A01: Life Changes
Life events are major life changes that occur at significant points in an individuals life eg. child birth, marriage and divorce.
They lead to major life changes and are usually stressful.
They lead to major life changes and are usually stressful.
Describe how life changes have been used to measure stress
(6 marks)
1. The social readjustment rating scale was proposed by Holmes and Rahe (1967).
2. It was a questionnaire containing 43 items, each item was a life event.
3. Each life event was given a life change unit where 100 was the highest (death of a spouse).
4. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire individually and to identify each life event that they had experienced in the last 2 years.
5. the total life change units were measured and used as an indicator of stress for each participant.
6. Holmes and Rahe (1967) suggested that a score greater than 150 meant that the participant was at risk of stress related illness, this further rose by 50% if the participant had a score greater than 300.
2. It was a questionnaire containing 43 items, each item was a life event.
3. Each life event was given a life change unit where 100 was the highest (death of a spouse).
4. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire individually and to identify each life event that they had experienced in the last 2 years.
5. the total life change units were measured and used as an indicator of stress for each participant.
6. Holmes and Rahe (1967) suggested that a score greater than 150 meant that the participant was at risk of stress related illness, this further rose by 50% if the participant had a score greater than 300.
A02: Evaluation of the SRSS
All Ordinary Cats Pee In Silence
Androcentric
Outdated
Cause and Effect
Positive life events
Individual differences
Self-report measure
Androcentric
Outdated
Cause and Effect
Positive life events
Individual differences
Self-report measure
The majority of research conducted by Holmes and Rahe was Androcentric.This means that they only tested the SRRS on males, therefore it may not be suitable for women.
The criteria within the SRRS are outdated and only relevant to society in 1967. Therefore it can be suggested that the research is historically bound and cannot be applied to today's society.
The relationships found between the SRRS and health is only correlational, we cannot infer that stress causes health problems but merely that the two are associated. It may be that illness leads to physical life problems.
The SRRS does not distinguish between positive and negative life changes therefore it may lack internal validity as it is not a true measure of life events and stress.
The SRRS fails to consider that some individuals may find aspects more or less stressful than others. This scale assumes that life events are the same for everyone, for instance Christmas is more stressful for some than others.
Questionnaires are self-report measures and the SRRS is an unreliable assessment of life events as people may not recall life events accurately.
The criteria within the SRRS are outdated and only relevant to society in 1967. Therefore it can be suggested that the research is historically bound and cannot be applied to today's society.
The relationships found between the SRRS and health is only correlational, we cannot infer that stress causes health problems but merely that the two are associated. It may be that illness leads to physical life problems.
The SRRS does not distinguish between positive and negative life changes therefore it may lack internal validity as it is not a true measure of life events and stress.
The SRRS fails to consider that some individuals may find aspects more or less stressful than others. This scale assumes that life events are the same for everyone, for instance Christmas is more stressful for some than others.
Questionnaires are self-report measures and the SRRS is an unreliable assessment of life events as people may not recall life events accurately.
Key study: Rahe et al (1970)
A01
Aim: To find out if scores on the Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale correlated with the subsequent onset of illness.
Procedures:
o 2500 male American sailors were given the SRRS to assess how many life events they had experienced in the last 6 months.
o The total score on the SRRS (the life changing score) was recorded for each participant.
o Over the following six-month tour of duty, detailed records were kept of each sailor’s health status.
o The recorded Life Change Scores were correlated with the sailors’ illness scores.
Findings:
o There was a positive correlation of +0.118 between Life Change Scores and illness scores.
o Although the correlation was small it did demonstrate a meaningful relationship between LCUs and health (as LCU scores increased, so did the frequency of illness)
Conclusions:
o The researchers concluded that as the LCUs were positively correlated with illness scores, experiencing life events increases the chances of stress related illness.
o However, the correlation was not perfect, therefore life events cannot be the only factor contributing to illness.
A02: Evaluation of the key study
A02: Stretch-Supporting evidence Bonanno et al (2007) What predicts psychological resilience after disaster?
The researchers phoned participants from New York city and surrounding areas using a random-digit dial system. They spoke to a range of people and interviewed in English, Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese.
One set of questions asked about recent life events eg. Death of a spouse
The second set about how they had been affected by the events on September 11th, they also measured whether the interviewee was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was found that the people who had experienced less life events were better able to cope with the disaster. Those with only 1 recent life event were 2 times more likely to be resilient than those who experienced 2 or 3 recent life events. These finding suggest that effects of stressful events are cumulative and the more bad things happen the worse people become at coping.
Aim: To find out if scores on the Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale correlated with the subsequent onset of illness.
Procedures:
o 2500 male American sailors were given the SRRS to assess how many life events they had experienced in the last 6 months.
o The total score on the SRRS (the life changing score) was recorded for each participant.
o Over the following six-month tour of duty, detailed records were kept of each sailor’s health status.
o The recorded Life Change Scores were correlated with the sailors’ illness scores.
Findings:
o There was a positive correlation of +0.118 between Life Change Scores and illness scores.
o Although the correlation was small it did demonstrate a meaningful relationship between LCUs and health (as LCU scores increased, so did the frequency of illness)
Conclusions:
o The researchers concluded that as the LCUs were positively correlated with illness scores, experiencing life events increases the chances of stress related illness.
o However, the correlation was not perfect, therefore life events cannot be the only factor contributing to illness.
A02: Evaluation of the key study
- The study is both ethnocentric and androcentric, as it only uses American Males. Therefore the study lacks population validity as it cannot be applied to other groups of people.
- The findings of the research are a weak positive correlation therefore cause and effect cannot be established.
- The key study does not consider individual differences in the reactions to stress.
A02: Stretch-Supporting evidence Bonanno et al (2007) What predicts psychological resilience after disaster?
The researchers phoned participants from New York city and surrounding areas using a random-digit dial system. They spoke to a range of people and interviewed in English, Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese.
One set of questions asked about recent life events eg. Death of a spouse
The second set about how they had been affected by the events on September 11th, they also measured whether the interviewee was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was found that the people who had experienced less life events were better able to cope with the disaster. Those with only 1 recent life event were 2 times more likely to be resilient than those who experienced 2 or 3 recent life events. These finding suggest that effects of stressful events are cumulative and the more bad things happen the worse people become at coping.