachers
had substantial effects on the teachers' psychological Given all these scenarios, this study, therefore, aimed
well-being. When left unchecked, outcomes could be to determine the personality traits, work-related mental
susceptibility to disease, sleep deprivation, personality health stressors, and coping mechanisms of Tomas
disorder, and worst, depression. Since teachers were Cabili National High School teachers in the new
the most important workforce in the education normal during the School Year 2021 – 2022. As a
institution, having an unhealthy mind and body would teacher whose experience covers 7 years both in
have an undesirable consequence on the delivery of private and public schools, the researcher has been a
quality service intended for enriching and empowering bare witness and direct victim of work-related mental
young minds of the society. stress. His ability to endure various stress levels in two
different working environments provides him with the
There is also a need to determine the personality traits integrity to propose and suggest personality traits and
of these mentors. It has been noted that a person’s stress management programs. These can be valuable

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Research Article

Research Design
and helpful to his co-mentors in the workplace. Lastly,
The study used the descriptive-correlational research
as a Social Science teacher, he holds the social
design. Descriptive research was used to describe the
responsibility in his school to spread awareness about
personality traits as well as the work-related mental
the importance of properly managing stress as an
health stressors that the respondents have experienced.
effective tool for the delivery of quality education to
In addition, such a research design was utilized in
the learners.
describing the coping mechanisms of the teachers
Research Questions towards stress. This study also used a correlational
research design to determine the significant
This study aimed to determine the personality traits, relationship between work-related mental stressors and
work-related mental health stressors, and coping the coping mechanisms of the respondents.
mechanisms of Tomas Cabili National High School
Research Environment
teachers in the new normal in School Year 2021 –
2022. Specifically, the study answered the following
The study was conducted at Tomas Cabili National
questions.
High School, one of the schools under the West I
District of the Division of Iligan City. The school had
1. What are the personality traits of the respondents in
68 teaching personnel and 8 non-teaching staff gearing
terms of
towards its main goal of being the “center of
1.1. extraversion;
excellence” that is why it garnered recent major
1.2. agreeableness;
accomplishments like being a 2nd Place winner in the
1.3. conscientiousness;
2020 Brigada Eskwela and a recipient of the 2020 Best
1.4. openness to experience; and
School Implementer of the Learning Delivery
1.5. neuroticism?
Modality under the Modular Distance Learning
2. What are the work-related mental stressors of the
Category both in the division level. With a total
respondents in terms of
learners’ enrollment population of 1,416 for Junior
2.1. demands;
High School and 402 for Senior High School in the
2.2. control;
school year 2021 – 2022, this institution was
2.3. support;
categorized as a Mega School and was located at
2.4. relationships;
barangay Tomas Cabili, Iligan City.
2.5. role; and
2.6. change? According to the National Education Union (2009),
3. What are the coping mechanisms of the respondents schools with more than 500 pupils do not only affect
relative to work- related-mental stress? the quality of teaching and learning but also affect the
4. Is there a significant relationship between the stress levels of the teachers. This situation makes it
respondents’ personality traits and coping hard for teachers to deal with behavioral problems and
mechanisms? give individual support to those students. Tomas
5. Is there a significant relationship between the Cabili National High School which was considered a
teachers’ work-related mental stressors and their mega school, could also be a venue wherein work-
coping mechanisms? related mental stressors were absorbed by its teachers.
6. What personality traits and stress management
program can be designed based on the results of the Respondents
study?
The respondents of this study were the teachers of
Tomas Cabili National High School, where the
Methodology researcher was also assigned and stationed. The school
currently had 68 teaching personnel for the school year
2021 – 2022 wherein 21 were males and 47 were
This chapter provides a brief discussion of the research
females. A complete enumeration of the respondents
methodology regarding the research design, research
was used in the study.
environment, respondents of the study, research
instruments, data gathering procedures, and statistical Research Instruments and Their Validity
tools.
This research adopted three survey questionnaires: the

