Presentation Plus! Understanding Psychology
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CHAPTER FOCUS
SECTION 1 Sources of Stress
SECTION 2 Reactions to Stress
SECTION 3 Coping with Stress
SECTION 4 Stress in Your Life
CHAPTER SUMMARY
CHAPTER ASSESSMENT
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Chapter Objectives
Section 1: Sources of Stress
• Explain how stress results from our
perceptions of demands placed upon us
and our evaluations of situations we
encounter. 
Section 2: Reactions to Stress
• Describe the beneficial and harmful
reactions people have to stress.
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the information.
Chapter Objectives (cont.)
Section 3: Coping with Stress
• Explore the defensive and active coping
strategies that people use to deal
with stress. 
Section 4: Stress in Your Life
• Describe how college and work can lead
to stress.
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Reader’s Guide
Main Idea
– Stress results from our perceptions of demands
placed upon us and our evaluations of situations
we encounter. 
Objectives
– Define stress. 
– Identify various sources of stress.
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information. Section 1 begins on page 413 of your textbook.
Reader’s Guide (cont.)
Vocabulary
– stress 
– stressor 
– stress reaction 
– distress 
– eustress 
– conflict situation
Click the Speaker button
to listen to Exploring
Psychology.
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information. Section 1 begins on page 413 of your textbook.
Introduction
• To some psychologists, stress is an
event that produces tension or worry. 
• Others describe it as a person’s physical
or psychological response to such an
event. 
• Still other researchers regard stress as a
person’s perception of the event.
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Introduction (cont.)
• Stress is the anxious or threatening
feeling resulting from our appraisal of a
situation and our perception of demands
placed upon us.
stress
a person’s perception of his or
her inability to cope with a
certain tense event or
situation
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Components of Stress
• Stressor is the term which refers to the
stress-producing event or situation. 
• Stress, then, will be used to refer to a
person’s reactions–whether perceptual,
cognitive, physical, or emotional–to a
stressor. 
• The term stress reaction refers to the
body’s observable response to a stressor.
stressor
a stress-producing event
or situation
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stress reaction
the body’s response to a
stressor
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Components of Stress (cont.)
• Canadian researcher Hans Selye,
distinguished between two types of
stress. 
– Negative stress, or distress, stems from acute
anxiety or pressure and can take a harsh toll
on the mind and body. 
– Positive stress, or eustress, results from the
strivings and challenges that are the spice of
life (Selye & Cherry, 1978; Selye, 1982).
distress
stress that stems from acute
anxiety or pressure
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eustress
positive stress, which
results from motivating
strivings and challenges
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Components of Stress (cont.)
• Stress is a normal–even essential–part of
life that goes hand in hand with working
toward any goal or facing any challenge. 
• Richard Lazarus (1993) believes that how
a person perceives and evaluates an
event makes a difference. 
• This is called the cognitive model of
stress.
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Conflict Situations
• In our daily lives, we often have to
evaluate situations and then make
difficult decisions between two or more
options. 
• These choices are conflict situations
(Miller, 1944), and they fall into four broad
categories.
conflict situations
when a person must choose
between two or more options
that tend to result from
opposing motives
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Conflict Situations (cont.)
• In an approach-approach conflict, the
individual must choose between two
attractive alternatives. 
• An avoidance-avoidance conflict occurs
when an individual confronts two
unattractive alternatives. 
• An individual who wants to do something
but has fears or doubts or is repulsed by it
at the same time is experiencing an
approach-avoidance conflict.
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Conflict Situations (cont.)
• Probably the most common conflict
situation is a double approach-avoidance
conflict. 
• In this conflict the individual must choose
between two or more alternatives, each of
which has attractive and unattractive
aspects.
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Appraising a Situation
• The level of stress you feel depends on
how you appraise the situation. 
• Primary appraisal refers to our immediate
evaluation of a situation. 
• There are three ways you can appraise a
situation–as irrelevant, positive, or
negative. 
• A secondary appraisal involves deciding
how to deal with a potentially stressful
situation.
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Environmental Stressors
• Environmental conditions such as noise
may cause stress on the job, and these
factors can have similar effects on the
public at large. 
• It was long assumed that crowding was
an environmental stressor. 
• The problems actually occur not when you
are crowded but when you feel crowded
(Taylor, 1991).
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Life Changes and Stress
• Major life changes–marriage, serious
illness, a new job, moving away, and a
death in the family–are important sources
of stress. 
• Many stress researchers have
concentrated on these life changes to
determine how much stress they are likely
to cause. 
• Two of the foremost life-change
researchers are Thomas H. Holmes and
Richard H. Rahe (1967).
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Life Changes and Stress (cont.)
• Holmes and Rahe developed the Social
Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) that
measures the effects of 43 common
events. 
• It is important to note that one life change
can trigger others, thus greatly increasing
the level of stress. 
• The scale also fails to measure stress
caused by ongoing situations such as
racism and poverty.
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Hassles
• Relatively minor, day-to-day stressors
are called hassles. 
• Research has found a connection
between hassles and health problems. 
• It may be that hassles gradually weaken
the body’s defense system, making it
harder to fight off potential health
problems. 
• It has also been suggested that small,
positive events–called uplifts–can protect
against stress.
