Microstressors

The Hassles of Everyday Life Think again about the stress in your life, and catastrophes and other exceptional events will spring to mind. Yet the most common source of stress arises from the hassles that irritate us every day.

Environmental factors, such as crowding, loud noise, extreme heat or cold, and cigarette smoke, are all sources of stress. Indeed, in light of these effects, describing this problem on a global scale, Gary Evans (2019) projects forward to the behavioral and health risks of global climate change, which is accompanied by increases in temperature, extreme weather events, and air pollution. The potential effects are numerous—beginning with the well-established empirical fact that uncomfortably high temperatures are associated with increases in interper- sonal conflict and aggression.

Apart from the physical environ- ment, an array of other “microstress- ors”—such as social media conflicts, waiting in lines, bad workdays, money troubles, airport delays, and disrupted Wi-Fi connections—place a constant strain on us. Unfortunately, there is nothing “micro” about the impact of these stressors on health and well-be- ing. Studies suggest that the accumula- tion of daily hassles contributes more to illness than do major life events. Interpersonal conflicts are the most upsetting of our daily stress- ors and have a particularly long-lasting impact.