In: Psychology
What are three general theories about stress by Holmes & Rahes, General Adaptation syndrome theory and Lazarus & Folkman. Which theory is supported by recent research?
Holmes and Rahe (1967) developed a questionnaire called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) for identifying major stressful life events. More specifically, the scale measure the amount of change that different events cause, and to assess the amount of overall change experienced by an individual according to the life events that they have needed to adjust to.
Hans Selye explained his stress model based on physiology and psychobiology as General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). His model states that an event that threatens an organism’s well-being (a stressor) leads to a three-stage bodily response. The first is the Alarm Stage, the second is the Resistance Stage and the last is the Exhaustion Stage.
According to the Lazarus and Folkman transactional model of stress and coping, any response to a stressor has two main components. The first is an appraisal of the severity of a stressor which is encountered, and the second is an appraisal of how well the stressor can be managed by the individual. Among all the theories, the influence of Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress and coping is remarkable and remains the cornerstone of psychological stress and coping research across multiple fields.