Appraisal and coping responses to tourism development-related stress

Unmitigated stress can lead to a variety of negative health and emotional outcomes, negatively affecting overall quality of life. Individuals' stress appraisal and coping responses to stress influence the extent to which they are affected by stress. This study explores the relationship between secondary stress appraisal (controllability) and coping responses to tourism-related stressors such as unmet development expectations. A total of 363 pen and paper surveys were administered face-to-face to a systematic random sample of residents of Falmouth, Jamaica-a community that recently hosted the development of a new Caribbean cruise port. A structural equation model revealed that the appraisal of stress as controllable had a significant positive relationship with problem-focused coping and positive outlook coping responses as well as a significant negative relationship with less effective wishful thinking coping responses. The appraisal of stress as controllable by someone else had a significant positive relationship with seeking social support coping responses. The appraisal of stress as uncontrollable was significantly negatively related with wishful thinking coping responses. This study is a first step toward understanding the complex and continually changing process of stress appraisal and coping engaged in by residents of a tourism host community.