Stress and its adverse impact on modern generation is a growing problem throughout the world, now that it is significant to give a proper consideration to this matter. In view of the fact that stress is “a physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural reaction of an individual (or organism) to a stressful event – stressor – that threatens, challenges or exceeds the individual’s internal and external coping resources.” (Barkway, 2013), the exploration of the stressors in itself is a huge part of reducing stress.
The stressful feeling can be described as a personal negative experience caused by unwanted and unexpected events deviated from the normal perception. In addition to this, Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman proposed the cognitive appraisal theory, according to which stress is a subjective reaction of individual to interaction with the environment, personal appraisal of that process, and an ability to cope with a critical situation (Gunaway Y., n.d.; Matthieu & Ivanoff, 2006). As the matter of fact, the cognitive appraisal is a psychological and mental ability of an individual to face a stressful event (a stressor) and evaluate own coping resources. Describing cognitive appraisal of stressors that can be both negative and positive namely distress and eustress (Barkway, 2013), the authors distinguishes two appraisal types – Primary appraisal and Secondary appraisal (Matthieu & Ivanoff, 2006). Primary appraisal concerns answering the following questions:
1. How does an individual evaluate a certain event – challenging, irrelevant or threatening?
2. What is the consequence of the event – positive, neutral or negative? (Barkway, 2013).
In this stage, an individual is in process of evaluating the stressor influence on his mental stage and providing a fitting response. For instance, an individual A is passing a test and the questions are too complicated. Cognitive appraisal of this particular stressor (challenging or threatening) has an impact on the results of the test. If it is challenging, an individual will see the positive consequences and pass the test. In case if the view of the situation is threatening, an individual will panic and fail an exam. According to Secondary appraisal, an individual evaluates his internal and external coping resources and its adequacy (Barkway, 2013). Since Secondary appraisal occurs simultaneously with Primary appraisal, it brings the opportunity to better evaluate the event and decide how to manage a situation. Undoubtedly, identifying and estimation individual ability to struggle against difficulties depends on personal mental features.
On the whole, Lazarus and Folkman cognitive appraisal theory represents the vision of stressful events namely stressors and focuses on the different types of individuals’ reaction to situations. Primary and Secondary appraisal of stressors happens simultaneously in human’s mind and has an impact on the mental stage and consequences of a situation.
References
Barkway P. (2013). Psychology for health professionals (2nd ed.) Australia: Elsevier.
Gunaway Y. (n.d.). Summary of Lazarus and Folkman’s Theory of stress, appraisal,and coping. Faculty of Nursing Chulalongkorn University. Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu/10130778/Summary_of_Lazarus_and_Folkman_Theory
Matthieu M. M., Ivanoff A. (2006). Using Stress, Appraisal, and Coping Theories in Clinical Practice: Assessments of Coping Strategies After Disasters. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention. Vol. 6. Retrieved from
http://btci.edina.clockss.org/cgi/reprint/6/4/337.pdf
