Stress and the environment

1. Stress and the environment

2. Principles of the biological LOA: Biological correlates of behavior – how biology (e.g. the immune system/ the stress response system) is affected by the response to different psychological stressors (e.g. stress in the workplace, life events) Psychological Sources of Stress (The effect of psychological stressors (life events, daily hassles & workplace/occupational environment on physiological health – the activation of the stress response system, and stress related illness – the immune system & the cardiovascular system

3. What will we look at……? • Discuss research into the sources of stress, such as life changes and workplace stressors • Understand individual differences in reactions to stress (type A personality, Hardiness) • Appreciate the importance factors such as personality, culture and gender in our experience of stress

4. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) Holmes and Rahe (1967) • Holmes-Rahe Life Events Rating Scale • In life there are event which we have to re-adjust to • The morepsychological adjustments we have to make, the morestressful the event is • They made a list of stressful events and asked hundreds of men and women (different ages & backgrounds) to rate the amount of re-adjustment they would require – i.e. their psychological impact • A Life Change Unit (LCU Score was then made for these different event)

6. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) Holmes and Rahe (1967) • Check whether you have experienced any of these in the past two years – total gives a score of life stress (LCU score) • They tested people retrospectively (asking people to look back at the past) and prospectively (assessing life events and then observing PPs over the following months) • Findings: Score of 150 or more increases chances of stress related health breakdown by 30% and a score of over 300 increased odds by 50%

7. Evaluation of SRRS Individual Differences: • Scale values are arbitrary and they vary from person to person. E.g. Some people might really hate Christmas & holidays (and give it a high LCU), but others may not. • Each of us could devise a personal rating scale since the stress of an event depends on an individuals perception of it

8. Workplace stressors: research findings

9. Another source of stress – the workplaceWhat types of stressors come from the workplace?

10. Workplace stressors • Physical environment • Work overload • Lack of control • Role ambiguity

11. Workplace stressors

12. Physical environment • Space, temperature and lighting and the arrangement of an office (e.g. open plan or in separate rooms) can all affect the individual. • Physical stressors make work more difficult and more energy has to be expended to overcome them. • Increased arousal can lead to frustration, and many studies have shown that increases temperature and expose to intense noise (Evans et al. 1998) can lead to stress and aggression

13. Work overload • We seem to be moving to a culture in which long hours are seen as a mark of esteem, at the cost of both individual and social structures. • Work overload is frequently reported as one of the most stressful aspects of the workplace (Dewe, 1992) • A key element is the impact long hours have on family life (the work/ home life balance)

14. Lack of control • A perceived lack of control increases the stress response and contributes to depression and illness (Seligman et al. 1975)

15. Role ambiguity • When the requirements for a particular work role are unclear or undefined – this is a major factor contributing to stress related illness.

16. Key study: stress in the workplace Johansson et al. (1978) In twos & threes Present on A section of this

17. Workplace stressors: research findings • Through its effects on psychological & physical health, stress can effect performance at work, whatever your job. All jobs involve a certain amount of stress • There is an interest in conditions which increase stress • Growing area in Occupational Psychology • Different jobs have different sources of stress, but some apply to most workers:

18. Type A behavior pattern: Time Pressure • Working against the clock • Doing several things at once • Irritation or impatience with others • Unhappy doing nothing Competitiveness • Always plays to win at games and work • Achievement measured as material productivity Anger • Self critical • Hostile to the outside world • Anger often directed inwards

19. Individual differences in responses to stress – these must also be taken into consideration • Type A personality: Freidman & Rosenman (1974) studied the behaviour of patients suffering from coronary heart disease. • They proposed that a particular behaviour pattern was associated with increased vulnerability to stress related illness: ‘Type A behaviour pattern’

20. Type A personality: Freidman & Rosenman (1974)

21. Evaluation of Type A behaviour Lack of consistent research support- Correlations never very high Protective factors- Type A’s also score highly on commitment and control (hardy personality) The role of hostility- seems to be the critical personality variable, how angry/hostile people get in different situations in their lives Type A and hardiness – Some type A’s can manage their stress well

