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Stress

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter examines definitions of stress and looks at the

early models of stress in terms of the fight/flight response,

the general adaptation syndrome and life events theory. It

then describes the concept of appraisal and Lazarus’s

transactional model of stress which emphasizes psychology

as central to eliciting a stress response. The chapter then

describes the physiological model of stress and explores the

impact of stress on changes in physiological factors such as

arousal and cortisol production. Finally, it describes how

stress has been measured both in the laboratory and in a

more naturalistic setting and compares physiological and self-

report measurement approaches.

This chapter covers:

➧ What is stress?

➧ The development of stress theories

➧ The transactional model of stress

➧ Stress and appraisal

➧ Stress and changes in physiology

➧ Measuring stress

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