Think of a time in which you and others you know (family members, friends, and classmates) experienced an event that some viewed as threatening and others viewed as challenging. What were some of the differences in the reactions of those who experienced the event as threatening compared to those who viewed the event as challenging? Why do you think there were differences in how these individuals judged the same event? Use the information from the 14.1 “What is Stress” section of the chapter to help guide your response.
Suppose you want to design a study to examine the relationship between stress and illness, but you cannot use the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (discussed in section 14.2). How would you go about measuring stress? How would you measure illness? What would you need to do in order to tell if there is a cause-effect relationship between stress and illness? 1
Based upon the material presented in section 14.4, think of an example in which you coped with a particular stressor by using problem-focused coping. What was the stressor? What did your problem-focused efforts involve? Were they effective?