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Some Daily Hassles
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Section Assessment
Review the Vocabulary What is the
difference between eustress and
distress? Should stress always be
avoided? Explain.
Distress results from acute anxiety or
pressure. Eustress is a positive
stress that motivates and challenges
us. No; stress is a necessary
ingredient in life. It helps us works
toward a goal or face a challenge.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Visualize the Main Idea Use a chart
similar to the one on page 419 of
your textbook to list examples of
the different conflict situations.
Examples will vary. The most difficult
situations to describe are approachavoidance and double approachavoidance.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Recall Information Why are life
changes sources of stress? What
are other sources of stress?
Life changes usually involve the
separation of an individual from
familiar friends and family. Breaking
these longstanding and comfortable
ties often causes stress. Environmental
conditions such as noise and crowding
can also cause stress.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Think Critically Many people have
criticized the SRRS. Can you think
of a better way to measure stress?
Explain.
Students’ answers will vary.
Biophysiological measurements
would be more quantifiable and
provide more precise measures.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
List stressful events that could be classified
under each header. Discuss any disagreements
between classifications.
Environmental Stressors
Life Change Stressors
Hassles
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Reader’s Guide
Main Idea
– People react differently to life’s stressors. These
reactions may be beneficial or harmful. 
Objectives
– Give examples of the psychological, physical,
and behavioral reactions to stress. 
– Identify stages of the stress reaction.
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Reader’s Guide (cont.)
Vocabulary
– anxiety

– anger 
– fear 
– social support
Click the Speaker button
to listen to Exploring
Psychology.
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information. Section 2 begins on page 420 of your textbook.
Introduction
• A person who encounters a stressor that
is intense or prolonged will react to it. 
• There is a wide variety of stress reactions,
and their effects range from beneficial to
harmful. 
• Many of the physiological responses to
stress are inborn methods that probably
evolved to cope with stress effectively. 
• The ways in which different people react
to stress vary considerably; each person’s
response is the product of many factors.
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Introduction (cont.)
• Stress reactions may be physical,
psychological, or behavioral, but these
categories are not clear-cut. 
• The human body is a holistic (integrated)
organism, and our physical well-being
affects how we think and behave.
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Fight-or-Flight Response
• Regardless of the stressor, the body
reacts by increasing the amount of blood
sugar and adrenaline. 
• These responses are designed to prepare
a person for self-defense and are often
called the fight-or-flight response. 
• However, if stress persists for a long time,
the body’s resources are used up.
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The Fight–or–Flight Response
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General Adaptation Syndrome
• Hans Selye (1956, 1976) identified three
stages in the body’s stress reaction:
alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. 
• Selye called this the general adaptation
syndrome. 
• In the alarm stage, the body mobilizes its
fight-or-flight defenses: heartbeat and
breathing quicken, muscles tense, the
pupils dilate, and hormones that sustain
these reactions are secreted.
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General Adaptation Syndrome (cont.)
• In the resistance stage, the person often
finds means to cope with the stressor
and to ward off, superficially at least,
adverse reactions. 
• If exposure to the stressor continues, the
individual reaches the stage of
exhaustion. 
• He or she becomes exhausted and
disoriented and may develop delusions–of
persecution, for example–in an effort to
retain some type of coping strategy.
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Emotional and Cognitive Responses
• Short-term psychological stress reactions
may be either emotional or cognitive. 
• The most common response to a sudden
and powerful stressor is anxiety, which is
a feeling of an imminent but unclear
threat. 
• Anger is likely to result from frustration.
anxiety
a vague, generalized
apprehension or feeling of
danger
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anger
the irate reaction likely to
result from frustration
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Emotional and Cognitive Responses
• Fear is usually the reaction when a
stressor involves real danger–a fire, for
example. 
(cont.)
• Cognitive reactions include difficulty in
concentrating or thinking clearly, recurring
thoughts, and poor decision making. 
• Pro-longed stress, such as burnout, in
combination with other factors, affects
mental health.
fear
the usual reaction when a
stressor involves real or
imagined danger
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Emotional and Cognitive Responses
• There is an increased likelihood of
developing a psychological disorder
following a major life change. 
(cont.)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder is a
condition in which a person who has
experienced a traumatic event feels
severe and long-lasting aftereffects. 
• The event that triggers the disorder
overwhelms a person’s normal sense of
reality and ability to cope.
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Behavioral Reactions
• There are many short-term behavioral
changes that result from stress, some
negative and some positive. 
• Escape is a behavioral stress reaction,
and it is often the best way to deal with
frustration. 
• While many people can endure great
amounts of stress without marked
behavioral responses, others may be
seriously affected.
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Physical Reactions
• Your thoughts and emotions can produce
physiological changes in your body such
as psychosomatic symptoms as a result
of stress. 
• The physiological fight-or-flight response–
accelerated heart rate and so on–is the
body’s immediate reaction to stress. 
• We cannot deal with most modern
stressors in this manner, and physical
responses to stress are now generally
inappropriate.
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Physical Reactions (cont.)
• Stress is certainly a contributing cause of
illness. 
• Emotional stress clearly is related to such
illnesses as peptic ulcers, hypertension,
certain kinds of arthritis, asthma, and
heart disease. 
• Those who work in high-stress
occupations may pay a high price. 
• Stress can be at least partly responsible
for almost any disease.
