Case Study Of Lazarus Stress Appraisal Model

1. Identify a stressor in your life to which you could apply what you have been learning in this class and potentially manage more effectively. A major stressor in my life while being at college would be not studying as much as I should and, as a result, not feeling as prepared as I should be for exams.
2. Think back about the past two weeks.
a) What circumstances bring on this stressor?
Some circumstances that bring on this stressor is not allowing myself enough time to study for my exam days in advance. In addition, I am very easily distracted by my phone, the Internet, and Netflix. My boyfriend also studies much less than I do so he will most likely always be watching TV or playing video games when I am trying to study for an exam.

This is because the appraisal model takes everyone’s individual reactions to similar stressors into consideration. Lazarus’ stress appraisal model also recognizes that not everyone believes the same event to be stressful. Through the creation of two steps within the stress appraisal model, the individual can decide whether or not the stressor has already been done or if the stress is simply a threat or a challenge to the individual. For example, if I know an exam is coming up and I do not study at all, then the stress I feel going into the exam then I know I will not do well on the exam and there is nothing I can do about it; thus, harming my grade. However, if I wait to study a few days before the exam then the stress I feel going into the exam is only a threat or challenge. My grade may suffer but not as much as it could have if I did not study at all. By studying only a few days before the exam, then I am simply challenged to stay focused for longer periods of time and try to learn the material to the best of my abilities and time constraints. From there individuals can go into the second step, secondary appraisal, which examines the individual’s personal coping abilities and resources to effectively handle the stressor. Upon examining these abilities, individual’s may realize what they had at their disposal to handle stress more effectively than they originally