Psychology Notes for AS & A2

AQA Specification A

Module 2

Physiological  Psychology - Sources of Stress

Environmental Stressors

These may include noise or temperature. Extremes of temperature have been proved to raise stress levels. Rotten & Frey discovered that admissions to psychiatric hospitals increased in warm weather!

Other causes:

• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• Job
• Finances
• Health
• Relationships
• People
• Reasons for differing Reactions to Stress

Freedman & Rosenman

Type A and Type B personalities. Freedman & Rosenman were heart specialists in the USA working in a medical centre. They noticed their waiting room furniture did not last as long as that of other departments, and investigated why.

When they monitored the behaviour of patients in their waiting room and others, they discovered their patients were constantly moving and restless.

1. Type A
   Ambitious, workaholic, always on the go, stressed. Multi-tasking, eating while
   working, don't know how to relax.
2. Type B
   Laid Back, one thing at a time, not stressed, relaxed.

Everyone is somewhere between the two extremes, but most of their patients were Type A.
The nearer a person is to Type A personality, the more likely they are to be harmed by
stress.

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