3.7 - Stress (set B - Sources Of Stress + Measures Of Stress + Workplace Stress)

Question 1

What are life changes?

Answer 1

Life events that we have to make a psychological adjustment (for example someone passing away close to us, divorcing, moving away ext)

• can be positive or negative
• can be accorded a value known as life change unit (LCU) overall LCU score can be calculated by adding all the LCUs for all the life events experienced in the last year

Question 2

Outline research Holmes’s and Rahe research into stress and its correlation to life events?

Answer 2

Worked in hospitals and noticed that many patients with heart disease reported significant life events in the year leading up to heart disease - investigated this further

• examined 5000 patients and generated a list of 43 events - asked a different group of 400 people to rate the events on their impact (gave death of partner a score of 100 and used this for comparison of all the events)
• death of partner remained the most serious psychological adjustment - minor violation of law given 11 (score was lower than Christmas)

Score of over 300 gave risk of 80% for becoming ill with score of 150 increases chance of stress-related illness by 30%

Question 3

Outline and explain Rahe’s study reinforcing previous Holmes’s and Rahe research into stress and its correlation to life events?

Answer 3

Aim was to investigate wethers the scores on their social readjustment rating scale (SRRS) were correlated with subsequent onset of illness

• involved 2500 male American sailors who were given the SSRS to assess how many life events they had experienced in previous 6 months (score recorded - over next 6 months detailed records were kept of their health)
• correlated health score with life changing unit (LCU)

Question 4

What were the findings and conclusion from Rahes sailor experiment into stress and illness?

Answer 4

Positive correlation (+0.118) between life change score and illness score - whilst it’s a small correlation (perfect positive would be +1.00) does indicate a meaningful relationship between life change units and health (statically significant correlation)

• concluded that as life change units were positively correlated with illness score experiencing life events increase the chance of stress-related health breakdown

Question 5

Explain some evaluation points with Rahes sailor study?

Answer 5

• study does not take into account individual difference in reaction to stress negative
• application to real life - beneficial for governments positive
• correlational does not imply causality - depression or anxiety may not be caused by life events - depressed people may bring about life events such as separation negative
• beta bias - we don’t know if women get as stressed when life events happen because in the study they weren’t studied and may react differently negative
• sample restricted to US navy personnel - ethnocentric (Americans only) and androcentric (males only) which reduces validity of study harder to generalise to populations negative

Question 6

Evaluate wether SRRS is a relevant method for measuring stress?

Answer 6

• high ecological validity - uses real life events positive
• suitability for all ages is questionable - apples more to adults negative
• reliability-test-retest varies -don’t always see a correlation with both results when repeated again negative
• correlations found between life chance and illness are small (Rahes study) negative
• self-report enables socially desirable responses negative
• SRRS does not distinguish between positive and negative events negative
• use of retrospective questionnaire (looking back at old information) has problems of self accuracy negative

Question 7

Explain why the SRRS ignores individual differences?

Answer 7

• scale is ethnocentric (views peoples behaviour from a western POV) for example one of the options is Christmas which is not celebrated by all people - impacts score

does not actually reflect potential life events from all cultures

Question 8

Explain what a daily hassle is - give 3 examples?

Answer 8

A minor event that arises in the course of a normal day - usually short lived but may linger if left unresolved - the ‘after-effects’ of unresolved issues may then intensify over time as they accumulate with subsequent hassles

• for example physical appearance, daily chores or misplacing things

Question 9

Explain what a daily uplift is - give 3 examples?

Answer 9

a positive desirable experience that makes a daily hassles more bearable

• for example getting on well with friends, sleeping well, relaxing at home

Question 10

Explain the accumulation effect (how daily hassles build up and lead to stress)?

Answer 10

Minor daily has hassles build up and multiply which lead to severe stress reaction (anxiety/depression)

Question 11

Explain the amplification effect?

Answer 11

Chronic stress (eg life changes) makes us more vulnerable to daily hassles (eg exam stress might lead to us being less able to cope with minor disagreements with friends)

Question 12

Give 2 ways daily hassles can lead to stress?