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Physical Reactions (cont.)
• Stress can be the direct cause of illness. 
• Stress may also contribute indirectly to
illness. 
• It reduces our resistance to infectious
disease by tampering with the immune
defense system (O’Leary, 1990). 
• The immune system is your body’s natural
defense system against infection.
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Factors Influencing Reactions
to Stress
• People’s reactions to stress vary
considerably. 
• These reactions help people meet
challenges in life, but they may also
determine the amount of stress one feels.
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Personality Differences
• In some cases, an individual’s
personality may make him or her more
vulnerable to stress. 
– Some psychologists have suggested that
people who exhibit a behavior pattern they call
“Type A” are very likely to have coronary artery
disease, often followed by heart attacks, in
their thirties and forties.
– Those who do not have this pattern (Type B
people) almost never have heart attacks
before the age of 70 (Friedman & Rosenman,
1974).
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Personality Differences (cont.)
• A Type A person’s body is in a chronic
state of stress with an almost constant
flow of adrenaline into the bloodstream. 
• Type B people are generally relaxed,
patient, and do not easily become angry. 
• Most people respond to the world with
Type A behavior at times, but they are not
in a constant state of stress. 
• Psychologists disagree about both the
definition of Type A personality and its
relation to heart disease.
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Personality Differences (cont.)
• Another personality trait that can affect
the strength of a stress reaction is
emotional expressiveness. 
• Some research suggests that people who
neither express nor admit to strong
feelings of despair, depression, and anger
are more likely to develop cancer than
those who vent their emotions.
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Perceived Control Over Stressors
• The accepted view today is that physical
disorders are more likely when we do not
have control over stressors. 
• Experiments show that feedback is also
an important factor. 
• J.M. Weiss (1971) found that people
develop ulcers when they have to make
large numbers of responses but receive
no feedback about their effectiveness.
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Perceived Control Over Stressors (cont.)
• In general, people prefer to have
predictable stress over unpredictable
stress. 
• Our physical and psychological well-being
is profoundly influenced by the degree to
which we feel a sense of control over our
lives (Rodin & Salovey, 1989).
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Social Support
• Social support can buffer an individual
from the effects of stress. 
• Sidney Cobb (1976) has found that social
support can reduce both the likelihood and
the severity of stress-related diseases–a
finding often replicated (Cohen, 1988).
social support
information that leads
someone to believe that he
or she is cared for, loved,
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respected, and part of a
network of communication
and mutual obligation
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Social Support (cont.)
• Social groups seem to offer at least four
kinds of support. 
– Emotional support involves concerned
listening. 
– Appraisal support is interactive and includes
questioning and providing feedback. 
– Informational support emerges from appraisal
support as the stressed person evaluates the
manner in which he or she is dealing with
stressors. 
– Instrumental support represents active,
positive support in the form of direct help such
as money or living quarters.
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Section Assessment
Review the Vocabulary How does
social support reduce stress?
Social support reduces stress by
allowing the person to feel cared for,
loved, respected, and part of a
network of support.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Visualize the Main Idea Use a
graphic organizer similar to the
one on page 429 of your textbook
to describe the stages of the
general adaptation syndrome.
You should describe the alarm,
resistance, and exhaustion stages.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Recall Information What is the
fight-or-flight response? Why is it
necessary for animals? For
humans?
It is the response to stress in which you will
either stand firm and resolve the situation or
flee from it. For animals, it aids in survival.
They will fight weaker opponents and flee
from stronger opponents. For humans, it also
aids in survival by helping us decide how
much stress we can or are willing to endure.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Think Critically Would you feel
more stressed about a scheduled
exam or a pop quiz? Why?
You would be more stressed with a
scheduled exam because you have
advance notice of the exam; you feel
you have more control with a
scheduled exam.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Brainstorm a list of common
fight-or-flight scenarios. 
In groups, take one scenario and
make a chart describing the
emotional, cognitive, behavioral,
and physical reactions that are
likely to occur if the situation is
resolved and the stress is relieved
after a relatively brief period of
time.
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Reader’s Guide
Main Idea
– People deal with stress by employing defensive
and active coping strategies. 
Objectives
– Explain defensive strategies of coping with
stress. 
– Describe active strategies of coping with
stress.
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Reader’s Guide (cont.)
Vocabulary
– cognitive appraisal 
– denial 
– intellectualization 
– progressive relaxation 
– meditation 
– biofeedback
Click the Speaker button
to listen to Exploring
Psychology.
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information. Section 3 begins on page 430 of your textbook.
Introduction
• Coping with stress is an attempt to gain
control over a part of one’s life. 
• There is not just one way to cope with
stress that is best for all people in all
situations. 
• Coping strategies may not always be
healthy ways to adapt. 
• Maladaptive ways of coping are methods
that people use that hurt or harm others.
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Psychological Coping Strategies
• Our interpretation or evaluation of an
event–a process psychologists call
cognitive appraisal–helps determine its
stress impact. 
– If you appraise the situation as a challenge
that you can meet, you have positive feelings
and your stress level is reduced. 
– If you think of the situation as a threat,
however, your negative feelings will increase
your stress level.
cognitive appraisal
the interpretation of an event
that helps determine its stress
impact
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Defensive Coping Strategies
• We can also try to influence our cognitive
appraisals by means of defensive coping
strategies. 
