[Daily Hassles] Sources Of Stress & Measuring Stress Flashcards
What are daily hassles?
Minor events throughout the day that elevate stress levels.
What are examples of daily hassles?
-Waiting in a queue.
-Stuck in traffic.
How may daily hassles cause risk of illness?
If left unresolved, multiple daily hassles can accumulate as the ‘after-effects’ intensify over time.
How can daily hassles be counteracted?
Daily uplifts (minor positive experiences in day to day life).
What are examples of uplifts?
-Being complimented.
-Productive gym session.
What are the two explanations of why daily hassles lead to stress?
-Accumulation effect.
-Amplification effect.
How does the accumulation effect work?
Daily hassles build up and multiply, leading to severe stress reactions (e.g. anxiety and/or depression).
How does the amplification effect work?
Chronic stress/life changes makes us more vulnerable to daily hassles (e.g. less able to cope with minor disagreements with friends).
What are daily hassles measured with, and who was it devised by?
Hassles And Uplift Scale (HSUP) by Kanner (1981).
How was the HSUP devised?
Kanner (1981) developed a 117 item hassles scale and a 135 item uplifts scale to examine the relationship between hassles and health.
He did this with 100 participants (48 men & 52 women) aged 45-67 years for 9 months.
Measures for positive and negative emotions were used to assess health and well-being monthly.
What were the results of Kanner (1981) HSUP study?
-Negative correlation between frequency of hassles and psychological well-being.
-The scale tended to be a more accurate predictor of stress related problems than the SRRS (more common).
-Uplifts had a positive effect on the stress levels of women, but not men.
What was the conclusion of Kanner (1981) HSUP study?
Daily hassles are a more effective predictor of well-being than life changes.
How did Gervais (2005) study support HSUP?
Gervais asked nurses to keep diaries for one month, recording all daily hassles and uplifts.
Daily hassles (e.g. lack of beds, other staff members who don’t pull their weight) increased job strain and worsened job performance.
However, uplifts (e.g. compliments from patients, praise) increased job performance.
Evaluation points for HSUP:
-Gervais (2005).
-Correlational analysis, other factors could have affected findings, cause and effect relationship can’t be established.
-Long questionnaire - likely that respondents don’t maintain focused attention.
-Retrospective data (e.g. in order to calculate a daily hassles score, participants are encouraged to think back to daily hassles they have experienced usually over the previous month, this could result in the recall of inaccurate memories as memory is reconstructive). Can be counteracted with journals.
