Life Events And Work Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)?
A scale developed by Holmes and Rahe to measure the number of life events experienced in the last 12 months from a list of 43 life events.
The SRRS was developed based on a study assessing over 5000 medical records to find a relationship between stress and physical illness.
What relationship did Holmes and Rahe find between life events and stress?
The more life events experienced in the last 12 months, the more likely a person is to become stressed and suffer from ill health.
They theorized that significant life events required adjustment, increasing the likelihood of stress and illness.
What is a key criticism of using life events to predict stress?
It ignores everyday hassles that can also cause stress, such as waking up late or family problems.
Kanner et al. (1981) found that daily hassles were better predictors of stress-related problems than life events.
What did Kanner et al. (1981) develop to measure stress?
A scale to measure daily hassles and uplifts encountered in the previous month.
This scale was tested on 100 Americans alongside their well-being.
What did Rahe’s study in 1970 find regarding life events and health?
There was a positive correlation between life events score and illness scores among 2500 American sailors.
This suggests life events contributed to stress and subsequent ill health, but the study’s correlational nature limits causal conclusions.
What is reductionism in the context of stress prediction?
A focus solely on life events as predictors of stress, ignoring other factors like daily hassles and individual differences.
This approach is criticized for its oversimplification of the stress experience.
True or False: The SRRS includes both positive and negative life events.
True.
Significant life events can be either positive (e.g., marriage) or negative (e.g., divorce) and both require adjustment.
Fill in the blank: The _______ suggests that significant life events lead to stress and health issues.
Holmes and Rahe theory
What cultural criticism is associated with the SRRS?
It may not be a valid measure of stress as it does not account for individual and cultural differences in interpreting life events.
For example, Christmas may be stressful for some but not for others, and some cultures do not celebrate it at all.
What does the research suggest about our response to stress?
Our response to stress is deterministic, reacting to the number of stressful life events we experience.
This implies that our reactions are influenced by external factors rather than entirely by free will.
How can individuals manage stress if they are aware of stressful life events?
Individuals can implement coping strategies such as social support and exercise.
Awareness allows for proactive management of stressors.
What is one of the highest scores on the life events scale?
Getting married.
This suggests that marriage has the potential to cause high levels of stress.
What are some factors linked to work-related stress?
- Understimulation
- Low level of control
- High workload
These factors can contribute to lower self-esteem and higher ill health.
What did Marmot et al. (1997) find regarding workload and stress?
They found no correlation between workload and stress, but a lack of control was associated with coronary heart disease in lower grade civil servants.
This was true even after accounting for lifestyle factors and personality.
What was the focus of Johansson et al. (1978) study?
They compared stress levels between finishers and cleaners in a Swedish sawmill.
Finishers had high responsibilities but low control, while cleaners had more control.
What were the findings regarding stress hormones in finishers versus cleaners?
Finishers had higher levels of stress hormones before starting work and these increased during the day.
In contrast, cleaners had lower stress hormone levels.
What implication does low control and high demand have on workers?
It is linked to stress-related illness and higher absence rates.
Finishers experienced more illness and absence compared to cleaners.
Fill in the blank: The factors linked to work-related stress can lead to _______.
lower self-esteem, lower satisfaction, and higher rate of ill health.
True or False: The study by Marmot et al. found a direct correlation between workload and stress levels.
False.
The study indicated a lack of correlation between workload and stress.
