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ABSTRACT: Major perspectives concerning stress are search that is conducted. In addition, it will be argued
presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what that current models are tautological and so can do little
has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current to move stress investigators toward new horizons of re-
conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too search. Yet, because they are tautological, they can never
phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not be rejected either. Finally, a new stress model will be pre-
given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that sented called the model of conservation of resources. It
researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining is proposed that this model is more directly testable,
stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear comprehensive, and parsimonious than previous ap-
framework. A new stress model called the model of con- proaches and that it provides a dearer direction for future
servation of resources is presented as an alternative. This research on stress and stress resistance.
resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that
people strive to retain, protect, and build resources and The Cannon-Selye Tradition
that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual The term stress is loosely borrowed from the field of
loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model physics. Humans, it is thought, are in some ways analo-
of conservation of resources for new research directions gous to physical objects such as metals that resist mod-
are discussed. erate outside forces but that lose their resiliency at some
point of greater pressure. The analogy to humans is ob-
vious, albeit inexact.
There are few areas of contemporary psychology that re- Walter Cannon (1932) was probably the first modern
ceive more attention than stress (Hobfoll, 1986, 1988; researcher to apply the concept of stress to humans in
Kaplan, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Milgram, these kinds of terms. Cannon was principally concerned
1986). This literature reflects researchers' belief that stress with the effects of cold, lack of oxygen, and other envi-
is a major factor affecting people's lives, is intimately tied ronmental stressors on organisms. He concluded that al-
with mental health, and is very possibly linked with many though initial or low level stressors could be withstood,
problems of physical health. The interest in stress has prolonged or severe stressors lead to a breakdown of bio-
also caught the attention of the popular press, illustrating logical systems.
that stress is of concern to the lay public as well as the Cannon's emphasis on stress as response was carried
academic community ("Stress," 1983). on by Hans Selye (1950, 1951-1956). Selye depicted stress
With all this great breadth of interest in stress, there as an orchestrated defense operated by physiological sys-
has been a surprising paucity of work on related theory tems designed to protect the body from environmental
(Kaplan, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Although challenge to bodily processes. He called this the General
initial stages of any research direction may be strictly Adaptation Syndrome. Specifically, he felt that there was
observational, this phase should give way to a more the- a common reaction to outside stressors following the se-
ory- or model-based stage that provides a web of insights quence of alerting response, resistance response, and ex-
and directions to guide research (Popper, 1959). Without haustion.
a clear theoretical backdrop, it is difficult to create a true Selye has been criticized on two levels. First, the
body of knowledge because there are no defined borders idea that the reactions of humans to stress is so uniform
of theory to be challenged (Cook & Campbell, 1979). can be challenged by a wealth of data (Appley & Trum-
Newton's theory was generally accepted for some 200 bull, 1986; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). How people re-
years because of such a lack of rival theories. As stated spond to challenges from their environment can be seen
by Kurt Lewin, "There is nothing as practical as a good as a function of their personality, constitution, percep-
theory." tions, and the context in which the stressor occurs (Mei-
In this article, I will outline some of the stress models chenbaum, 1977; Moos, 1984; Sarason, 1975; Spielberger,
that have guided research and thinking on stress histor- 1972; Zuckerman, 1976). Second, Selye has been criti-
ically. This will lead to a discussion of current models cized for employing somewhat illogical deductive reason-
that are relied on in framing the topic of stress for re- ing. He depicted stress in terms of outcome, such that an
search. However, it will be argued that only a weak link organism could be seen as under stress only when a phase
exists between current stress models and the actual re- of the general adaptation sequence was occurring. This
522 M a r c h 1989 A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t
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