Stimulus-oriented

approach,
Response-oriented
approach &
The transaction and
interactional model
 introduction
• In order to understand how people learn to cope with stress, it is
important to first reflect on the different conceptualizations of stress
and how the coping research has emerged alongside distinct
approaches to stress.

• Stress has been viewed as a response, a stimulus, and a transaction.

How an individual conceptualizes stress determines his or
her response, adaptation, or coping strategies.
 Stimulus-oriented approach,
“Stress As a Stimulus”

• Developed by Holmes and Rahe (1967).

• The theory of stress as a stimulus was introduced in the 1960s,
and viewed stress as a significant life event, a set of
circumstances or change that demands response, adjustment,
or adaptation.
• According to this approach stress arouses physiological and/or
psychological reactions that may increase the individual’s
vulnerability to illness.
• Holmes and Rahe (1967) created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS) consisting of 42 life events scored according to the estimated
degree of adjustment they would each demand of the person
experiencing them (e.g., marriage, divorce, relocation, change or loss of
job, loss of loved one).

• The scale of stressful life events is used to document a person’s

relatively recent experiences, such as divorce, pregnancy, and retirement.
In this view, both positive and negative events are considered stressful.

• They hypothesize that people with higher scores in the SRRS – that is
major life changes are more likely to experience physical or mental
illness.
• Holmes and Rahe theorized that stress was an independent variable in the
health-stress-coping equation — the cause of an experience rather than
the experience itself.
• These Scales should be used with caution because the degree of stress an
event presents is highly individual. For example, a divorce may be highly
traumatic to one person and cause relatively little anxiety to another.
• The stress as stimulus theory assumes:
Change is inherently stressful.
Life events demand the same levels of adjustment across the population.
There is a common threshold of adjustment beyond which illness will
result.
• Rahe and Holmes initially viewed the human subject as a passive
recipient of stress, one who played no role in determining the degree,
intensity, or valence of the stressor.
• Later, Rahe introduced the concept of interpretation into his research
(Rahe & Arthur, 1978), suggesting that a change or life event could be
interpreted as a positive or negative experience based on cognitive
and emotional factors.
• However, the stress as stimulus model still ignored important variables
such as prior learning, environment, support networks, personality,
and life experience.
 Response-oriented approach
Stress As a Response

• Stress as a response model, initially introduced by Hans Selye (1956).

• He describes stress as a physiological response pattern and was captured
within his general adaptation syndrome (GAS) model.
• This model describes stress as a dependent variable and includes three
concepts:
1.Stress is a defensive mechanism.
2.Stress follows the three stages of alarm reaction,
resistance, and exhaustion.
3.If the stress is prolonged or severe, it could result in diseases of
adaptation or even death.
 The transaction and interactional model - Stress As a
Transaction

• Richard Lazarus developed the transactional theory of stress and

coping (TTSC) (Lazarus, 1966; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).
• The model presents stress as a product of a transaction between a
person (including multiple systems: cognitive, physiological,
affective, psychological, neurological) and his or her complex
environment.
• Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 criticized the stimulus and response oriented
approach, treating people as a machine. They believe that people have the
capacity to think, evaluate and then react.
• THINKING CAN MAKE STRESS EITHER BETTER OR WORSE.
• Transaction (interaction) that occurs between the person & the
environment.
• Stress results from an imbalance between (a) demand & (b) resources.
Thus, we become stressed when demands (pressure) exceeds our resources.
• Thus, the interpretation of the stressful events is more important than the
events itself.
• The transactional model of stress and coping argues that our experience of
stress is ultimately a system of appraisal, response and adaptation.
• The theory proposed that people engaged in TWO-STAGE PROCESS
(primary & secondary) of appraisal. But later it was redefined.
• Lazarus and Folkman (1984) unpacked the concept of interpretation further
in their model of stress appraisal, which includes primary, secondary, and
reappraisal components.
 Stress is a product of primary and secondary appraisals

• The transactional model of stress and coping proposes that stress is

experienced as an appraisal (an evaluation) of the situation we find
ourselves in. Specifically, the transactional model suggests we go
through two stages of appraisal before feeling and responding to
stress.
• In our primary appraisal, we evaluate the situation to decide if it is
relevant to ourselves. In particular, we evaluate whether it will bring
about the possibility of gain or harm. If it doesn’t, we don’t worry
about it (decide it is irrelevant).If it is relevant, we decide if it is
positive or dangerous. If we feel it is dangerous, we then move into
making a secondary appraisal.
• Further appraisal is made with regard to 3 implications:

I. Harm-loss: Harm-loss refers to the amount of damage that has already

occurred. There may have been an injury. The seriousness of this injury
could be exaggerated producing a lot of stress.
II. Threat: Threat is the expectation of future harm, for example the fear of
losing one's job and income. Much stress depends on appraisals that
involve harm-loss and threat.
III. Challenge: Challenge is a way of viewing the stress in a positive way.
The stress of a higher-level job could be seen as an opportunity to expand
skills, demonstrate ability, and make more money.
• In secondary appraisals, we decide if we have the ability to cope
with the situation – usually by examining the balance of situational
demands (such as risk, uncertainty, difficulty etc.) and our perceived
resources (including things such as social support, expertise etc. ). If
we feel demands outweigh resources we experience negative stress.
• Individual assess their coping resources. These resources include
environment factors, social support, knowledge, skills to reduce these
threat.
• The process of reappraisal is ongoing and involves continually
reappraising both the nature of the stressor and the resources available
for responding to the stressor.
THANK YOU