a big city. His pulse increases, his mouth feels dry, his muscles increase their ten-
sion. All of this is involuntary. He is experiencing increased arousal. He asks him-
self, “What’s going on? Why is my pulse faster?” Let’s say he thinks, “I’m afraid.”
By defining his state of arousal in this way, he clearly feels fear. On the other hand,
let’s say that he was to take a different cognitive approach. He’s a person who
often seeks adventure. He answers the questions posed above by thinking, “I’m
getting a kick out of this. It’s a kind of bang to be challenged.” By defining his
state of arousal in terms of a more positive outlook, he might be “having fun”—
a positive emotional state—instead of experiencing fear. The hedonic tone, the
sense that a state of arousal is pleasant or unpleasant, is often associated with the
label that we assign to the state of arousal.
It is not necessary to make a distinct choice among the theories in order to
determine which one is right and which one is wrong. All three theories have
some degree of validity and help us to explain emotional states.According to the cognitive appraisal theory, a person’s of a state of arousal
converts that state into a specific emotion.Answer: self-labeling.Stress and Health: Wear and Tear Takes Its Toll
It is widely recognized that increases in arousal tend to be associated with stress. A
formal distinction is made between a stressor and stress. A stressorrefers to the
source, or cause, of stress. The loss of a job, an argument with a spouse, a conflict
situation, excessive cold or heat, and a physical threat are examples of stressors.
Stressrefers to wear and tear on the body. Chronic stress takes a toll. The body
loses some of its resiliance, its ability to bounce back.
Let’s say that you take a small piece of metal and fold it back and forth. A crack
appears in the metal after a number of foldings. Each act of folding is a stressor.
The crack is the stress.(a) What term is used to refer to the source, or cause, of stress?
(b) What term is used to refer to wear and tear on the body?Answers: (a) Stressor; (b) Stress.You will recall from chapter 3 that the Canadian researcher Hans Selye
(1907–1982) did a substantial amount of research on stress. Rats were subjected to
such stressors as excessive cold, excessive heat, and high-pitched whistles. Also,
the stressors were chronic in nature. They became a constant part of the animal’s
environment. Under such conditions, the organism is forced to adapt, and Selye112 PSYCHOLOGY