According to Cox (1978, 1985) the individual becomes stressed when a discrepancy occurs between the perceived level of the stressful demands and his/her perceived ability to respond to and to cope with the demands.Cox (1985) emphasizes that the stress phases experienced by the individual involve a complex interactive process with various levels of appraisal, emotion and response, with the immediate response to a stressful situation being in the form of negative emotion, propelling the individual into flight or fighting action.The individual's ability to cope with environmental -threats?