Extract

Introduction

Numerous studies have demonstrated that aggression is related to stress (eg., Suzuki, Lucas, 2012; Barlett, Anderson, 2013). There are many theoretical approaches to stress. Some of them treat stress as an incentive, others as a reaction. Stress viewed as an incentive refers to the objective influence of various factors, for example, temperature, workload, time, and pressure. It is evident that this approach ignores individual differences or emotions evoked by stress. The approach that treats stress as a reaction, on the other hand, is based on the different ways (behavioral, affective and cognitive) an organism responds to external and internal incentives (Staal, 2004). The Transactional Model of stress is an approach which integrates these theoretical currents. The main assumption is the contention that the presence of stress depends on situational circumstances as well as the individual’s features. Additionally, it is emphasized that the perception of incentives as stressful is the effect of subjective appraisal of person who experiences the situation (Lazarus, Folkman, 1987).

Background

On the basis of the transactional conception of stress, the authors have created a theory on coping with stress. By coping with stress, they mean cognitive and behavioral efforts aimed at managing external and internal environmental demands that are subjectively perceived as aggravating (Lazarus, Folkman, 1984). Environmental demands which subjectively burden an entity could be regarded as frustration. Berkowitz (1989) treats frustration as the base of aggressive behavior. Frustration is connected with aversive experience, which causes the increase...