ROLE OF STRESS
Stress is an important stimulus, which influences the personality development, and if persistent can cause personality disturbances. Many such personality disturbances are of a relatively minor, and often temporary nature, due more to situational stress- that is, the stress of circumstances of shorter or longer duration- than to imperfections in the personality development. The symptoms by definition are temporary and tend to disappear as soon as stress is relieved.
The word stress has been used in psychology in at least two different ways. Some writers use the word to mean a state of psychological upset. More properly, stress should be regarded as a class of stimuli, which affects a person in some manner and produces disturbances in behavior and inner experience.
Everyone is faced, many times each day with minor stress situations e.g., the alarm fails to go off in the morning, there is not enough hot water, the toast is cold, traffic is heavy, and the son or daughter is getting late to the campus for class. At noon the cafeteria is crowded, and it is necessary to stand in line. A professor criticizes the student’s work during class. A low grade is received in an examination in the evening, the date turns out to be a complete disappointment.
