Psychology Ch. 11: Stress And Health

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Stress

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The term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging.

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Stressors

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Stress-causing events

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Distress

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Stress from unpleasant/negative stressors

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Eutress

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-Stress from positive events that cause a person to have to adapt/change

-The optimal amount of stress people need to promote health and wellbeing

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Catastrophe

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An unpredictable event that happens on a large scale and creates a great amount of stress and feelings of threat

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The Social Readjustment Rating Scale

(SSRS)

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-Created by Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe

-Idea that any event that causes people to change, adapt, or adjust their lifestyle causes stress

-Negative and positive events both cause people to need to adapt

-Measures a person's amount of stress by adding up the total "life change units" associated w/ each major event on the scale (from last 12 months)

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Correlation b/w SSRS score and risk of illness/accidents

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As the score goes up, so does the risk of having an illness or accident

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The College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS)

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Version of the SSRS that uses life events more likely to be experienced by college students

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Hassles

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-Bulk of our stress

-Minor frustrations/delays/accidents/annoyances

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Lazarus & Folkman

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-Developed a "hassle scale"

-Includes hassles like "misplacing things" or "troublesome neighbors"

-Person rates how much of a hassle each thing was to them (0=didn't happen, or wasn't a hassle)

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Hassles vs. Major events re: Health

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-Major life events (SSRS score) predicted long term effects on chronic physical and mental health, while hassles (Hassle Scale score) predicted short term illnesses such as headaches, colds, and backaches

-Perceived severity of the hassles was a better predictor than the number of hassles

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Sources of hassles

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-Can be different depending on age/developmental stage

-3 to 5 age group: getting teased=biggest daily hassle

-6 to 10: getting bad grades

-11 to 15: pressure to use drugs

-16 to 22: trouble at work/school

-Adults: fighting among family members

-Elders: lack of money

-Old people were more strongly affected by things like going shopping, appointments, and bad weather

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Pressure

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Urgent demands on a person's behavior from an outside source

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Control

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The less control a person has over the situation, the greater the stress

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Rodin and Langer

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-Experimented with people in a nursing home having control over their lives

-Those given more control were more active and sociable than the control group

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Frustration

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Caused when a person is blocked from achieving a desired goal or fulfilling a perceived need

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Internal frustrations

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-Also known as 'personal frustrations'

-Caused when a goal or need cannot be attained b/c of personal characteristics

-Ex. Person wants to be an astronaut but has severe motion sickness

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Typical responses to frustration

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1). Persistence - try to get around frustration

2). Aggression

3). Displaced aggressive

4). Escape/withdrawal

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Aggression

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-Actions meant to harm or destroy

-Frequent response to frustration, but rarely the first

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Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

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-Early behaviorists

-Frustration nearly always precedes aggression, but aggression does not always follow frustration

-Frustration creates an internal "readiness to aggress" but aggression will not follow unless certain external cues are present

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Displaced aggression

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When an aggressive response to frustration is taken out on somebody who is not the cause of the frustrations (Ex. having a bad day and then coming home and yelling at your spouse)

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Approach-approach conflict

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-A person experiences desires for two goals, each of which are attractive

-"Win-win" situation

-Not very stressful

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Avoidance-avoidance conflict

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-Choice b/w two or more goals or events that are unpleasant

-"Caught between a rock and a hard place"

-Much more stressful

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Approach-avoidance conflict

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-Only involved one goal/event

-Goal/event has both positive and negative aspects

-Most stressful of conflict types

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Double approach-avoidance conflict

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Choice b/w two goals/events, both which have positive and negative aspects

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Multi

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