Psychology2016

Stress and Health 439

reappraise their arousal while experiencing a stressor helped shift the negative effects of
stress arousal to more positive effects. In one study (Jamieson et al., 2012), participants
were told they were going to engage in a public-speaking task. Just before the task, par-
ticipants were placed in three conditions: no instructions, a “placebo” instruction stating
the best way of coping with stress was to ignore the source of stress, and an arousal-
reappraisal condition in which they were given instructions that not only educated them
about the reasons for physical arousal during stress and encouraged to interpret that
arousal as a tool that would help them deal with the stress. For example, instead of see-
ing one’s racing heart beat as a sign of fear, one could interpret it as the heart supplying
blood to organs and tissues in preparation for dealing with the demands of the situa-
tion. The reappraisal participants were significantly less likely to look for cues of threat

Figure 11.4 Responses to a Stressor
Lazarus’s Cognitive Appraisal Approach. According to this approach, there are two steps in cognitively
determining the degree of stress created by a potential stressor. Primary appraisal involves determining if
the potential stressor is a threat. If it is perceived as a threat, secondary appraisal occurs in addition to the
bodily and emotional reactions. Secondary appraisal involves determining the resources one has to deal
with the stress, such as time, money, physical ability, and so on. Inadequate resources lead to increased
feelings of stress and the possibility of developing new resources to deal with the stress.

Potential stressor occurs

Perceived as

harmless or

a challenge

Adequate resources

perceived

Use of existing

coping resources

Remaining

stressed

Discovering new

ways of responding

or new resources

Inadequate resources

perceived

Stress

No stress

Perceived as

potentially harmful

Weighing coping strategies

Secondary

appraisal

(Do I have the

resources to deal

with the stressor?)

Biological

reaction

Emotional

reaction

Primary appraisal

(How threatening is this event to my well-being?)

Interactive