Stress: The Two Types Of Distress

Although there is more than one definition of stress, our textbook defines stress as the psychological and physical reaction to certain life event or situation (p. 542). There are two types of stress, eustress and distress. Eustress is stress that results in positive energy and improvements in performance and health. Distress in stress that results in negative energy and decreases and performance. There is considered to be three predispositions to stress. These predispositions are stress personalities, gender, ethnic city, and race, and lastly, stress sensitization. And stress personalities, there are two types of personalities, type A and type B. Type A personality is a stress prone person who is competitive, impatient, and hurried. Type …show more content…
The first source of stress, personal stress deals with non-work related issues that include family, friends, relationships, marriage, divorce, health issues, financial problems, and raising children (p. 545). Personal stressors can also include things like moving into a new room, beginning a relationship, or ending one. In personal stress there is fear. Fear develops when we leave a stage in our life that has become comfortable to us. The challenge and potential excitement from the change can produce eustress. Many people fear the unknown and because of this fear, negative stress is then produced. An example of this would be a student who is just about to finish high school eager to move on their own. Student may be terrified of what could happen because they don 't know if they will be successful in college, which they think means that they won 't be successful in life. This is not in all cases. With that fear comes resistance and resentment. Resistance is when a person doesn’t want to leave because they have a sense of security for what is known. An example of this would be a divorced couple that still spends Christmases with their former in-laws. Since going to the in-law every year for Christmas gave them a sense of security, they decided to make it a tradition. Resentment on the other hand, is changes that are forced on us. If people don 't want to change, …show more content…
The three job characteristics that cause stress are role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload. Role conflict occurs when work expectations and what we think we should be doing doesn 't match up with the work that we actually do. Example of this would be a woman who has been hired as an assistant to the CEO but people referred to her as a secretary. What she expected from the position was incompatible with what she was actually required to do. This role conflict can actually cause her to have a great deal of stress. Role ambiguity occurs when