Study questions + answers -
Health Psychology Subtest2
Chapter 11
1. In what three ways has stress generally been examined? (p332)
STRESS:
1. As a stimulus or event external to the individual - stressors
2. As a psychological transaction
3. As a physiological response
2. Holmes and Rahe have developed the life events theory of stress and constructed
the Social Readjustment Rating Scale to measure stress. How is stress measured
with this questionnaire? What are the limitations of this questionnaire to measure
stress? (p333-334)
Life events theory - Holmes & Rahe, 1987
Stress as a response to life events that require adjustment on part of a person.
➢ Negative events
➢ Positive events/uplifts
Social readjustment= the intensity and lenght of time necessary to accommodate a life
event, regardless of the desirability of this event
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
● List of 43 possible life events
● Weighted by a panel of 400 people for severity
● Sum of weightened recent experiences was assumed to indicate level of stress
● Stress measured in Life Change Units (LCU)
● The greater the LCU score, the higher the risk of ill-health
➢ Critique –> expansion of the list
Limitations of life events measurement of stress:
● Retrospective assessment (risk of misattribution of events)
○ Prospective studies showed weaker relations between events and stress
● Events may not be globally appropriate
● Does not account for interrelatedness of events
● Vague or ambiguous events (change in social activities)
● Ignores individual differences in weighting of events
● Daily hassles as stimulus for stress are neglected
, 3. How has Kanner defined “Life hassles”? (p334)
Life hassles= irritating, frustrating, distressing demands that to some degree characterize
everyday transactions with the environment
➢ Relevant impact when are chronic or repeated over a particular period of time
4. Which role plays the balance between positive and negative experiences for stress
perceptions? (p335)
Balancing of negatives and positives in determining overall stress:
- Uplifts can moderate the negative impact of hassles
- Positive emotions enhance coping appraisal
5. In the 'cognitive transactional model of stress, stress has been described by Lazarus
as a "transaction". Explain what this means. (p336-337)
Stress as a transaction: it is not the event itself that causes stress but the individual's
cognitive appraisal of it and their perceived ability to handle it.
● Stress is subjective, varies based on cognitive evaluations
● Dynamic interaction between individual and environment
Stress results from an interaction between
➢ external and internal stressors
➢ appraisal is central to whether an event is deemed to be a stressor or not
➢ available resources to cope
6. Describe the two forms of appraisal that are defined in the transactional model of
stress.(p336-337)
Two types of appraisal:
● Primary appraisal: consider the quality and nature of stimulus event
○ Motivational relevance: extent to which an event is relevant to the
individual’s goals and commitments
○ Motivational congruence: extent to which the situation is perceived
congruent with the current goals
● Secondary appraisal: assess resources and ability to cope with the stressor
○ Internal/external accountability (blame/credit): attributing responsibility for
the event
■ Self-blame → guilt
■ Other-blame → anger
○ Problem-focused coping potential: extent to which situation perceived
changeable by instrumental coping options
■ Changable → hope, optimism
■ Unchangable → sadness, helplessness
○ Emotion-focused coping potential: ability to emotionally cope a situation
■ Low emotion coping → fear, anxiety
, ○ Future expectancy concerning situational change: perceived possibilities
of the situation being changeable
■ Unchangability → sadness
7. Which three kinds of stressors are distinguished by Lazarus in primary appraisal?
(p336)
● Harm/loss: damage that has already been done
● Threat: expectation of future harm
● Challenge: opportunities a person is confident about to deal with
8. Which types of emotions are associated with the three kinds of stressors in the
primary appraisal process? (p338)
9. Explain the weaknesses of the transactional stress model of Lazarus. (p339)
Limitations of Lazarus model:
● Inherent circularity - wheter an event is demanding or not depend on perceived
coping capacity and viceversa
● Unclear whether both primary and secondary appraisals are necessary
● Nature of the role of appraisals/core-relational themes has been questioned –>
temporal ordering?
10. Which features of events have been found to increase the likelihood of events to be
appraised as stressful? (p340)
Factors influencing appraisal
Features of events increasing likelihood of being appraised as stressful
- imminents
- occur at an unexpected time in life
- unpredictable in nature
- ambiguous in term of
- personal role
- potential risk or harm involved
, - events are undesirable
- individuals perceives no control over
- events that elicit high amounts of life change
11. Hobfoll (1989) has proposed a conservation of resources model of stress. Describe
the main features of this model. Wat is a main difference between Hobfoll’s model
and the transactional stress model of Lazarus? (p341)
Individuals are assumed to work to conserve or protect their valued resources.
Stress will result when:
➢ Resources are threated, lost
➢ Resource are not suffieciently gained after an investment effort
Resources: quantifiable and real
→ more resources are lost, more difficult to replace them –> greater stress
Key points:
➢ Focus on objective loss or gain of resources vs subjective cognitive evaluations of
Lazarus
➢ Model avoids difficulties in distinguishing appraisals from responses
➢ Loss and Gain spirals:
○ Resource loss leads to further losses
○ Resource gain leads to further gains
12. What is the Yerkes –Dodson law of arousal and performance?. Explain how stress
can impair the performance on an exam according to this law.(p343)
a. Exam stress: high levels of stress can impair memory and attention during
cognitive activities
Health Psychology Subtest2
Chapter 11
1. In what three ways has stress generally been examined? (p332)
STRESS:
1. As a stimulus or event external to the individual - stressors
2. As a psychological transaction
3. As a physiological response
2. Holmes and Rahe have developed the life events theory of stress and constructed
the Social Readjustment Rating Scale to measure stress. How is stress measured
with this questionnaire? What are the limitations of this questionnaire to measure
stress? (p333-334)
Life events theory - Holmes & Rahe, 1987
Stress as a response to life events that require adjustment on part of a person.
