is stress a subjective state that is impossible to measure?

Question

i need to write an essay on if stress is a subjectove state that is impossible to measure.. can any one help me and guide me as to what i should include, becuase i cant find much reseach on how we can measure stress thank you :)

Answer 1

Stress is subjective but you can still measure it.

Answer 2

There are stress indicator tests out there that assign a number to various life events and experiences, to help people determine how much stress they are under. Events such as death of a close family member, change in residence or job, or carrying a large debt might be listed on such a test, with a numerical rating for each. Using this people can do some measurement of the stress they have been experiencing. (Sorry I don't know where you can find an example of such a test, but there must be some out there on the internet.) You are asking, can experiences (in this case stress) be objectively measured? The existence of the test suggests that in some ways it can, but how each individual experiences stress would be subjective, at least it how that is expressed by the individual.

Answer 3

I would say it's different for every person, so it's subjective, but it is possibly to measure how stressful certain things are in general. For example, everyone agrees that traffic is very stressful, also waking up for work late can be stressful, not having enough money is stressful.

I think something that you could do to measure stress is to have a list of 20 or so things that you believe to cause stress, then survey as many people as you can and have them rate each thing on a stress level from 1-10. Then average out everyones ratings for each item as the general stress level. Here are some ideas: traffic, being late, being hungry, not enough money, constant pain, abuses, bf/gf drama, drugs, war, politics, environment, family issues, religion.

Answer 4

You could focus on the fact that while you may believe it is subjective, somehow all those clinicians and scientists are able to measure it when doing their own research. Stress in correlation to other variables is studied all the time, so they must be able to measure it somehow.

Answer 5

Stress is totally subjective. What you may consider nothing, IE: "Spilled water" may be something that another person may start yelling about.

How ever in regards to the question, everything in life is subjective. EVERYTHING.

:O)
Jerry