Life Events,daily Hassles,personality,workplace Flashcards
Strengths of life events in stress
Holmes & Rahe created SRRS P complete self report test to measure 43 LE(e.g. divorce 73 (life change units). -CORRELATION between LE SCORES,STRESS + ILL HEALTH
Research confirms that LE ARE good predictor of later stress + reliable way to measure stress.
Limitations of LE
Doesn’t account for individual differences- LESS VALID(assumes we all react to life events in the same way but this is not true)
• Daily hassles may be a more effective happen so infrequently they cannot produce reliable scores e.g. may only experience one big event a year.
Strengths of daily hassles
- Kanner created the Hassles & Uplifts scale where participants complete a daily self report test to measure 117 daily hassles (rate severity 1-3). Study found daily hassles were a significantly stronger predictor of stress symptoms than life events e.g. daily hassles like travelling to work, juggling work and children had a greater impact on stress levels than life events e.g. marriage.
• The hassles scale (self report test) was more practical and reliable than observation because it was not subjective and it encouraged more honest responses than an interview.
Limitations of DH
Data from hassles scale may be unreliable as participants required to recall all hassle from the day. This could result in inaccurate responses as people forget or magnify events. This means that the research may under or overestimate the effects of daily hassles on stress.
• 117 hassles on the scale is very long & items only scored in 1 direction (1-3) so respondent may choose rating automatically and cause response bias.
Strengths of workplace in stress
a lack of job control is a significant stressor that can lead to serious illness and this means that lack of job control is a valid cause of stress
Bosma et al- lack of job control had a higher risk of heart disease; Johnasson et al found repetitive & attention demanding work led to higher stress and lower well being).
• Findings from the research on workplace stress have been applicable as interventions have been put in place by employers to decrease stress and improve well being of employees e.g. add variety to task, interact more with others.
Limitations of workplace stress
Other psychological factors might explain stress rather than the workplace e.g. individual differences, self efficacy. This means that it is an incomplete explanation of the causes of stress.
• Findings on workplace stress may not be generalisable to the wider population. Some studies have found that the role of job control in stress was dependent on culture. Lack of control more stressful on western individualistic cultures (UK, USA than collective)
Strengths of personality type in stress
Other research supports links between type A personality & cardiovascular disorder e.g. strokes (Egido et al 2012), suggesting that personality is a valid predictor of stress related illness.
Limitations of personality type in stress
The 3 C’s of hardy personality do not contribute equally to hardy personality. The Locus of Control Theory suggests that control is the most important predictor of health related outcomes. This means that hardy personality theory not as practically useful as once thought.
• Critics suggest that Type A/B characteristics are too simplistic for everyone to neatly fit into these personality types & that other types exist.
• Self report measures are open to social desirability bias e.g. 3 C’s seen as positive characteristics and people may exaggerate the extent to which they have these characteristics, reducing validity.
Limitations of physiological responses for stress
physiological approach is too simplistic because everyone responds to stress differently e.g. one person gets stressed at losing keys whereas another person does not get stressed at all. This suggests that there is a role for cognitions in the stress response and that the physiological response is not a complete explanation
more than just 2 responses (fight or flight) to stress. The freeze response is when the stressful experience becomes too much & the individuals does not have the coping mechanisms to deal with stress. They undergo cognitive paralysis (where the mind is paralysed with fear/mind goes blank) until the perceived threat has passed. This shows that cognitions play a role in the stress response.
research is that it has mainly used male participants and where research has used females it has shown significant gender differences in coping with stress. This shows that the idea of a single physiological response is too simplistic.
Gender Differences in Physiological Responses. Male response to stress is usually a fight or flight response however females usually show a tend and befriend response which involve seeking social support from others or befriending the enemy. Females also release endorphins rather than just adrenaline. This shows that the stress response is not just a physiological response.
Strengths between the link of stress and physical ill health
Studies support the view that stress suppresses the immune system and causes a range of ill health (not just cardiovascular disease) and this increases the validity of stress as a cause of physical ill health and a range of diseases e.g. Periera et al (2003) studied women with HIV and found those with more stressful life events were more likely to develop lesions (damage to tissue) of the cervix.
Limitations between the links of stress and ill health
Some studies have found that acute stressors can boost the immune system rather than suppress it in order to help the body prepare to fight infection (Dharbar et al. 2008) this shows that the relationship between stress, the immune system and physical ill health are complex and not yet fully understood.
