Primary Appraisal Confusion

[ReptilianV]

Hey Everyone. I had three really quick questions about the TMSC.

1) How is eustress perceived within the Primary Appraisal and does it lead to a Secondary Appraisal?

2) When something is perceived as a challenge within the Primary Appraisal, does that mean that that certain stressor allows the individual to feel eustress and not distress?

3) How do you differ between harm/loss and threat when looking at certain scenarios that involve the Primary Appraisal as being stressful?

Cheers and have a good one 

[lm21074]

I did psych last year, so I'm a bit rusty. Here is my take on your questions:

1. IIRC, the individual goes through the primary appraisal stage, then if they decide the event is stressful, they engage in the second part of primary appraisal (appraising the situation as harm/loss, threat or challenge), then secondary appraisal. If their coping resources to deal with the stressor are adequate, this is where the individual may experience eustress.

2. If the situation is appraised as challenging, this can lead to eustress or distress, as I alluded to above. Often, the individual can appraise the situation as more than one type (e.g. threat and challenge) so they may be experiencing eustress and distress.

3. When appraising a situation as a harm / loss, you're assessing how much damage has been done whereas when appraising a situation as a threat, you're assessing what future harm / loss there could be. For instance, if your car has broken down:
- appraisal involving harm / loss: my car has broken down in the middle of the highway
- appraisal involving threat: I might not be able to drive to work this evening

Hope this helps

[ReptilianV]

Thanks Im21074, appreciate the clarity. That actually makes more sense now in terms of what actually occurs within the Primary Appraisal Stage. Thanks for the quick reply as well. I think what confused me was that I thought you could only identify a stressor or event as either harm/loss, threat or challenging, not more than one.