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A congruence analysis of human stress.

This chapter examines recent developments, unresolved issues, and research priorities in the field of human stress. Before discussing these topics it is important to be clear about our uses of the terms stress and stressor. The term mess refers here to a state of imbalance within an organism that (a) is elicited by an actual or perceived disparity between environmental demands and the organism’s capacity to cope with these demands and (b) is manifested through a variety of physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses. This response syndrome occurs as a result of the organism’s exposure t o excessive environmental demands, or srressors. Conditions of the social and physical environment operate as stressors to the extent that they tax or exceed an organism’s adaptive resources (cf. Lazarus, 1966; Selye, 1956). These definitions are sufficiently broad t o subsume several more detailed conceptualizations of stress that have been proposed from medical, psychological, and sociologic perspectives. From a medical perspective, stress is typically construed as a defensive bodily response t o environmental demands (e.g., toxins, extreme temperature, emotionally charged situations) involving specific physiological components, such as adrenal stimulation, gastrointestinal disturbances, and the shrinkage of lymphatic structures (cf. Selye, 1956, 1976). Psychological analyses (Appley & Trumbull, 1967; Lazarus, 1966; McCrath, 1970) place a greater emphasis on the individual’s cognitive appraisal of threatening environmental conditions and personal coping resources than d o medical models of stress. Sociologic analyses focus on societal conditions (e.g., economic change, lack of social support resources) that adversely affect the well-being of specific groups within the community (cf. Brenner, 1973; Cassel, 1964; Levine & Scotch, 1970). The preceding discussion provides a glimpse of the diverse, yet complementary, conceptualizations of human stress. Recent attempts t o integrate and refine these perspectives have spawned several focused areas of research. The first section of the chapter examines recent developments in three of the most active