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Cognitive Appraisal Paper

According to Richard Lazarus, stressors do not cause stress. The stress response is the result of how we interpret the stressor. A test does not make you anxious, your boss does not make you angry, and the traffic does not get you all “stressed out.” We often think and talk about stressful events as if they cause us to feel a certain way or behave in certain ways, but that’s really not the case. It’s really what the stressor means to us, how we appraise it, that determines how stressful we find a situation. For example, there is a wide spectrum of emotional responses expressed by students to the same test grades. For instance, one student gets a “C” and is jubilant, another student gets a “C” and is angry, another student doesn’t care, and another student is anxious. They are all being exposed to the same event, getting a “C,” but the reactions are different because a “C” means different things to these different students. For some, it is an assault on their academic self-esteem (“I am not smart enough”). A “C” is interpreted as a negative event. Other students are more than happy to take their “C” and run, especially those who were expecting a D or F. These different reactions to the same event, a “C,” is an example of differences in cognitive appraisal. Each of us has accumulated a different set of life experiences and have different learning histories. Therefore, we respond to life events through our own individual and unique belief system. The proof that it is our appraisal of the “C” and not the grade itself that leads to our emotional response lies in the fact that if “Cs” caused stress, everyone who received a “C” would be anxious, yet many people are happy with a “C.” If we believe that getting excellent grades is important, then tests are more likely to be associated with anxiety. Remember, it is not the test or the grade that causes anxiety and distress, it is how we interpret the meaning of them to ourselves that determines how anxious we become. Self-efficacy also impacts people’s perception of a stressful event. If people believe that they have the necessary resources to address the event, the event may not be perceived as stressful. For example, getting an “A” on an exam is important to a student and he could perceive the exam as a stressful event. However, he has high academic self-efficacy and feels he is prepared for the exam. As such, the exam is not perceived as a stressor.

For this paper assignment, identify a current stressful event in your life (or a fictitious current event). This should not be a past event with a resolution and it is no longer a source of stress. Focus on a single stressor such as traffic on your way to work or dealing with a bad boss. The cognitive appraisal must be specific to that single stressor. Discuss the nature of the current event, primary appraisal (assess the threat and importance of the outcome), negative impact (mental and/or physical symptoms resulting from the stress), secondary appraisal (availability of resources to meet the threat), reappraisal (positive or neutral reappraisal the event and/or your resources to address the event), and positive impact of the reappraisal on your mental or physical health.