Research Symposium

BIO

I am a second year student from Largo Florida; I am currently pursuing my bachelors in Behavioral Neuroscience and

Emotion Regulation Strategies Among Students in STEM

Abstract

Undergraduate students pursuing majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) tend to experience higher levels of stress compared to students pursuing less academically intensive majors: in order to deal with this excess stress these students employ numerous stress coping mechanisms to varying degree of success. Previous research has been dedicated to discovering the optimal way of dealing with stress through emotional regulation, as well as positive stress coping mechanisms. The most effective strategy showed include emotional regulation through the use of a change in condition as well as a change in circumstance. While previous research has shown emotional regulation as an effective way to deal with stress it has largely excluded a direct impact on the student’s grade point average(GPA). This research used a Self-Report Survey that combined the diagnostic measures from numerous emotional regulation and stress management surveys in order to accurately gain an impression of what strategies our subjects use in their academic careers. The research then cross referenced this with their current GPA, as well as their expected GPA, in order to measure the effectiveness of these strategies on academic performance. Based on the trends within our raw data the research expects to see a positive correlation between a student’s use of affective emotional regulation strategies and their GPA; similarly, the research expects there to be a negative correlation between the student’s use of ineffective stress coping mechanisms and their GPA.

Keywords: Psychology, Emotional-Regulation, Education