However, its weakness lies in the fact that the theory focuses on stress in general and is not a theory of emotion per se the early theory therefore requires modification for it to become one in which specific emotions are linked to specific appraisals. This early theory of Lazarus was one of the most influential in highlighting the importance of cognitive appraisal processes. EF = emotion-focused coping PF = problem-focused coping. Figure 3.14 A summary of Lazarus' early appraisal theory. Furthermore, Nolen-Hoeksema's (1987, 2002) suggestion that the higher rates of depression among women in comparison to men is due to women's use of "ruminative" strategies (see Chapter 7) may therefore be equivalent to the greater use of this emotion-focused strategy by women. In research on depression, for example, it has been found that depressed individuals tend to use more emotion-focused than problem-focused strategies (e.g., Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). The distinction between problem- and emotion-focused strategies has proven extremely useful both in the area of coping and in adjoining areas such as social support (e.g., Power, Champion, & Aris, 1988). Problem-focused coping is more likely to be used when the situation is appraised as changeable, and therefore the individual attempts to alter the problem that is causing the distress rather than simply coping with the stress itself. In emotion-focused coping the individual attempts to deal with the resulting emotional state through, for example, the use of various defence mechanisms. Lazarus and his colleagues have also argued (e.g., Folkman & Lazarus, 1980) that secondary appraisal coping processes can be categorised into two main varieties, emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping. A summary of these proposals is presented in Figure 3.14. In each example the primary appraisal of harm is modified, for better or for worse, by secondary appraisal processes. To give an example, a holidaymaker goes abroad to a hot country and is frightened by large black insects that keep flying at him he worries that these might be harmful, but then reads in a guidebook: (a) that these are a harmless variety of beetle that in fact are a great delicacy among the locals, and so, being of sound constitution and considerable pluckiness, he proceeds to attract them in greater numbers or (b) that these insects can provide a painless harmless bite, therefore he administers insect repellent in order to prevent them biting or (c) that they carry a dangerous tropical disease for which there is no known cure, and so he locks himself in his hotel room and catches the next flight home. For example, if coping resources are seen to be adequate for dealing with a threat, then the threat will be seen to be of less significance, whereas if the individual thinks that a threat will overwhelm coping resources, then the threat may become of catastrophic proportions. Primary appraisal and secondary appraisal processes work in conjunction with each other.
Secondary appraisal refers to the individual's subsequent evaluation of coping resources and options that may be available. Primary appraisal refers to an initial evaluation of whether an encounter is irrelevant, benign, positive, or stressful thus, the conclusion that an encounter is stressful occurs in situations in which there is an appraisal of threat, challenge, harm, or loss. Cognitive appraisal was considered to occur in two stages. In the influential 1966 version, emotion was considered to arise from how individuals construed or appraised their ongoing transactions with the world.
We will begin with a brief discussion of Lazarus' (1966) early theory before going on to consider his more recent revisions (Lazarus, 1991).