Need Paper for Psychology 100

Melody Houston

Psychology 100

25 July 2020

Stress Profile

After having done all of the different scales to figure out my stressors, I came to realize

that I had already known about most of these factors in my life. The “Susceptibility to Stress”

scale concluded that I have ‘serious susceptibility’, which I already knew. Because of the job that

I do, I am stressed almost all the time. Working in an operating room making sure that the patient

has a safe outcome, having to rush when I get called back into the hospital for an emergency

surgery, and on top of those, being in the military and having to deal with all the aspects of that

career. What I did not know though, is in that in the “Response to Stress” scale, the outcome

showed me that because of my score, I have an increased likelihood of psychophysiological

illness. Besides the scales determining my stress, there a few of the scales that actually intrigued

me as to what kind of person I am were “Are You a Type A or Type B?”, “Multidimensional

Health Locus of Control”, and “Locus of Control”.

There was a study done by Martin and Wall where they found that high task demand

under a situation of high cost responsibility elicited high strains. Along with finding that high

responsibility rather than job demands increased stress responses (Iwanaga, M., Yokoyama, H.,

& Seiwa, H. 2000). In regard to the study done, I feel like both high responsibility and high task

job demands go hand-in-hand. I have a lot of responsibility at work along with a job that is

extremely demanding. In a regular job, if you do not meet demands, or take ownership of your

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responsibility, you can get fired. In the military, if you do not meet demands, there are multiple

long processes where the individual will be ridiculed, yelled at, demeaned, etc. Then eventually

be removed from the military if deemed be. I understand that everyone handles different amounts

of stress differently though, be it military or civilian.

The way that I handle stress normally is listening to music. Music has so many genres to

convey what I am feeling stressed about, be it anger, sadness, loneliness, etc. Results from the

article “Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two

meta-analyses” showed that music interventions had an overall significant effect on stress

reduction in both physiological and psychological outcomes. Large effects improved heart rate,

blood pressure, and hormone levels (de Witte, M., Spruit, A., van Hooren, S., Moonen, X., &

Stams, G.-J. 2020). I also recently got into writing. For my birthday, one of my friends had given

me a journal to write about the things that I am grateful for that happened throughout the whole

day I decide to write. That has been helping me realize that I should not let the little things stress

me out when so many good things happen in the day. I could not find any research on this way of

relieving stress, but I do hope though that writing will help more.

In the “Are You a Type A or Type B?” scale, it determines what type of personality an

individual has. Type A personality is defined as aggressive, ambitious, controlling, highly

competitive, preoccupied with status, workaholics, hostile, and lack patience. Whereas a Type B

personality, they are relaxed, less stressed, flexible, emotional and expressive, and have a laid-

back attitude. When I finished the scale, the score added up to me having a Type A personality. I

did not even know what that was at first until I looked it up. I completely agree with most of the

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traits. I am a massive workaholic, I absolutely lack patience, and incredibly competitive.

However, those specific traits only come out in certain times. I am only a workaholic when I am

at work. The moment I leave work, I do not think about it till I have to go back in. I only lack

patience when I am at work and/or when me or another person are driving. When I am

competitive, it is only when I am at work; I try to work harder and advance in my career faster

than my coworkers are. When discussing this personality scale with my best friend/roommate,

she had said that my personality traits are more leaning towards the Type B personality. I am

pretty much always relaxed and have a laid-back attitude. I am extremely flexible when it comes

to freeing up my schedule for any reason. Both my fiancé and roommate said that I am incredibly

emotional and expressive. I have a lot of empathy, any emotion that is portrayed in movies,

songs, books, people in real life, etc., I will feel and convey it as well.

In the “Multidimensional Health Locus of Control” scale, it determines the extent of an

individual's perceived control over health outcomes. There are two different types of locus of

control. There is internal locus of control, which characterize one’s health condition as being the

direct result of one’s own actions. Whereas external locus of control is premised on the notion

that one’s health outcome is under the control of powerful others or is determined by fate, luck,

or chance. The scale is supposed to show the individual’s support for either locus of control. The

higher the score, the stronger the support for that factor. My results came out to be that my

support leans more toward the external locus of control. I wholeheartedly agree that I have an

external locus of support; especially since I work around doctors all the time. If I am sick, I will

wait it out to see if the illness gets worse. If I do not get better, I go to see a doctor to see what is

happening. When doctors prescribe medication, I take it exactly as prescribed, and the full

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amount. I do not stop taking it just because “I feel better”. If you do not take all of the

medication, the illness has a way of coming back. I understand a lot of individuals do not go to

the doctor because of financial issues. However, if the illness is becoming worse, or is already

worse, I would absolutely go see a medical professional. I do not see the point of trying to take

care of one’s own sickness on their own when they are not a doctor.

Regarding the scale mentioned prior, it measured the individual’s perceived health

outcome. However, in the “Locus of Control” scale, the individual’s perceived situational

outcome is measured. My perception on the outcome of health has shown that it is external, but

after completing the “Locus of Control” scale, it shows that my perception for situational

outcomes is internal. The reason for my internal locus of control situationally could be due to my

Type A personality though since I can be competitive. I do believe that you can control the

outcomes of situations most of the time. If you want something done, do it. Do not wait for

something to happen and give you a ‘sign’. If you need or want to learn something, try and figure

out a way to learn it. Do not give up on the first try, there are other ways of learning. Having an

internal locus of outcome situationally can be more beneficial to one’s life choices. Although

having that mindset is based off of your personality, so sometimes you cannot warp your mind

into thinking a new way.

Going through the different scales related to stress and seeing the results of each scale

showed me what I already knew, which is that I am overly stressed. I do have coping

mechanisms for stress though, including listening to music and writing what I am grateful for.

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With the other scales in regard to personality traits, I learned that I have an external health locus

of outcome but have an internal situational/achievement locus of outcome. I thoroughly enjoyed

this topic since I learned more about myself and why I do and think the things I do.

References

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Iwanaga, M., Yokoyama, H., & Seiwa, H. (2000). Effects of Personal Responsibility and

Latitude for Type A and B Individuals on Psychological and Physiological Stress

Responses. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 7(3), 204–215. https://doi-

org.nuls.idm.oclc.org/10.1207/S15327558IJBM0703_02

de Witte, M., Spruit, A., van Hooren, S., Moonen, X., & Stams, G.-J. (2020). Effects of music

interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.

Health Psychology Review, 14(2), 294–324. https://doi

org.nuls.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897

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