Transactional Model of Stress and Coping - Lazarus and Folkman, 1984

The Transactional Model of Stress

= a model of stress to describe and explain individual differences in how people respond to a stressor from a psychological (cognitive) perspective.

Model proposes

that stress involves an encounter (transaction) between an individual and their external environment, and that a stress response depends upon the individual’s evaluation (appraisal) of the relevance of the stressor to his or her wellbeing and their ability to cope with it.

2 Key Psychological factors

= determine the extent to which an event is experienced as stressful.

1. The meaning of the event to the individual.

2. The individual’s judgement of their ability to cope with it.

3 Types of Stress

Harm, Threat or Challenge.

Harm

= when something bad has already happened due to the stressor, like a loss.

Threat

= when you expect something bad is going to happen soon due to the stressor.

Challenge

= when you feel you can handle what’s happening, similar to positive stress.

Primary Appraisal

= we evaluate the significance of the event and whether anything is at stake in this encounter. The outcome is a decision about whether the event is irrelevant, benign-positive, or stressful. If stressful, we engage in additional appraisals to determine if it is harmful, stressful, or challenging.

Secondary Appraisal

= we evaluate our ability to control or overcome the situation in which we find ourselves. Coping options and resources may be internal (strength) or external (money/support from friends). If coping demands are perceived to be far greater than the resources available, then we are likely to experience a stress response.

Strengths of the Model

• focuses on psychological factors of the stress response over which we have control

• emphasizes the personal nature and individuality of the stress response

• respects personal appraisals of a situation, thereby interpreting the situation from an individual’s perspective

• explains why individuals respond differently to the same types of stressors

• proposes different methods for managing psychological responses to stressors

Limitations of the Model

• difficult to test through experimental research due to the subjective nature of individual responses to stressors

• overlooks physiological/biological responses to a stressor

• primary and secondary appraisals can interact with one another and are often undertaken simultaneously /may not be two separate processes

• model may be too simplistic as most people are not aware of the appraisal process as it occurs