With Multiple choice questions, answers and explanations
All answers have been referenced by: A students A-Z of Psychology text book
With an extract of the text copied and pasted
, . The problem is serious because it affects economically active individuals. Burnout may develop unobtrusively over months or years. If the
condition is allowed to continue without treatment, the individual can become seriously incapacitated. Burnout occurs when people are subjected
to too much stress for too long a period of time. When this happens, people begin to complain that they feel emotionally drained, empty and
alienated from the people around them. The feelings of alienation cause a sense of unreality, leaving people without hopes and aspirations in their
work. They experience feelings of inadequacy because they feel that they have achieved nothing and that they are unable to do anything about it.
Together, these feelings may lead to a decline in performance levels, which causes more stress and repeats a vicious circle.
pg332
one person may respond by always getting headaches, whereas another person may
frequently get stomach upsets. This is called response specificity, referring to the
tendency to respond to stressors with a specific type of physiological reaction
pg201
pg334 The model is important because it suggests that there is a pattern in the way in which people react to
stressors, regardless of the nature of the stressors. Therefore, although some stressors may cause
more stress than others, the process of stress remains the same.
pg331
Numerous research studies have established a relationship between stress and illness. This does not mean
that stress is the direct cause of disease, but it certainly acts as a catalyst for it. In other words, diseases
start and develop in the presence of stress. The culprit seems to be prolonged periods of stress, or
so-called chronic stress, rather than intense stress experienced over shorter periods of time.
The world we live in consists of various events, which are potential stressors when they are first encountered.
They have the potential to be stressors, but they cannot be seen as stressors because they have not been interpreted as such.
There are three categories of potential stressors (Jordaan, 1998; Feldman, 2003:362–332)
pg335 These are:
(1) universal events that affect the majority of people in society or in the world;
(2) personal events that are specific to a community or an individual; and
(3) micro events that affect the individual on an everyday basis. Examples of universal events are natural disasters,
terrorist attacks like 9/11, the occurrence of epidemic diseases, a cure for a previously incurable disease,
up-and-down swings in the world economy and new technological developments.
pg334
1. An event does not have a universal meaning independent of the situation in which it occurs, or independent of the person who perceives the event. In other words, an event gains its meaning when it is
perceived by somebody in a particular situation. This means that one person may perceive an event as a stressor, while another person may not. It also means that a person may experience an event as
stressful on one occasion but may not see it as such in another situation.
2. Communities share beliefs and meanings. This means that communities may share interpretations of the stressfulness of certain events. The individual members of a community are likely to see an event as
stressful if it is viewed as a stressor by the community as a whole.
3. When an event is perceived as a stressor, the person (or community) assigns a positive or a negative value to it, depending on the situation in which it occurs. Positive stress is associated with life-enriching
events. The outcomes of these events are beneficial to the individual or the community, given the current circumstances. Negative stress is associated with life-threatening events. The outcomes of these events
are harmful or detrimental in the situation in which the person or the community finds itself.
4. Events gain meaning through perception, therefore the process of perception is a key factor in the contextualisation of an event. We have to indicate how an event is perceived and appraised if we wish to
describe the process of stress.
All answers have been referenced by: A students A-Z of Psychology text book
With an extract of the text copied and pasted
, . The problem is serious because it affects economically active individuals. Burnout may develop unobtrusively over months or years. If the
condition is allowed to continue without treatment, the individual can become seriously incapacitated. Burnout occurs when people are subjected
to too much stress for too long a period of time. When this happens, people begin to complain that they feel emotionally drained, empty and
alienated from the people around them. The feelings of alienation cause a sense of unreality, leaving people without hopes and aspirations in their
work. They experience feelings of inadequacy because they feel that they have achieved nothing and that they are unable to do anything about it.
Together, these feelings may lead to a decline in performance levels, which causes more stress and repeats a vicious circle.
pg332
one person may respond by always getting headaches, whereas another person may
frequently get stomach upsets. This is called response specificity, referring to the
tendency to respond to stressors with a specific type of physiological reaction
pg201
pg334 The model is important because it suggests that there is a pattern in the way in which people react to
stressors, regardless of the nature of the stressors. Therefore, although some stressors may cause
more stress than others, the process of stress remains the same.
pg331
Numerous research studies have established a relationship between stress and illness. This does not mean
that stress is the direct cause of disease, but it certainly acts as a catalyst for it. In other words, diseases
start and develop in the presence of stress. The culprit seems to be prolonged periods of stress, or
so-called chronic stress, rather than intense stress experienced over shorter periods of time.
The world we live in consists of various events, which are potential stressors when they are first encountered.
They have the potential to be stressors, but they cannot be seen as stressors because they have not been interpreted as such.
There are three categories of potential stressors (Jordaan, 1998; Feldman, 2003:362–332)
pg335 These are:
(1) universal events that affect the majority of people in society or in the world;
(2) personal events that are specific to a community or an individual; and
(3) micro events that affect the individual on an everyday basis. Examples of universal events are natural disasters,
terrorist attacks like 9/11, the occurrence of epidemic diseases, a cure for a previously incurable disease,
up-and-down swings in the world economy and new technological developments.
pg334
1. An event does not have a universal meaning independent of the situation in which it occurs, or independent of the person who perceives the event. In other words, an event gains its meaning when it is
perceived by somebody in a particular situation. This means that one person may perceive an event as a stressor, while another person may not. It also means that a person may experience an event as
stressful on one occasion but may not see it as such in another situation.
2. Communities share beliefs and meanings. This means that communities may share interpretations of the stressfulness of certain events. The individual members of a community are likely to see an event as
stressful if it is viewed as a stressor by the community as a whole.
3. When an event is perceived as a stressor, the person (or community) assigns a positive or a negative value to it, depending on the situation in which it occurs. Positive stress is associated with life-enriching
events. The outcomes of these events are beneficial to the individual or the community, given the current circumstances. Negative stress is associated with life-threatening events. The outcomes of these events
are harmful or detrimental in the situation in which the person or the community finds itself.
4. Events gain meaning through perception, therefore the process of perception is a key factor in the contextualisation of an event. We have to indicate how an event is perceived and appraised if we wish to
describe the process of stress.
