The Nature of Stress We are often faced with stressors that are outside of our control, from rare natural disasters to everyday traffic jams. There is a good deal of evidence that uncontrollable events are particularly stressful. This has been shown in studies of “executive rats,” in which two rats receive exactly the same electric shock, but one is given a lever（杠杆）that could be used to turn the shock off after it occurs. Over a long series of such trials, the partner rat, helpless to do anything about its pain, is more likely to develop ulcers (溃疡) than is the “executive”. Stress is mostly caused by uncertain events. Uncertainty about an event makes it more disturbing. One study found that subjects who were told that they had a 5 percent chance of receiving an electric shock were actually more uneasy than those who were told that they had a 50 percent chance. People make various attempts to deal with their stress---removing the cause of the stress, seeking the support of friends or reinterpreting the situation to make it seem less unpleasant. Richard Lazarus and his colleagues have made a useful distinction between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Problem-focused strategies are those aimed at doing something to change the problem causing the stress. Emotion-focused strategies tend to regulate our distressing emotional responses. Psychologists Susan Folkman and Richard Lazarus examined undergraduate students’ coping strategies at three time periods---two days before a midterm examination, a week later two days before the grades were announced, and five days after the grades were posted. Before the exam, students tended to use such problem-focused strategies as studying---a guaranteed way to reduce the potential problems. After the exam, when their fates were sealed, if they sought out others, it was usually for emotional support. Like other animals, humans have always been safer in groups. Besides physical protection, people provide emotional support that can reduce the psychological and physiological symptoms of stress. A lack of support can increase our susceptibility（敏感性） to illness. For instance, short-term loneliness is associated with a decrease in immune response（免疫应答）. In contrast, people who have strong social ties are usually more resistant to disease. For instance, after being diagnosed as having a life threatening disease, married people are likely to survive longer than unmarried people. People may provide appraisal support, helping us to evaluate and clarify how serious a problem is. If a professor tells you that he had also failed his first college algebra exam, the consequences of your failure will seem less devastating. Others can also provide informational support, giving advice about how to deal with the problem. Finally, friends and relatives may give us instrumental support, providing material goods or services to overcome the stress. If your father lends you some money when your car breaks down, you can stop tearing your hair out and just fix it. Title：The Nature of Stress
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