12–1
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–1
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
CHAPTER 12
Stress and Stress Management
Learning Objective
After studying this chapter, students will be able to:
1. Identify the main causes of stress.
3. Compare and contrast type A and type B personality behaviors.
5. Explain the cost of stress in the workplace.
Key Terms
Catastrophize: To expand an irrational belief into an imagined disaster.
Chronic stressors: Inescapable, day-to-day situations or conditions that cause stress.
Cognitive appraisal: The thinking evaluation of an event or situation that varies from
12–2
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
Job burnout: Physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from long-term stress or
frustration in one’s workplace.
Major life changes: Changes in your life, such as divorce, that increase daily hassles,
to any demand made on it. In other words, any reaction or response one’s body makes to
a new situation is stress. Ongoing situations that seem to be too much for one to handle
will also cause stress. The reaction is both emotional and physical.
Hans Selye, a Canadian physiologist who researched stress and its effects for 50 years,
believed that human bodies are nearly always in some kind of stress. He maintained that
12–3
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–3
Any change can be stressful, especially major life changes—changes in your life,
such as divorce, that increase daily hassles, leaving you stressed and worn out.
According to some stress researchers, the daily hassles—the daily annoyances, such
because of issues such as race or ethnicity, gender, age, or religion are examples of
chronic stressors.
II. Sources of Stress
In addition to studying major life changes, daily hassles, and chronic stress, psychologists
studying causes of stress have identified specific internal and external sources of it in
goals.
• Approach-avoid—occurs when one is drawn toward and away from something at
the same time.
• Avoid-avoid conflict—occurs when one has to choose between two undesirable
options.
12–4
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
According to psychologists, internal stressors can include your own perceptions or
interpretations of a stressor, as well as personality factors.
Every person has a different perception of the same situation or stressor. Two basic
internal factors that make people perceive the same events differently are their
cognitive appraisal of each situation, and their individual personality factors.
Cognitive appraisal is the thinking evaluation of an event or situation that varies from
person to person and, for an individual person, from day to day. In the process of
making a cognitive appraisal, people unconsciously ask themselves two questions:
• Is this stressor harmful in any way?
• Are the resources (time, energy, and so on) available to handle this stressor?
12–5
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–5
III. Type A and Type B Personality Behavior
The third type of internal stressor is personality factors—also known as type A and type
B personalities. These are two standard personality-related behaviors. Type A
problems that seem impossible to overcome, manage just fine. These personalities are
known as survivors. Some people who are in stressful situations are able to come out
smiling, while others fail. This is due to them having a hardy personality, or resilient
personality—a resilient personality type, characterized by the ability to meet challenges,
a sense of commitment, and a feeling of being in control of life.
exhaustion. During this stage, the parasympathetic nervous system is still activated, so
the person appears relaxed, but the stressor is still present.
In some cases, individuals who are subjected to extreme stress in their lives are unable
to adjust to normalcy, even when the stress is no longer present or they have ample
leisure time and are prone to illnesses. Selye termed this disease of adaptation.
12–6
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
B. Stress and the Immune System
The immune system serves three basic functions:
• Recognizing foreign cells and attacking them.
economy more than $300 billion every year. These costs are an estimate based on lower
productivity due to stress, lost days of work, worker’s compensation claims, health
insurance and health-care costs, stress management programs, and lawsuits that are a
result of stress-related illness or injuries.
Employees increasingly report stress-related headaches, back pain, exhaustion, anxiety,
1. What is meant by stress and stressors? Identify two sources of eustress, and two
12–7
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–7
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Stress is any reaction or response made by the
body to a new situation, while a stressor is a situation or an event that causes the
body to react (causes stress).
There are two kinds of stress, according to Hans Selye: eustress and distress.
Eustress is positive stress, the kind felt when playing tennis or attending a party.
Distress is negative stress, the kind felt during an illness or when going through a
divorce.
2. How are major life changes different from daily hassles? How can a major life
change lead to daily hassles? Discuss examples of these in your own life.