• Stress reactions are more likely to occur
when these strategies fail. 
• Common defense mechanisms are denial
and intellectualization.
denial
a coping mechanism in
which a person decides
that the event is not really
a stressor
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intellectualization
a coping mechanism in which
the person analyzes a situation
from an emotionally detached
viewpoint
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Defensive Coping Strategies (cont.)
• Both denial and intellectualization can
prevent physical reactions to stress. 
• If a person does not evaluate an event or
situation as stressful, a stress reaction will
not occur. 
• Yet that is really failing to deal with what
could be a legitimate stressor (Holahan &
Moos, 1985).
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Active Coping Strategies
• By appraising a situation as a challenge
and not a threat, we can adopt an active
coping strategy for dealing with stress. 
• Active coping strategies involve changing
our environment or modifying a situation
to remove stressors or reduce the level
of stress.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Hardiness
• Some people acquire personality traits that
are, in effect, active coping strategies. 
• Hardiness refers to the personality traits
of control, commitment, and challenge
that help us reduce the stress we feel. 
– Control involves feeling that we have the ability
to affect the outcome of the situation. 
– Commitment refers to establishing and pursuing
our goals. 
– Challenge means that we actively confront and
solve problems instead of feeling threatened
and powerless by them.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Controlling Stressful Situations
• There are several ways in which we can
control our exposure to stressful events
and thereby reduce levels of stress. 
• Escape or withdrawal, when possible, can
be an effective coping strategy. 
• When avoiding an event is not practical,
controlling its timing may be helpful; you
can try to space out stress-producing
events.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Problem Solving
• In cases where a situation cannot be
avoided or spaced, problem solving or
confronting the matter head-on can be
the best way to cope. 
• Problem solving involves a rational
analysis of the situation that will lead to an
appropriate decision. 
• Problem solving is a very healthy strategy
that tends to sharpen insights and
attention to detail and develop flexibility.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Explanatory Style
• Martin Seligman (1991) describes two
very different styles of thinking. 
– The optimist typically puts the best face on any
set of events. 
– The pessimist always sees the dark side. 
• He found that the pessimists were much
more likely to die at a younger age.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Relaxation
• More than half a century ago, Dr.
Edmond Jacobson devised a method
called progressive relaxation to reduce
muscle tension. 
• Jacobson later added exercises for mental
relaxation in which a person conjures up
images and then lets them go.
progressive relaxation
lying down comfortably and
tensing and releasing the
tension in each major muscle
group in turn
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Relaxation
• Known as meditation, it is a relaxation
technique that has been shown to
counteract both physical and psychological
responses to stress. 
• Experienced meditators quickly reach an
alpha-wave mental state related to that of
Stage I sleep and are able to resume their
activities feeling refreshed.
meditation
a focusing of attention with
the goal of clearing one’s
mind and producing an “inner
peace”
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Biofeedback
• Biofeedback is a technique for bringing
specific body processes–blood pressure
and muscle tension, for example–under
a person’s conscious control. 
• This feedback enables many, although not
all, people to learn to control various
bodily responses.
biofeedback
the process of learning to
control bodily states with the
help of machines that provide
feedback
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Humor
• Stress management experts often advise
clients to try to maintain a sense of
humor during difficult situations. 
• Laughing actually releases the tension of
pent-up feelings and can help you keep a
proper perspective of the situation. 
• People often resort to humor in very
stressful situations.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Exercise
• Physical exercise is another constructive
way to reduce stress. 
• It stimulates and provides an outlet for
physical arousal, and it may burn off
stress hormones. 
• Continuous rhythmic exercise–running or
swimming, for example–is not only
effective against stress but also ideal for
respiratory and cardiovascular fitness.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Support Groups and Professional Help
• There are groups that operate beyond
ordinary personal networks to help people
with specific stress-related problems. 
• Professionals such as psychologists,
doctors, social workers, and ministers can
also be consulted.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Training
• A situation can be stressful because we
are unsure we can deal with it, and it
may be new, unfamiliar, or dangerous. 
• Training to prepare for such a situation
can ease the stress. 
• Exposure to moderate stressors in a
relatively safe but challenging
environment allows a person to gain
experience and confidence in coping.
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Active Coping Strategies (cont.)
Improving Interpersonal Skills
• Much of the stress we undergo results
from interpersonal relations. 
• Thus, developing skills in dealing with
others is one of the best ways to manage
stress. 
• Advantages of this include increased selfconfidence and self-esteem, less chance
of loneliness or interpersonal conflict, and
development of social support systems.
76
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to display the information.
Stress: A Summary Model
77
Section Assessment
Review the Vocabulary How does
your cognitive appraisal of an
event determine your stress level?
Your positive or negative feelings
about a stressful event or situation
will determine the impact of the
stress on your life.
78
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Visualize the Main Idea Use a
graphic organizer similar to the one
on page 435 of your textbook to list
several active coping strategies for
dealing with stress.
Your graphic organizers may include
the following: hardiness, controlling
stressful situations, problem solving,
positive explanatory style, relaxation,
biofeedback, humor, exercise, support
groups/professional help, training, and
improving interpersonal skills.
79
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Recall Information How do people
use denial and intellectualization
to cope with stress?
