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Read an e-book at work today (okay, skimmed) that was all about stress on the job. Someone sent out an e-mail telling us about it, and I, of course, scampered to look. I fell on the high side of normal, which I suppose is not bad, but it irritated (and stressed?) me. Because there were two reasons I rated that highly:
1) I am not religious, and there were a bunch of questions about it. Apparently, religion is the balm of all stress. And they were some of the only questions I answered extremely (see point 2).
2) When given a 1-5 scale, I rarely pick 1 or 5 because I see those as exceptional cases. Really over-the-top. I tend to pick 2 and 4 instead. I don't know why, other than I believe that there really should be something amazing going on to earn an extreme rating. No A grade for just doing the minimum. Maybe that comes from the School of Engineering, where I had a teacher that told us if you did exactly what he asked, you got a C. No kudos for just doing what you're supposed to.
So when I'm given a question like 'I do an activity that is fun for me at least three times a week' I simply 'agree' (2). I do not 'strongly agree' (1) even though I have my three belly dance classes, often have craft night with friends once a week, and craft, read, and play games all the time. I'm always doing things that are fun (that's why I do them!). So why is my initial reaction just a 2? Because I could do more fun things, and I know it. Because the extreme end of the scale implies (to me, yes, perhaps wrongly) that there's no room for improvement.
Initially taking the test I scored 105, the highest 'normal' score possible. If I go back through and use the extremes... hold on... 73. That's at the low end of normal. If you toss out my lack of religion and don't ding me for the occassional drink, I'm low-stress.
I'm sure I had a point when I started writing, but it's long since been forgotten. I think that's part of why I don't update as much anymore, because it takes so long to type on my phone and you can't easily re-read what you've written to get your momentum back. But I should try to update more. There has been a fair amount going on, though I need to concentrate on getting a few craft swaps done before I spend much time on anything else. It's going to be a busy weekend, what with crafting and Lego Star Wars III (we're 11.5% done!).
1) I am not religious, and there were a bunch of questions about it. Apparently, religion is the balm of all stress. And they were some of the only questions I answered extremely (see point 2).
2) When given a 1-5 scale, I rarely pick 1 or 5 because I see those as exceptional cases. Really over-the-top. I tend to pick 2 and 4 instead. I don't know why, other than I believe that there really should be something amazing going on to earn an extreme rating. No A grade for just doing the minimum. Maybe that comes from the School of Engineering, where I had a teacher that told us if you did exactly what he asked, you got a C. No kudos for just doing what you're supposed to.
So when I'm given a question like 'I do an activity that is fun for me at least three times a week' I simply 'agree' (2). I do not 'strongly agree' (1) even though I have my three belly dance classes, often have craft night with friends once a week, and craft, read, and play games all the time. I'm always doing things that are fun (that's why I do them!). So why is my initial reaction just a 2? Because I could do more fun things, and I know it. Because the extreme end of the scale implies (to me, yes, perhaps wrongly) that there's no room for improvement.
Initially taking the test I scored 105, the highest 'normal' score possible. If I go back through and use the extremes... hold on... 73. That's at the low end of normal. If you toss out my lack of religion and don't ding me for the occassional drink, I'm low-stress.
I'm sure I had a point when I started writing, but it's long since been forgotten. I think that's part of why I don't update as much anymore, because it takes so long to type on my phone and you can't easily re-read what you've written to get your momentum back. But I should try to update more. There has been a fair amount going on, though I need to concentrate on getting a few craft swaps done before I spend much time on anything else. It's going to be a busy weekend, what with crafting and Lego Star Wars III (we're 11.5% done!).