1. Stress & Conflict

2. Sources of Stress Viewed differently by researchers.
Considered an event, response or perception by various researchers
Stress – a person’s reaction to his or her inability to cope with a certain tense event or situation
Anxious or threatening feeling resulting from our appraisal of a situation & our reaction to demands placed upon us.

3. Components of Stress Stressor – a stress producing event or situation
Not all events or situations are stressors to all people as people react differently
Stress reaction – the body’s response to a stressor

4. Two Types of Stress
Distress – negative stress that stems from acute anxiety or pressure
Eustress – positive stress, which results from motivating strivings and challenges
Stress is a normal essential part of life that goes with facing challenges and working towards goals.
Cannot escape stress
“Complete freedom from stress is death!”

5. Conflict Situations
Conflict Situations – when a person must choose between two or more options that tend to result from opposing motives
4 types
Approach-Approach
Avoidance-Avoidance
Approach-Avoidance
Double Approach-Avoidance

6. Conflict Situations
Approach-Approach – you must choose between two attractive options
Mall or dance, two colleges
Usually does not cause much stress because both alternatives are satisfying

7. Conflict Situations
Avoidance-Avoidance – you must choose between two disagreeable options
Study for math or English final
Accept a job you don’t really want or continue looking
Can be very stressful

8. Conflict Situations
Approach-Avoidance – situation that has both enjoyable and disagreeable consequences
Should you ask someone out? (could say no)
Asking for a raise
Resolution of this type of conflict is difficult

9. Conflict Situations
Double Approach-Avoidance – must choose between multiple options, each of which has pleasurable and disagreeable aspects
Wait for girlfriend or go out with friends
Most common situation

10. Conflict Situations
Level of personal stress depends on how you appraise a situation.
Primary appraisal – immediate evaluation of a situation
Can be irrelevant, positive or negative (example – pop quiz)
Secondary appraisal – deciding how to deal with a potential stressful situation

11. Environmental Stressors
Noise and feeling crowded are stressors.
Major life changes are stressors
Hassles – minor, day to day stressors
Losing keys, near smoker, stuck in traffic are examples
Hassles can gradually weaken the body’s defense system
People reporting more hassles had more health problems
Positive events or uplifts can reduce stress

12. Reactions to Stress
Stress reactions can be physical, psychological, or behavioral.
Human body is a holistic (integrated) organism.

13. Fight or Flight Response
Body reacts to any stressor with immediate arousal.
Adrenal glands produce hormones to increase blood sugar for more energy.
Adrenaline is also produced to allow the body to use energy more quickly.
Prepares a person for fight-or-flight response to prepare you for dangerous situations.
Excess stress can use up body’s resources and in extreme cases lead to death.

14. General Adaptation Syndrome
Selye – alarm, resistance and exhaustion
Alarm – heart & breathing rate quicken, pupils dilate, muscles tense and hormones are secreted to make one exceptionally alert
Resistance – enables a person to cope with and ward off stressors
Exhaustion – continued exposure to stressors causes body to reach breaking point

15. Emotional & Cognitive Responses
Most common response to a sudden & powerful stressor is anxiety (feeling of imminent and unclear threat)
Anger – the irate reaction likely to result from frustration
Fear – the usual reaction when a stressor involves real or imagined danger

16. Emotional & Cognitive Responses
Cognitive responses include difficulty in concentrating or thinking clearly, recurring thoughts, and poor decision making.
Continued frustration can lead to burnout.
Burnout can lead to other mental & physical illnesses

17. Behavioral Reactions
Nervous habits (smoke, drink, take drugs, feel tired, shaky voice, strained expressions, changes in posture, lost interest in eating, grooming and bathing)
Many people can endure great amounts of stress without behavioral responses while others may be seriously affected.
Severe stress can lead to alcoholism, drug addiction, chronic unemployment, delinquency, aggressiveness and criminal behavior

18. Physical Reactions
Physical problems related to stress include: health problems, breathing problems, insomnia, migraines, urinary & bowel problems, muscle aches, sweating, dryness of the mouth, ulcers, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, & heart disease

19. Factors Influencing Reactions to Stress
People’s reactions to stress vary considerably
Personality may make you more vulnerable to stress
Type B – relaxed, patient & do not anger easily
Type A – anger with no object or focus, irritable, & competitive
Most people exhibit Type A personalities at some time but not constantly

20. Control Over Stressors
Physical disorders are more likely when we do not have control over stressors
People need feedback
Physical and psychological well-being is profoundly influenced by the degree to which we feel a sense of control over our lives

21. Social Support
Social Support – information that leads someone to believe that he or she is cared for, loved, respected and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation
Social support helps people deal with stress.
Who has more stress – men or women?

22. Coping with Stress Stress can smother your life and make you miserable
Coping with stress is an attempt to gain control over part of one’s life.
People cope in many different ways with different strategies having varying success for different people.
Coping strategies may not always be healthy (maladaptive)

23. Coping with Stress
Cognitive appraisal – the interpretation of an event that helps determine its stress impact.
Denial – a coping mechanism in which a person decides that the event is not really a stressor
Intellectualization – coping mechanism in which the person analyzes a situation from an emotionally detached viewpoint (sawmill video)

24. Active Coping Strategies
Hardiness – positive, controlled and committed response to a challenge or stressor
Problem solving – evaluate problem or stressor and come up with a rational solution
Relaxation/meditation
Biofeedback – process of learning to control bodily states by monitoring the states to be controlled
Support groups & professional help
Training
Improving interpersonal skills

25. Stress in Your Life College
Autonomy – ability to take care of oneself and make one’s own decision
Many students approach college with high and unrealistic expectations
College is competitive, diverse, and may challenge your values

26. Stress in Your Life Work
Each person’s work experience is different and each person reacts differently
Low job satisfaction associated with absenteeism and turnover which leads to lower productivity

27. Stress in Your Life Work
5 Sources of Work Satisfaction
1. Resources to do the job well
2. Pays well, good benefits & secure
3. Interesting & challenging allowing worker to use skills, talents & abilities
4. Good relations with coworkers
5. Work conditions and environment are attractive

28. Stress in Your Life Work
Career changes (possibly several times)
Comparable worth – the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility
Women still face a considerable gap
Equal Pay Act of 1963 – prohibits wage discrimination for jobs requiring equal skills and responsibilities
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – can’t discriminate on basis of race, gender, religion and national origin