Sources of Stress - Life Changes

Question 1

what is a stressor

Answer 1

Stressor: a stimulus or situation imposing demands on an individual.

Question 2

what can stress be categorised into

Answer 2

Stressors can be categorised into life changes and daily hassles

Question 3

what are life changes

Answer 3

Life Changes: major (infrequent) life events that require a level of psychological adjustment
For example, marriage, divorce, pregnancy, death of a close friend, job loss

Question 4

what are daily hassles

Answer 4

Daily Hassles: The relatively minor (frequent) frustrations and annoyances of everyday life. Their emotional effects are fairly short-lived.
For example, homework, losing keys, crowded public transport, bad traffic

Question 5

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) – a self-report measure

Answer 5

On the basis of over 5000 patient records, Holmes and Rahe (1967) made a list of 43 major life events (either positive or negative) that were perceived as potentially stressful because they necessitated considerable psychological adjustments/change.

In their list each event that has occurred - within a set time period (e.g. 3 months, 6 months or a year) - is allocated a point value to reflect the relative amount of change it requires. This was established through research conducted on over 400 participants, who were asked to score each event by judging the level of readjustment (i.e. psychological impact) experienced.

This is called the life-change units (LCUs) score and represents the amount of stress caused by the event.

According to Holmes and Rahe, an overall score of 300 or more significantly increases (by about 50%) one’s risk of illness.

Question 6

aim of Rahe et al. (1970) study

Answer 6

Aim: To investigate whether scores on the SRRS correlated with onset of illness

Question 7

procedure of Rahe et al. (1970) study

Answer 7

Procedure:
2500 male American sailors took part in this study.
They were given the SRRS to assess life changes experienced in the previous six months and the total life-change units (LCU) score was recorded for each participant.
Over the following 6 month tour of duty, detailed health records were kept for each sailor.
Each sailor’s life-change units (LCU) score was correlated against their illness score.

Question 8

findings of Rahe et al. (1970) study

Answer 8

Findings:
There was a positive correlation of +0.118 between life-change units scores and illness scores.
Therefore, as life-change units scores increased, so too did frequency of illness.

Question 9

conclusions of Rahe et al. (1970) study

Answer 9

Rahe et al. concluded that life events increase the chances of stress-related illness.
However, this was a very weak positive correlation - although Rahe et al. argued that it was meaningful - so life events cannot be the only contributing factor to illness.

Question 10

Evaluation: Rahe et al. (1970)
:(This is a correlational study, how could this method be criticised?

Answer 10

Cause and effect cannot be established. Life changes could be caused by illness.

Question 11

Evaluation: Rahe et al. (1970)
:(In what way was the sample limited?

Answer 11

Ethnocentric – Americans only (culture bias)
Androcentric – Males only (gender bias)
This reduced the population validity of the study, making it difficult to generalise the findings of the study to other people i.e. females.

Question 12

Evaluation: Rahe et al. (1970)
:(What does this study fail to take account of?

Answer 12

Individual differences – people respond in different ways to life events; some events are perceived positively by some people, but negatively by others.

Question 13

Further Research on Life Changes

Answer 13

Cohen et al. (1993) gave nasal drops to participants that contained the common cold virus and also assessed life changes using the Schedule of Recent Experiences (a measure of life changes).
Participants were then quarantined to see if they developed a cold.
Participants with higher LCUs were more likely to get infected with the cold virus, supporting the link between life changes and illness.

Question 14

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Individual Differences:

Answer 14

Individual Differences – the stressfulness of an event depends on our perception (i.e. cognitive appraisal) of it, which varies from person to person.

Question 15

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Causality:

Answer 15

Causality – The relationship between SRRS score and health is correlational and tells us nothing about causality (cause and effect cannot be established). For example, physical illness may cause life problems rather than be caused by them. Someone’s general susceptibility to stress/anxiety or their general level of health may also be important factors

Question 16

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Life events can be positive e.g. marriage:

Answer 16

Life events can be positive e.g. marriage! The SRRS does not distinguish between positive and negative life changes; it assumes that any life change is stressful. Therefore, it may not be a true measure of life events and stress.

Question 17

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Self-report measure:

Answer 17

Self-report measure – Self-report of life events can be unreliable – there is the issue of social desirability bias. For example, some individuals may be unwilling to admit to sex difficulties.

Question 18

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Outdated:

Answer 18

Outdated – The SRRS was created in 1967. Some events are now outdated e.g. mortgage over $10,000.

Question 19

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Androcentric (male-focused):

Answer 19

Androcentric (male-focused) – e.g. wife begins or stops work.

Question 20

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Emphasis on life events:

Answer 20

Emphasis on life events – it overlooks daily hassles, which can be a significant source of stress. The cumulative effect (‘accumulation effect’) of daily hassles, which are constant and repetitive, is a better predictor of stress-related illnesses.

Question 21

Evaluation: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Retrospective memory for past events:

Answer 21

Retrospective memory for past events – prone to inaccuracies, reducing the validity and reliability of the data. Rahe (1974) investigated the test-retest reliability of the SRRS and found it varies depending on the time interval between testing.