Stress - Individual Differences

Question 1

What are Individual Differences Explanation for Stress?

Answer 1

1. Hardiness

2. Type A + B Personality

Question 2

What are the 3 Cs of Hardiness?

Answer 2

1. Control
   - Individual sees themselves as being in control of their their life rather then being controlled by external factors + feel a sense of personal power
   - Believe they can take actions that will directly influence their life
2. Commitment
   - Hardy people have a sense of purpose + meaning of life
   - They are curious about other people + the world around them
   - Believe no mater how bad things get you should stay involved rather than alienating yourself
3. Challenge
   - Person sees stressful situation as opportunity for growth + development
   - Person accepts that experiencing stress + challenge is a part of life
   - Person doesn’t accept life to be easy + learn from families as well as successes

Question 3

How do the 3 Cs Buffer Against Stress?

Answer 3

• Hardy personality seen as a pathway to resilience against stress
• Hardy individuals have better coping strategies/self care/social support when faced with stressors
• Hardy individuals experience less physiological responses to stress
• Less likely to experience stress-related illness

Question 4

What are the Differences Between Hardy + Non-Hardy Individual (Hardy Coping)?

Answer 4

HIGH HARDY
- identify stressful circumstance + analysis what can be done to resolve them
LOW HARDY
- Avoid stress by engaging in distractions. Activities such as gambling + over-spending are often used

Question 5

What are the Differences Between Hardy + Non-Hardy Individual (Hardy Social Interactions)?

Answer 5

HIGH HARDY 
- Get social support from others around them
- Able to give support back 
LOW HARDY
- Feel victimised by others around them

Question 6

What are the Differences Between Hardy + Non-Hardy Individual (Hardy Self Care)?

Answer 6

HIGH HARDY
- Have healthy diet + lifestyle as well as engaging in relaxation
LOW HARDY
- Have a poor diet + low levels of exercise

Question 7

Describe Koasa’s 1979 Research.

Answer 7

• early research - demonstrated hardy personalities cope better with stressors
• Used SRRS + illness survey to compare business executives
• 1 group = high stress in previous 3 years without falling ill + other group experienced some levels of stress without falling ill
• Personality tests showed those who didn’t fall ill had a more hardy personality

Question 8

Describe Maddi’s 2007 Research.

Answer 8

• Research on employees at Bell Telephone Company who were experiencing a stressful period of redundancies
• 1/3 individuals demonstrate hardy personality + suffered from fewer stress-related health + mental health issues
• Further research found that other factors (e.g. exercise + social support) helped buffer effects of stress
• Hardiness was most beneficial

Question 9

Describe Bactone’s 1999 Research on Pygmy Goats

Answer 9

• Found that soldiers with higher hardiness levels were more able to cope with stress as a result of life events + things that happened in combat
• Hardy soldiers were less likely to experience long term negative health consequences from these events

Question 10

Hardiness Evaluation

Gender+Age Difference

Answer 10

• NEGATIVE
• Original research into hardiness was carried out on a sample of males - it is possible that the results might be different for females
• Sheppered (1991) = highlighting inconsistent findings when considering gender+hardiness - research found that control + commitment elements of a hardy personality predicted health outcomes for males but not females
• Sheppered suggest differences in effects hardiness has in different age groups - relationship between hardiness+stress outcomes is only evident in older women

Question 11

Hardiness Evaluation

Importance of All 3 Elements

Answer 11

• NEGATIVE
• Maddi (2013) = All 3 parts of a hardy personality are required to have a buffering effect against stress
• Sandwirk (2013) = studied 21 navy cadets during field exercise, obtaining hardiness scores before/during/after exercise - all scored high in hardiness however some were high in control but not in challenge - classed as unbalanced + were compared to balanced group - being low in challenge may make the cadets more vulnerable to stress in ambiguous situations

Question 12

Who Discovered Type A/B Personality?

How?