Answer 12

• accumulation effect
• amplification effect

Question 13

Outline and explain Kanners study on whether daily hassles are more stressful than major life evens?

Answer 13

Developed the hassles and uplift scale (HSUP) which had 117 hassle items and 135 uplifts - to examine the relationship between hassles and health

100 participants (mostly wealthy) completed HSUP once a month for a year - also completed a life event scale (SRRS)

Two measures were used to assess health and well-being - used Hopkins symptoms checklist (assesses symptoms like depression and anxiety) and Bradburn morale scale, completed scales every month

Question 14

Outline the findings from Kanners study on whether daily hassles are more stressful than major life evens?

Answer 14

• obtained 5 most common hassles and 5 most common uplifts
• uplifts had little effect on daily health

Significant negative correlation between frequency of hassles and psychological well being - participants with fewest hassles should highest level of well-being

Question 15

Outline research conducted by Bouteyre looking at at hassles?

Answer 15

Aim to investigate relationships between daily hassles and mental health of students between transition to uni

First year psychology students completed the hassles and uplift scale (HSUS) and becks depression inventory to measure depression

Found positive correlation between students suffering from depression (41%) and score on the daily hassles

Concluded transition from school to uni has frequent daily hassles which are a risk factor for developing depression

Question 16

Outline and explain the HSUP scale?

Answer 16

Combined daily hassle scale (DHS) and daily uplift scale (DUS) - kanner interested in wether its daily hassles rather than major life events - developed a 117 item hassle scale and 135 uplifts scale to examine relationship between hassles and health

Scale contains items like time spent with family, the weather, pets and physical appearance (score wether its a hassle [left] or uplift [right] or both)

• closed questionnaire with forced answers (have to pick one)

Question 17

What are the problems with the HSUP scale?

Answer 17

• very long questionnaire containing over 250 items - unlikely to remember uplifts and hassles (respondents don’t maintain throughtful, focused attention througtout completion)
• test-retest correlations support idea that respondents don’t maintain full concentration as the correlation co-efficient is only 0.48 for scores on severity ratings of hassles (weak positive correlation and a higher score of 0.60 frequency rating of uplifts slightly stronger correlation) - participants do not give same scores - lack reliability

Question 18

Outline overall evaluation of SRRS and HSUP scales?

Answer 18

• have continuing influence on research - used in many current studies - with many adaptions of a scales (suggests they are viewed as having high credibility) positive
• usual problems associated with self-report of social desirability - can weaken reliability and validity of findings negative
• supporting evidence carried out longitudinally can result in data being incorrect (retrospective data if completed once a month) negative

Question 19

Outline some of the physiological methods of measurements for stress?

Answer 19

• blood pressure tests
• skin conductance response (galvanic skin response)
• hormone tests (eg from blood or urine)

objective compared to self report methods which are subjective (eg questionnaire with fixed responses and socially desirable responses which impacts validity)

• can be affected by things like caffeine - which then lacks validity

Question 20

Explain what skin conductance response (SCR) is?

Answer 20

Measures the electrical resistance of the skin which indicates the levels of arousal in your sympathetic nervous system

• as sweat is produced, the amount of electricity conducted increases (most prominent to measure in the palm of hands and soles of feet due to higher density of sweat glands)
• measure skin conductance response 2 electrodes are placed on fingers - small voltage applied across these electrodes - by measuring the current that flows, conductance can be reported

Question 21

Outline evaluation of using the skin conductance response?

Answer 21

• baseline needed before conducting the test, but chronic stress will mean you will be experiencing fight or flight frequently which impacts baseline
• people may be stabiles - there SCRs vary little when they are at rest - are not much influenced by internal thoughts or external events (don’t sweat much)
• people who are labiles produce lots of SCRs when at rest

Question 22

Briefly give research from Johannson which supports physiological measures - looking at stress in the workforce?

