5.1 Stress and Stressors

Stress can be viewed as either

-          Response- physiological

-          Stimulus- a life event or change that demands a response

-          Transaction- between a person and their environment

Selye (1936) defined stress as a

nonspecific or common response resulting from the demands upon the body such as temperature, surgery or exercise

Selye proposed that stress was

neutral meaning that the experience of stress depends on the individual’s response to a stimulus (i.e. A stressor) rather than the characteristic of the stressor itself.

Selye (1983) identified that stress result in

both positive and negative outcomes depending on ones cognitive interpretation of their stress induced symptoms

 

Distress

-          refers to a negative response to stress that decreased performance/motivation

Eustress

-          refers to a positive response to stress that increased performance/motivation

Stressors are stimuli that place demands on us, they can be

-          Environmental

-          Psychological

-          Social

-          Cultural

Environmental

stress experiences from the surrounding conditions, including temp, ambient noise.

Psychological

Stress generated in our mind, includes experiences of frustration, conflict, and internal pressures

Social

stress experienced through interaction with others, includes social events such as death, strained relationships, friendship difficulties

cultural

the culture we live in determines the meaning of an event and the nature of a response that is expected, includes the way we are expected to respond to deaths, marriages, in important relationships and our expectations around our behaviour, performance

The characteristics of stressors include

-          Nature- i.e. the type of stressor

-          Duration- i.e. how long the stressor acts on us

-          Strength/intensity- i.e. the extent of the demands placed upon us