Lecture 1: Introduction
❖ Stress predicts development of cardiovascular disease⇒ 48% higher
mortality risk
Conceptualizing stress
Three approaches to understanding stress
1. Stress as a stimulus (‘stressor’)
a. Questionnaire-based assessments:
i. Like major life events, daily hassles
b. Exposure paradigms:
i. Laboratory stressors, divorce, bereavement
2. Stress as an evaluative process (‘stress perception’)
3. Stress as response (‘stress response’)
a. E.g. depression, anxiety, burnout, physiological dysregulation
Stress as a stimulus (‘stressor’)
Number of hassles is more predictive of
depression in elderly people than negative
life events
, Acute stress in the laboratory
Stress as an evaluative process (‘stress perception’)
Primacy of affect:
Stress perceptions might happen also without
conscious evaluation
The perceived stress scale→ what gets measured
*Unexpectedly, unable to control, ability to handle
problems, coping, ability to control, be on top of things,
not be able to overcome things
Brady’s experiment
Lack of control is key determinant of stress (monkey
with joked control)
Cohen et al., (1991)
Every participant was exposed to the infection, however
not everyone actually developed a cold
- Participants with lower psychological stress index
(exposure to recent and chronic stressful life events)
were less likely to develop a cold
- Participants with higher psychological stress index
were more likely to develop a cold (the higher the
stress, the higher the chance of a cold)
Social self-preservation theory
● Threats to the social self engender a specific set of psychological and physiological
reactions
1) Feelings of low social worth (e.g. shame, embarrassment)
2) Increases in cortisol
● Examples: situations that threaten social standing. situations that involve rejection
❖ Stress predicts development of cardiovascular disease⇒ 48% higher
mortality risk
Conceptualizing stress
Three approaches to understanding stress
1. Stress as a stimulus (‘stressor’)
a. Questionnaire-based assessments:
i. Like major life events, daily hassles
b. Exposure paradigms:
i. Laboratory stressors, divorce, bereavement
2. Stress as an evaluative process (‘stress perception’)
3. Stress as response (‘stress response’)
a. E.g. depression, anxiety, burnout, physiological dysregulation
Stress as a stimulus (‘stressor’)
Number of hassles is more predictive of
depression in elderly people than negative
life events
, Acute stress in the laboratory
Stress as an evaluative process (‘stress perception’)
Primacy of affect:
Stress perceptions might happen also without
conscious evaluation
The perceived stress scale→ what gets measured
*Unexpectedly, unable to control, ability to handle
problems, coping, ability to control, be on top of things,
not be able to overcome things
Brady’s experiment
Lack of control is key determinant of stress (monkey
with joked control)
Cohen et al., (1991)
Every participant was exposed to the infection, however
not everyone actually developed a cold
- Participants with lower psychological stress index
(exposure to recent and chronic stressful life events)
were less likely to develop a cold
- Participants with higher psychological stress index
were more likely to develop a cold (the higher the
stress, the higher the chance of a cold)
Social self-preservation theory
● Threats to the social self engender a specific set of psychological and physiological
reactions
1) Feelings of low social worth (e.g. shame, embarrassment)
2) Increases in cortisol
● Examples: situations that threaten social standing. situations that involve rejection