Answer 22

• assessed stress in workplace involving finishers and cleaners
• urine samples taken 4 times a day showed finishers adrenaline increased throughout the day - where as the cleaners adrenaline fell throughout their work day
• showed a physiological measure that agreed with the ps self-report questionnaires that the finishers felt more stressed because of their high workload

Question 23

What is the main advantage of physiological measures compared to self-report questionnaires?

Answer 23

Physiological measures overcome the subjectivity of self-report measures as they rely on hormones, chemicals and heart rate - their main issue however is that validity can be impacted by changes which can mimic stress response (drugs, caffeine and alcohol)

• physiological measures avoid social desirability (participants are not asked independently to judge their stress) so are more accurate + can be used for children (not appropriate to use questionnaire with kids)

can be used for lie detectors - positive as its easy and provides application to the legal system

Question 24

Explain karseks workplace stress model?

Answer 24

Demand-control model - focused on balance of workload and control

• states that those who experience high demands at work with little control are more likely than other employees to feel stressed

Question 25

What was the procedure of Johansson study on stress in the workplace?

Answer 25

• quasi experiment - identified a high risk group of 14 finishers (job was too finish of wood at last stage of processing) their productivity was dependent on everyone’s wage rates
• compared with the low-risk group of 10 cleaners (work was self-paced and social able)
• took urine samples and body temperature throughout the day (measured adrenaline and noradrenaline levels)
• also used self-report measures (to say how much caffeine or nicotine they had since last sample)
• baseline measurements taken at same time when they were at home

Question 26

What were the findings of Johansson study on stress in the workplace?

Answer 26

• high risk group (high workload) of finishers secreted more stress hormones on work days than rest days - higher than the control group (cleaners)
• high risk group showed higher levels of stress related illness such as headaches compared to low-risk group of cleaners

Question 27

What were the conclusions of Johansson study on stress in the workplace?

Answer 27

• combination of stressors (especially repetitiveness and high work load) lead to chronic physiological arousal - leads to stress related illness
• too reduce illness in workplace - employers need to find ways of reducing work stressors (eg by allowing control over pace of work)

Question 28

Explain the difference in groups in Johansson study of stress in the workplace?

Answer 28

• 14 finishers who had a high workload had low control and were responsible for processing timber at the final stage, their rate was controlled by a machine and their productivity dictated everyone’s wage
• 10 cleaners (control) who had low workload had more varied and self-paced work which allowed them to socialise with other workers

Question 29

Outline criticisms of johannsons study of stress in the workplace?

Answer 29

• beta bias - only studied males and then applied these findings to females (may not be the same)
• individual differences - certain people who are more vulnerable to stress (those who exhibit type A behaviour) are attracted to high-risk demanding jobs
• lacks generalisability - samples is from specific area and involves an uncommon job, featuring only 24 males - different to other jobs

positive is the objective nature of the study

Question 30

Outline marmots study of association between stress in the workplace and stress-related illness?

Answer 30

• in London, longitudinal study involving 10,308 civil servants (6895 males and 3414 females) - were observed and asked to complete self-report surveys and be checked for signs of cardiovascular disease
• job control measured through completion of self-report survey and independent assessments of work environment by personnel manager
• records of stress related illness kept

Question 31

What was the aim of marmots study of association between stress in the workplace and stress-related illness?

Answer 31

Tested job-strain model (proposes workplace creates stress in 2 ways - high demand and low control)

• could be tested in context of civil workers - higher grades would experience high job demand and low-grade civil servant would experience low job control

Question 32

What were the findings from marmots study of association between stress in the workplace and stress-related illness?

Answer 32

• participants who reported having low job control were 4x more likely to die of a heart attack than those with job control
• highest grade civil servants (high workload and control) developed fewest cardiovascular problems
• high workload not associated with CHD but low job control was

Question 33

What can be concluded from marmots study of association between stress in the workplace and stress-related illness?

Answer 33

• low control in work environment associated with increased risk of future CHD among men and women
• implications for economy - better work conditions = less stress related illness = better productivity
• correlational method - means there is no control over job control as a variable (other factors involved - high job control generally provide more money)