Denial is used to claim the situation is
really not stressful. Intellectualization
is an emotional detachment from the
situation.
80
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Think Critically Why would writing
about a stressful experience help
you better cope with it?
Answers will vary. Writing could help
you see possible solutions to a
problem or it could allow you to look
at the situation from multiple
perspectives to find a positive
solution.
81
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Prepare a list of coping strategies
you plan to employ during the next
round of midterm or final exams.
82
Click the mouse button to return to the Contents slide.
Reader’s Guide
Main Idea
– For many people, college and work involve
adjustment and stress. 
Objectives
– Identify some of the issues related to
adjustment to college life. 
– Describe issues related to starting a first job.
84
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information. Section 4 begins on page 437 of your textbook.
Reader’s Guide (cont.)
Vocabulary
– autonomy 
– developmental friendship 
– resynthesis 
– career 
– comparable worth
Click the Speaker button
to listen to Exploring
Psychology.
85
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information. Section 4 begins on page 437 of your textbook.
Introduction
• The period when children grow up and
leave home to set up new households and
start their own families signifies a major life
change for both teens and parents. 
• Growing up involves gaining a sense of
autonomy–the ability to take care of
oneself–and independence. 
• Ultimately, it means separating from the
family, both physically and emotionally.
autonomy
ability to take care of oneself
and make one’s own
decisions
86
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to display the information.
Choosing College
• For millions of young Americans, college is
one of the first big steps toward this
separation. 
• This can be a personally liberating and
stimulating experience, but it also requires
adjustment. 
• The emotional upheaval many first-year
college students feel has been called
“college shock.” 
• Many do not have the experience to make
realistic choices or the maturity to
evaluate their own motives and needs.
87
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to display the information.
Sources of Change
• How does going to college stimulate
change? 
– College may challenge the identity a student
has established in high school. 
– Whether students come from small towns or
big cities, they are likely to encounter greater
diversity in college than they ever have before. 
• A student who develops a close
relationship with another, then discovers
that the person holds beliefs or engages in
behavior he or she has always considered
immoral, may be badly shaken.
88
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to display the information.
Sources of Change (cont.)
• Madison (1969) calls close relationships
between individuals who force each other
to reexamine their basic assumptions
developmental friendships. 
• He found that developmental friendships
in particular and student culture in general
have more impact on college students
than professors do.
developmental friendships
friends force one another to
reexamine their basic
assumptions and perhaps
adopt new ideas and beliefs
89
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to display the information.
Sources of Change (cont.)
Coping With Change
• Madison found that students cope with
the stress of going to college in several
different ways. 
– Some “tighten up” when their goals are
threatened by internal or external change. 
– Others avoid confronting doubt by frittering
away their time, going through the motions of
attending college but detaching themselves
emotionally. 
– Some students manage to keep their options
open until they have enough information and
experience to make a choice.
90
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to display the information.
Sources of Change (cont.)
Coping With Change
• Madison calls the third method of coping
resynthesis. 
• For most students this involves a period of
indecision, doubt, and anxiety.
resynthesis
combining old ideas with new
ones and reorganizing
feelings in order to renew
one’s identity
91
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to display the information.
Working
• Graduating from college or high school
involves thinking about and finding your
first job and your career. 
• Each person’s work experience is
different and each person reacts
differently to a job as a result of his or her
own personality.
92
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to display the information.
Work Satisfaction
• Industrial/organizational psychologists
explore what factors contribute to job
satisfaction. 
• Job satisfaction is simply the attitude a
worker has toward his or her job. 
• Most workers, however, have both
economic and personal goals.
93
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to display the information.
Work Satisfaction (cont.)
• One study (Quinn et al., 1971) identified
five major sources of work satisfaction: 
1. Resources: The worker feels that he or she has
enough available resources to do the job well. 
2. Financial reward: The job pays well, offers good
fringe benefits, and is secure. 
3. Challenge: The job is interesting and enables
the worker to use his or her special talents and
abilities. 
4. Relations with coworkers: The worker is on
good terms professionally and socially with
colleagues. 
5. Comfort: Working conditions and related factors
are attractive.
94
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to display the information.
Changing Careers
• Some theorists predict that in the future,
people will change their career several
times in their lifetimes. 
• If a person is unhappy at a job, changing
careers may provide the answer. 
• Across all ages, however, worker
satisfaction is affected by the availability
of other jobs.
career
a vocation in which a person
works at least a few years
95
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to display the information.
Comparable Worth
• In theory, jobs of comparable training, skill,
and importance should be compensated at
the same rate–this is comparable worth. 
• In practice, however, the market value of
many jobs traditionally held by females is
considerably lower than that of
comparable jobs traditionally held by
males.
comparable worth
the concept that women and
men should receive equal pay
for jobs calling for comparable
skill and responsibility
96
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to display the information.
Distribution of Male and Female
Jobs by Occupation
97
Comparable Worth (cont.)
• Moreover, men and women are not
evenly distributed among the various
occupations. 
• Many groups, including the National
Organization for Women, have been
working to achieve equal pay for
comparable work. 
• Congress passed two major laws to
prevent discrimination and income
discrepancies between men and women.
98
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to display the information.
Comparable Worth (cont.)
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits
wage and salary discrimination for jobs
that require equivalent skills and
responsibilities. 
