Stress & Conflict In Psychology

Increases in arousal are generally associated with stress, which occurs as a result of being exposed to a stressor (something that causes stress).

For example, having an argument with someone, loosing your job or fearing that your life is in danger are all examples of stressors which cause stress.

Stress itself is defined as a mental, physical or emotional strain on the body. Generally stress occurs occasionally and only in response to a stressor.

However for some people they are under a constant state of stress known as chronic stress, which can have very harmful long term effects on the body such as accelerated aging and the development of disease.

Hans Selye

Hans Selye was a Canadian researcher who subjected rats to various stressors such as very cold or hot temperatures and loud noises.

These stressors where also chronic in nature, which means he exposed the rats to these stressors for long periods of time.

What Selye found was that under such conditions the rats were forced to adapt to their environment, a process known as general adaptation syndrome (GAS).

There are three main stages associated with the general adaptation syndrome: the alarm reaction, the stage of resistance and the stage of exhaustion.

The Alarm Reaction

In response to a stressor the rat (or any organism) experiences an increased state of arousal where their heart rate increases, their rate of respiration increases and their muscles tense up in preparation to deal with the stressor (either escape from it or fight it).

The Stage Of Resistance

Chronic exposure to a stressor results in the body “getting used to” the stressor and is characterised by a reduced level of arousal.

Even though the conditions may be bad, the rat learns to live in its new environment and is capable of reproducing and learning new things.

The Stage Of Exhaustion

Prolonged exposure to a stressor (chronic stress) eventually takes its toll, and the rat dies a premature death.

A post-mortem examination of the rat showed that its adrenal glands were swollen, which indicates that they had secreted a lot of hormones to allow the body to deal with the stressor.

Life Change Units

The research Selye did on rats showed how stress affects the body, and eventually leads to the development of disease and premature death.

One way to measure how much stress you are exposed to, is to calculate the amount of life change units (LCU) you accumulate in two years.

These units are part of a scale known as the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), which was created by the researchers R. H. Rahe and T. H. Holmes.

According to this scale a person is given a score for certain changes that occur in their life, with the maximum value of 100 being assigned to a person whose spouse has died.

Other values such as 50 for getting married, or 11 for getting a traffic ticket are added up over a period of 2 years to give a total score.

If this score is greater than 150 life change units, then according to the social readjustment rating scale, they are at an increased risk of becoming ill.

A score over 300 means that there is a high risk of suffering from some sort of health problem.

Holmes And Rahe Stress Scale

Life event Â	Life change units Â
Death of a spouse	100
Divorce	73
Marital separation	65
Death of a close family member	63
Imprisonment	63
Personal injury or illness	53
Marriage	50
Dismissal from work	47
Marital reconciliation	45
Retirement	45
Change in health of family member	44
Pregnancy	40
Business readjustment	39
Gain a new family member	39
Sexual difficulties	39
Change in financial state	38
Change in frequency of arguments	35
Major mortgage	32
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Change in responsibilities at work	29
Child leaving home	29
Trouble with in-laws	29
Outstanding personal achievement	28
Begin or end school	26
Spouse starts or stops work	26
Change in living conditions	25
Revision of personal habits	24
Trouble with boss	23
Change in residence	20
Change in schools	20
Change in working hours or conditions	20
Change in church activities	19
Change in recreation	19
Change in social activities	18
Minor mortgage or loan	17
Change in sleeping habits	16
Change in eating habits	15
Change in number of family reunions	15
Vacation	13
Christmas	12
Minor violation of law	11

 

In addition to the type of experiences you have in your life, the type of personality you have can also affect the level of stress you are exposed to and therefore your health.

One such personality commonly associated with stress is the type A personality.

Type A Personality

The type A personality is characterised by behaviour that is hostile and impatient towards others.

People who display type A behaviour are found to be at a much greater risk of suffering from heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.

Type B Personality

The opposite of a type A personality is a type B personality, which is characterised by a lack of hostility towards others and a willingness to allow things to occur at their own pace.