3. Suppose that you were really looking forward to going to work one day, but when
you left for work you realized your tire was flat. Your stress level increased. Discuss
how this situation leads to internal and/or external sources of stress.
4. Are there any chronic stressors in your own life, or the life of someone you know?
Describe the stressor, and possible coping strategies.
5. Do you hold any of the irrational beliefs described by Ellis? How do they affect your
perception of events?
12–8
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–8
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Answer: Students’ answers will vary. People who have irrational thought have an
irrational belief system, which is a way of thinking that causes internal stress by
substituting a realistic belief with one that is destructive, illogical, and largely false.
Irrational beliefs can lead to catastrophizing an event—a stressor—or blowing it out
of proportion. Irrational beliefs can cripple people facing stress because they make
them fear outcomes that do not actually exist. Most of these irrational beliefs take
situations to extremes—even though that can create more problems and stress.
6. According to Ellis, what is catastrophizing? Do you ever find yourself
catastrophizing? In what situations? How can you minimize it?
7. What is the difference between meditation and biofeedback? How can each be used
to reduce stress? What other specific suggestions for coping with stress can you
incorporate into your own life?
12–9
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–9
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
• Make time for rest and leisure.
• Get social support.
• Try to reduce stress in the workplace.
• Manage time.
• Stop procrastinating.
8. Suppose you are driving to work one day on your usual route past the City Zoo,
when a giant grizzly bear escapes, runs out of the entrance, growling and roaring,
and heads straight for your car. Describe the physical and chemical changes that you
would experience, according to the general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
9. A life without stress seems like a pleasant and desirable goal. Do you agree with
Selye that stress is necessary in order to motivate you and keep you alive? Why or
why not? What do you think would happen if you didn’t have any stress in your life?
10. Some people say that since everyone is going to die anyway, it would be better to
enjoy life without worrying about diet, exercise, and other behaviors that may
prolong life while reducing the enjoyment of life. Why do you think these people
feel this way? What do you think?
12–10
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–10
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Answer: Students opinions would vary. Everybody goes through stress in life, but
some people are able to mange stress better than others. This can be attributed to
their personality type. The kind of people described here would probably have type B
personalities. Type B personalities are characterized by flexibility, the ability to relax
and delegate work, and a minimal sense of time urgency.
Case Studies
Case Study 12.1: Bonnie the Bumblebee
Bonnie, in her role as the supervisor, buzzes around the office like a bumblebee, hurrying
as she felt that she had to redo everyone’s work along with completing her own. She
criticized everyone; from her employees to her family, and everything else in between.
She advises James to be more aggressive to move ahead in his career. James, who prefers
a slower, more steady but thorough pace of work, feels certain that his approach is more
suited for an upper management position.
Questions
1. Is James correct—will he more likely make it to upper management, or will Bonnie?
Why?
2. Thinking of the personality behaviors discussed in this chapter, what characteristics
would lead you to categorize Bonnie and James as either type A, type B, or hardy?
12–11
Chapter 12 – Stress and Stress Management
12–11
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
James, on the other hand, prefers a slow, steady but thorough pace of work. He does
not see any advantage to constantly being so critical and rushed all the time. He
shows characteristics of Type B personality.
A hardy personality is a resilient personality type, characterized by the ability to
meet challenges, a sense of commitment, and a feeling of being in control of life.
3. Does Bonnie seem stressed? If so, from what sources (major life changes, daily
hassles, chronic stressors, internal stress, or external stress)? If not, why?
Suggested Answer: Most students would agree that Bonnie seems stressed, mainly
due to her level of internal stress, i.e. her own perceptions or interpretations of a
stressor, as well as her personality factors.
Case Study 12.2: Overworked, or Just Overstressed?
1. Do you think Rick will ever figet it together”? What are the real causes of his
frustration? Why isn’t Arturo having the same kinds of problems?
2. Sketch out a rough time management plan for Rick, one that includes a 20-hours-per-
week job and 12 credits of coursework, along with some personal time and study
12–12
3. What kinds of specific items would a long-term calendar for Rick need to include?