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
discrimination in all areas of employment
on the basis of gender, race, color,
religion, and national origin. 
• For economic reasons many employers
are unwilling to raise salaries, especially if
they are able to find workers who will
accept the low wages that they do offer.
99
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to display the information.
Section Assessment
Review the Vocabulary Explain
how going to college involves
autonomy.
For many people, college is the first
time that they live on their own, out of
their parents’ home. It is also a time
when most life choices are left up to
the student.
100
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Visualize the Main Idea Use a
diagram similar to the one on page
442 of your textbook to identify
five sources of work satisfaction.
Five sources of work satisfaction are:
resources, financial reward,
challenge, relations with coworkers,
and comfort.
101
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Recall Information Why do
developmental friendships have so
much impact on a person?
Developmental friendships force
people to reexamine their beliefs,
values, and assumptions and may
result in people adopting new values,
beliefs, and goals.
102
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Think Critically How do you think job
satisfaction and productivity are related?
Does good worker performance occur as
a result of high job satisfaction, or is high
job satisfaction a result of good worker
performance? Explain your answer.
Job satisfaction and productivity are highly
correlated, especially when people are
primarily motivated on the job by extrinsic
rewards. Consider how knowing that you have
done your job well, even if it is not a
challenging job, can result in a high level of
job satisfaction.
103
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to display the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Write your goals for the next five
years. What plans do you have for
education and work? 
What was your stress level while
writing your goals?
104
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to display the information.
Click the mouse button to return to the Contents slide.
Section 1: Sources of Stress
• Stress is a normal part of life that goes
hand in hand with working toward any goal
or facing any challenge. 
• Making difficult decisions between two or
more options results in conflicting motives
and is a major source of stress. 
• Major life changes are important sources
of stress.
106
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to display the information.
Section 2: Reactions to Stress
• The body reacts to stress with the fight-orflight response. This prepares the
individual to either face potentially
dangerous situations or escape them. 
• The general adaptation syndrome identifies
three stages in the body’s stress reaction:
alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. 
• How people react to stress depends on
their personality type, their perception of
control over stressors, and the social
support they receive.
107
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to display the information.
Section 3: Coping With Stress
• A person’s interpretation and evaluation
of an event helps determine its
stress impact. 
• Common defense mechanisms used to
cope with stress are denial and
intellectualization. 
• Active coping strategies involve changing
the environment or modifying a situation to
remove stressors or reduce the level
of stress.
108
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to display the information.
Section 4: Stress in Your Life
• Attending college stimulates change in
many students. 
• Students find several ways of coping with
the stress of going to college. 
• Job satisfaction is simply the attitude a
worker has toward his or her job. 
• Overall, women face a considerable gap
between their income and that received
by men.
109
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to display the information.
Click the mouse button to return to the Contents slide.
Reviewing Vocabulary
Use the correct term or concept to complete the following
sentences.
Anxiety is a feeling of imminent but unclear
1. __________
threat.
2. People who are able to take care of themselves
have gained a sense of __________.
autonomy
distress
3. Negative stress is called __________.
4. Progressive
__________________
relaxation is a technique used to
reduce muscle tension.
5. A stress-producing event or situation is called the
__________.
stressor
6. Information that leads an individual to believe that
he or she is cared for, loved, and respected is
called ____________.
social support
111
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to display the answers.
Reviewing Vocabulary (cont.)
Use the correct term or concept to complete the following
sentences.
7. Positive stress is called __________.
eustress
8. The theory that jobs of comparable training, skill,
and importance should be compensated at the
same rate is called _______________.
comparable worth
9. The body’s observable response to a stressproducing event is called ____________.
stress reaction
10. The process of interpreting and evaluating an
event is called cognitive
_______________.
appraisal
112
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to display the answers.
Recalling Facts
What is probably the most common
conflict situation, and in what ways
can this conflict be resolved?
The most common conflict situation is
double approach-avoidance conflict. It
can be resolved by finding new factors
that make one option preferable, by
finding a third alternative, or by
choosing one of the alternatives.
113
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to display the answer.
Recalling Facts
Using a graphic organizer similar to
the one on page 444 of your
textbook, identify and explain the
four kinds of support that social
groups offer for reducing stress.
114
Recalling Facts
What are two relaxation techniques
that can be used for coping with
stress? How do they work?
Two techniques are progressive
relaxation and meditation. Progressive
relaxation reduces muscle tension and
relaxes the mind as the body is
relaxed. Meditation is focused thinking
that creates a state similar to Stage I
sleep and relieves both physical and
psychological stress.
115
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to display the answer.
Recalling Facts
List at least two of the new experiences
and challenges that a student faces when
entering college. How might these new
experiences cause stress?
Students’ identities are challenged and they
encounter a greater diversity of people,
attitudes, and values. Students experience
independence and build developmental
friendships. The emotional upheaval of
moving to a new place and meeting new
people can be stressful. College is often a
change from life as students know it.
116
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to display the answer.
Recalling Facts
How can stress impact you
physically? How does stress affect the
immune system?
In the short term, stress can give you the
physical energy needed to meet a challenge.
If stress is not relieved, however, it can result
in exhaustion and disease. Stress is a major
contributor to peptic ulcers, hypertension,
certain kinds of arthritis, asthma, and heart
disease. Stress also suppresses the immune
system, contributing to a variety of illnesses.
