Problem 1 2.6
Stress
Source 1 – Stress-its meaning, impact, and sources (chapter 3, pg 57-81)
Appraising events as stressful
Cognitive appraisal – a mental process by which people asses two factors:
1. Whether a demand threatens their physical or psychological well-being
2. The resources available for meeting the demand
- Called primary and secondary appraisal
Primary appraisal
Primary appraisal – an assessment process which assesses the meaning of the
situation (e.g. feeling pain or nausea) for our well-being.
- Seeks answers to questions such as “what does this mean to me” and “will I be
okay?”
Could yield one of 3 judgements:
1. It is irrelevant – may decide this if you have had similar symptoms in the past and
they only lasted a short while and were not followed by illness
2. It is good (benign-positive) – may decide this if you wanted to skip work or have
an exam postponed
3. It is stressful – may decide this if you fear your symptoms are of a serious illness
Circumstances we appraise as stressful receive further appraisal for 3 implications:
harm-loss, threat, and challenge
1. Harm-loss – damage that has already occurred i.e. when someone is
incapacitated and in pain following a serious injury. Sometimes this can be
overexaggerated which can increase one’s feelings of stress
2. Threat – expectation of future harm e.g. when hospitalised patients contemplate
their medical bills, difficult rehabilitation, and loss of income.
3. Challenge – opportunity to achieve growth, mastery, or profit by using more than
routine resources to meet demand e.g. one may view an offer of a higher-level
job as demanding, but see it as an opportunity to expand their skills and make
more money
Appraisals can influence stress even when that stressor does not relate to us directly
i.e. the transaction is vicarious
- If we see others in a stressful situation, we may empathise with their feelings and
feel vulnerable ourselves, but our responses are still influenced by appraisals
Secondary appraisal
Secondary appraisal – our assessment of the resources we have available for coping.
We are especially aware of these when we judge a situation as potentially stressful
and try to determine whether our resources are sufficient to meet the harm, threat,
or challenge we face.
Examples of secondary appraisal judgements:
1. I can’t do it – I know I’ll fail
2. I’ll try, but my chances are slim
3. I can do it if someone helps me
, 4. If this method fails, I can try a few others
5. I can do it if I work hard
6. No problem – I can do it
The condition of stress that we experience often depends on the outcome of the
appraisals we make
- If we judge our resources as sufficient to meet the demands, we may experience
little or no stress
- If we judge our resources as insufficient to meet the demands, we experience a
great deal of stress
Factors leading to stressful appraisals
Personal factors (e.g. intellectual, motivational, and personality characteristics)
- Self-esteem – people who have a high self-esteem are likely to believe that they
have the resources to meet demands that require the strengths they possess. If
they perceive something as stressful, they may interpret it more as a challenge
than a threat
- Motivation- the more important a threatened goal, the more stress the person is
likely to perceive
- Belief system- people who have irrational beliefs tend to appraise almost any
sort of inconvenience as harmful or threatening
Perfectionism – tendency to appraise even minor issues as major problems. Often
causes emotional distress and can pose a serious threat to long-term health
Events that involve very strong demands and are imminent tend to be seen as
stressful
Dimensions of stress
It is assumed that the amount of stress one experiences increases with stressor
frequency, intensity, and duration
- Stronger stressors produce greater physiological strain
Chronic stress – stress that occurs often or lasts a long time, such as when many
stressors happen or thoughts about a trauma recur often over time
- Makes people more susceptible to catching a cold when exposed to infection
Biopsychosocial aspects of stress
Biological aspects of stress
When exposed to stress there are many physiological reactions that occur
, - Heart rate increases rapidly and more forcefully
- Skeletal muscles of our arms and legs may tremble
- Sympathetic nervous system and endocrine system cause this body arousal so
that we can defend ourselves
- After the emergency passes, the arousal subsides
Reactivity - the physiological portion of the response to a stressor which researchers
measure by comparison against a baseline or resting level of arousal
Genetic factors influence people’s degree of reactivity to stressors.
- People under chronic stress often show heightened reactivity when a stressor
occurs, and their arousal may take more time to return to baseline levels
Fight-or-flight response – a reaction that prepares an organism to attack the threat
or to flee the danger
- Causes they sympathetic NS to stimulate many organs directly, and stimulates
the adrenal glands of the endocrine system, which secrete epinephrine, arousing
the body more
- This heightened arousal can be harmful to health if it is prolonged
General adaption syndrome (Selye)
The fight or flight response is only the first in a series of reactions the body makes
when stress is long-lasting
The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) – the series of physiological reactions which
consists of 3 stages
1. Alarm reaction – similar to the fight or flight response. Its function is to mobilise
the body’s resources when presented with an emergency.
It is a fast-acting arousal which results from the sympathetic nervous
system, which activates many organs through direct nerve connections,
including the adrenal glands, which release epinephrine and
norepinephrine into the bloodstream, producing further activation
The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) of the stress response is
activated. The hypothalamus triggers the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH,
which causes the adrenal gland to release cortisol into the blood which
further enhances the body’s mobilization
2. Stage of resistance – if the stressor continues, the psychological reaction enters
this stage. The initial reactions of the sympathetic NS become less pronounced
and the HPA activation predominates.
Body tries to adapt to the stressor, but arousal remains higher than
normal, and the body replenishes the hormones the adrenal glands
released
May show few outward signs of stress but the ability to resist new
stressors may become impaired which may eventually make an individual
vulnerable to health problems
Diseases of adaptation – health problems including ulcers, high blood
pressure, asthma, and illnesses that result from impaired immune
function
3. Stage of exhaustion – prolonged arousal produced by severe long-term or
repeated stress can weaken the immune system and depleted the body’s energy
reserves until resistance is very limited