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IPIP Big-Five Factors Markers by Goldberg (1992), questionnaire contained 51 items drawn from the
the HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool existing measures with eight sub-scales: confronting
(2019), and the Ways of Coping Checklist (WCCL) by coping, question 1 – 6; distancing, question 7 – 12;
Lazarus and Folkman (1984). self-controlling, question 14 – 20; seeking social
support, question 21 – 26; accepting responsibility,
International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big-Five question 27 – 30; escape-avoidance, question 31 – 38;
Factors Markers planful problem solving, question 39 – 44; and
positive re-appraisal, question 45 – 51. A four-point
The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big- response scale was used from 1 ‘Not used’ to 4 ‘Used
Five Factors Markers was a tool developed by a great deal’. The most prevalent coping mechanism of
Goldberg in 1992 used to measure five stand-out the respondents was then identified through the sub-
personalities: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, scale which garnered the highest mean score. These
conscientiousness, and openness to experience. The research instruments were validated through a pilot
big five personality traits were the best accepted and test conducted at Tomas Cabili Central School. Fifteen
most used model of personality in academic teaching personnel were chosen as respondents for this
psychology. This personality test helped the activity.
respondents understand why they acted the way that
they did and how their personality was structured. The Data Gathering Procedures
first part of the instrument consisted of 50 items that
the respondents rated on how true they were about The researcher personally conducted the study and
them on a four-point scale where 1=disagree, facilitated the gathering of data. The data gathering
2=slightly disagree, 3=slightly agree, and 4=agree. process was done in this manner: after complying with
the protocols in asking permission to conduct the
Health and Security and Executive (HSE) study, the researcher proceeded in conducting the
Management Standards study with the respondents. Before the researcher
handed out the survey questionnaires to his co-teachers
The second part of the questionnaire was adopted from at Tomas Cabili National High School, he provided an
the Health and Security and Executive (HSE) orientation to the respondents as to the objectives of
Management Standards (2019) approach which the study and how to appropriately answer the
covered six key areas of work design (stressors) that, if questionnaires. He then gave a considerable amount of
not properly managed, were associated with poor time for the respondents to answer the instrument.
health and well-being, lower productivity, and With estimated days of 5, the results were collated and
increased sickness absence. The stressors were: submitted to a reliable statistician to process the
demands, control, support, role, relationships, and gathered data.
change. Through a four-point scale where 1=never,
2=seldom, 3=sometimes, 4=always, the responses
defined the characteristics or culture of the school Results and Discussion
where the risks of work-related stress were being
effectively managed and controlled.
This chapter presents the findings and analysis of the
data generated from the responses of the respondents.
This 35-item questionnaire was categorized into 6 sub-
The respondents were composed of 68 teachers from
categories: items 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22 for
Tomas Cabili National High School, West I District,
demands; items 2, 10, 15, 19, 25, and 30 for control;
Division of Iligan City, Department of Education. The
items 8, 23, 29, 33, 35, 7, 24, and 27 for support; items
respondents were given a questionnaire composed of
5, 14, 21, and 34 for relationships; items 1, 4, 11 13,
three parts to measure the following: the respondents’
and 17 for role; and items 26, 28, and 32 for change.
personality traits, work-related mental stressors, and
Ways of Coping Checklist (WCCL) coping mechanisms.

The last section, the Ways of Coping Checklist What are the personality traits of the respondents
(WCCL) was based on Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) in terms of extraversion, agreeableness,
transactional model of stress and coping. This model conscientiousness, openness to experience, and
viewed stress as a relationship between the person and neuroticism?
the environment that taxed or exceeded the person’s
resources and endangers his or her well- being. This

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interaction, it made so difficult for teachers to find

quiet space to decompress and reflect (Godsey, 2016).
As a result, it was easier to be a teacher as an introvert.
There was so much silence and solitude in it.
Table 1. Personality Traits of the Respondents
What are the work-related mental stressors of the
respondents in terms of demands, control, support,
relationships, role, and change?

Table 2. Work-related Mental Stressors of the

Respondents

Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage

distribution of the respondents’ personality traits. As Table 2 shows the weighted mean and standard
presented, 34% or 23 respondents had a personality deviation distribution of the respondents’ work-related
trait of conscientiousness, 26% or 18 of them had mental stressors. Data showed that the respondents’
agreeableness, 25% or 17 of the respondents possessed level of stress on demands was high with a weighted
the personality trait of neuroticism, 10% or 7 had an mean of 2.54, the weighted mean of 2.02 on change
openness to experience, and 5% or 3 were interpreted as average in stress as well as on
extraversion. Therefore, most of the respondents’ relationships with a weighted mean of 1.89, low in
personality trait was conscientiousness. stress on control with a weighted mean of 1.74, 1.72
for support, and 1.47 for the role. Hence, the highest
According to Huang et al. (2017), “individuals high on source of work-related mental stressors for the
conscientiousness were highly motivated, trustworthy, respondents was on demands.
and organized, (p.2)”. This was beneficial to the
school and the whole organization of the educational The COVID-19 Pandemic drastically changed the
system as these teachers were competent employees educational landscape. The teaching-learning process
and had positive effects on the delivery of quality shifted from a face-to-face interaction between the
service. These claims were supported by Robbins et al. teacher and the learner into a distance learning
(2018) who said that among the big five personality modality. Not that it only changed the mode of
traits, it was conscientiousness that had the biggest instructions, but as well as the workload of the
influence on job performance because people who had teachers. The implementation of various learning
this trait were likely to have higher levels of job- modalities like Radio-based Instruction, Online
related knowledge and conscientious individuals could Distance Learning, and Modular Distance Learning
learn more. added a massive amount of stressors to the teachers.
This was evident in the data shown on the table
On the other hand, individuals whose personalities wherein “demands” garnered the highest weighted
were extraversion were very enthusiastic, full of mean score and was supported by the research of Clipa
energy, and enjoyed being with people (Tamban et al., (2017) wherein 72% of his respondents claimed that
2017). Though these are positive emotions, it was the teachers’ stress sources could be from rapid
noticeable from the data herein that it got the lowest changes in the system.
response from the respondents. It was because, in an
environment that demanded so much social According to Mingoa (2017), “the most common
sources of stress for Filipino teachers were as follows:
having too much paperwork; … insufficient salary;

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respondents. As presented in this table, positive re-

appraisal had a mean score of 3.42, planful problem-
solving and accepting responsibility both had a mean
oversized classes; and being too busy including
score of 3.1, seeking social support was 3.06, and the
simultaneous activities” (p.3). The need to work
score for self-controlling was 2.62, 2.37 for
intensively and very fast different work demands to
confronting coping, and escape-avoidance had a mean
meet unachievable deadlines piled up into unrealistic
score of 2.28. Thus, most of the respondents’ coping
time pressures which resulted in a high level of stress.
mechanism was positive re-appraisal.
However, it is important to note that out of six work-
Leger et al. (2016) emphasized that “individual
related mental stressors, only one stressor was
differences in personality traits may influence
considered significant as the other five indicators were
appraisals of potentially stressful circumstances (p.3).”
ranging from low level to average only. A significant
This meant that the respondents’ effectiveness to come
contributor to this was the personality traits of the
up with coping responses to prevent, manage, or
teachers. The result of the study of Salaudin et al.
alleviate stress was largely associated with their
(2014) showed that teachers whose personality traits
distinct personalities. Abu -Alhija (2015) added that
were … agreeableness and conscientiousness become
excellent teachers, especially when encountering “stressors experienced by one teacher were unique to
challenges and complex work. He added that him or her and were reliant on the specific interaction
personality played an important role in the way of between the teacher's personality, values, skills, and
thinking, feeling, and relating to other people. May it circumstances (p.375).” Therefore, the respondents’
be noted that the two highest personality traits of the perception of the degree to which situations were
resp o nd en ts were conscien tio u sn ess and stressful and the ability to come up with coping
agreeableness. mechanisms were affected by different factors. These
included their environment and personality traits.
Consistent with prior research, “higher levels of
conscientiousness … were associated with fewer In this study, most of the respondents were
stressors, as were higher levels of agreeableness. conscientious individuals. These “conscientious
Higher levels of neuroticism and openness were persons, apart from competence, were characterized by
associated with experiencing a greater number of prudence and dutifulness, which were foundations for
stressors” (Leger et al., 2016, p.11). direct remedial actions,” (Pollak et al., 2020, p.8).
These characteristics were apparent in their coping
What are the coping mecha nism s of the mechanisms as accepting responsibility, planful
respondents relative to work-related-mental stress? problem-solving, and positive re-appraisal were the
three with the highest mean scores. The ability to own
Table 3. Coping Mechanisms of the Respondents up to personal mistakes, immediately make plans of
action to come up with different solutions to the
problem, and change something about oneself was
evidence of the relevance of the respondents’
personality traits and their coping mechanisms.

These ideas were supported by Afshar et al. (2015). He

noted that “conscientiousness was significantly
positively associated with problem-focused coping and
its various components like planning, restraint coping,
and acceptance of responsibility. Agreeableness was
positively associated with social support seeking,
active coping, planning, and positive reappraisal, and
negatively associated with self-blame, avoidance, and
wishful thinking (p.7).” It may be assumed that
individuals characterized by “reliability,
conscientiousness, and fear of making mistakes
Table 3 shows the mean and standard deviation
distribution of the coping mechanisms of the reacted with stress in situations requiring them to meet
high standards set for their own work” (Pollak et al.,
2020, p.8).

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Is there a significant relationship between the

respondents’ personality and their coping
mechanisms? Table 5. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms
and Personality Traits in Terms of Agreeableness
Table 4. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms
and Personality Traits in Terms of Extraversion

Table 5 shows the relationship between coping

mechanisms and personality traits in terms of
Table 4 shows the relationship between coping
agreeableness. As indicated in the table, there was no
mechanisms and personality traits in terms of
significant relationship between all the coping
extraversion. Data showed that there was a significant
mechanisms and the personality trait agreeableness.
relationship between the personality trait extraversion
and confronting as its coping mechanism (r=0.272, This implied that individual traits of being considerate,
p=0.025). This meant that individuals whose friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise
personalities enjoyed socializing with others and were their interests with others (Tamban et al., 2017) had no
comfortable expressing themselves in group situations important effect on the listed coping mechanisms.
(Soto, 2018) coped with stressful situations through
any of the following actions: they did something which However, this did not mean that respondents whose
they did not think would work but at least they were personality trait was agreeableness could not cope with
doing something, tried to get persons responsible to stressful events. Agreeableness was linked to low
change his or her mind, expressed anger to the person interpersonal conflict and thus less social stress
who caused the problem, took a big chance or did (Carver et al., 2010) and therefore these types of
something risky, and let his or her feelings out people did not usually use these coping mechanisms.
somehow. This was because extravert individuals The corresponding hypothesis statement of the
would prefer to utilize active coping like confronting
problem was not rejected at the 0.05 level.
the situation to come up with concrete solutions to the
problem (Afshar et al., 2015). The corresponding
hypothesis statement of this problem was rejected at
the 0.05 level.

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Table 6. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and Table 7. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and
Personality Traits in Terms of Conscientiousness Personality Traits in Terms of Openness to Experience