117
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to display the answer.
Building Skills
Interpreting a Graph
Review the graph, then answer the questions that follow.
118
Building Skills
Interpreting a Graph
What are the three phases of the general
adaptation syndrome?
The three phases are alarm, resistance,
and exhaustion.
119
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to display the answer.
Building Skills
Interpreting a Graph
In what phases might a person become
most vulnerable to catching a cold? Why?
Phase 3 (exhaustion), because the body’s
immune system is weak due to lack of rest
120
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to display the answer.
Building Skills
Interpreting a Graph
From the information contained in this graph,
explain why some people with stressful
occupations, for instance, develop
serious illnesses.
People with stressful occupations are often exposed to
stress for long periods of time. When this occurs, the
body reaches its breaking point and becomes
exhausted. The immune system is weakened and
makes the body more susceptible to illness.
121
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to display the answer.
We are small, positive events that
make people feel good and protect
against the effects of stress. What
are we?
We are uplifts.
122
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to display the answer.
Click the mouse button to return to the Contents slide.
Explore online information about the
topics introduced in this chapter.
Click on the Connect button to launch your browser and go to the
Understanding Psychology Web site. At this site, you will find
interactive activities, current events information, and Web sites
correlated with the chapters and units in the textbook. When you
finish exploring, exit the browser program to return to this
presentation. If you experience difficulty connecting to the Web
site, manually launch your Web browser and go to
http://psychology.glencoe.com
What are the major sources of stress in
school? Can you pinpoint specific
occasions, times, and events when many
students feel stressed?
Answer these questions in your journal.
Think of a stressful event that occurred
in your life within the last week. Then
write a paragraph describing your
primary and secondary appraisals of
the situation.
Write about a time when you felt burned out.
What did you do to recover from the feeling?
What are you doing to avoid burnout in
the future?
Write an assessment of the coping
strategies you have used to deal with
stressful situations in the past month. Take
it as a challenge to change any strategies
that are destructive.
Write about the stresses you have
experienced at your place of employment.
If you are not currently employed, write
about the workplace stresses that your
parents mention.
The Illusion
of Stress
Read the case study presented on
page 436 of your textbook. Be
prepared to answer the questions that
appear on the following slides. A
discussion prompt and additional
information follow the questions.
Continued on next slide.
This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
How is the use of illusions related
to stress?
Illusions can reduce stress by allowing people to
focus on overly optimistic outcomes. Illusions allow
people to place themselves in hopeful situations
and, therefore, reduce the stress they feel.
Continued on next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
answer. This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
How did Taylor and Brown test
their hypothesis?
They compared the emotions displayed by women
with breast cancer who used optimistic illusions with
those who did not use optimistic illusions.
Continued on next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
answer. This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
Critical Thinking When do you think the
use of illusions crosses the line from
healthy to unhealthy living?
The use of illusions becomes unhealthy when
they become substitutes for reality. Some people
may become fixed in their illusions and lose the
capability of returning to the real world.
Continued on next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
answer. This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
Discuss the following:
Why do illusions seem to help people
cope with serious illness? How did
illusions improve the lives and health of
the experimental groups?
Continued on next slide.
This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
In an ongoing study of stress and immunity
in breast cancer patients, researcher
Barbara Andersen of The Ohio State
University has found that patients who
participate in support groups and other
types of stress intervention programs have
significantly lower levels of the stress
hormone cortisol at four and eight months
after surgery than did breast cancer
patients who did not participate. Continued on next slide.
This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
The Illusion
of Stress
– These stress hormones are known to suppress the
immune system, so lower levels of these hormones
are beneficial. 
– Study participants also showed significantly higher
levels of mucin, an antibody that has been linked to
both the severity and the progression of
breast cancer. 
– For a complete summary of the study, go online at
www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/research/archive/caninter.htm
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information. This feature is found on page 436 of your textbook.
Continued on next slide.
Continued on next slide.
Answers:
1. This is because the
cat’s choice is
between two bad
alternatives, going into
the water or toward
the dog. 
2. Any example where
the person is faced
with alternatives which
would normally be
avoided. 
4. Other types of situations would include
choices between two agreeable alternatives
as well as situations which include multiple
bad alternatives or multiple agreeable
alternatives.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to
display the answers.
3. It is called this
because the action
has both good and
bad consequences. 
Continued on next slide.
Answers:
1. Heartbeat and
breathing quicken,
muscles tense,
pupils dilate, and
certain hormones
are secreted. 
2. The people cope
with the stressor.
One chooses to
fight the fire using
the fire
extinguisher. The
other flees. 
3. It is characterized
by physical and
mental exhaustion,
disorientation, and
possible delusions.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to
display the answers.
Why do these things
happen to me?
I need a tow truck on
state road 66 east.
Continued on next slide.
Why do these things
happen to me?
Answers:
1. She is using humor
to deal with the
stress. 
I need a tow truck on
state road 66 east.
4. Optimism and relaxation are
other types of responses that
might help a person deal with
a stressor.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to
display the answers.
2. The person on the
left is likely
suffering the most
stress because her
anger and
pessimism will not
reduce her stress
very much. 
3. The person on the
right is trying to
deal with the
stress by trying to
solve the
problem. 
Continued on next slide.
