Stress: any circumstances that threaten or are
perceived to threaten one's well-being and thereby tax one's coping
abilities
Routine hassles may produce significant negative effects
Richard Lazarus and colleagues devised a scale to
measure stress in the form of daily hassles
Scores on scale were strongly related to mental health
Stressful events probably have a cumulative
impact
Stress lies in the eye of the beholder
Appraisal of stress is subjective
Primary appraisal: an initial evaluation of
whether an event is (1) irrelevant to you, (2) relevant, but not
threatening, or (3) stressful
When event is viewed as stressful, you're likely to make
a secondary appraisal, which is an evaluation of your
coping resources and options for dealing with the stress
People who are anxious, unhappy, etc. are more likely to
report stress
Stress may be embedded in the environment
Ambient stress consists of chronic environmental
conditions that, although not urgent, are negatively valued and place
adaptive demands on people
Includes factors such as excessive noise, heat,
pollution
Crowding also a source of environmental stress
Experience of environmental stress is also subjective
Stress may be self-imposed by embracing unrealistic
expectations in work, school, etc.
Stress is influenced by culture
Cultural change, such as increased modernization
and the growth of cities is causing stress in cultures all over the world.
Also, individual cultures may experience environmental (drought) or
man-made (war) stressors.
For ethnic groups living within a majority culture,
ethnicity-related sources of stress, such as institutional
racism and the effects of subtle discrimination present a
constellation of chronic stressors.
Awareness of negative racial stereotypes may cause
stress for members of ethnic minorities and depress performance, as
suggested by the research of Claude Steele.
Major types of stress
It is useful to make the distinction between acute
stressors, threatening events that have a relatively short duration and
chronic stressors, which are threatening events that have a
relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit.
Frustration occurs in any situation in which the
pursuit of some goal is thwarted
Failures and losses are two common kinds of frustration
that can be very stressful
Frustration often occurs as a result of environmental
stress (e.g., excessive noise, heat)
Conflict occurs when two or more incompatible
motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression
Conflict is unavoidable aspect of everyday life
Three types of conflict
occurs when a
choice must be made between two attractive goals
Avoidance-avoidance conflict occurs when a
choice must be made between two unattractive goals
Approach-avoidance conflict occurs when a
choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both
attractive and unattractive aspects
These conflicts often produce vacillation
Research suggests we should focus more on decreasing
avoidance motivation rather than on increasing approach motivation
Life changes are any noticeable alterations in
one's living circumstances that require readjustment
Holmes and Rahe found that any changes, positive or
negative, can be stressful
They developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS) to measure life change as form of stress
The SRRS and similar scales have been used in numerous
studies
Results generally show that people with high scores
tend to be more vulnerable to illness and psychological problems
Findings have led to the assumption that life change
is inherently stressful
Criticism of studies using SRRS
Possible problems with methods used, interpretation of
findings
Critics have argued that SRRS does not measure change
exclusively
Critics have suggested that negative life changes are
the ones resulting in stress
More research is needed to determine whether any life
change is necessarily stressful
Pressure involves expectations or demands that one
behave in a certain way
Two basic types of pressure
Pressure to perform
Pressure to conform
Concept of pressure has received little attention from
researchers
A scale has been developed to measure pressure as a form
of life stress
Responding to stress
Emotional responses
Emotions are powerful, largely uncontrollable
feelings, accompanied by physiological changes
Emotions commonly elicited by stressful events
Annoyance, anger, and rage are particularly likely to be
caused by frustration
Apprehension, anxiety, and fear are probably evoked more
often than other emotions
Dejection, sadness, and grief may result from stress,
particularly frustration
Positive emotions can occur during periods of stress and
may have some adaptive significance by promoting creativity and
flexibility and enhancing immune functioning, for example.