Type B personalities have been found to be at a much lower risk of heart and cardiovascular related problems.

What we learn from these two different personality types, is that humans have the capability to create a self induced stress by their own behaviour.

So depending on the type of thoughts you have and the actions you take, you could be keeping your body fit and healthy or putting it at risk of accelerated aging and disease.

Conflict

Conflict is a major source of stress for the body, and according to the psychologist Kurt Lewin, there are four ways you can categorise a conflict situation in which you are forced to make a difficult choice.

• The Approach-Approach Conflict

• The Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

• The Approach-Avoidance Conflict

• The Double Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Let’s take a quick look at each of these now.

Note : Approach = Like / Avoidance = I don’t Like

The Approach-Approach Conflict

This type of conflict occurs when there are two desirable alternatives (positive goals), but you can only choose one of them.

An example of an approach-approach conflict could be trying to decide between two different countries that you want to emigrate to. Even though you like both countries, you can only choose one.

Approach-Approach Conflict = You like both options, but can only choose one.

The Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

This type of conflict occurs when you want to escape from or avoid two undesirable alternatives (negative goals).

The conflict that is generated by this type of situation occurs because by moving away from one negative goal, you automatically move towards the other negative goal.

This is also known as a no-win situation, because no matter what you do you loose.

For example, you need a job and receive an offer from two different employers. However you do not want to work for either of these employers, because it’s not the sort of work you are looking for. But because you need the money, you are forced to choose one of them.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict = You have to choose between two options, both of which you do not like.

The Approach-Avoidance Conflict

This type of conflict occurs when you see the same goal in both positive and negative terms.

For example, suppose you want to marry someone with a different religion to you, but your parents say they will disown you if you do.

In this case, the same goal (getting married) creates conflict because it is seen as having both positive and negative outcomes.

Usually when the goal seems out of reach you will have an approach tendency (desire it). But when in the presence of that goal, the avoidance tendency seems to dominate.

In other words, you miss whatever it is you are trying to get when away from it, but when you have it you start thinking about the bad consequences of being with it.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict = What you want has both a good and bad outcome.

A Double Approach-Avoidance Conflict

This type of conflict occurs when you simultaneously see two goals in both positive and negative terms.

For example, suppose you are on a diet and have the choice between some junk food (goal 1) and some healthy food (goal 2).

You think about how tasty the junk food would be, but you also think about how it will break your diet.

When you start thinking about the healthy food (goal 2) you think how it is the best food to eat on your diet, but at the same time you feel bored of eating healthy food all the time and want to “treat” yourself.

Double Approach-Avoidance Conflict = You have two options, both of which have good and bad outcomes.

Summary

• Stress is a strain on the body, and occurs as a result of being exposed to a stressor.

• Hans Selye did research on rats which showed how stress affects the body, and how the body adapts to it.

• The adaptation process that occurs in response to stress is known as the general adaptation syndrome.

• There are three stages to the general adaptation syndrome.

• The alarm reaction occurs as increased arousal in response to the stressor.

• The stage of resistance is the body getting used to the stressor.

• The stage of exhaustion occurs when the body cannot take any more and develops disease and dies prematurely.

• Life change units are part of a scale known as the social readjustment rating scale.

• If you have over 150 life change units on the social readjustment rating scale, you are at risk of developing a disease or becoming sick. A score over 300 puts you at high risk.

• Type A personalities are categorised as being very aggressive and are at a high risk of developing disease. Type B personalities, who are much calmer, are at a lower risk of developing disease.

• Studying personalities shows us that the thoughts we have and how we behave can cause us to develop disease and age quickly.

• Conflict is a big source of stress for the body, and occurs when you are forced to choose between two different options.

• The approach-approach conflict means making a choice between two things that you really like.

• The avoidance-avoidance conflict occurs when you have two options to choose from and you don’t want either of them.

• The approach-avoidance conflict means what you want has both a positive aspect to it and a negative aspect to it.

• A double approach-avoidance conflict is similar to the approach-avoidance conflict. Only this time you have two options to choose from, both of which have positive and negative outcomes.

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