The Circumplex Model of Stress: A model integrating stress appraisal constructs

Unraveling the structure of stress appraisal constructs is essential for a comprehensive understanding of how stress influences human health and well-being. The current paper presents the Circumplex Model of Stress (CMS), which is designed to organize the various stress appraisal categories and offers possibilities for resolving selected problems in stress psychology. The CMS posits that the space of stress appraisal forms is described by two dimensions: Controllability vs. Uncontrollability and Mitigation vs. Threat. These dimensions define a matrix within which other stress appraisal forms are located: Challenge vs. Hopelessness and Manageable pressure vs. Illusory relief. The model identifies eight stress appraisal forms constituting a circumplex: Mitigation, Challenge, Controllability, Manageable pressure, Threat, Hopelessness, Uncontrollability, and Illusory relief. The CMS provides an avenue for addressing certain unresolved questions in stress psychology by: (a) offering a theoretically meaningful integration of various stress appraisal constructs; (b) providing a comprehensive explanation of the relationships between stress appraisals and coping; and (c) elucidating the links between stress appraisals and health behaviors, which in turn may help modify health behaviors.