Psychology 2035A/B Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Stress and Its Effects

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2035A/B
• Professor: John Ciriello

Document Summary

Learning objectives: describe the experience of stress in everyday life, and distinguish between primary and secondary appraisals of stress, summarize the evidence on ambient stress, ethnicity-related stress, and acculturation stress. Stress: any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one"s well-being and thereby tax one"s coping abilities. Major stressful event can trigger cascade of minor stressors. Individual perceptions are important in how people experience stress. Stress lies in the eye of the beholder. Stress depends on what events you notice and how you choose to appraise (interpret) them. Richard lazarus and susan folkman distinguish between primary and secondary appraisal: Primary appraisal: initial evaluation of whether an event is irrelevant to you; relevant but not threatening; stressful. When you view an event as stressful, you are likely to make a secondary appraisal. Secondary appraisal: evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with the stress. People"s appraisals of events alter the impact of the events themselves.