Concept information
Preferred term
stressors
Definition
- More than 50 years ago Hans Selye, a Canadian endocrinologist, defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.” In laboratory experiments, Selye exposed rats to a variety of noxious chemicals and extreme environmental conditions that he labeled “demands.” The environmental demands included freezing temperatures, constant light, deafening noise, and nonstop exercise via motor-driven treadmills and constant swimming to avoid drowning. Selye found that when these demands threw the rats' normal operating systems (respiration, circulation, digestion, and temperature regulation) too far out of their normal range of functioning, they adjusted by initiating a complex pattern of physiological changes that he called the “stress response.” Not only did the rats initiate this life-saving response, but the response was the same regardless of the type of demand that triggered it. [Source: Encyclopedia of Social Problems; Stressors]
Broader concept
Belongs to group
URI
https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/stressors
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