Stress and Coping (SACE Stage 2 Psychology)

What this dot point is asking

You need to define stress, explain the physiological and psychological responses, and evaluate strategies people use to cope.

Defining stress

Stress is the state that arises when a person perceives that the demands of a situation (a stressor) exceed their resources to cope. Stressors can be acute (a sudden event) or chronic (ongoing). Not all stress is harmful: moderate eustress can improve performance, while excessive distress harms wellbeing.

The physiological response

The immediate reaction is the fight-or-flight response, coordinated by the sympathetic nervous system and the release of adrenaline, producing a raised heart rate, faster breathing and increased blood flow to muscles to prepare for action.

Hans Selye described the longer-term pattern as the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), with three stages:

• Alarm - the body recognises the stressor and the fight-or-flight response activates.
• Resistance - the body adapts and tries to cope while arousal stays high; the stress hormone cortisol remains elevated.
• Exhaustion - if the stressor continues, the body's resources are depleted, leaving the person vulnerable to illness, fatigue and burnout.

Prolonged stress can suppress the immune system and contribute to physical health problems.

The psychological response: appraisal

Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman argued that the experience of stress depends on cognitive appraisal:

• Primary appraisal - is this situation a threat, a challenge or harmless?
• Secondary appraisal - do I have the resources and ability to cope?

This explains why the same event (an exam) can stress one person and energise another.

Coping strategies

Lazarus and Folkman distinguished two broad styles:

• Problem-focused coping - tackling the stressor itself, for example planning, time management or seeking information. Effective when the situation is controllable.
• Emotion-focused coping - managing the emotional response, for example relaxation, reframing or seeking emotional support. Useful when the stressor cannot be changed.

Other healthy strategies include exercise, social support, adequate sleep and relaxation techniques. Maladaptive strategies such as avoidance, denial or substance use may reduce distress briefly but worsen outcomes.

Social support and individual differences

The presence of social support (emotional, informational and practical help from others) is one of the most reliable buffers against stress. It can work directly, by reducing the impact of a stressor, or indirectly, by improving appraisal so that a person feels more able to cope. Individual factors also matter: a sense of control, an optimistic explanatory style and hardiness (commitment, control and viewing change as challenge) are linked to lower stress responses. These factors connect back to Lazarus and Folkman's point that stress is not in the event itself but in the interaction between the event and the person.

Measuring stress

Researchers measure stress in several ways, and SACE values knowing their limits. Self-report scales (for example life-event inventories that add up recent changes) are easy to administer but rely on memory and honesty. Physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels are objective but expensive and affected by other factors. Combining self-report and physiological data gives a more valid picture than either alone, which is the same reliability-and-validity reasoning used across psychological measurement.