➢ Negative events
➢ Positive events/uplifts
Social readjustment= the intensity and lenght of time necessary to accommodate a life
event, regardless of the desirability of this event
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
● List of 43 possible life events
● Weighted by a panel of 400 people for severity
● Sum of weightened recent experiences was assumed to indicate level of stress
● Stress measured in Life Change Units (LCU)
● The greater the LCU score, the higher the risk of ill-health
➢ Critique –> expansion of the list
Limitations of life events measurement of stress:
● Retrospective assessment (risk of misattribution of events)
○ Prospective studies showed weaker relations between events and stress
● Events may not be globally appropriate
● Does not account for interrelatedness of events
● Vague or ambiguous events (change in social activities)
● Ignores individual differences in weighting of events
● Daily hassles as stimulus for stress are neglected
, 3. How has Kanner defined “Life hassles”? (p334)
Life hassles= irritating, frustrating, distressing demands that to some degree characterize
everyday transactions with the environment
➢ Relevant impact when are chronic or repeated over a particular period of time
4. Which role plays the balance between positive and negative experiences for stress
perceptions? (p335)
Balancing of negatives and positives in determining overall stress:
- Uplifts can moderate the negative impact of hassles
- Positive emotions enhance coping appraisal
5. In the 'cognitive transactional model of stress, stress has been described by Lazarus
as a "transaction". Explain what this means. (p336-337)
Stress as a transaction: it is not the event itself that causes stress but the individual's
cognitive appraisal of it and their perceived ability to handle it.
● Stress is subjective, varies based on cognitive evaluations
● Dynamic interaction between individual and environment
Stress results from an interaction between
➢ external and internal stressors
➢ appraisal is central to whether an event is deemed to be a stressor or not
➢ available resources to cope
6. Describe the two forms of appraisal that are defined in the transactional model of
stress.(p336-337)
Two types of appraisal:
● Primary appraisal: consider the quality and nature of stimulus event
○ Motivational relevance: extent to which an event is relevant to the
individual’s goals and commitments
○ Motivational congruence: extent to which the situation is perceived
congruent with the current goals
● Secondary appraisal: assess resources and ability to cope with the stressor
○ Internal/external accountability (blame/credit): attributing responsibility for
the event
■ Self-blame → guilt
■ Other-blame → anger
○ Problem-focused coping potential: extent to which situation perceived
changeable by instrumental coping options
■ Changable → hope, optimism
■ Unchangable → sadness, helplessness
○ Emotion-focused coping potential: ability to emotionally cope a situation
■ Low emotion coping → fear, anxiety
, ○ Future expectancy concerning situational change: perceived possibilities
of the situation being changeable
■ Unchangability → sadness
7. Which three kinds of stressors are distinguished by Lazarus in primary appraisal?
(p336)
● Harm/loss: damage that has already been done
● Threat: expectation of future harm
● Challenge: opportunities a person is confident about to deal with
8. Which types of emotions are associated with the three kinds of stressors in the
primary appraisal process? (p338)
9. Explain the weaknesses of the transactional stress model of Lazarus. (p339)
Limitations of Lazarus model:
● Inherent circularity - wheter an event is demanding or not depend on perceived
coping capacity and viceversa
● Unclear whether both primary and secondary appraisals are necessary
● Nature of the role of appraisals/core-relational themes has been questioned –>
temporal ordering?
10. Which features of events have been found to increase the likelihood of events to be
appraised as stressful? (p340)
Factors influencing appraisal
Features of events increasing likelihood of being appraised as stressful
- imminents
- occur at an unexpected time in life
- unpredictable in nature
- ambiguous in term of
- personal role
- potential risk or harm involved
, - events are undesirable
- individuals perceives no control over
- events that elicit high amounts of life change
11. Hobfoll (1989) has proposed a conservation of resources model of stress. Describe
the main features of this model. Wat is a main difference between Hobfoll’s model
and the transactional stress model of Lazarus? (p341)
Individuals are assumed to work to conserve or protect their valued resources.
Stress will result when:
➢ Resources are threated, lost
➢ Resource are not suffieciently gained after an investment effort
Resources: quantifiable and real
→ more resources are lost, more difficult to replace them –> greater stress
Key points:
➢ Focus on objective loss or gain of resources vs subjective cognitive evaluations of
Lazarus
➢ Model avoids difficulties in distinguishing appraisals from responses
➢ Loss and Gain spirals:
○ Resource loss leads to further losses
○ Resource gain leads to further gains
12. What is the Yerkes –Dodson law of arousal and performance?. Explain how stress
can impair the performance on an exam according to this law.(p343)
a. Exam stress: high levels of stress can impair memory and attention during
cognitive activities
