PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES TOWARDS THE CORONA PANDEMIC AMONG EMPLOYEES OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTORS IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
This quantitative study discusses psychological coping strategies with the Corona pandemic among employees of the government and private sectors in the Sultanate of Oman. The problem lies in the employees' return to work in their workplaces in light of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the decision of the Supreme Committee in the Sultanate, and the psychological conditions that may result from this decision among the employees. The study aimed to discuss how often employees use psychological coping strategies in the work environment, in addition to diagnosing differences in the employees' use of psychological coping strategies in light of some demographic variables. The researchers used the quantitative descriptive approach to collect information using a questionnaire that consisted of (24) statements on (4) aspects: confrontation and problem solving, avoidance and escape, the religious dimension, and support. The study tool was applied to a sample of (584) employees from the government and private sectors, and they were chosen by a simple random method. The study found that the degree to which employees use psychological coping strategies with the pandemic is very large, arranged in succession: the religious dimension, confrontation and problem solving, and support appeared to a large extent, while avoidance and escape was medium. The results also indicated that there are statistically significant differences due to the variable of the work sector in the dimension of support, in favor of the private sector, while showing that there were no statistically significant differences among the study sample in the degree of their use of psychological coping strategies due to the variables of gender and marital status. The study concluded with several recommendations, most notably: the need to develop a psychological counseling program aimed at training employees to deal with the Corona virus in accordance with the psychological coping strategies, and the need to raise job safety in the work environment for workers in the private sector.
Keywords: Employees, Strategies, Psychological Coping, Coronavirus.