Lazarus and Folkman developed the transactional theory of stress and coping (TTSC) in 1984 to explain

that stress is a product of transaction between a person and their environment because they viewed
person and environment in a dynamic relationship. This transactional theory of stress and coping
focuses on appraising in order to evaluate damages, threats and challenges when handling stress
situations. (Janse, 2021). According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), “psychological stress is a particular
relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or
exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being”. This definition lies on cognitive
assessment and dealing with stress or coping.

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) discovered that each person appraised a stress situation in a different way
so in their theory they give three evaluation levels for the assessment of stress. “1) Primary appraisal
involves determining whether the stressor poses a threat. 2)Secondary appraisal involves the
individual’s evaluation of the resources or coping strategies at his or her disposal for addressing any
perceived threats. 3) The process of reappraisal s ongoing and involves continually reappraising both the
nature of the stressor and the resources available for responding to the stressor. “ (Walinga, 2014)

This transactional theory of stress and coping is relevant to this study because it’s shown how different
factors of environment are related to human and how major life events affect human emotions and
behavior. We all known that we experience stress in different way and have a different effect so this
study seeks to find the prevalence factors of stress that the students are facing right now because of
pandemic and how does this stress affect their academic performance. The three evaluation levels for
the assessment of stress given by Folkman and Lazarus has it’s own role in the way we respond to the
stressful situation and one of it’s role is to help the students in evaluating the harms, threat and
challenges that they can encounter in handling stress .

The age of the respondents will be including in the study to find out the age that is often experiencing
stress and to prove that the respondents of this study are the college students. The Cambridge
Dictionary defines age as the length of time which someone or something has existed. Cleave (2020)
stated the importance of identifying the age of the respondents who will took the research because
according to him, you can get a lot of importance details during analysis of their feedback through
identifying the age demographic of the respondents of the research. This will reveal if age has a relation
to the stress that the students are facing because stress has different effect in each ages.

The Council of Europe (2021) defines sex as “the different biological and physiological characteristics of
males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.” According to
QuestionPro (2021) sex survey question will allows the researchers to obtain data and investigate
behavioral patterns by sex, as well as make a wise judgments for the purpose of the research. This study
will find out which sex (males or females) are often experiencing stress and how it is affect their
academic performances. The sex of the respondents is relevant to this study because it is one of the
standard demographic data like age and it may contribute to the study outcome.
It is one of the most important and useful demographic information in this study. Year level refers to the
academic year of education that students have attained currently (Candelansa , 2021). The respondents
of the study are the 1st year to 4th year of Social Studies major students. The year level of the
respondents will be including to this study because according to Dobronte (2018) there are clear
differences in opinion between respondents with a different year level so it helps the researchers to
differentiate between different sub-groups so that they will know which year level is most stress during
this new normal.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/blog/why-ask-for-survey-respondents-age

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/age

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-gender-identity#types-of-gender-identity

https://www.questionpro.com/blog/gender-survey-questions/

https://www.checkmarket.com/blog/socio-demographics-online-surveys/

https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_year_level
This article explains the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC) as
used in practice. After reading this article, you will understand the basis of
this powerful psychology tool.
What is the Transactional Theory of Stress and
Coping (TTSC)?
The Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC) is a framework which
focuses on assessments in order to evaluate damages, threats and
challenges. The product or the result of this evaluation is a description of the
process used to handle stressful situations.
Stress is experienced in different ways. Some of these ways include thoughts,
feelings, behaviours and emotions. These are usually caused by external
stress factors. The level of stress a person experiences depends on how the
situation is perceived.

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Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC) by
Lazarus and Folkman
The Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC) is the result of research
conducted by Dr. Richard Lazarus. This research began in 1966. He continued
on with his research and published various books and articles. For this, he
has worked with other scientists, including Dr. Susan Folkman.
Causes of stress on the workfloor
Work-related stress is a big problem all over the world. Not only does it
negatively affect the health of employees, it also affects the productivity of
organisations as a whole. Work-related stress arises when what has to be
done is not in balance with the available capacity, among other things. But
more on this later.

