Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

2013 Edition
| Editors: Marc D. Gellman, J. Rick Turner

Stress: Appraisal and Coping

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_215
How to cite

Definition

Stress has been defined traditionally either as a stimulus, often referred to as a stressor, that happens to the person such as a laboratory shock or loss of a job, or as a response characterized by physiological arousal and negative affect, especially anxiety. In his 1966 book, Psychological Stress and the Coping Process (Lazarus, 1966), Richard Lazarus defined stress as a relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised as personally significant and as taxing or exceeding resources for coping. This definition is the foundation of stress and coping theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Description

Stress and coping theory provides a framework that is useful for formulating and testing hypotheses about the stress process and its relation to physical and mental health. The framework emphasizes the importance of two processes, appraisal and coping, as mediators of the ongoing relationship between the person and the environment. Stress and coping theory is...

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References and Readings

  1. Folkman, S. (1997). Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Social Science and Medicine, 45, 1207–1221.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
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  3. Folkman, S. (Ed.). (2011). The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  4. Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2000). Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist, 55, 647–654.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
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  6. Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
  7. Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  8. Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  9. Pearlin, L. I., Lieberman, M. A., Menaghan, E. G., & Mullan, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337–356.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Medicine, School of MedicineUniversity of California San FranciscoSan MateoUSA