INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Individual Differences



Individual Differences

Introduction

In the early 19th century stress was merely known as an engineering term. But it has since been established that stress, is associated with illness and because of this, psychologists have been interested in measuring stress, and showing ways in which stress can affect people's lives. Research has also tried to identify any links that can be associated to mental and physical illness. One good example of stress would be that of the (Confederation of British Industry 1999) Stress is.... "That which arises when the pressures placed upon an individual exceeds the perceived capacity of that individual". (Barrett, 2006, 628)

From a physical point of view, stress was found to produce an alarm reaction by the brain, which heightens our responses, a brief explanation is that adrenaline travels into the bloodstream making the body work harder. The heart rate speeds up, blood pressure raises, the person then breathes faster, the muscles tense and the stomach shall stop digesting food effectively. It has been found that mentally, the body prepares for action, known as the "fight or flight" reaction.(Bjorklund,2002,21) It should be clarified that stress is "normal", it is also positive, it alerts and can protect you in times of danger, (such as when crossing the road and a vehicle is approaching it makes you aware of the danger), but stress can also have a negative effect.

Discussion

There are many individual differences between people (for example age, gender, race, social class and culture). The individual difference that shall be the main topic of discussion in this paper is personality. This paper shall discuss how research has shown that some individuals with specific personalities can perceive and react to stress in different ways, which makes them more susceptible to negative stress. Within psychology the topic of personality itself, is subject to debate and there are many different perspectives. For the purposes of this paper, personality shall be defined, as the total sum of a person, including their behaviors, thoughts and feelings and how they perceive the world.(Cantor,1990,735)

Harris Selye the theorist who pioneered stress research in the 1950's; generated the concept of the General Adaptation Syndrome. This is a collection of symptoms shown by the body in response to any stress, should it be positive or negative.(Harris,2009,1082) It consists of three main stages, "Alarm Reaction", "Resistance" and "Exhaustion". Stress has since become known as a more complex reaction.

An American psychologist Richard Lazurus developed the Transactional Model of Stress in the 1970's. It recognized that the person's stress reaction depends upon how the event is appraised and how the individual perceives the significance of a harmful, threatening or challenging event. Unlike Seley, Lararus recognized that it is a person's interpretation of an event, rather than the event itself, which classifies if the individual finds it stressful or not. Buss distinguished between "Primary Appraisal" processes which is basically the person determining the meaning of the event. The individuals ask themselves if the event is "positive" (beneficial to them), if the event is "neutral" (unimportant ...