Sociology

Construct (python library)

Computer network

Knowledge management

Epistemology

Philosophy

Heuristic

Artificial intelligence

Psychology

Economics

Programming language

Resource (disambiguation)

Stress (linguistics)

Conservation of resources theory

Computer science

Linguistics

Management science

Social psychology

American Psychologist

Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.

Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.