Table 6 shows the relationship between coping

mechanisms and personality traits in terms of Table 7 shows the relationship between coping
conscientiousness. As presented, there was a mechanisms and personality traits in terms of openness
significant relationship between the specific coping to experience. The table depicted that there was no
mechanism of accepting responsibility and significant relationship between personality trait
conscientiousness (r=0.260, p=0.032). Therefore,
openness to experience and the coping mechanisms
when confronted with stressful events, the respondents
who innately preferred order and structure, worked
listed above. This was in parallel to the study of
persistently to pursue their goals and were committed Karimzade et al. (2011) which revealed that the
to fulfilling their duties and obligations (Soto, 2018). correlation between openness and coping styles was
They realized that they brought this problem to not strong enough to predict the use of different coping
themselves. Thus, they chose to apologize and did styles.
something to make up with a promise that things
would be different next time. A possible implication revealed that individuals with
high openness to experience regulated their emotions
This assumption was consistent with the study of
comfortably and could accept the emotions of others
Afshar et al. (2015) which showed that conscientious
individuals were significantly positively associated
better. “Openness to experience involved the tendency
with problem-focused coping and its various to be imaginative, creative, curious, flexible, attuned to
components like planning, restraint coping, and inner feelings, and inclined toward new activities and
acceptance of responsibility. The corresponding ideas” (Carver et al., 2010, p.688). Therefore, the
hypothesis statement of this problem was rejected at corresponding hypothesis statement of the problem
the 0.05 level. was not rejected at the 0.05 level.

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Table 8. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and

Personality Traits in Terms of Neuroticism
Table 9. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and
Work-related Mental Stressors in Terms of Demands

Table 8 shows the relationship between coping

mechanisms and personality traits in terms of
Table 9 shows the relationship between coping
neuroticism. As presented in the table, there was no
significant relationship between the enumerated mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in
coping mechanisms and neuroticism. Though neurotic
terms of demand. Data showed that there was a
individuals were prone to experiencing anxiety, significant relationship between demand as the source
sadness, and mood swings (Soto, 2018), they did not
of work-related mental stressors and accepting
use some effective coping styles such as problem-
responsibility as its coping mechanism (r=0.280,
focused and active coping (Afshar et al., 2015).
p=0.021). This meant that when the respondents had to
Furthermore, “neuroticism was positively related to
work intensively and very fast because they were
overall disengagement and all specific disengagement
responses, particularly wishful thinking and confronted with unachievable deadlines and had too
many tasks to do, they coped with the situation by
withdrawal” (Carver et al., 2010, p. 691). They aimed
criticizing themselves. Since they realized that they
at escaping from dealing with the stressor or the
resulting distress emotions. Therefore, the had brought these problems on themselves, they did
corresponding hypothesis statement of the problem
something about it. They promised that things would
was not rejected at the 0.05 level. be different next time. The corresponding hypothesis
statement of this problem was rejected at the 0.05
Is there a significant relationship between the
level.
teachers’ work- related mental stressors and their
coping mechanisms?

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Table 10. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and

Work-related Mental Stressors in Terms of Control significant relationship between the enumerated
coping mechanisms and the work-related mental
stressors under support. This suggested that the
respondents could rely on their colleagues and school
head’s help when work got difficult. It was evident on
their low level of stress on this stressor thus, had very
little chance to resort to any of the identified coping
mechanisms. Therefore, the corresponding hypothesis
statement of the problem was not rejected at the 0.05
level.

Table 10 shows the relationship between coping Table 12. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms
mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in
and Work-related Mental Stressors in Terms of
terms of control. As indicated in the table, there was
no significant relationship between all the coping Relationships
mechanisms and the work-related mental stressors
under the category control. Since the respondents had
a low level of stress in this category (weighted
mean=1.75) as shown in table 2, they had autonomy
over how they carried out their job like deciding when
to take a break or how they would want to do their
work and even on their work speed. It was understood
that they were less likely to use coping mechanisms
for they were not always confronted with this kind of
stressor. The corresponding hypothesis statement of
the problem was not rejected at the 0.05 level.

Table 11. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms

Table 12 shows the relationship between coping
and Work-related Mental Stressors in Terms of
Support
mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in
terms of relationships. The table depicted that there
was a negative correlation between the work-related
mental stressors under the category of relationships
and coping mechanism which was seeking social
support (r=-0.252, p=0.038). This signified that when
there was friction or anger between and among
colleagues, the respondents neither talked to someone
to find out more about the situation nor seek
professional help from work to come up with concrete
solutions to the problem. The corresponding
hypothesis statement of the problem was rejected at
Table 11 shows the relationship between coping the 0.05 level.
mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in
terms of support. The table specified that there was no

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Table 13. Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms and

Work-related Mental Stressors in Terms of Role

that when stress was brought about by the sudden

changes at work, the respondents kept others from
knowing how bad things were. They did not act too
hastily and tried to keep their feelings from interfering
with other things too much. Therefore, the
corresponding hypothesis statement of the problem
was rejected at the 0.05 level.

