Nature of Stress

The Meaning of "Stress"

The word stress comes from Latin roots: strictus (tight or narrow) and stringere (to tighten). These origins capture the physical sensations many people report under stress — a feeling of tightness in the muscles and constricted breathing.

Stress is commonly explained in terms of disruptive environmental characteristics. The events that trigger the body's stress response are called stressors. These can include noise, crowding, a difficult relationship, or the daily commute to school or work. The reaction to these external stressors is known as strain.

Two Key Views of Stress

Early stress research was dominated by Hans Selye, often called the father of modern stress research. He defined stress as "the non-specific response of the body to any demand." In his view, regardless of the cause of the threat, the individual responds with the same physiological pattern of reactions.

Many researchers today disagree with Selye's idea that the response is completely general and non-specific. They argue that different stressors can produce somewhat different patterns of reaction, and that different individuals have their own characteristic modes of responding. The opening batsman example from earlier in the chapter illustrates this: each person sees a situation through their own eyes, and it is our perception of the demands — and our perceived ability to meet them — that determines whether we feel stressed or not.

Stress as a Dynamic Process

Stress is not a factor that resides solely in the individual or in the environment. Instead, it is embedded in an ongoing process. This process involves individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals of those encounters, and attempting to cope with the issues that arise.

Stress is a dynamic mental or cognitive state. It represents a disruption in homeostasis — an imbalance that creates a need to resolve that imbalance and restore equilibrium. The perception of stress depends on the individual's cognitive appraisal of events and the resources available to deal with them.

The Two-Level Appraisal Process (Lazarus)

Based on the cognitive theory of stress developed by Lazarus and his colleagues, the stress process involves two distinct types of appraisal:

Primary Appraisal is the perception of a new or changing environment as positive, neutral, or negative in its consequences. Negative events are further appraised for:

• Harm — the assessment of damage that has already been done by the event.
• Threat — the assessment of possible future damage that the event may bring.
• Challenge — associated with more confident expectations of being able to cope, overcome, and even profit from the event.

Secondary Appraisal occurs when we perceive an event as stressful. It is the assessment of one's own coping abilities and resources — whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat, or challenge. These resources can be mental, physical, personal, or social. If a person believes they have a positive attitude, good health, relevant skills, and social support, they will feel less stressed.

This two-level appraisal process determines not only our cognitive and behavioural responses, but also our emotional and physiological responses to external events.

Factors Influencing Appraisal

These appraisals are highly subjective and depend on several factors:

• Past experience: If someone has handled similar stressful situations successfully before, those situations will feel less threatening.
• Perceived control: Whether the stressful event is seen as controllable matters greatly. A person who believes they have mastery or control over a situation — or over its adverse consequences — will experience less stress than someone who lacks that sense of personal control.
• Self-confidence or self-efficacy: This can determine whether a person appraises a situation as a threat or as a challenge.

Because of these factors, the experience and outcome of a stressor can vary greatly from one individual to another.

Types of Stressors

Stress includes all environmental and personal events that challenge or threaten a person's well-being. Stressors can be:

• External — environmental (noise, air pollution), social (break-up with a friend, loneliness), or psychological (conflict, frustration) within the individual.

Stress Reactions

Stressors result in a variety of stress reactions, which can be classified into four categories:

Physiological reactions: Arousal plays a key role. The hypothalamus initiates action along two pathways:

1. The autonomic nervous system pathway: The adrenal gland releases large amounts of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the bloodstream, leading to the physiological changes seen in the fight-or-flight response.
2. The pituitary gland pathway: It secretes corticosteroids (cortisol), which provide energy.

Emotional reactions: These include negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, embarrassment, anger, depression, or even denial.

Behavioural responses: These are virtually limitless, depending on the nature of the stressful event. Two general categories are:

• Fight — confrontative action against the stressor.
• Flight — withdrawal from the threatening event.

Cognitive responses: These include beliefs about the harm or threat an event poses, and beliefs about its causes or controllability. Specific examples include inability to concentrate, and intrusive, repetitive, or morbid thoughts.

Dimensions of Stress

The stresses people experience vary along several dimensions: