stress Flashcards
define an life change as a source of stress? why is it stressfull?
“a significant infrequent event that causes stress”
because we have to expand our psychological enegry coping with them
what does LCU and SRRS mean?
life changing units
social readjustment scale
who investigated LCU? describe his investigation
RAHE
he investigated the link between LCU and illness. 2,500 male naval personal completed the SRRS and total LCU was calculated. they embarked on a 7m tour in which the ship doctor recorded illness in terms of frequency and severity and they were assigned an illness score. he found a significant correlation between illness scores and LCU.
who invented the SRRS and how did they does this?
HOLMES and RAHE
they examined the records of 5000 Ps and complied a list of 43 life events which occurred prior the onset of illness. they then devised a scale yo measure the impact of different life events by asking 394 Ps to give a rating.
what are the top 3 on the SRRS scale?
1 death of a spouse
2 divorce
3 jail time
give 2 positive and 2 weakness of the SRRS
easy to use and replicate
culturally specific because it was made in the USA, which questions its ability to generalise
retrospective questionnaire
evaluate life events causing stress, give 3 weakness including LAZARUS
LAZARUS suggests that daily hassles are more important because the accumulation of many minor stressors is greater than fewer major events
LCU and illness are only correlated, this doesn’t mean one caused the other which questions internal validity
individual differences, not all life events affect us all in the same way
what are the 2 significant aspects when considering work place stress?
control- the degree of freedom a worker had to perform their job how they wish
workload- amount of work
describe decision latitude
the degree of control you have over what you do
when is work place stress at its highest
when workload is high and control is low
what 2 psychologists investigated work place stress?
MARMOT and JOHANSSON
describe research into workplace stress
MARMOT, the whitehall study
investigated the link between work place stress and heart disease in regard to social class. there were difference in health outcomes between workers in lower-grade jobs and higher grade jobs.
results- employees reporting having a lower degree of control were more likely to have CHD 5 years later. a later study identified that this wasnt affected by individual differences or coping skills.
JOHANSSON, the swedish sawmill
2 groups, wood ‘finishers’ who jobs was repetitive, they were cut off from other workers and it was demanding. it carried a lot of responsibility because the wages of everyone else depended on the finishers. 2nd group the cleaners who had more control and greater flexability and more responsibility. the researcher measured employee illness and adrenaline and noradrenaline once before leaving home and 3 times during the day.
results- higher level of stress hormones in the finishers. these hormones increased during the day but the cleaners decreased. there was more stress related illness among the finishers and higher absenteeism.
evaluate work as a source of stress, including 2 weaknesses involving GYOVKOS and MELER
cultural differences; GYOVKOS reviwved cross-cultural studies and found that a lack of control was seen as stressful in individualistic culture but desirable in collectivist culture. this therefore lacks generalisability
higher levels of control can also be stressful, MELER used a questionairee to measure feelings of stress and found that employees reported feeling more strain in jobs that gave them more control
define imminosypression in terms of role of stress in illness
stress can cause illness by preventing the immune system from working effectively.
whats the difference between natural and specific immunity
natural is non-specific, the body detects pathogens which stimulates NK cells. this response is quick and is our first line of defence
specific develops over days as blood cells begin to recognise the pathogen and produce specific anti-bodies to kill them
describe riley studies into immuniosation, give 1 strength and 1 weakness
RILEY investigated this using mice. stress was created by putting mice on a rotating table, he measured the mices white blood cell count after 5 hours and found a decrease.
S- behaviorists would support this because animals and humans are biologically the same
W- ethics
describe klecolt-gaser study using medical students, give 1 strength and 1 weakness
investigated exams on 75 medical students. they gave blood months prior to their exam and on the day of their exam. they also completed a questionnaire on stress. results- the NK cells decreased. this decline was more apparent in students that had reported feeling lonely. therefore exam stress reduces immune function.
S- methological, took direct measures of immune function
W- questionnaires are prone to demand characteristcs
what studies investigated acute and chronic stress in relation to illness?
WILBERT-LAMPEN investigated acute stress in the germany world cup, when germany played heart attacks emerged by 2.66
YUSUF investigated chronic stress, he investiagted 52 counties trying to discover the major factor of CVD, they compared 15000 people who had had a heart attack. they found that stress was a greater cause than obesity and 3rd to smoking and cholesterol levels
describe COHEN investigation into stress and illness, give 3 weaknesses
he investigated the link between stress and the cold virus. 2 conditions; ps were injected with the virus and ps were injected with a harmless solution. they also completed a questionnaire which indicated the number of stressors in the year and how much they felt they could cope. ps went on to show signs of infection but only 33% developed a cold. there was a positive correlation between stress and cold symptoms.
1 retrospective recall meaning they could misremember
2 only measured illness outcome not immune system functioning
3 ps could develop complications
what are the 3 ways of measuring stress (self report scales)
uplifts
SRRS and LCU
skin conductance response
who invented uplifts and what does it consist of? give 2 weaknesses
KANNER, he proposed the hassles and uplifts scale to measure stress. the daily hassles consisted of items including boring job, washing dishes. the scale measures the severity of each hassles; mild, moderate or extreme. the uplifts included getting enough sleep. the individual identifies all the uplifts and indictes how often they’ve experienced them over a specific period
1 rather than protecting illness, these scales reflect it
2 researchers believe that self-report are too compromised with methological issues that they should be abandoned
describe skin conductance as a measurement of stress, give a strength and weakness
when we experience stress the automatic NS becomes aroused and we sweat more. this can be easily detected in the hand so electrodes are attaches to our middle and index finger. a tiny current is applied to measure how much electricity is being conducted. the more sweat the more conductance.
S- supported by biological explanations which suggests that stress activates the autonomic NS leading to an increase in sweating
W- individual differences in sweat proclamation
in terms of skin conductance response, what does toxic conductance and phasic conductance refer to?
toxic- researcher measures a persons baseline skin conductance
phasic- measures it again after asking questions
describe the characteristics of a person with type A, B and C personaility
A- highly competitive, hostile/aggressive, impatient and fast talking/thinking
B- opposite of A, they’re relaxed and easy going
C- ‘people pleasers’ who strive to be compliant and patient. they suppress their own negative emotions to avoid conflict
