Cognitive- behavioural approaches- aim to provide the individual with control over their perception of stressors and their ways of dealing with stress.
Kobasa- “Hardiness”
Suzanne Kobasa (1979) claimed that people with certain personality types are less likely to perceive events as stressors or they will see the events as a low level of stress, they are more likely to face the problem and to take steps to solve it. They would then experience the situation as less stressful. These people cope better because they are more “hardy”. The term hardiness is a personality type which sees change as a challenge which has a strong commitment to get involved and a belief that the individual can control their own actions and influence their environment.
The hardiness concept formed the basis of a type of stress management. So, if we increase out hardiness we will decrease our sense of stress.
Kobasa studied managers who worked for a public service in America. She used the STTS to select employees who had experienced a large number of stressful life events over the previous 3 years. Kobasa compared those who were regularly ill with those who were rarely ill to try to determine if she could discover any differences between the groups of employees. She found those employees who were rarely ill had the hardiness personality.
Kobasa hardiness theory had 3 dimensions-
-
Challenge- seeing changes as a challenge instead of threat.
-
Commitment- getting directly involved in situations and focusing on solving problems.
-
Control- believing the individual has control over their own actions and can influence their environment.
Criticisms
Kobasa’s work has been criticised by researchers who believe that hardiness has little difference to the stress which is experienced and its relationship to illness.
It has been argued that people who have a high measure of hardiness may look after themselves better. Those who have a low measure of hardiness may interpret their experiences in a more negative way.
Meichenbaum- Stress Inoculation
Donald Meichenbaum (1977) came up with the term Stress Inoculation which is a training programme which aims to make people resistant to stress. It is known as Self Instructional Training (SIT).
Meichenbaum said that you can become ‘inoculated’ against stress to become ‘stress-resistant’, just as you can become inoculated against a flu virus. He then developed a stress management programme which aims to do this. It consisted of 3 stages-
-
Phase 1- the person must identify the source of stress which is in their life. Then they must examine how to cope with the stressful and then considering alternative ways to cope. This phase gave people a sense of control.
-
Phase 2- this phase is to learn a series of skills to help deal with stressful situations. This would involve learning a list of self-statements which are positive and reassuring. Also at the same time a set of negative self-statements which are self-critical, these must be identified and then rejected. For example before giving a speech you must not repeat a negative statement “I’ll forget my lines” instead replace it with a positive statement “I’m well prepared”.
-
Phase 3- the last step is to appraise the performance; you must give yourself full credit for successfully coping with the stressful situation. Positive statements are emphasised at this stage. If the speech went well instead of saying “I was lucky” replace it with a statement like “I put the work in so I deserved the applause”. This will increase self confidence and self image.
People must practice with a therapist to deal with stress. They must practice to deal with real life situations until it becomes a ‘second-nature’ to them. In addition to being able to do this they must make their own list of self- coping statements which work well on them.
Stress management programmes often combine biofeedback and relaxation training with a variety of cognitive techniques.
Stress management programmes can sometimes be like a set of instructions, for example-
On the positive side of Stress Inoculation –
- there are no side effects
- it helps the individual and trains them to deal with stressful situations
Social Support
Social support is the support which is available to the individual from members if their social network. This includes esteem support, information support, instrumental support and social companionship (Cohen and Willis, 1985).
There are 4 main aspects of social support as identified by Cohen and Willis (1985), this are-
-
Esteem support- experience of stress can lead to self doubt and low self-esteem.
-
informational support- useful information which is provided by others e.g. advise from a person who is experienced in a particular area
-
instrumental support- a range of activities which provide practical assistance e.g. a loan of money to help a friend
-
social companionship- spending time with others e.g. going to the pub
Research indicates people with a high level of social life are less prone to stress.
Self- Coping Statutory
- Draw a picture of how you are feeling or what is on your mind. Then make a list of 3 things that you can do to make yourself feel happier and better about the situation.
-
Always remember bad things happen to other people too, the majority cannot be prevented from happening. Other people are going through what you are, you are not alone, other people do know how you feel but they have overcome the problem and so can you. ☺
Bibliography
- Psychology in Focus- As Level textbook
- Psychology Review Magazine
- Encarta
- Class Psychology Textbook
