Threats and stressors

Baumeister, Faber, and Wallace as cited by Snyder (1999) explained that there is an idea of the self, and this self does not have unlimited emotional resources.  Stress consumes the self’s volitional resources via ego-depletion and restoration.  When a person is dealing with stress the concept of self-regulation, or self-awareness, there is an associated response, often by an internal personal analysis, and there are efforts by the person, who is under stress, to change who they are (or a behavior) and they experience a stressful emotional response (Snyder, 1999).  The self, as defined by Baumeister, Bratslavsky, and Muraven (1998) explained that there is a natural desire to have control over choices, decisions, and plans of action and when this energy is depleted there is a reaction that is maladaptive and detrimental to performance.

The body reflexively responds to a threat-based stressor by determining whether or not they are in control of their ability to respond to it and, if they are in control of their response, the body responds more severely from a physical standpoint than how a person who has not control may respond based upon animal testing experiments (Lovallo, 2004).  Snyder (1999) states that this is because of a person’s need to exert control over “the self” is so intense and that if a person has an internal conflict about the issue the result is hopelessness. Hopelessness, according to Engel and the biopsychosocial model, results in poor health (Brannon & Feist, 2004). Further a body reflexively responds less, according to Snyder (1999), to stresses that are uncontrollable. The body recovers after the activation of self-regulation mechanisms where in the body must have rest, sleep, and avoides ego-depletion activities (Snyder, 1999).

Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., & Muraven, M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5). 1252-1265

Brannon, L. & Feist, J. (2004). Health psychology: An introduction to behavior and health (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.

Lovallo, W. (2004). Stress & Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Snyder, C. R. (1999). Coping: The psychology of what works. Oxford University Press