PSYCHOLOGICAL COHERENCES OF STRESS-RESPON SE - THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY IN THE RELATION STRESS-HEALTH

The study sums up the development of knowledge in the sphere of stress from the classical, purely physiological theories of stress by H. Sel ye and W. Cannon, to the theories that - in the author's opinion - hav e contributed considerably to the understanding of the mechanism of ne gative effect of psychosocial stress on, human health. It deals mainly with the works of Mason, Henry and others that have worked out the li nks between mental reaction to the effect of the stressor and its neur oendocrinological concomitant and have proved the significance of cogn itive and emotional components in the differentiation of stress respon se to the stimulus. In the contribution, personal characteristics that have been described as mediating variables in the relation stress - h ealth are summed up in brief.