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Coping Mechanism of Stress for Working Students

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Stress and Coping Theories
H. W. Krohnea a Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Germany

Available online 2002.

Abstract
This article first presents two theories representing distinct approaches to the field of stress research: Selye 's theory of `systemic stress ' based in physiology and psychobiology, and the `psychological stress ' model developed by Lazarus. In the second part, the concept of coping is described. Coping theories may be classified according to two independent parameters: trait- oriented versus state-oriented, and microanalytic versus macroanalytic approaches. The multitude of theoretical conceptions is based on the macroanalytic, trait-oriented approach. Examples of this approach that are presented in this …show more content…

However, while resistance to the noxious stimulation increases, resistance to other kinds of stressors decreases at the same time. (c) Ifthe aversive stimulation persists, resistance gives way to the stage of exhaustion. The organism 's capability of adapting to the stressor is exhausted, the symptoms of stage (a) reappear, but resistance is no longer possible. Irreversible tissue damages appear, and, if the stimulation persists, the organism dies. Although Selye 's work influenced a whole generation of stress researchers, marked weaknesses in his theory soon became obvious. First of all, Selye 's conception of stress as a reaction to a multitude of different events had the fatal consequence that the stress concept became the melting pot for all kinds of approaches. Thus, by becoming a synonym for diverse terms such as, for example, anxiety, threat, conflict, or emotional arousal, the concept of stress was in danger of losing its scientific value (cf. Engel 1985). Besides this general reservation, specific critical issues have been raised. One criticism was directed at the theory 's core assumption of a nonspecific causation of the GAS. Mason ( 1971, 1975b) pointed out that the stressors observed as effective by Selye carried a common emotional meaning: they were novel, strange, and unfamiliar to the animal. Thus, the animal 's state could be described in terms

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