Psychological Theories Of Stress

Words: 852
Pages: 4
Open Document
Stress is the process by which people interpret and respond to events that we see as challenging or threatening. The factors that cause stress are called stressors. There are two types of stressors: acute and chronic. Acute stressors appear suddenly, lasts for a short period of time, and needs immediate attention. Chronic stressors last for a long time and are often detrimental to your health. There are also multiple aspects of stress, including psychological and physiological aspects. Speisman et al. (1964) and Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) delves into these aspects and how they may be interrelated. Psychological stress impacts cognition. Psychological processes determine whether or not an event is perceived as stressful. The way a person …show more content…
(1964), an experiment, aimed to confirm Lazarus's theory of appraisal that the appraisal can interfere with emotions. Participants were shown an unpleasant documentary on the topic of a traditional coming-to-age ceremony where genital mutilation (circumcision) is performed on young males. The participants were sorted into three groups: trauma, denial, and intellectualization. The trauma group was shown the documentary with a soundtrack that emphasized the pain while the denial group was shown the documentary with a more exciting soundtrack that implied that the males anticipated the ceremony and entering manhood. The intellectualization group was shown the documentary with a scientific explanation that ignored the painfulness of the procedure. Participants in the trauma group reacted more emotionally than the other two groups as they had evaluated the event as painful and stressful through the documentary and the included soundtrack, which shows that through appraising the event, the same documentary or stimuli can elicit different emotional responses. As shown here, psychological stress interrelates to physiological stress as the emotional interpretation of a stressful event leads to stress hormones being released, bringing out negative …show more content…
The changes may prepare someone confront or flee from the source of stress; This is called the flight-or-fight response. If the event is perceived as stressful, it is likely that there will be a physiological response. Selye (1956) proposed the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). He proposed that there are three stages in the stress process: alarm stage, resistance stage, and the exhaustion stage. The initial stage is equivalent to the flight-or-fight response which then becomes the second stage where a person attempts to cope and fix the alarm stage. The final stage is reached when someone is incapable of coping anymore. This explains the fatigue someone feels after a stressful situation. Psychological factors play a minor role in this model and interrelates to the physiological aspects of stress as the emotions brought on by the situation are influenced by personal characteristics that affect the appraisal which begins the three stages of the stress
Show More

Related Documents: Psychological Theories Of Stress

Essay on stress on nurese

in The Netherlands A BALANCE THEORY OF JOB DESIGN FOR STRESS REDUCTION Michael J. Smith and Pascale C. Sainfort Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wl 53706 (U.S.A.) (Received October 17, 1988; accepted January 5, 1989) ABSTRACT This paper proposes a new way of conceptualizing job design and job stress based on the balance among job elements. It integrates social psychological theories of job design with job stress concepts to develop a model of…

Words 8341 - Pages 34

Essay Important Questions: Psychological Well Being and Mental Disorder

disorders are. Discuss the major theories and treatments for generalized anxiety disorder. Describe the features of panic disorder and discuss the biological and cognitive explanations and therapies of this disorder. Define phobia; then describe agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia; discuss the major theories and treatments for phobias. Distinguish between obsessions and compulsions. Discuss the major theories and treatments for obsessive-compulsive…

Words 411 - Pages 2

Essay on abnormal psychology

Ch1 Diagnosis of a psychological disorder is applied when the symptoms have a substantial effect on one’s life. Abnormal psychology is the subfield of psychology that studies the causes and progression of psychological disorders; it’s also known as psychopathology. 4 D’s: Distress, Dysfunction, Dangerousness, and Deviance. The four elements: distress, impairment, risk of harm, and deviance. Do not all need to be present if one or two of the elements are severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of…

Words 397 - Pages 2

Essay on Psy Sport Chp 18

Chapter 18 - -Exercise Behavior and Adherence Discuss why people do or do not exercise People usually follow a program to derive the many benefits of exercise, including weight control, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, reduction of stress and depression, enhanced self-esteem, increased enjoyment, and for the chance to socialize. First problem is getting people started in an exercise program. Of people who start an exercise program, 50% will drop out within 6 months. The major reasons why…

Words 4829 - Pages 20

Ambievelent Relationships and Stress Essay

Ambivalent Relationships and Stress Matthew Trugman Wake Technical Community College Ambivalent Relationships and Stress Ambivalent, the term according to the site dictionary-psychology.com, is “1- The coexistence of contradictory emotions, attitudes, ideas or desires with respect to a particular person, object or situation. Ordinarily, the ambivalence is not fully conscious and suggests psychopathology only when present in an extreme form.2- The simultaneous holding of strong positive and…

Words 1473 - Pages 6

Emotional Processing Theory Analysis

Many theories have been produced in the psychological field to try and explain the phenomenon that is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, known most commonly by its acronym, PTSD. Many psychologists and field researchers have tried explaining why many people have gone on to experience traumatic events but only a certain percentage develop this illness. Most of it is tied solely to the trauma survivor’s personal experiences, in terms of thoughts, memory, emotions, and behavior in underlying processes…

Words 1647 - Pages 7

The Diverse Nature of Psychology Paper

psychology, theoretical perspective of the sub-disciplines, and the psychological contribution to society on the chosen sub-disciplines and sub- topics. Diversity on major concepts There are 54 subdivisions of psychology within the…

Words 930 - Pages 4

Case Study Essay

she won’t be putting herself through so much risk. It will be discussed with regards to motivation, nature and nurture, stress and coping, looking at psychological and biological theories. I will then be discussing ways in which health care professionals could help Susan change her lifestyle to become healthier. I will be referencing some of the text to psychological theories and concepts and exploring various literatures and finally concluding the piece and putting my opinions across and exploring…

Words 2203 - Pages 9

Job Satisfaction Theory

2.2 Review of related theories There are some of the theory of model related to job stress and job satisfaction required in order to support this research. Therefore, related theory, conceptual and previous literature review will be discussed to support this research. 2.2.1 Job Demand-Control (support) theory Job Demand-Control (support) theory presented by Karasek in 1979 is related to the factor work overload in this research (Hassard & Cox, 2015). According to Hassard and Cox (2015), Job Demand-Control…

Words 1550 - Pages 7

Psychology and Answers Essay

CHAPTER 7 1. What is not true about the influence of nature and nurture on intelligence? C) An enriched environment never helps increase IQ scores among preschoolers) 2. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences does not include which of the following? D) creativity 3. Ashley had to leave a note for her mother. She did not have a pen or pencil so she write the note using lipstick. This is an example of overcoming: B) functional fixedness 4. Which statement is not true about the information-processing…

Words 4678 - Pages 19