This paper reviews the currently popular definitions and theoretical arguments of the so-called "stress" perspective with the purpose of integrating this material into one general paradigm. The literature has been concerned primarily with two parallel processes which purport to account for the individual's coping and adaptive behavior, one characterized by the interplay of internal, psychological forces, and the other by external, environmenml factors. These rwo general processes have been integrated in this paper by expanding upon the general models presented by Dohrenwend ( 7 ) to include imporcant feedback processes. It is argued that adaptation to stress is a dynamic process and that the failure to adapt is often the result of a continuing process of past failures by the organism effectively to cope with less severe stressful stimuli, each failure feeding back to affect future attempts to cope with new environmental demands. The implications of the approach presented in this paper for future empirical investigation are discussed. Definitional PreliminariesThe concept of stress has received considerable attention in recent years from both a conceptual and research as evidenced by two relatively recent conferences devoted exclusively to the subject ( 2 , 19). Although stress research has been prolific, one is struck when reviewing the stress literature by the lack of continuity of basic theoretical and operational constructs (19). Dispersed throughout the literature are bits and pieces of a potentially coherent model, but in few studies is there an attempt to develop a truly specific and dynamic stress-response model. Notable among exceptions to this are the researches of Kahn and his colleagues (16) concerning role conflict and ambiguity as sources of organizationally induced stress; the conceptual formulation of Dohrenwend ( 7 ) emphasizing the role of various types of internal and external mediating factors in the stress adjustment process, the subsequent work applying the same model to an investigation of mental disorder (8) ; and the research of Mechanic (20, 21) of students taking Ph.D. qualifying examinations and the stress-adaptation process which that event triggered. Although these models are notable in their attempts to identify salient elements of the stress-response process they all tend to lack a certain degree of dynamism in that important feedback mechanisms are often left vague and unspecified ( 7 ) . Further, the various definitions of stress employed in these and other studies have tended to em-'Special thanks are given to Walter Buckley for his valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.
Depression was associated with external locus of control orientation among a sample of 48 noninstitutionalized elderly persons. The over-all results supported Seligman's hypothesis that depressives perceive themselves to lack personal control. However, a trend in the direction of higher correlations between externality and depression fot males than females suggests the possibility that perceived lack of control may be more depressing when it conflicts with expectations concerning self-reliance and mastery associated with traditional male sex roles.
Two models for the scaling of paired comparison data are compared to the Thurstone case III model. One model is based upon parameter estimates derived from the normal approximation of the binomial distribution, and the other from the beta density function defined over the unit interval. Procedures are given for estimating the parameters for each model, and arguments are presented in favor of a skewed characteristic distribution function in cases where the scale includes extreme stimuli.Two indices of goodness of fit are presented for each of five data sets. The results generally illustrate the inability of the Thurstone case III model to adequately account for the data when the scale includes one or more extreme stimuli. The beta model performed well for all five data sets but fit best under just those conditions where the Thurstone model performed poorly. The binomial approximation performed adequately on three of the five data sets and would seem to be a simpler alternative estimation procedure to the Thurstone procedures when the normality assumption is tenable.EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT 1976, 36, 657-670. IN recent years, several attempts have been made to revise and/or replace the earlier Thurstone models for the scaling of paired comparison judgments. Notable among these competing models are those proposed by Restle (1961 ), Luce (1959), andBradley andTerry (1952). Like the Thurstone model, each of these newer models posits the existence of an underlying real value scale and a corresponding distriat University of Manitoba Libraries on June 22, 2015 epm.sagepub.com Downloaded from
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