The Relationship Between the Transactional Model, and the General Adaptation Syndrome

The term ‘stress’ was generally thought to have been a concept created by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. He worked on the design of physical structures, such as bridges; his concept of stress came from how much pressure a structure could withstand. However, Lazarus (1993) pointed out that the term ‘stress’ has been used as far back as the 14th century, when it meant hardship or adversity. Back then it referred to the external stressor, such as the death of a spouse or financial worry; in the 20th century, there are many different schools of thought on this area. Hans Selye (1956), brought together the work of Cannon and Bernard and devised a comprehensive system of physiological stress; which he termed the ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’, and is a 3-stage process. He theorised that a certain level of stress called ‘eustress’ (Cox, 1978) could actually be beneficial to our overall performance. Later In 1976, Cox & Mackay devised another model called the ‘Transactional model’. This model takes into account the individual differences in the perception of the amount of stress experienced by the person. The main difference between these two models is that Selye’s model only accounts for the physiological side of stress, whereas Cox’s model takes into account both the physiological and psychological aspects of stress. Therefore, both models will have slight similarities and differences in their explanation for how stress occurs in individuals, which is the main focus of this essay.

There are three accepted definitions of stress: 1. Stimulus model - Stress is an external stimulus that places demand on the individuals’ physiology. 2. Response model - Stress is regarded as the responses (both external behaviour and internal/ph...

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...o the fact that Cox’s model includes the psychological aspect, and also takes into account the individual. It could be argued that because the ‘transactional’ model includes these ideas, it is a more practical and useful model in comparison to the General adaptation syndrome, which is only a basic starting point in explaining the stress response.

Works Cited

Cassidy, T (1999). Stress, Cognition and health. London: Routledge. P. 21.

Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.

Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p189.

Jones, F, Bright, J, Clow, A (2001). Stress: myth, theory and research. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. p. 10.

Jones, F, Bright, J, Clow, A (2001). Stress: myth, theory and research. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. p. 12.