What personality traits and stress management

program can be designed based on the results of the
study?
Table 13 shows the relationship between coping
mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in To address and understand the need of the
terms of role. As presented in the table, there was no respondents’ personality traits and their relevance to
significant relationship between the listed coping coping mechanisms and work-related mental stressors,
mechanisms and the work- related mental stressors a 3- step teachers’ wellness program was designed that
under the role. This meant that the respondents were will result in personality profiling and sustainable
not able to use any of these coping mechanisms for the support for their psychological well-being. This
reason that they had a low level of stress in this program hopes to tackle the well-being of the teachers,
category. It was because they were clear about what as crucial caretakers of the learners in school which in
was expected of them at work and of their duties and return would have an underlying effect in maximizing
responsibilities as teachers thus, they knew how to get the productivity of the respondents and eventual
their job done. Hence, the corresponding hypothesis academic success of the learners. This program is a 3-
statement of the problem was not rejected at the 0.05 day seminar-workshop on personality traits and stress
level. management which would cater to and accommodate
in identifying and understanding their personality traits
Table 14. Relationship Between Work-related Mental and their work-related mental stressors.
Stressors and Coping Mechanisms in Terms of Change
Table 15. Matrix of Activities on Personality Traits
and Stress Management Program

Table 14 shows the relationship between coping

mechanisms and work- related mental stressors in
terms of change. The data shown herein indicated the
positive correlation between work-related mental
stressors under change and self- controlling as its
coping mechanism (r=0.242, p=0.046). This implied

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and Protecting Yourself from Negativity; Relaxation

Techniques and Exercising Your Sense of Humor for
Stress Reduction; Managing Conflicting Priorities,
Multiple Bosses and Unrealistic Expectations; and
Homeopathic Approaches in Managing Stress.

At every end of the topic, self-reflection journaling

and other psychological activities would be conducted
to ensure experiential learning on the participants’ end.
Before the seminar-workshop culminates, rest and
recreation would also be done for the participants to
immerse themselves in the topics and workshops
conducted. In this way, it would warrant them the
main objective of the program.

Conclusion

In view of the findings of the study, the following

implications were drawn:

The prevailing personality trait of most of the

respondents was conscientiousness. Corker et al.
(2011) described this personality trait as a “task- and
goal-directed behavior, such as thinking before acting,
delaying gratification, following norms and rules, and
planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks (p.2).” This
was of great advantage in the school system as
teachers who possessed this trait were self-directed
individuals who had the initiative to provide quality
basic education to their learners. Furthermore,
conscientious individuals were known to have a
positive response in handling stressful situations and
were associated with fewer stressors.

Despite the noble efforts of our educators to deliver

effective and efficient service to the children, the
The main objective of the seminar-workshop was to challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic
identify the personality traits of the teachers using the changed the educational landscape leading to a
Big 5 Personality Traits of Goldberg, and how they geographical gap between the learners and teachers,
would manage stress in their workplace based on their compromising the teaching-learning process. In
personality traits. The program would also classify addition, this dilemma added to the work-related
each participant in terms of their personality trait and mental stressors of the respondents. The result of this
level of work-related mental stressors. research showed that demand was the ultimate source
of stress for teachers in these pressing times. This
The facilitators of the seminar-workshop would be the meant that because of different work demands that
proponent of this study and expert resource speakers in were hard to combine, the outcomes were unrealistic
the field of psychology, guidance counseling, and time pressures making our teachers stressed to work
occupational therapy. The topics of the activity include long hours to meet unachievable deadlines. The
Personality Traits and the Big 5 Personality of presence of various types of stressors in the routine life
Goldberg; Physical, Emotional, and Psychosocial of a teacher made his or her life stressful. “It
Effects of Work-related Stress; Your Personality Test deteriorated his physical, mental and social health. As
Profile: How Your Mind Sabotages Your Peace and a consequence, the performance of a teacher went
Your Sense of Well-being; Managing Your Attitude down and so the performance of the overall
organization,” (Randhawa, 2010, p.3).

