1. Psychological Aspects of Stress
Cognitive Appraisal  Transactional Model
Response Style
Control

2. Discussion Activity Discussion Topics Design a research
Violent neighborhoods and stress
Design a research
What would be your research question?
What would be your method, participants, etc.

3. Psychological Aspects of Stress
Two way street
How does stress impact cognition?
How does cognition impact stress?
Emotion Theory: Cognitive Appraisal (Lazarus)
Important part of stress response
not just physiological
Humans are not just passive responders to the environment

5. Appraisal Theory Leads to a NEW Model of stress
Perception
If a stimulus is not PERCEIVED as a stress response there is no physiological response
Transactional Model of Stress
Appraisal is necessary
Stress involved a transaction between an individual and the world
Primary appraisal: even is perceived as neutral, positive or negative
Secondary appraisal: assessment of one’s coping abilities and resources
Consider several coping strategies
Cognitive appraisal determines physiological response

6. Speisman et al, 1964
Aim: To determine if you can manipulate an emotional response
Method: Experiment
Participants: college students
IV: condition impacting emotional response
DV: emotional response
Heart rate, skin response (sweat)
survey
Conditions
Trauma, denial, intellectualization

7. Results Implications Evaluation
Denial and intellectualization experienced less stress
Implications
Stress was dependent on appraisal, not the content of the film (environment)
Evaluation
Laboratory setting, high control
Clear cause-effect
Artificial?
Unethical?
Deception
Exposure to unpleasant situations

8. Attribution & Stress
Theory: An individual’s attribution style impacts stress
Why? Helps mediate stress
Greer et al, 1979
Correlational, longitudinal study on breast cancer patients
Denial & fighting spirit predicted longer survival rates
Not hopelessness

9. Control
Our reactions to stressful or unpleasant life events depends to a large extent on how much control we have (Perception of control)
Examples:
Do we think we can prevent events?
Do we think we have the ability to change our lives?

10. What is control?
Demonstrated ability to change or manipulate the environment
Perceived ability to change or manipulate the environment
Ability to predict, to understand, to accept

11. The Executive Monkey
Brady, 1958

12. Social Aspects of Stress
Various environment/social factors put individuals under greater stress, causing poor health and family problems
Lack of education
Low standard of housing
Noise and crowding
Homelessness
Lack of social support
Domestic violence
Economic hardship

13. How can a job stress you out?
Emotional Labor (Hochschild)
De-individuation
Organizational rituals (uniforms and routines) minimize stress
Job Autonomy
Increase in job autonomy  decrease in stress
Marmot et al., 1997
British Civil Service correlational research
Theorell et al., 1985
Positive correlation between high blood pressure and high-demand- low control jobs (waiters and cooks)

14. Hochschild, 1983 Theory Why does it cause stress?
Emotional Labor: expected to enhance, suppress and even fake emotions to satisfy an employer
Describes modern workplace
Why does it cause stress?
Emotional dissonance: feeling false and hypocritical
Lack of emotional autonomy
Exploitation
Expected to conform to an emotional response that is not genuine

15. Evans & Kim, 2007
Aim: investigate the long term relationship between poverty and low socioeconomic status, risk factors and physiological stress
Method: longitudinal, correlational
Biological measurements
Blood pressure
Cortisol levels
Heart’s reaction/recovery to stress
Environment stress factors
Substandard housing
Family violence

16. Results
Positive relationship between long-term exposure and physiological measures of stress
Elevated cortisol
Heart problems
Implications
Long term exposure to stress puts children at a disadvantage
Developmentally and health
Accumulation of risk factors in low socioeconomic
Family violence, separation of families, chaotic households

17. Stress: Biopsychosocial
Steptoe and Marmot, 2003
Method: survey and blood tests
AIM: show the interaction between various factors in stress.
Hypothesis: self-efficacy important psychological measure of stress
Results
High score on all seven stressors (job, environment, economic, control stress) showed severe biological response
Heart problems
Implications:
Study stressors individually and together