Causes of Stress

Work - Johanson

Hassles and Uplifts - Kanner

Lack of Control - Geer & Maisel

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Causes of Stress; Work - Johanson

  • What was the research in Johanson? 
  • What was the method in Johanson? 
  • How was stress measured in Johanson?
  • What were the findings in Johanson? 
  • What are some evaluation points for Johanson? 
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Causes of Stress; Work - Johanson

  • Measurement of stress response 
  • Quasi experiment, 24 workers in Swedish saw mill, High risk group - complex job, socially isolated and machine-paced work, Low risk group - cleaners and maintenance workers.
  • Stress measured by adrenaline and noradrenaline levels in urine, temperature e.g. self-rating scales and measuring caffeine & nicotine intake. 
  • High risk group - higher adrenaline levels that increased throughout the day the, self-report revealed they felt more irritated and rushed than control group. 
  • 1. Concurrent validity - physiological & self-report measures showed increased levels of stress in the high risk group 2. Situational v dispositional explanations 3. natural setting - high EV 4. Useful - employers can ensure people with high risk jobs have an opportunity to interact socially.
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Causes of stress; Hassles & Uplifts - Kanner

  • What was the aim in Kanner? 
  • What was the method in Kanner? 
  • What were the findings/conclusions in Kanner? 
  • What are some possible evaluation points for Kanner?
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Causes of Stress; Hassles & Uplifts - Kanner

  • Comparison of two methods of stress management 
  • Repeated measures design - each participant completed the Hassles & Uplifts rating scales (every month for 9 months) and the Life Events scale after 10/12. Stress measured using the Hopkins symptoms checklist (HSCL) and the Bradburn Morale Scale. 100 participants from California, mainly white, protestant, good income & good education. 
  • Men - positive correlation between Life Events & Hassles and negative correlation with uplifts. Women - the more life events reported the more hassles & uplifts reported, hassles often correlated with psychological stress symptoms. Therefore hassles are a more powerful predictor of stress. 
  • 1. Is the sample representative? 2. Validity of self-report methods - social desirability bias and demand characteristics 3. Reliability - longitudinal study over 10 months 4. Self-report methods easy to repeat 5. Correlation cannot infer cause & effect 6. Application can reduce stress by increasing "uplift" opportunities.
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Causes of Stress; Lack of Control - Geer & Maisel

  • What did Geer & Maisel study? 
  • What was the method in Geer & Maisel 
  • What were the findings/conclusions in Geer & Maisel? 
  • What are some possible evaluation points for Geer & Maisel?
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Causes of Stress; Lack of Control - Geer & Maisel

  • The effect of control in reducing stress 
  • Lab experiment, independent measures design, 60 undergraduates shown photos of car crash victims. Group 1 - control over how long saw each photo via a switch. Group 2 - saw photos for same length of time as 1, told would be 60 sec between each & given 10 sec warning. Group 3 - saw photos for same time but no control or predictability. Stress measured via GSR and heart rate. 
  • Heart-rate monitors inaccurate, group 1 least stress, group 2 middle, group 3 most stressed. 
  • 1. Lab experiment - controlled conditions - reliable - lacks EV 2. Student participants - validity affected by Demand Characteristics 3. Independent measures - individual differences could be confounding variable - affect reliability and validity 4. Objective - GSR - physiological - scientifically measured and compared against a base line. 5. Could they have improved validity by asking participants to complete self-ratings? 
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