Chapter 11

stress and health

psycholo
gy
Psychology, Fourth Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland White
Copyright ©2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
 Learning Objective
Menu
1. How do psychologists define stress?
2. What kinds of external events can cause stress?
3. What are some psychological factors in stress?
4. How does stress affect the physical functioning of the
body and its immune system?
5. How do cognitive factors and personality differences
affect the experience of stress?
6. What social factors influence stress reactions?
7. What are some ways in which people cope with stress
reactions?
8. How is coping with stress affected by culture and
religion?
9. What are some ways to become a more optimistic
thinker?

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress
LO 11.1 How Do Psychologists Define Stress?

• Stress: physical, emotional,

cognitive, and behavioral responses
to events that are appraised as
threatening or challenging
• Stressors: events that cause a
stress reaction

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress
LO 11.1 How Do Psychologists Define Stress?

• Distress: the effect of

unpleasant and undesirable
stressors
• Eustress: the effect of positive
events, or the optimal amount of
stress that people need to promote
health and well-being

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Causesof
Stress
• Catastrophe: an unpredictable, large-
LO 11.2 Kinds of Events that Cause Stress

scale event that creates a

tremendous need to adapt and
adjust as well as overwhelming
feelings of threat

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Causesof
Stress
• Major lifeLOchanges: cause
11.2 Kinds of Events that Cause Stress

stress by requiring adjustment

– Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS): measures the amount of stress
resulting from major life events in a
person’s life over a one- year period
– College Undergraduate Stress Scale
(CUSS): measures the amount of stress
resulting from major life events in a
college student’s life over a one-year
period
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Table 11.1
(continued)
Sample Items
From the Social
Readjustment
Rating Scale
(SRRS)

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Causesof
Stress
• Hassles: LO
the daily
11.2 Kinds of Events that Cause Stress

annoyances of everyday life

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Everyday Sources of
Stress
• Pressure: LOthe psychological
11.3 Psychological Factors in Stress

experience produced by urgent

demands or expectations for a
person’s behavior that come from
an outside source
• Uncontrollability: the degree of
control that the person has over a
particular event or situation
– the less control a person has, the
greater the degree of stress
Psychology, Third Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland
Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Education, Inc.
 Everyday Sources of
Stress
• Frustration: the psychological
LO 11.3 Psychological Factors in Stress

experience produced by the

blocking of a desired goal or
fulfillment of a perceived need
• Possible reactions to frustration
– aggression: actions meant to harm or
destroy
– displaced aggression: taking out one’s
frustrations on some less threatening or
more available target
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
▪
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Everyday Sources of
Stress
• Possible reactions to frustrations
LO 11.3 Psychological Factors in Stress

(cont’d):
– escape or withdrawal: leaving the
presence of a stressor
▪ either literally or by a psychological
withdrawal into fantasy, drug abuse, or
apathy

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Cognitive Factors of Stress
LO 11.5 The Relationship between Stress and Cognitive and Personality Factors

• Cognitive appraisal approach

(Lazarus): how people think about
a stressor determines, at least in
part, how stressful that stressor
will become

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Cognitive Factors of Stress
LO 11.5 The Relationship between Stress and Cognitive and Personality Factors

• Cognitive appraisal approach

– primary appraisal: involves
estimating the severity of a stressor
and classifying it as either a threat
or a challenge
– secondary appraisal: involves
estimating the resources available to
the person for coping with the
stressor

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
Figure 11.4 Responses to a Stressor
Lazarus’s Cognitive Appraisal Approach. According to this approach, there are two steps in cognitively determining
the degree of stress created by a potential stressor. Primary appraisal involves determining if the potential
stressor is a threat. If it is perceived as a threat, secondary appraisal occurs in addition to the bodily and
emotional reactions. Secondary appraisal involves determining the resources one has to deal with the stress,
such as time, money, physical ability, and so on.
Inadequate resources lead to increased feelings of stress and the possibility of developing new resources to
deal with the
stress.

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Personality
LO 11.5 The Relationship between Stress and Cognitive and Personality Factors

• Type A personality:
– ambitious
– time conscious
– extremely hardworking
– tends to have high levels of hostility and
anger
– easily annoyed
• Type B personality
– relaxed and laid-back
– less driven and competitive than Type A
– slow to anger
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Personality
LO 11.5 The Relationship between Stress and Cognitive and Personality Factors

• Type C personality
– pleasant but repressed person
– tends to internalize anger and
anxiety
– finds expressing emotions
difficult
– higher cancer rates

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Personality
LO 11.5 The Relationship between Stress and Cognitive and Personality Factors

• Explanatory styles
– optimists: expect positive
outcomes
– pessimists: expect negative
outcomes
– optimists less likely to
▪ develop learned helplessness
▪ ignore their health
▪ become depressed

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Social Factors
LO 11.6 Social Factors and Stress Reactions

• Social factors increasing the

effects of stress include:
– poverty
– stresses on the job or in the
workplace
– entering a majority culture that is
different from one’s culture of
origin
• Burnout: negative changes in
thoughts, emotions, and behavior
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Social Factors
LO 11.6 Social Factors and Stress Reactions

• Acculturative stress: results from the

need to change and adapt to the
majority culture
– four methods of acculturation:
1. integration: maintaining a sense of original
culture while forming positive relationship
with majority culture
2. assimilation: giving up original cultural
identity and adopting majority culture
3. separation: rejecting the majority culture’s
ways
4. marginalization: maintaining no ties with
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Stress and Social Factors
LO 11.6 Social Factors and Stress Reactions

• Social-support system: the network

of family, friends, neighbors,
coworkers, and others who can
offer support, comfort, or aid to a
person in need

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Ways to Deal with Stress
LO 11.7 Coping with Stress

• Coping strategies: actions that

people can take to master, tolerate,
reduce, or minimize the effects of
stressors
– problem-focused coping: one tries to
eliminate the source of a stress or
reduce its impact through direct actions
– emotion-focused coping: one
changes the impact of a stressor by
changing the emotional reaction to
the stressor
Psychology, Third Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland
Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Education, Inc.
 Meditation
LO 11.7 Coping with Stress

• Meditation: mental exercises meant

to refocus attention and achieve a
trancelike state of consciousness
and relaxation
• Concentrative meditation: a person
focuses the mind on some repetitive
or unchanging stimulus so that the
mind can be cleared of disturbing
thoughts and the body can
experience relaxation
Psychology, Third Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland
Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Education, Inc.
 Cultural Influences on
Stress
• Different cultures perceive
LO 11.8 How Culture and Religion Help People Cope with Stress

stressors differently
• Coping strategies will also vary
from culture to culture

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Religiosity and
Stress
• PeopleLO 11.8
with religious beliefs also
How Culture and Religion Help People Cope with
Stress

have been found to cope better

with stressful events

Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson

Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.
 Become More Optimistic
LO 11.9 Becoming More a More Optimistic Thinker

1. When a bad mood strikes, stop and

think about what just went through
your head.
2. When you’ve recognized the
negative statements, treat them as
if they came from someone else—
someone who is trying to make
your life miserable. Think about
the damage the statement is doing
to you.
Psychology, Third Edition Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland Education, Inc.