Personality and Coping 1 Running head: PERSONALITY, COPING, and TRAUMA Understanding Outcomes of Traumatic Experiences: Roles of Neuroticism and Coping

Personality and Coping 2 This study was to better understand how coping and neuroticism influence the negative and enduring potential of a traumatic experience. Traumatic experience has been shown to change individuals ’ cognitive processes. The hypothesis was supported that veteran males who have endured traumatic experience report more adaptive coping methods than University males. Emotional dispositions influence perception and severity of a traumatic experience, therefore, we hypothesized males scoring high for neuroticism (high-N) would report more maladaptive coping methods than males scoring low for neuroticism (low-N). The hypothesis was supported that high-N males would report more maladaptive coping methods in stressful situations than low-N males. The hypothesis was not supported that high-N males who sought therapy for a traumatic experience would terminate therapy prematurely or report lower life satisfaction at present