Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, protect, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.

There are few areas of contemporary psychology that receive more attention than stress (Hobfoll, 1986, 1988; Kaplan, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Milgram, 1986). This literature reflects researchers’ belief that stress is a major factor affecting people’s lives, is intimately tied with mental health, and is very possibly linked with many problems of physical health. The interest in stress has also caught the attention of the popular press, illustrating that stress is of concern to the lay public as well as the academic community (“Stress,” 1983).

With all this great breadth of interest in stress, there has been a surprising paucity of work on related theory (Kaplan, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Although initial stages of any research direction may be strictly observational, this phase should give way to a more theory- or model-based stage that provides a web of insights and directions to guide research (Popper, 1959). Without a clear theoretical backdrop, it is difficult to create a true body of knowledge because there...