Lazarus And Folkman Rhetorical Analysis

Stress can be seen in everyone’s life but not everyone reacts to stress in the same way. A friend who just lost his job that helped him cover tuition costs might feel very stressed out. He could have many different potential reactions to his job loss but if one were to apply Lazarus and Folkman’s cognitive theory then he would not be too devastated by this stressful event. With this situation, he would engage in primary appraisal, secondary appraisal and a stress response to tear down the stressful event and figure out what he will do.
When the friend lost his job, he is experiencing a stressful event, which could potentially be a threatening event. This causes him to engage in primary appraisal, which according to the book is an initial decision regarding whether an event is harmful. He would analyze the stressful event and see how much damage it would cause in his life. Now he will not be able to pay his tuition costs unless he finds another source of money. This decision of deciding whether the situation is harmful for him or not leads him to the next step.

Secondary appraisal is a perception regarding our ability to cope with an event that follows primary appraisal. He needs to decide if he can cope or not. If he decides he cannot cope he will experience too much stress which is not good for him. If he decides to cope he can do so in different ways. He could choose to deal with problem focused coping (a strategy in which we tackle life’s challenges head-on) or emotion-focused coping—a strategy in which we try to place a positive spin on our feelings or predicaments and engage in behaviors to reduce painful memories (Pearson