Effects of emotional arousal
Can result in diminished performance (e.g., test
anxiety)
The inverted-U hypothesis
Performance improves with increase arousal up to a
point, at which greater arousal results in deterioration in
performance
Level of arousal at which performance peaks is called
the optimal level of arousal
Research support is inconsistent, subject to varied
interpretations
Physiological responses
The fight-or-flight response: a physiological
reaction to threat that mobilizes an organism for attacking (fight) or
fleeing (flight) an enemy
First described by Walter Cannon in 1932
Occurs in autonomic nervous system (ANS),
which is made up of the nerves that connect to the heart, blood vessels,
smooth muscles, and glands
Parasympathetic division of ANS helps body
conserve resources
Sympathetic division of ANS mediates the
fight-or-flight response
Response is more common in nonhuman animals, but
elements are seen in humans
The general adaptation syndrome: a model of the
body's stress response, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and
exhaustion
Formulated by Hans Selye based on research beginning in
1930s
Three stages of syndrome
Alarm occurs when organism recognizes existence
of threat
Resistance occurs when, in cases of prolonged
stress, physiological changes stabilize and coping efforts get under
way
Exhaustion occurs when body's resources are
depleted as a result of dealing with chronic stress
Selye's research demonstrated link between stress and
physical illness
Brain-body pathways
Endocrine system consists of glands that
secrete chemicals called hormones into the bloodstream
Brain sends signals to endocrine system along two major
pathways, both activated by hypothalamus
First pathway is routed through ANS and involves
activation of adrenal glands
Second pathway is from brain directly to endocrine
system and involves the pituitary gland, which stimulates adrenal
glands
Mounting evidence indicates that stress can suppress
functioning of immune system
Behavioral responses
Most behavioral responses to stress involve
coping: active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the
demands created by stress (Chapter 4 describes coping processes)
Coping responses can be either healthy or unhealthy
The potential effects of stress
Impaired task performance
Studies indicate that pressure can impair performance
Research on professional athletes provides some support
for "choking" under pressure, but reliability of phenomenon has been
questioned in recent years
Disruption of cognitive functioning
Studies indicate that stress can disrupt aspects of
attention
Stress may leave people disoriented
Burnout
Burnout involves physical, mental, and emotional
exhaustion, cynicism and a lowered sense of self-efficacy that is
attributable to work-related stress
Generally occurs as a reaction to heavy, chronic,
job-related stress
A potential problem in variety of occupations
Posttraumatic stress disorders
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves
enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major
traumatic event
Disorders widely associated with experience of Vietnam War
veterans
Also seen in other cases of traumatic stress (rape,
serious automobile accident, major disasters)
Symptoms include nightmares, paranoia, emotional numbing,
and elevated risk for substance abuse
Recent evidence indicates social support and hardiness as
key factors promoting resistance to PTSD
Psychological problems and disorders
Common psychological problems include poor academic
performance, insomnia, nightmares, and sexual difficulties
Studies indicate that stress may contribute to onset of
psychological disorders (e.g., depression, schizophrenia, anxiety
disorders)
Physical illness
Psychosomatic diseases: genuine physical
ailments caused in part by psychological factors, especially emotional
distress
Common misconception is that these diseases are
imagined physical ailments
Common diseases include high blood pressure, ulcers,
asthma, and skin disorders
There is a genetic predisposition to most psychosomatic
diseases
Stress may influence onset and course of heart disease,
stroke, tuberculosis, arthritis, others
Beneficial effects of stress
Stressful events can help satisfy need for stimulation and
challenge
Stress can promote personal growth or self-improvement
Stress can inoculate people so that they are less affected
by future stress
Factors influencing stress tolerance
Social support
Social support refers to various types of aid
and succor provided by members of one's social networks
Social support is favorably related to physical health
But some social relationships can be a source of more
stress than support
Hardiness
Hardiness: a syndrome marked by commitment,
challenge, and control. This trait is purportedly associated with strong
stress resistance
May reduce effects of stress by altering stress appraisals
Debate continues about relevance of syndrome to women, as
well as key elements of hardiness
Optimism and conscientiousness
Optimism: a general tendency to expect good
outcomes
Studies suggest that optimists cope with stress in more
adaptive ways than pessimists
Pessimism may lead to passive coping strategies and poor
health care practices
vConscientiousness, the tendency
to be diligent, punctual, and dependable, may have an impact on stress
reactions, physical health
Application: Monitoring your stress
Problems with the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Does not take into account desirability of change events
Does not take intro account individual differences in
subjective perception of stressful events
Many of events listed on scale are ambiguous
People may give inconsistent responses
Test-retest reliability is diminished
List of items on scale is not exhaustive
Correlation between stress and illness may be a function
of subjects' neuroticism as it influences response tendencies
The life experiences survey (LES)
Becoming a widely used measure of stress in research
Takes into account positive or negative impact of changes
Addresses individual differences in appraisal of stress
Includes larger domain of stressful events than SRRS
Significant omissions from SRRS were added
Allows respondents to write in events not included
Sections added for specific populations (e.g., students)
Negative change scores are particularly good predictor of
mental and physical health
A cautionary note
Strength of correlation between stress and adaptational
problems is modest
Stress is only one of numerous variables that can affect
your susceptibility to problems