Answers:
1. They must care
for themselves
completely. 
2. They might be
seen as
unrealistic or not
what the student
expected. 
4. They might cope by
redefining their goals,
avoiding decisions,
emotional detachment
or through resynthesis.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to
display the answers.
3. The image might
change as a result
of questioning
their own identity,
encountering
greater diversity,
or forming
developmental
or new
friendships. 
Is It Possible To Die
From Grief?
From the Classroom of Dean Hermes
Williston High School, Williston, ND
Is it possible to die from grief?
Please take a minute to think about it
and write your response.
Continued on next slide.
Is It Possible To Die
From Grief?
From the Classroom of Dean Hermes
Williston High School, Williston, ND
Forget the original question and write
about how you reacted to the scream.
Discuss how the sympathetic nervous
system reacted initially and how the
parasympathetic nervous system worked
to calm you down after the event. Relate
the experience to the fight-or-flight
response. Discuss your reactions with
the class.
Experts recommend several techniques to
supervisors to create positive stress
(eustress) in the workplace. Among the
recommendations are to match the employee
to the task, give authority and responsibility in
equal measure, make certain the task is
clearly understood, and provide regular
reviews of employees’ progress.
Social psychologists have identified an
important “holistic” connection between stress
and physical health. For example, divorced
and widowed people are more likely to have a
weakened immune system than married
people, making them prone to disease.
The Christmas holiday season in America
creates stress in many people’s lives. The
holiday season can bring people together, but
it also causes some people deep
psychological stress. Holiday stress can drive
people to drink too much, eat too much, eat
the wrong foods, keep unusual hours, stifle
feelings, alter their routines, and generally fail
to take care of themselves.
Continued on next slide.
Therapists’ recommendations for coping with holiday
stress are as follows:
1. Set realistic expectations.
2. Be willing to say no to avoid overcommitment of your
time and your finances.
3. Look for good things to do and avoid people who
criticize everything and everybody.
4. If loneliness is a struggle for you, get involved in
something that is meaningful to you. Helping others is
a great way to tackle loneliness.
5. Make time to have fun. Be forgiving and tolerant.
Stress of Caregiving
A recent study published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association found that providing long-term
care for a spouse creates stress and reduces the
longevity of the caregiver. Researchers studied
spouses between the ages of 66 and 95. About 38
percent of the study group reported that they provided
extensive care to their spouse. Of this caregiving
group, more than half reported experiencing
depression and expressed the fact that they did not
properly care for themselves. The study concluded that
support systems for caregivers are needed.
Wasting Money
• At various times, we all waste money. 
• Sometimes we think that we are buying just
the right thing with our money. 
• But, when we look back on the purchase, we
view it as a waste of money. 
• Other times, we know almost immediately
that we have wasted our money.
Continued on next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
Wasting Money
• For example, we purchase a movie ticket and
hate the movie. 
• How does wasting money create stress in
your life? What are different ways that money
can be wasted? 
• Do these different ways to waste money
create different levels of stress? Explain.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
Benefits of Stress
• Studies show that there can be long-term
benefits of stress. 
• In one study of people who experienced
frequent illness, they were found to be more
empathetic and more able to
tolerate uncertainty. 
• Stressful situations also require people to
learn ways to manage the stress.
Continued on next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
Benefits of Stress
• In the process of resolving the stressful
situations, they gain confidence in
their abilities. 
• This confidence can benefit people later as
they encounter other stressful situations. 
• Do you think the long-term benefits outweigh
the short-term struggles? What would likely
happen to someone who did not learn to
successfully manage stressful situations?
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
• In our society, time, or the lack of it, creates a
great deal of stress. 
• Time is a relative concept. 
• If you are bored in a class, the time period may
seem to drag on unbearably. 
• If you really enjoy the class, the period will
seem to go quickly.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
• Try the following suggestions for three full days and
write a report on your stress about time at the end of
the experiment: 
1. Set realistic expectations of what you can accomplish
each day. 
2. Try living in the present; getting the most out of
each moment. 
3. Take at least 30 minutes each day to relax, meditate, or
otherwise free your mind of all distractions. 
4. Simplify your life in some measurable way.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
• Read the Psychology and You feature on
page 427 of your textbook. 
• Discuss the following:
Have you ever witnessed road rage?
If so, describe the incident. Which of
the suggestions provided in the
feature could have been useful in
preventing or reducing the impact of
the incident you described?
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
information.
Deepak Chopra
1949–
Click the picture to listen to
a biography on Deepak
Chopra. Be prepared to
answer questions that
appear on the next two
slides.
This feature is found on page 423 of your textbook.
Deepak Chopra
1949–
What is holistic
healing?
It refers to the idea that a
person’s mind and body
function together as a unit. By
integrating the mind and the
body, healing can occur.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
answer. This feature is found on page 423 of your textbook.
Deepak Chopra
1949–
What does Chopra
recommend as the means
to achieve a healthy mind
and body?
He believes that what we think
and feel affect our biology. By
finding inner peace and
relieving the stress in our lives,
we can have a healthy mind
and body.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the
answer. This feature is found on page 423 of your textbook.
Deepak Chopra
1949–
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda combines the
techniques of an ancient health
care with the basic idea that
physical health can be
achieved by integrating the
body, mind, and spirit.
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