Knowledge Tree
Hans Selye
Facts (16)
Sources
Stress, Lifestyle, and Health – Psychology 2e OpenStax pressbooks.cuny.edu 8 facts
claimHans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome model describes stress as a three-phase process involving an initial jolt, subsequent readjustment, and a later depletion of physical resources, which can lead to serious health problems or death.
claimHans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is a response-based conceptualization of stress that focuses on physical responses while largely ignoring psychological factors like the appraisal and interpretation of threats.
claimHans Selye defined the general adaptation syndrome as the body's nonspecific physiological response to stress, characterized by a coordinated series of reactions that occur regardless of the type of stressor.
accountIn the 1930s, while working as an assistant in the biochemistry department at McGill University, Hans Selye conducted research on sex hormones in rats and incidentally discovered that prolonged exposure to negative stressors—such as extreme cold, surgical injury, excessive muscular exercise, and shock—caused adrenal enlargement, thymus and lymph node shrinkage, and stomach ulceration in the rats.
claimHans Selye argued in 1974 that stress is not inherently harmful and can sometimes act as a positive, motivating force that improves quality of life.
quoteEndocrinologist Hans Selye defined stress as the “response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions.”
claimHans Selye's definition of stress is considered response-based because it focuses on the body's physiological reaction to any demand placed upon it.
claimHans Selye asserted in 1976 that stress is largely subjective, depending more on an individual's response to events than the events themselves.
Stress, Lifestyle, and Health – Introduction to Psychology open.maricopa.edu 7 facts
quoteHans Selye defined stress as the “response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions.”
claimHans Selye's model of stress is influential in the field of psychology because it offers a general explanation for how stress leads to physical damage and disease.
claimHans Selye defined stress as being largely dependent on how an individual interprets and assigns meaning to environmental events, rather than just the events themselves.
accountHans Selye discovered that rats exposed to prolonged negative stimulation—such as extreme cold, surgical injury, excessive muscular exercise, and shock—exhibited adrenal enlargement, thymus and lymph node shrinkage, and stomach ulceration.
claimHans Selye's model of stress is a response-based conceptualization that focuses exclusively on the body’s physical responses while ignoring psychological factors such as the appraisal and interpretation of threats.
claimHans Selye argued that stress is not inherently harmful and can sometimes act as a positive, motivating force that improves quality of life.
accountHans Selye was a researcher in the biochemistry department at McGill University in the 1930s who conducted research involving sex hormones in rats and became a prominent expert in the study of stress.
Stress, Lifestyle, and Health - Maricopa Open Digital Press open.maricopa.edu 1 fact
claimHans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is a three-stage model of the body’s physiological reactions to stress and the process of stress adaptation: alarm reaction, stage of resistance, and stage of exhaustion.