STUDENT STRIKES AND COPING FOLLOWING A UNIVERSITY STRIKE IN CANADA

Questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate students to determine the relationship of a community strike to students' academic work, social and recreational behavior, emotions, and attitudes toward the university. Results indicated that the labor dispute significantly affected students, interrupting their academic and career progress, worsening their financial situations, and increasing their recreational and social activities. Path analysis tested a model examining the relationships among students' attitudes, emotions, and coping ability. Greater adaptiveness in coping was associated with reduced anger and anxiety, and with greater satisfaction with York University's academic program. The more students' plans had been affected by the labor dispute, the more anger and anxiety was felt, and the less students expressed satisfaction with the academic program at the university. Moreover, the more students felt they had been treated unfairly during the job action, the angrier they felt. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]