Other sources of work-related stress include conflicts with colleagues or

other people concerned, constant changes or, for example, dismissal.
Potential stressors within a company, or the most common problems are
identified as:

 Conflicts about roles

 Both personal and professional relationships in the workplace
 Work environment
 Poor management
 Organisational cultures
 Trauma
 Absence of support
 Job requirements
The symptoms of work-related stress and non-work-related stress are
similar. Some of these include:

 Sleep problems, insomnia and anxiety

 Headaches, muscle aches, heart palpitations
 Psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety,
despondency, irritability, pessimism
 Cognitive problems such as reduced ability to concentrate or
difficulties in effective decision-making
 Loss of productivity
 Reduced work performance
  Lack of interest and isolation
The core of Transactional Theory of Stress and
Coping (TTSC)
Lazarus and Folkman’s theory evaluates how significant life events, as well as
everyday affairs, affect emotions. The main focus of the theory lies on
cognitive assessment and dealing with stress (coping).

The definition of Transactional Theory of Stress and

Coping (TTSC)

Cognitive assessment consists of an initial primary assessment, a secondary

assessment, and potentially, a reassessment. The secondary assessment
entails assessing the possibilities in a certain situation and the person’s
ability to deal with this.

Coping follows on from the assessment described above, and can affect a
change in the relationship between a person and their environment, or the
level of emotional stress they are experiencing. Factors which influence both
the coping and judging mechanisms are personality traits, symptoms of
depression, and social influences.

To understand the power of the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping

(TTCS), it is important to first understand what stress is exactly, and how
research on stress has evolved over the years. For this reason, in the next
section of this article, stress is defined in three ways: stress as a reaction,
stress as a stimulus, and stress as a transaction.

1. Stress as a reaction

In 1956 Hans Selye determined that stress can be a reaction. In his stress
model, he describes how stress creates a physiological pattern. He
documented this pattern in the General Adaptation Syndrome model. This
model describes stress as a reaction based on three concepts.

 Stress is a defence mechanism

 Stress arises when there is danger, resistance or exhaustion
 Stress, if long-term, can lead to adaption diseases and even death
After that, Selye discovered that stress can lead to both positive and negative
outcomes based on its cognitive interpretation. Therefore, stress can be
experienced in both a positive and negative way.

2. Stress as a stimulus

The theory behind the concept of stress as a stimulus was introduced by

Holmes and Rahe in the 1960s. They saw stress as an important event or
change which requires an adjustment or a response.
Following this, Rahe and Holmes created the Social Readjustment Rating
Scale (SRRS). This scale consists of 42 life events which are ranked based on
the estimated degree of influence these events have on a person.
Examples of these events include marriage, divorce, relocation, or the loss or
change of a job or loved one. Holmes and Rahe assumed that stress was a
variable in the comparison between stress and health. Even though some
correlations emerged, the extent to which stress affects health was not
clearly definable. The theory about stress as a stimulus can be summarised
as follows:

 Change is stressful
 The degree to which life events require adjustment is the same for
everyone.
 There is a threshold when it comes to adjustment and stress
beyond which becoming sick is a consequence.
3. Stress as a transaction

Several studies had been conducted on stress before Lazarus and Folkman
developed their Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTCS). They
mainly did so in an attempt to explain stress as a dynamic process.

The theory describes stress as a product of interactions between a person

and their environment. When we talk about a person, we talk about multiple
systems within a person: the cognitive system, physiological state, affective
system, psychological system and the neurological system.

Winter hardiness

Attention to the Lazarus and Folkman theory was heightened when Suzanne
Kobassa used the concept of winter hardiness in 1979. Winter hardiness, or
also called cognitive or psychological hardiness, is a personality style.

Kobassa described a pattern of personality traits which distinguished

between managers and executives who remained healthy while under stress,
and those who developed health problems.
Evaluation levels for the assessment of stress
according to Lazarus
Lazarus discovered that each person assesses a situation in a different way,
and hence also the stress and threat which arise from it. He distinguished
between three different levels.

Level 1: Primary appraisal

According to Lazarus, situations are judged in different ways. A situation can

be assessed as positive, irrelevant or potentially dangerous.

In the case of the latter, stress arises more often in comparison to other
forms of stress. If a situation is considered stressful, assessment takes place
on different levels. If:

 Challenges in situations which are controllable

 Threats where loss is expected
 Damage or loss after the damage has already taken place
Level 2: Secondary assessment

The second level of assessment is called secondary assessment. The purpose

of the secondary assessment is to determine whether a specific situation can
be managed with the available resources. When insufficient resources are
available in order to deal with the situation, a stress reaction is triggered by
the human brain.

A coping strategy is the designed especially for this reaction. This strategy
depends on the situation and the person’s characteristics. This way of
dealing with stress and the threats which arise from it, is called coping.

Known behaviours in response to this are: fleeing, fighting, denying, changing

or any behavioural alternatives. When individuals use post-situation
feedback to evaluate success or failure, they learn to selectively apply
different strategies.
Level 3: Reassessment

The third level of assessment assesses the success of the coping strategy
adopted in order to guarantee adaptation to a new situation. Learning to
handle a stressful situation is always a challenge.

And a challenge can even become a threat if not addressed properly. Lazarus
describes the possibility of revising the initial assessment as a reassessment.

Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping:

dealing with stress
In his studies, Lazarus wrote about three types of stress management. They
include dealing with stress in a problem-oriented way, dealing with stress in
an emotion-oriented way and dealing with stress in an assessment-oriented
manner. The different ways of dealing with stress are briefly explained
below.

Dealing with stress in a problem-oriented way

Problem-oriented coping refers to a person who tries to control or adapt

problematic situations by seeking information, taking action, or by not acting
at all.

Dealing with stress in an emotion-oriented way

Emotion-oriented coping is also referred to as intrapsychic coping. The main

aim is to reduce emotional upsets.

Dealing with stress in an assessment-oriented way

The term reassessment is used by Lazarus in two contexts. On the one hand,
it relates to the evaluation process, but on the other reassessment is a
coping strategy. Coping can affect stress and emotions simply making a
reassessment of the situation.
The Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping
(TTSC) in short
The Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC) was developed by Dr.
Richard Lazarus and Dr. Susan Folkman in 1966. Their framework illustrates
how major life events affect human emotions. The main focus of the theory
lies on cognitive assessment and dealing with stress (coping). The
assessment consists of three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary
(reassessment) assessment.

In the academic world of psychology, stress is defined in three ways. Hans

Selye defined stress as a defence mechanism which occurs during resistance,
exhaustion or danger. Stress, if long-term, can lead to adaption disease and
even death.

Holmes and Rahe thought stress was a stimulus. They stated that change is
always stressful, and that in certain events, such as divorces, relocations, loss
of loved ones or job, etc, an adjustment or reaction is required.

Folkman and Lazarus claimed stress to be a product of interactions between

a person and their environment. This theory received a lot of attention after
Suzanne Kobassa used the term winter hardiness, which is a personality trait.
This meant that stress, the experience of stress and the reaction to stress,
was first associated with personalities.

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Now it is your turn
What do you think? Do you recognise the description of the Transactional
Theory of Stress and Coping (TTSC)? Can you share with us any tips on how
to cope more effectively with stress in everyday life? Do you think stress is
one of the causes of lower levels of productivity within organisations? At
which different points in time do you experience stress? Do you have any tips
or comments? Please let us know in the comments section below.
Share your experience and knowledge in the comments box below.

More information
1. Biggs, A., Brough, P., & Drummond, S. (2017). Lazarus and Folkman’s
psychological stress and coping theory. The handbook of stress and
health: A guide to research and practice, 351-364.
2. Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping (p.
460). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
3. Lazarus, R. S. (2006). Stress and emotion: A new synthesis. Springer
Publishing Company.
4. Lazarus, R. S. (2013). Fifty years of the research and theory of RS Lazarus:
An analysis of historical and perennial issues. Psychology Press.
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