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Stress, Appraisal, and Coping

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Here is a monumental work that continues in the tradition pioneered by co-author Richard Lazarus in his classic book Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. Dr. Lazarus and his collaborator, Dr. Susan Folkman, present here a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping which have become major themes of theory and investigation.

As an integrative theoretical analysis, this volume pulls together two decades of research and thought on issues in behavioral medicine, emotion, stress management, treatment, and life span development. A selective review of the most pertinent literature is included in each chapter. The total reference listing for the book extends to 60 pages.

This work is necessarily multidisciplinary, reflecting the many dimensions of stress-related problems and their situation within a complex social context. While the emphasis is on psychological aspects of stress, the book is oriented towards professionals in various disciplines, as well as advanced students and educated laypersons. The intended audience ranges from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, and social workers to sociologists, anthropologists, medical researchers, and physiologists.

445 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

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Richard S. Lazarus

34 books7 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Sien Van de Wouwer.
105 reviews7 followers
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November 13, 2023
did i read every chapter? no, but i'm stil classifying this as read because of how much time i spend and will be spending with this book in the future
Profile Image for Shindy Yulia Salsabila.
13 reviews16 followers
July 10, 2013
Well, i use their theory for my mini-thesis. Alhamdulillah telah saya lahap dari lembar awal sampai lembar akhir. Ini pertamakalinya saya baca text book dengan metode kayak baca novel (karena isinya memang berkesinambungan dari awal sampai akhir). Bahasa Inggris yang digunakan lumayan berat (ya iyalah, kan text book klasik), sampai-sampai saya baru bisa ngerti bacanya di jam-jam emas aja (jam 1-3 pagi) hehehe. Tapi sejauh ini, teori stres-penilaian-dan-koping terbaik menurut saya, adalah teori milik Lazarus. Kalau ada teman atau saudara yang lagi penelitian tentang stress, penilaian, dan koping, jangan sungkan merekomendasikan ini! :D
193 reviews
February 24, 2026
This book wasn't easy to get through -- it's a remarkably comprehensive examination of the psychology of stress. Lazarus and Folkman synthesize decades of clinical research into an integrative framework about stress and coping. They found stress to be not simply a physiological response, but a transaction between the individual and environment mediated by cognition.The authors found that stress doesn't arise automatically from an external event itself, nor just from the body’s physiological reaction. Instead, stress emerges from the interaction between a person and their environment. We evaluate what is happening (Is this dangerous? Important? Manageable?) and assess what we can do about it. This is called 'cognitive appraisal' -- its our interpretation of the situation and our perceived ability to cope, which is based on our assessment of a number of resources, such as our skills and past experience, social support, time, money, health, and sense of control. In other words, an event becomes stressful not simply because it occurs, but because we judge it to exceed (or potentially exceed) the resources we believe we can bring to bear. That process determines whether we experience something as stressful and how we respond.

This perspective was groundbreaking when first articulated in the 1970s and early 1980s and their research continues to be cited.
1 review
April 28, 2016
Amazing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Robert Bogue.
Author 20 books20 followers
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October 1, 2025
Central to everyone’s life is how they deal with stress through appraisal and coping. Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman’s classic, Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, explores what stress is, how we appraise its impact on us, and how we cope. When I first read Emotion and Adaptation, I was struck by a central idea that our emotions are cognitively assessed. This idea, validated by many, has formed the basis of our work to help people understand fear and stress. Getting a chance to return to the concept and work through its details was a welcome journey.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews