Nov 22, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25

PSY 4720 - Human Stress


Stress is an inevitable part of human life, and how we think about and respond to stressors can dramatically influence our health and well-being. Human stress is an interdisciplinary topic, and is best understood from multiple perspectives, including social psychological, cognitive, developmental, physiological, environmental, sociological, and medical. As such, this course draws from material from complementary courses in psychology and related fields to synthesize and integrate ideas and information relating to human stress.

Requisites: Sr only and 18 hours in PSY including PSY 2120
Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS: Bridge: Diversity and Practice, Capstone: Capstone or Culminating Experience
General Education Code (students who entered prior to Fall 2021-22): 3
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:
  • Students will be able to articulate insights about one’s own cultural rules and biases related to human stress processes.
  • Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices, which impact human stress.
  • Students will be able to interpret stress-related intercultural experience from their own and others’ worldview and to act in a supportive manner that recognizes the feelings of another cultural group.
  • Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of cultural differences in stress-related verbal and non-verbal communication and to negotiate a shared understanding based on those differences.
  • Students will be able to ask complex questions of other cultures and to articulate answers to these questions that reflect multiple cultural perspectives in relation to human stress.
  • Students will be able to initiate and develop interactions related to human stress processes with culturally different others while suspending judgment in valuing his / her interactions with culturally different others.
  • Students will be able to critically state, describe, and consider stress-related issues or problems.
  • Students will be able to use information from source(s) with enough interpretation/evaluation to develop a comprehensive analysis or synthesis related to human stress.
  • Students will be able to systematically and methodically analyze assumptions and carefully evaluate the relevance of contexts when presenting a position related human stress research.
  • Students will be able to state a specific position (i.e., perspective, thesis, or hypothesis) that is thoughtful, recognizes complexities, and acknowledges limitations as it pertains to human stress research.
  • Students will be able to state conclusions and related outcomes (consequences and implications) of stress-related research logically and in a priority order.
  • Students will be able to connect relevant experience and academic knowledge of human stress.
  • Students will be able to see and make connections across disciplines and perspectives to understand human stress processes.
  • Students will be able to adapt and apply skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies regarding human stress gained in one situation to a new situation.
  • Students will be able to deliver a report on on recent human stress research that enhances meaning.
  • Students will be able to demonstrate a developing sense of self as a learner and build on prior experience to respond to new and challenging contexts through a self-study of human stress.


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