Lesson 4.3.7.3

4.3.7.3 Measuring stress and individual differences Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.3.7.3, Measuring stress and individual differences: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 3: Issues and options in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What does the Hassles and Uplifts Scale measure?

    • Skin conductance changes recorded while a participant is under pressure, using electrodes placed on the fingers during the whole session
    • Cortisol levels in saliva sampled at several times during the day, collected by the participant at home and then sent to the lab
    • Everyday minor irritations (hassles) and pleasant everyday events (uplifts) over a period
    • Major life events such as bereavement and divorce, scored in life change units that are added together over a single year

  2. What is skin conductance response used to measure?

    • Changes in the colour of the skin caused by a rise in blood glucose
    • Changes in the thickness of the skin caused by long-term exposure to sunlight
    • Changes in the temperature of the skin caused by the immune response
    • Changes in electrical conductance of the skin caused by sweat gland activity during arousal

  3. Which personality type is associated with competitiveness, impatience and hostility and a higher risk of coronary heart disease?

    • Type A
    • Type D
    • Type C
    • Type B

  4. Which personality type is linked to suppressing emotions and a higher risk of cancer?

    • Type E
    • Type A
    • Type C
    • Type B

  5. Which personality type is described as relaxed and easy-going, with lower stress-related risk?

    • Type C
    • Type D
    • Type A
    • Type B

  6. What are the three components of hardiness?

    • Control, withdrawal and avoidance
    • Commitment, challenge and control
    • Challenge, competition and hostility
    • Commitment, persistence and anger

  7. A person who views stressful events as a chance to grow and feels they can influence outcomes is high on which trait?

    • Neuroticism
    • Hardiness
    • Type C personality
    • Introversion

  8. A researcher wants to measure stress by a physiological method rather than self-report. Which measure would be most appropriate?

    • Hassles and Uplifts Scale
    • Skin conductance response
    • Social Readjustment Rating Scale
    • A diary of daily mood ratings

  9. A study compares a self-report stress scale with skin conductance readings. Which weakness of self-report is most relevant?

    • Self-report scales measure only physical changes and cannot record emotions at all
    • Participants always report stress accurately because they cannot lie about how they feel
    • Self-report scales require a laboratory and cannot be used in everyday settings
    • Participants may under-report or over-report stress because of social desirability or memory bias

  10. Why is the Type A personality a concern for health?

    • Its hostility and time urgency are associated with a greater risk of coronary heart disease
    • Its low competitiveness leads to weaker immune responses to viruses
    • Its emotional suppression leads to a higher rate of skin conductance recovery
    • Its calmness is associated with a higher risk of infection through lower cortisol

  11. A person scores high on commitment, challenge and control. Which prediction is most consistent with hardiness research?

    • They will be more resilient to stress and less likely to suffer stress-related illness
    • They will show no difference in stress from people low on all three components
    • They will be more prone to stress-related illness because they seek out challenges
    • They will have higher skin conductance at rest than people low on hardiness

  12. Which evaluation point applies to the measurement of stress through the SRRS?

    • It measures only the child population and cannot be used with adults
    • It has been shown to be a perfect predictor of every type of health outcome
    • It is a physiological measure, so it cannot be affected by memory or recall
    • It is a retrospective self-report scale, so recall errors may affect the scores

  13. A researcher argues that personality types A and B are simply labels that do not capture stress well. Which response best evaluates this view?

    • Type A and B are not related to any health outcome in any study at all
    • Type A and B are measured entirely by skin conductance and cannot be labelled
    • Type A and B have been shown to be complete and accurate descriptions of all stress responses
    • Type A and B may be useful as broad descriptions, but individual differences are more complex than fixed labels

  14. Which statement about individual differences in stress is accurate?

    • Only Type C personalities experience stress, while the other types never do
    • Individual differences have no effect on stress responses in any situation
    • All people respond to the same stressor in exactly the same way, with no individual variation
    • People differ in how they appraise and respond to stressors, so the same event may affect them differently

  15. A participant has high skin conductance during a stressful task. Which process is most likely responsible?

    • Activation of the parasympathetic system, slowing the sweat glands
    • A drop in blood glucose that leads to lower electrical conductance
    • Activation of the sympathetic nervous system, increasing sweat gland activity
    • Reduced cortisol levels, which decrease the sweat glands

  16. Which personality type is described as having a suppressed emotional style?

    • Type A
    • Type D
    • Type B
    • Type C

  17. Why might hardiness be a useful concept for understanding stress?

    • It explains why some people cope well with stress and remain healthy under demanding conditions
    • It explains why skin conductance is always higher in people with hardiness
    • It explains why life change units are unrelated to illness in any group
    • It explains why all people become ill in the same way when exposed to any stressor

  18. Which combination best describes the measurement of stress in psychology?

    • Only neural imaging of the frontal lobe in every participant, which is used to infer the level of stress from the pattern of brain activity
    • Self-report scales such as the SRRS and Hassles and Uplifts Scale, plus physiological measures like skin conductance
    • Only cortisol measures taken from the blood at a single time of day, which are then compared against the participant's own baseline levels
    • Only personality questionnaires with no physiological or self-report data, which are scored by trained raters who never meet the participants

  19. A scale gives a participant a total score of 300 life change units. What does this total indicate?

    • A measurement of cortisol level that was taken during the participant's most recent medical check
    • A higher amount of recent life change, which is associated with greater risk of illness
    • A fixed personality type, which determines how the participant will respond to every future stressor
    • A lower amount of life change, which is associated with better health in the following year

  20. Why might skin conductance be preferred to self-report when measuring stress in a laboratory study?

    • It is cheaper and quicker to run than any other measure used in stress research
    • It records arousal objectively and is not affected by a participant's memory or wish to appear calm
    • It records the participant's personality type, which is more useful than mood reports
    • It records life events that happened in the past, which self-report scales cannot capture

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