Hassles & Uplifts Scales

Q: __Kanner et al. (1981)__ - Hassles and Uplifts Scales

__Kanner et al. (1981)__ first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. The scales are used to try to determine the impact of daily experience on perceived stress levels and bodily health.

Q: __DeLongis et al (1988)__ - Hassles and Uplifts Scales

__Kanner et al. (1981)__ first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. __DeLongis et al (1988)__ developed an updated version of the scales which combined them into one scale of 53 items.

Q: Evaluation of Hassles and Uplifts Scales

__Kanner et al. (1981)__ first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. __DeLongis et al (1988)__ developed an updated version of the scales. These theories have their downsides:

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Kanner et al. (1981) - Hassles and Uplifts Scales

Kanner et al. (1981) first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. The scales are used to try to determine the impact of daily experience on perceived stress levels and bodily health.

Rating scales

One scale consists of 117 items, all daily hassles. 100 participants rated all of these items in terms of how severely they provoke stress for them, on a three-point scale.
Another scale consists of 135 items, all daily uplifts. Participants rated these in terms of their stress relieving properties.
The scales were repeated every month for nine months.

Results and conclusions

Some hassles were more common than others (e.g. worrying about weight).
Hassles scores were positively correlated with physical and psychological health issues (the greater the score, the more likely to have problems).
Uplifts scores were negatively correlated with health problems.
In conclusion, they found that hassles and stress/health are linked. This correlation is stronger than the correlation between life events and stress/health.

DeLongis et al (1988) - Hassles and Uplifts Scales

Kanner et al. (1981) first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. DeLongis et al (1988) developed an updated version of the scales which combined them into one scale of 53 items.

New version

DeLongis et al (1988) developed an updated version of the scales which combined them into one scale of 53 items.
They claimed this version was more balanced between hassles and uplifts, and found a correlation between hassles and illness the next day.

Findings

In comparison, they found no correlation between illness and life events suggesting that hassles have a greater effect on stress and health outcomes than life events.

Evaluation of Hassles and Uplifts Scales

Kanner et al. (1981) first devised the hassles and uplifts scales. DeLongis et al (1988) developed an updated version of the scales. These theories have their downsides:

No explanation of cause

Like the SRRS, this data is only correlational. So a conclusion about whether hassles cause stress cannot be drawn.

Limitations of quantitative data

As all the data is quantitative, there is no opportunity for people to explain their answers. The way individuals experience different levels of stress is not represented in any detail.

Limitations of self-report

Self-report measures always rely on participants having good recall of situations, and on them being honest about their feelings at the time.

Lack of generalisability

These scales are very westernised, based on the daily lives of individuals in western countries.
This means they can’t be generalised across the world.

Individual differences

Measures of people’s perceptions of stressful events differ because of individual differences, meaning everyone has a different way of responding to situations.
Some people are better at dealing with stress, and certain environmental factors play a part in this (e.g. social support can lessen the burden of stress).