E-ISSN 2039-2117 ISSN 2039-9340 Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 4 No 10 October 2013 480 Measuring the Immeasurable! An Overview of Stress & Strain Measuring Instruments Syed Gohar Abbas (PhD II) Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 email: syed.abbas3@univ-lyon3.fr Asmaa Farah (PhD II) Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech Cansu Apkinar-Sposito (PhD II) Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 Doi:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p480 Abstract Measurement of stress has been a subject of interest for many researchers and an extensive amount of literature has been devoted to this topic however despite the popularity of “stress” as a research topic, researchers still do not agree on a common definition of this controversial subject (Rees & Redfern, 2000). According to Person-Environment fit (PE-Fit) theory (French & Kahn, 1962; French et al., 1974), stress and strain at job comes into action from the interaction of individual with environment and particularly when job challenges pose a threat to individual which ends up in incompatible PE-Fit, leading to stress related physical and psychological strains (Edwards & Cooper, 1990, French, Caplan, & Harrison, 1982). PE-Fit and Demand-Control (Karasek, 1979) models developed to explain the job stress and strain have guided the construction of most measures of occupational stress (Vagg & Spielberger, 1998). This article in particular aims to discuss few of the most important stress and burnout measurement instruments designed so far and intend to offer recommendations regarding instrument selection. Furthermore this article shall also discuss the pros and cons of stress assessment approaches in general, with few suggestions for improvement. Keywords: Research, Environment, Stress, Strains, Measurement, Instruments. 1. Introduction Though many studies have been conducted on stress, but this term still has divergence of opinions and is covered by a “mask of confusion” (Barkhuizen & Rothmann 2008, p. 321). Claude Bernard (1878), the renowned 19 th century French physiologist was one of the most important researcher who studied stress as an adaptive response to external stimuli and introduced the principle of homeostasis, which is the process by which the normal balance of internal body environment is maintained (Kolb & Whishaw, 2001). Stress has been defined by a number of authors in a number of ways with reference to its sources, consequences and the resources to overcome the negative effects of it. The concept of stress has been introduced first by Hans Selye who studied the strains which arise when people struggle to adapt and cope because of changing environments. Selye (1956) originally presented stress as a general, nonspecific physiological response to any stressor. Later, he drew attention to the difference between eustress, or good stress, and distress, or bad stress. Various stress models and theories concluded stress as a process which includes the psychological and physiological attributes of the individual and the work environment around him/her and according to them this process is triggered by a stressor, where the individual’s perceptions matter the most and if s/he perceives it as a threat, it will further trigger to produce negative emotional responses (French & Kahn, 1962, Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Matteson, 1987; Topper, 2007). Further this process involves behavioral and physiological responses which ultimately lead to psychosomatic health problems (Cohen & Lazarus, 1979). 2. Static or dynamic nature of stress: Previously it was thought that stress could be left where it had been observed or experienced (Klarreich, 1990) and