Abstract
Cross-cultural studios on stress are confounded by conceptual, methodological and applied problems. Although several comprehensive definitions of stress have been offered, the conceptual schema from which the definitions emerge reflect a Western perspective and are not always relevant when transposed into other cultures. The word “stress” itself is not easily translated into other languages which creates a problem for research workers in non-Western cultures. While studies in India of Westernized executives in organizations using Western models have offered valuable insights into problems related to organizational structures, executive stress, etc., they do not tell us a great deal about the nature and experience of stress in the rest of the population. A brief history of stress research is offered with a concentration on stress research in India. Conceptual and methodological issues are discussed leading to an assessment of the difficulties of stress research in India.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adityanjee, Dr. (1986). Suicide attempts and suicides in India.International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 32(2), 64–73.
Bhaskaran, K., Seth, R. C., & Yadav, S. N. (1970). Migration and mental health in industry.Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 12, 102–116.
Brown, R. (1986).Social psychology (2nd. ed.). New York: The Free Press.
Channabasavanna, S. M., Rao, S. R., Embar, P., and Sharieff, I. A. (1970). A review of the cases attending the anxiety neurosis clinic at the Mental Hospital, Bangalore.Journal of Indian Medical Profession, 17, 7733–7737.
Cooper, C. L. (1983).Stress research: Issues for the eighties. New York: John Wiley.
Dantzer, R. (1994). Animal welfare methodology and criteria.Rev. Sci. Tech, 13(1), 277–302.
Dohrenwend, B. S., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1974) (Eds.),Stressful life events: Their nature and effects. New York: Wiley.
Dube, K. C. (1970). A study of prevalence and biosocial variables in mental illness in a rural and an urban community in Uttar Pradesh, India.Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 46, 327–359.
Dube, S. (1983). Scaling Life Events—Some Issues in Research on Stress and Illness. Paper presented at the Seminar on Stress, Anxiety, and Mental Health, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India, December.
Evans, G. W., Palsane, M. N., & D'Souza, R. (1983). Life stress and health in India.Indian Psychologist, 2, 62–78.
French, J. R. P., Jr., Rodgers, W., & Cobb, S. (1974). Adjustment as person-environment fit. In G. V. Coelho, D. A. Hamburg, and J. E. Adams (Eds.),Coping and adaptation (pp. 316–33). New York: Basic Books.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualising stress.American Psychology, 44, 513–524.
Holmes, T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale.Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–218.
Johnson, J. S., & Sarason, I. G. (1978). Life stress, depression and anxiety: Internal-external control as a moderator variable.Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 22, 205–208.
Kumar-Reddy, B. S., & Ramamurty, P. V. (1990). Stress and coping strategies of the rural aged.Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies, 6(2), 171–75.
Laungani, P. (1992). Cultural variations in the understanding and treatment of neurotic disorders: India and England.Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 5 (3), pp. 231–244.
Laungani, P. (1993). Cultural differences in Stress and its Management.Stress Medicine, 9(1), 37–43.
Laungani, P. (1994). Cultural differences in Stress: India and England.Counselling Psychology Review, 9 (4), 25–37.
Laungani, P. (in press).India and England: A psycho-cultural analysis. London: Whiting and Birch, Ltd.
Lazarus, A. A. (1989).The practice of multimodal therapy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lazarus, R. S., Averill, J., & Opten, E. (1970). Towards a cognitive theory of emotion. In M. Arnold (Ed.),Feelings and emotions. New York: Academic Press.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984).Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
Lehrer, P. M., & Woolfolk, R. L. (1993) (Eds.).Principles and practice of stress management (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Mason, J. W. (1975a). A historical view of stress field (Pt.I).Journal of Human Stress, I, 6–12.
Mason, J. W. (1975b). A historical view of stress field (Pt.II).Journal of Human Stress, I, 22–36.
Norcross, J. C. (1986). (Ed.).Handbook of eclectic psychotherapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Pareek, U. (1981). Role Stress Scales. Research Report, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad.
Pareek, U. (1983) Organisational role stress. In L. D. Goodstein and J. W. Pfeiffer (Eds.),The 1983 Annual for Facilitators, Trainers, and Consultants (164–169). San Diego, CA: University Associates.
Pestonjee, D. M. (1992).Stress and Coping: The Indian experience. New Delhi: Sage.
Prakash, R., Trivedi, J. K., and Sethi, B. B. (1980). Life events in depression.Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 22, 56.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1923/1989).Indian philosophy (Vol. 2, Centenary ed.). Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ramachandra Rao, S. K. (1983). The conception of stress in Indian thought: The theoretical aspects of stress in Samkhya and Yoga systems.NIMHANS Journal, 1, 115–121.
Rao, V., and Nammalvar, M. (1976). Life changes and depressive disease.Indian Journal of Psychology, 18, 293–304.
Sachdev, D. (1992). Effects of Psychocultural Factors on the Socialisation of British Born Indian Children and Indigenous British Children Living in England. Unpublished PhD thesis, South Bank University, London.
Selye, H. (1950),Stress. Montreal: Acat.
Selye, H. (1956).The stress of life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Selye, H. (1974).Stress without distress. New York: Lippincott.
Selye, H. (1980). The stress concept today. In I. L. Kutash, L. B. Schlesinger et al. (Eds.),Handbook of stress and anxiety (127–129). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sharma, S. (1988), Stress and anxiety. In J. Pandey (Ed.),Psychology in India: The state-of-the-art (Vol. 1, pp. 191–248). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Singh, G., Kaur, D., & Kaur, H. (1983). PSES—A New Stressful Life Events Scale for Use in India. Paper presented at the Seminar on Stress, Anxiety and Mental Health, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India, December.
Thacore, V. R. (1973).Mental illness in an urban community. Allahabad: United Publishers.
Torry, W. I. (1986). Morality and harm: Hindu peasant adjustment to famine.Social Science Information, 25, 125–160.
Zimmer, H. (1951/1989).Philosophies of India. Bollingen Series XXVI. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laungani, P. Cross-cultural investigations of stress: Conceptual and methodological considerations. Int J Stress Manage 3, 25–35 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01857886
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01857886