HUMANS, COMMUNITY AND STRESS!
We, humans, have had a strong sense of connection to our communities ever since our race began to exist. As living and social beings, it is hard and often impossible for us to survive without one another and most importantly our communities. But what goes without saying is that one of the main problems arising when humans are in question is that of stress.
Stress in psychology is stated as the social, physical, psychological, and emotional reaction of individuals and communities, caused as a result of experiencing an imbalance between individuals’ private and collective resources and the obligations placed upon them by their social or physical environment; it is something that is persistent throughout most of a person’s life and is often associated with their surroundings, interaction with other people, and the environment in which they change and grow in. In the context of community psychology, stress expands from more than just a personal level to a wider community or societal level.
In his book ‘Stress, Culture, and Community: The Psychology and Philosophy of Stress’, Stevan. E. Hobfoll states stress to be a socio-psychological concept, that is of the greatest relevance to Western society; he points out that the idea of stress is what frequently consumes us as humans and is often employed to clarify the reasons behind behaviors that are considered unethical in relation to one's profession, family, and society. Every negative element from violence, diseases, and mental illnesses, etc. to marital turbulence, and unsuccessful productivity, etc. are all indicative of a model which centers around the concept of stress.
Over time, there has been a major evolution of the subject of stress and multiple perspectives have also come into the picture. Different topics in history have given different meanings for the same: Ancient physicians like Hippocrates in the field of medicine has explained stress to be associated with significant physical distress in a person’s body, caused as a result of extreme imbalance in the internal systems and fluids of the body; although it might seem like an issue arising within a person’s body, often it is an effect of the high level of chaos in one’s surroundings. In short, extreme distress in our bodies is in fact the manifestation of issues in our surrounding communities. In the late 20th century, research in the field of psychology and especially its connection with stress, two new related concepts called eustress and distress came into the light; depending on the manner in which it impacts us and our communities, it can either be positive and healthy ones which are not harmful in any manner (eustress) or negative and unhealthy ones (distress). Another fascinating revelation made in the field of stress research was the introduction of ‘The Biopsychosocial Model’. This particular model focuses on the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of an individual and how these factors majorly influence stress; this model's fundamental guiding assumption is that human suffering frequently affects the person as a whole rather than separate organs.
When taking culture into consideration, stress could be seen as a phenomenon that is highly influenced by the society and culture that we are associated with. Cultural and social expectations from one’s community and the pressure that comes as a result of the same could be a major contributor to stress. Stress is influenced by culture in the following ways:
1.) The stress experienced by individuals are greatly shaped by cultural contexts and mainly our communities and environment; a comprehensive theory related to stress known as ‘The Conservation Resources Theory’, given by Hobfoll takes into consideration both internal as well as external environmental processes in roughly equal proportion; this theory is largely environment-related and often forsakes the self as a stress factor.
2.) Secondly, culture can also have an impact on how upsetting an event is interpreted.
3.)Differences in cultures determine the coping mechanisms that a person chooses to employ in any given community circumstance.
4.) Lastly, a variety of organizational tools for stress management are often offered by culture.
The basic stress and coping model given by Lazarus focuses more on a person’s assessment of situations; the direction and manner in which an individual evaluates their social conditions determines the level of stress in these situations. According to Lazarus, these evaluations depend on both the surrounding circumstances and an individual's personal traits.
One of the most infamous experiments in the field of psychology, best used to explain how stress and external pressure work in a community setting was that of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo’s prison experiment was conducted on conformity in which college students participating in it were exposed to a simulation of a prison; the students were chosen at random to either portray the role of a prisoner or a guard. Due to the severe and unethical behavior displayed by the volunteers assigned to the role of guards, the study was discontinued after only six days, instead of the two weeks that it was initially planned to run. This experiment brought to light how stress is caused and spirals in a community; the way in which it was conducted, showcased the severe amount of psychological and physical stress undergone by those participants who were given the role of the prisoner.
In conclusion, stress has a profound impact on each individual and the community in which they live. Since stress is essential for the operation of the entire world, we can never totally escape it. To live in a stress-free world is to live in an idealistic world…We all know idealism is a myth!
About the Author:
Sparsha Rai
Head of Psycreative Column
Second-year student, B.Sc. Applied Psychology, SDSOS, NMIMS.
More South Indian than ‘IDLI-VADA-DOSA’, Sparsha Rai is a self-proclaimed hilarious, and creative 19-year-old. She originally hails from a small yet stunning city known as Mangalore (often confused with Bangalore), located in the beautiful state of Karnataka. She believes in singing and joking her way through the difficulties in life. She aspires to become a psychologist in the future and intends to be the best and most original version of herself.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222505/
https://europepmc.org/article/med/28686557
https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1464-0597.00062
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27844072
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