The article discusses the features of the coping behaviour in the aspect of conceptualisation of stressful situations. A classification of coping strategies based on the criterion of subjectivity is proposed. The research of the correlation between the differentiated conceptualisation of stress and coping strategies among students of socio-humanitarian departments of different cultures (n=712) was demonstrated. The differentiated conceptualisation of stress was measured in a directed associative experiment, coping strategies by "Adolescent Coping Scale" (Erica Frydenberg & Ramon Lewis, 1993 - the ACS adapted variant). The reliable influence of a culture factor on the stress representations` gradation was obtained. The results indicated that Russian students' perceptions of stress differ from those of other cultures (p<0.05). The influence of the individual differentiated representations of stress on coping strategies was proved. A significant influence of the differentiated perception of stress on subject`s coping strategies (problem solving, work/achievement, anxiety, self-blame) and non-subject`s strategies (belonging, religious support, professional help) was revealed.