Answer 12

• Friedman + Rosenman developed this theroy in the 1950s
• Based on observation of people’s behaviour - some individuals seemed tenser + exhibited certain behaviors (e.g. not being able to sit still)

Question 13

What are Some Traits of Type A Personality

Answer 13

• Competitive
• Impulsive
• Hostile
• Workaholic
• Always in a hurry
• Unrealistic sense of urgency
• Rapid speech
• Rapid movement

Question 14

What are Some Traits of Type B Personality?

Answer 14

• Relaxed
• Able to express feelings
• Calm
• Flexible
• Slower speech
• Slower movement

Question 15

Describe the Procedure of the Western Collaborative Group Study

Answer 15

• Prospective longitudinal study of 3154 men aged between 39 + 59
• Men categorised into Type A/B personality using an interview task
• Interview consisted of 25 questions about how they would respond to everyday pressures
• Interview conducted in a provocative manner (slow/hesitant speech) so that the Type As would interrupt

Question 16

Describe the Findings of the Western Collaborative Group Study

Answer 16

• 8 1/2 years later…
• 257 developed heart disease - 70% = Type A
• 12.8% Type As experienced heart attack compared with 6.0% Type B
• Type As had higher blood pressure + higher cholesterol

Question 17

Describe the Other Research Relating to the Western Collaborative Group Study

Answer 17

• Framingham Heart Study - gathered data about risj factor for coronary heart disorder since 1948
• Haynes (1982) = Type A behavior associated with 2 fold increase in risk of coronary heart disorder over subsequent 10 years

Question 18

Type A/B Personality Evaluation

Supporting Evidence

Answer 18

• POSITIVE
• Friedman (1975) = participants to complete an unsolvable puzzle in a noisy environment - Type As appeared outwardly more stressed + annoyed by the task compared with Type Bs - Type As showed a higher level of adrenaline during competition despite showing no difference when resting - provides support for the physiological response to Type As + make them more prone to long term problems

Question 19

Type A/B Personality Evaluation

Conflicting Evidence

Answer 19

• NEGATIVE
• Ragland + Brand (1988) = followed 257 of original WCGS after 22 years to look at longer term effects - found although some behaviors (e.g. smoking/cholesterol level) import predictors of CHD mortality, Type A behaviour did not show significant correlation
• Although Type As more likely to suffer from heart attack, they are more likely to survive coronary events
• Possible that confounding variable introduced by publication of initial results which led Type As to adjust their behavior + lifestyle

Question 20

Type A/B Personality Evaluation

Gender + Cultural Bias

Answer 20

• NEGATIVE
• Original study only carried out on men
• Type A traits (e.g. competitiveness) considered to be male-centered
• Review by Baker (1984) found that women showed similar similar levels of type A personality traits + shower greater automatic arousal to stressor
• Helman (1987) = concept of type A personality is culturally biased - developed from USA - values of being a workaholic +competitive would not be found in non-western cultures

Question 21

Type A/B Personality Evaluation

The Role of Hostility

Answer 21

• NEGATIVE
• Certain type As traits maybe more important than others in making an individual more prone to stress related illness
• Hecker (1988) = WCGS reexamined assessing the relative influence of different components of a type A personality - hostility had most significant relationship with subsequent CHD - suggest that number type A personalities develop a more constructive response to stress as they focus on why particular element of their personality

Question 22

Type A/B Personality Evaluation

Type C Persoanlity

Answer 22

• A point that needs to be taken into consideration
• Type C personality is linked to stress - suppress negative emotions/rarely get into arguments/helpful to others
• Temoshok (1987) = failing to express anger/other emotions may damage immune system + make individuals more prone to cancer
• Morris (1981) = found that women in a cancer clinic who expressed less anger were more likely to have cancerous lumps- supports idea of link between cancer + suppression of anger
• Giraldi (1997) = 6 year follow up found no association variables + cancer progression