Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Introduction: What Is Stress?499psychological and behavioral factors (e.g., health beliefs and attitudes, lifestyle,stress), and social conditions (e.g., family relationships, social support, cultural influences)(Miller & others, 2009). Throughout this chapter, we’ll look closely at theroles that different biological, psychological, and social factors play in our experienceof stress.stressorsEvents or situations that are perceived asharmful, threatening, or challenging.Sources of StressLife is filled with potential stressors—events or situations that produce stress. Virtuallyany event or situation can be a source of stress if you question your ability orresources to deal effectively with it (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In this section,we’ll survey some of the most important and common sources of stress.Life Events and ChangeIs Any Change Stressful?Early stress researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe (1967) believedthat any change that required you to adjust your behavior and lifestyle wouldcause stress. In an attempt to measure the amount of stress people experienced,they developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. The scale included 43 lifeevents that are likely to require some level of adaptation. Each life event was assigneda numerical rating that estimates its relative impact in terms of lifechange units. Sample items from the original Social Readjustment Rating Scaleare shown in Table 12.1.Life event ratings range from 100 life change units for the most stressproducingto 11 life change units for the least stress-producing events.Cross-cultural studies have shown that people in many different culturestend to rank the magnitude of stressful events in a similar way (McAndrew& others, 1998; Wong & Wong, 2006). Notice that some of the life eventsare generally considered to be positive events, such as a vacation. Accordingto the life events approach, any change, whether positive or negative, is inherentlystress-producing.To measure their level of stress, people simply check off the life events theyhave experienced in the past year and total the life change units. Holmes andRahe found that people who had accumulated more than 150 life change unitswithin a year had an increased rate of physical or psychological illness (Holmes& Masuda, 1974; Rahe, 1972).Despite its initial popularity, several problems with the life events approachhave been noted. First, the link between scores on the Social ReadjustmentRating Scale and the development of physical and psychological problems isrelatively weak. In general, scores on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale arenot very good predictors of poor physical or mental health. Instead, researchershave found that most people weather major life events without developingserious physical or psychological problems (Coyne & Downey, 1991;Kessler & others, 1985).Second, the Social Readjustment Rating Scale does not take into account aperson’s subjective appraisal of an event, response to that event, or ability tocope with the event (Hammen, 2005; Lazarus, 1999). Instead, the number oflife change units on the scale is preassigned, reflecting the assumption that a givenlife event will have the same impact on virtually everyone. But clearly, the stressproducingpotential of an event might vary widely from one person to another. Forinstance, if you are in a marriage that is filled with conflict, tension, and unhappiness,getting divorced (73 life change units) might be significantly less stressfulthan remaining married.Third, the life events approach assumes that change in itself, whether good orbad, produces stress. However, researchers have found that negative life events haveTable 12.1The Social Readjustment Rating Scale:Sample ItemsLife ChangeLife Event UnitsDeath of spouse 100Divorce 73Marital separation 65Death of close family member 63Major personal injury or illness 53Marriage 50Fired at work 47Retirement 45Pregnancy 40Change in financial state 38Death of close friend 37Change to different line of work 36Mortgage or loan for major purchase 31Foreclosure on mortgage or loan 30Change in work responsibilities 29Outstanding personal achievement 28Begin or end school 26Trouble with boss 23Change in work hours or conditions 20Change in residence 20Change in social activities 18Change in sleeping habits 16Vacation 13Christmas 12Minor violations of the law 11Source: Holmes & Rahe (1967).The Social Readjustment Rating Scale,developed by Thomas Holmes and RichardRahe (1967), was an early attempt toquantify the amount of stress experiencedby people in a wide range of situations.Holmes and Rahe reasoned that any lifeevent that required some sort of adaptationor change would create stress,whether the life event was pleasant orunpleasant.