22. Hardy Personality – Kobasa (1977) • Hardy Personality – Kobasa (1977) • She carried out a survey of around 300 hundred executives all of whom experienced high levels of stress. She looked for differences between those who became ill and those who didn't. She claimed the difference was in the hardiness of their personality. People with a hardy personality show the following features, called the ‘three Cs’: • Control – the belief that you are in control of what happens in your life, rather than attributing control to outside influences. • Commitment – sense of involvement in the world around you, the world is seen as something to engage in • Challenge – Life changes are seen as challenges to overcome or opportunities, life is about change and growth • Kobasa (1977) presented evidence that people who scored highly on scales measuring hardiness are significantly less likely to suffer from stress related physiological and psychological disorders: because they have a positive approach life events are not seen as stressful, but life events challenges and opportunities to be overcome • Kobasa et al. (1985) – suggested that the presence or absence of these three factors determine how individuals deal with stress: Hardiness Social support Regular exercise

23. Hardy Personality – Kobasa (1977) • They found that PPs that lacked protective factors scored higher on severity of illness scales than any other group – the factors: • Seem to improve resistance to stress, Hardiness seems to be the most important factor • KEY EVALUATIVE POINTS: Social support Hardiness Regular exercise Participants – much work carried out with male, white collar workers, so its not easy to generalise Components of personality- Control, commitment, Challenge are difficult to define – Kobasa is not looking at a full personality type

24. Kobasa (1977) Hardy Personality Evaluation • However, we can ask just what causes what? Does a hardy personality lead to less stress related illness? Or is it that because someone is not experiencing an illness they therefore appear more hardy. Perhaps hardiness declines if we become ill? • Another interesting issue is to what extent something like hardiness exists as an objective measurable reality or does it only emerge as a consequence of the types of questions a researcher asks. Perhaps being asked questions about how much control you feel you have and how much commitment encourages a subject to begin to see themselves in this way. In other words the investigation itself begins to create the very factors it is wishing to examine! (experimenter effects)

25. Gender differences in coping with stress • no evidence to show that the levels of stress males and females experience is different – especially if the female takes responsibility for the home and children. • There is some evidence to show that physiological reactions to stress are different for males and females (there may be a difference in the stress response between them) Who do you think is more likely to use social support to cope with stress? What differences to you think there are in dealing with stress between males and females?

26. GENDER DIFFERENCES

27. Gender differences in coping with stress • Early work on the physiological response to stress and the ‘fight or flight’ response. Suggests that the reaction to stress is universal (ignoring differences between males and females), even though most of the work has been done on males • Taylor (2000)– put forward the idea that males and females have different stress responses – and this could have evolutionary explanations (females fight or flight response may be inhibited because their attention would be to attend their young, whereas men would be out hunting)

28. Cultural differences • Stress is found in all communities, but sources of stress can vary a great deal depending on the sort of society. In the developed world, we do not worry so much about finding food or water – and the worries in the developing world are different: • However, these different sources of stress confirm the idea that stress occurs when there is a mismatch between the perceived demands on a person outweigh their ability to cope (transactional model).

29. Cultural differences • The strong faith in religion, and a culture where children are expected to support their parents, may be the reason why Alzheimer’s patients carers from African and Asian American groups have lower levels of stress than Caucasian carers (Connell & Gibson, 1997). • Other cultural differences – heart disease & hypertension can be affected by genetic inheritance and cultural habbits. Weg (1983) studied Abkarsian people in Georgia which have a high percentage of people living over 100. Weg identified the following as important factors: • -Genetic Inheritance • -High levels of social support • - Physically active lifestyles of work and recreation • -Diet high in fruit and vegetables, and low in meat • -No smoking and alcohol • -Low reported stress levels In conclusion, Its impossible to identify which of these is the most important factor, but they all seem to play a role; but reactions to stress do depend on the individuals coping strategies

30. Gender and Stress - Why is females fight or flight response Inhibited? - What do neurophyisological mechanisms in the female encourage them to do

31. Culture and Stress How can cultural diversity be a stressor?

32. Key studies so far for this unit • Gage or Broca • Rosenzweig’s (1984) neural plasticity • Gazzaniga (1984) Joe • Cohen et al's (1993) or Keicolt Glazers (1984) • Rahe et al. (1970) • Johansson et al. (1978) • Freidman & Rosenman (1974) • Kobasa (1977) These are the key studies so far from the biological loa, you need To fill out the form for these