Sources of Stress (AQA A Level Psychology): Flashcards
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Define life changes.
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Define life changes.
Life changes are any events, positive or negative, that cause disruption to one's life, such as moving house, getting married or becoming seriously ill.
True or False?
Only negative life changes cause stress.
False.
Positive changes such as marriage also require adjustment, and expected changes that do not occur, such as a cancelled wedding, can be stressful too.
Why do bigger and more numerous life changes cause more stress?
They require greater psychological adjustment.
How does the SRRS measure stress?
Holmes and Rahe's (1967) scale assigns life change units (LCUs) to events, e.g. divorce 73, marriage 50. Higher scores mean more stress and greater health risk.
Rahe (1972) found around % of people scoring over 300 LCUs reported illness in the following year.
Rahe (1972) found around 80% of people scoring over 300 LCUs reported illness in the following year, compared with about 50% for 150–300.
What did Rahe et al. (1970) find in US Navy personnel?
A significant positive correlation of .118 between pre-deployment LCU scores and illness aboard ship, so life changes are a robust predictor of later illness.
What did Byrne and Whyte (1980) find?
Heart attack patients' stress came from undesirable life changes, not positive ones, suggesting the effect is due to frustration rather than readjustment.
How does Lietzén et al. (2011) support the life changes explanation?
In over 160,000 Finnish adults, high life change stress reliably predicted asthma, even when risk factors such as pets and smoking were controlled.
Why does a prospective approach strengthen life changes research?
Tracking participants over time predicts future illness from past changes, improving reliability and informing early intervention.
True or False?
Most life changes research is prospective.
False.
Many studies are retrospective, relying on participants recalling past illnesses and events, which reduces validity.
Why might the link between life changes and illness not be causal?
It is correlational, so another factor such as having less money may explain the relationship.
Define daily hassles.
Daily hassles are everyday frustrations and annoyances, like being stuck in traffic, that irritate people.
Why do daily hassles create chronic stress?
They tend to repeat and accumulate, heightening the risk of serious illness.
Define daily uplifts.
Daily uplifts are events that raise spirits, such as meeting friends for coffee, which may help offset the harmful effects of hassles.
Life changes are (indirect) stressors, while daily hassles are proximal (direct) stressors.
Life changes are distal (indirect) stressors, while daily hassles are proximal (direct) stressors.
How do life changes affect well-being indirectly?
By disrupting daily routines and increasing daily hassles, which make everyday tasks feel harder.
What did DeLongis et al. (1988) find?
In 75 married couples over six months, more hassles meant more health problems such as headaches and flu. Life changes showed no such relationship.
Why do Lazarus and colleagues see hassles as more important than life changes?
The accumulative force of many minor everyday stressors is greater than that of a few rare major events.
Define the amplification hypothesis.
The amplification hypothesis states that daily hassles can intensify the impact of major life changes.
True or False?
Hassles research has confirmed that hassles cause illness.
False.
It shows correlations only. Other factors such as personality might influence both stress and health.
Why is research into life changes and hassles nomothetic?
It seeks general patterns about how stress affects health, but overlooks individual differences in how people perceive or cope with the same events.
Why are life change and hassle scales reductionist?
They reduce complex responses to simplified scales, ignoring social, emotional and cultural factors.
Which two factors did Karasek (1979) link in his job demands-control model?
Workload and control.
Define workload.
Workload refers to the stressful demands of a job, e.g. having too many tasks to complete in a short time.
Define control in the workplace.
Control refers to how much meaningful influence an employee has over how, when and where work gets done.
How does control act as a buffer, according to Karasek?
Workloads only become stressful for those who lack control over their work.
Describe Bosma et al.'s (1997) method.
A prospective study of over 10,000 civil servants who completed a questionnaire on workload and control, were examined for coronary heart disease and followed up after 5 years.
True or False?
Bosma et al. (1997) found high workload predicted coronary heart disease.
False.
There was no correlation with workload. Participants with little control had a higher chance of CHD five years later.
Bosma's control effect held when lifestyle, smoking and diet were accounted for, and across all job .
Bosma's control effect held when lifestyle, smoking and diet were accounted for, and across all job grades.
What did Bosma et al. (1998) confirm?
The relationship was not affected by individual differences in personality, such as anger and competitiveness, or by coping styles.
What did Johansson et al. (1978) find in Swedish sawmill workers?
'Finishers' with machine-paced, isolated work had higher adrenaline and noradrenaline than cleaners, rising over the day, plus more stress-related illness and absenteeism.
Why is the job demands-control model considered simplistic?
Stress is a complex interaction between the work and coping mechanisms, and perceived control may differ from objective control.
What did Meier et al. (2008) find about control?
Employees with low self-efficacy reported more strain in high-control jobs, while those with high self-efficacy found low control more stressful.
Define self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is the degree to which someone believes they have the capability to perform tasks successfully.
True or False?
Most workplace stress research is idiographic.
False.
It is nomothetic, studying large groups for general laws, which ignores individual differences such as personality or job satisfaction.
How does the job demands-control model relate to free will?
It suggests stress is determined by external factors, but people may use coping strategies such as time management, so responses are not pre-determined.
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