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Research Article

This led us to the need to identify possible coping should protect their mental health thus, make them
mechanisms that could resolve issues of work-related capable stewards of quality basic education.
mental stress among teachers. Though Nekoranec et al.
(2015) suggested that the “the most direct way to cope Based on both the research findings and theoretical
with stress in the workplace was to change a source of framework, the researcher, in his desire to find
problems, in effect elimination of the stressor (p.168).” meaning in the effort of this study, submit the
The respondents of this study responded differently following recommendations for possible implications.
since the study revealed that their most-used coping
mechanism was positive re-appraisal and accepting 1. A focus on individual differences and personality
responsibility. Based on the theory of Lazarus et al. traits is likely to prove useful for intervention efforts.
(1984), both of these coping mechanisms were Therefore, systematic research or assessment that
emotion-focused coping. This type of coping strategy continues to investigate what distinct individuals
involved efforts to change one’s emotional response to naturally do to succeed in coping with work-related
the stressor. This meant that the respondents tended to mental stressors will provide clues as to the targets of
make themselves feel better about a problematic interventions designed to promote success.
situation without changing the problem itself or the 2. Since it is impossible to decrease the demands of the
perception of it. job, support to improve the working conditions should
be provided instead, and counseling services after
These conclusions were also supported by data in
stressful events, for example, debriefing sessions and
which the results of this study showed that there was a
stress management training as these are among the
significant relationship between work-related mental
stressors and coping mechanisms. These findings were approaches suggested being beneficial in reducing the
specifically in terms of demands and accepting teachers’ stress levels.
responsibility, change and self-controlling, and 3. A support group for teachers should be established.
relationships and seeking social support. This will become an environment where everyone can
Consequently, all of these coping mechanisms fall talk about their work-related stress without fear of
under the category of emotion-focused coping judgment or discrimination.
strategy. This was very alarming. Baqutayan (2015) 4. Continuing education and career development
claimed that the use of emotion-focused coping should be actively promoted. Enrichment that is
strategies avoided confronting the problem and had matched to the individual’s goals and desires could
been reported to show a positive association with develop self-worth leading to a reduction in levels of
depression and a negative association with a stress.
satisfactory outcome. When left unchecked, this may 5. School administrators should endeavor to increase
affect not only the work outcomes expected from the their observational skills to detect increased stress
teachers but also their wellness, especially their levels or signs of burnout among their personnel in the
psychological well-being. early stages and to the sources of stress and reduce or
eliminate them.
Therefore, the necessity to design a personality trait 6. Teachers’ participation in crafting personality traits
and stress management program that would fit the and stress management programs should be considered
needs of the teaching personnel of the school should
since this is particularly important for successful
be prioritized. This program shall tackle these three
implementation because school heads, via
important components: first, awareness and
consultations with the teachers, help to create a trustful
understanding of individual personality traits. Since
atmosphere, in which employees do not fear to express
everything begun with understanding oneself, this
their worries. Through this, the overall morale would
would allow teachers to know themselves more and
be raised and adequacy and efficiency of the taken
navigate personal experiences away from stressful
precautions will be ensured.
events. Second, identifying prominent work-related
mental stressors. This would give them the idea of 7. Personality researchers are encouraged to plan new
which problems affect their psychological well-being studies focused on other coping mechanisms – serving
which then would result in proper planning and goal as moderators and mediators between personality traits
setting in the workplace. Lastly, introducing and well-being indicators.
appropriate coping mechanisms. Different illnesses 8. Future researchers may conduct further research
required various medications, and so does with about this study on a much larger sample, coming from
stressors. Teachers needed to learn how to attack and different locales to strengthen or find a weakness in
resolve varying stressful situations in school. They the result of this study.

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Research Article

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