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The Effects of Campus Activities on Stress Levels in College Students
Shannon Shipp
Hardin-Simmons University
Abstract
College students are subject to increased stress not unlike what is found in the workplace. The
intent of the study is to determine the effects of campus activities on stress levels. A two-phase
survey will be administered to the group. The survey instrument is composed of questions from
three different stress questionnaires designed for college undergraduates. The first half is
administered at the beginning to provide demographic information and provide a baseline stress
level for each individual. The second half is administered at the end to assist in determining if a
difference exists between the baseline stress level and the stress level change while participating
in the game. The main difference in stress should exist between students of different majors and
classifications. Students with “hard” majors like biology or pre-physical therapy are more likely
to exhibit higher levels of stress than those with “soft” majors like communication and theater.
Freshman and some sophomores are more likely to exhibit higher levels of stress than juniors
and seniors. Also, freshman and some sophomores with “hard” majors are most likely to exhibit
the highest levels of stress.
The Effects of Campus Activities on Stress Levels in College Students
Stress is a major issue for college students as they cope with academic, social, and personal
challenges (Bland, Melton, P., & Bigham, 2012; Hicks & Heastie, 2008; Welle & Graf, 2011).
When stress is perceived negatively or becomes excessive, students experience physical and
psychological impairment (Misra & McKean, 2000). The process of stress is highly subjective
and individualized, though it can be shaped by outside forces (Pedersen, 2012). Studies indicate
that over 75% of college students report being moderately stressed and over 10% report
experiencing severe levels of stress (May & Casazza, 2012). College life itself provides
additional unique stressors such as financial challenges, peer relationship adjustments, living
arrangement adjustments, time constraints, and a host of bothersome daily hassles (May &
Casazza, 2012). Life transitions, such as moving away from home (possibly for the first time) to
college, create valuable opportunities for growth and change while also potentially heightening
self-doubt (Hicks & Heastie, 2008). There are a number of ways in which students can reduce
stress, including participation in various extracurricular activities. One of the new activities on
campus is the Humans versus Zombies game. This is a complex game of campus tag with
various rules imposed on the participants (see Appendix A, (Weed, et al., The Rules, 2005)). The
purpose of this study is to determine whether a recreational game on campus designed to create
fun and an opportunity for social interactions actually creates harmful stress for the participants.
Freshman and sophomores experience stress differently than most juniors and seniors, though
there are always exceptions. A study conducted by Misra and McKean (2000) concluded that
freshman and sophomore undergraduate students had higher reactions to stress than juniors and
seniors. Generally, it is because they are in a new environment and do not know how to handle
new obstacles. Freshman, in particular, are vulnerable to the stress of adjusting to the college
experience (Pettit, Jacobs, Page, & Porras, 2009). They are being placed in several new
environments (new housing, new friends, new surroundings, new town, etc.) with a significantly
decreased level of social support especially from parents and close friends. Students who possess
a strong sense of self-efficacy in dealing with new circumstances and the ability to cope with
these circumstances in their lives are likely to be more successful in their academic and social
life (Kadhiravan & Kuma, 2012). In this study, classification is one of the independent variables.
There is a significant difference in stress levels for college students depending on their
academic major. Students with more difficult or “hard” majors are more likely to experience
high levels of stress than those with less difficult or “soft” majors. It is useful to categorize
academic majors as either “hard” or “soft” majors. A “hard” major is one in which the majority
of classes are perceived as harder to master such as biology, engineering, or pharmacy. A “soft”
major is one in which the majority of classes are perceived as simpler to master such as art,
computer applications, or music. Only a few studies have investigated how students experience
specific academic majors (May & Casazza, 2012). One of the few research exceptions examining
undergraduate students found undergraduate pharmacy and engineering majors tend to
experience significantly more stress than undergraduate art and science, english, history,
psychology, and business majors (May & Kyle, 2007). A study examining the relationship
between test anxiety and subject matter found that undergraduate test anxiety for students
increased the more they perceived a subject was difficult to master (May & Casazza, 2012).
Academic major is also an independent variable in this study.
Undergraduate students experience stressors not unlike those encountered in the workplace
(Ragsdale, Beehr, Grebner, & Han, 2011). These demands are a combination of physical,
psychological, social or environmental and are largely dependent on the individual’s perception
(Pedersen, 2012). Freshman, sophomores, and people with hard majors may view something as
being more stressful than juniors, seniors, and people with soft majors. Research on
psychological recovery from stress has been predominantly examined in the workplace, but
stress processes within a weekly cycle also occur with students. The time available for recovery,
between the end of one workweek (Friday) and the beginning of another (Monday), allows
students to avoid serious, long-term stress effects (Ragsdale, Beehr, Grebner, & Han, 2011).
All college students have distinct negative attributes that impact stressors and their coping
mechanisms; such as being overscheduled, heavily monitored, and pressured to excel
academically (Bland, Melton, P., & Bigham, 2012). Poor time management and being
overscheduled can lead to behaviors which are less than ideal (Misra & McKean, 2000). Some
students do not get enough sleep, do not eat properly, have poor study habits, and do not have
adequate time to build strong social networks. Some students have a tendency to over-study
because they feel an immense amount of pressure to excel academically. There is a delicate
balance between enough studying and over studying, and they both can lead to stress. Stress also
manifests through sleeplessness, irregular dietary patterns and other unhealthy behaviors (Pettit,
Jacobs, Page, & Porras, 2009). Stress is the dependent variable in this study.
Everyone experiences stress throughout their life. It is important for people to effectively
manage and reduce stress. Methods to reduce stress by students can vary greatly. These methods
often include effective time management, social support, positive reappraisal, and engagement in
leisure pursuits (Misra & McKean, 2000). Results from research studies have revealed the factor
most strongly associated with high stress tolerance is a strong social network (Hicks & Heastie,
2008; Welle & Graf, 2011). Without a support group of any kind, the experience of stress may
spill from one domain or role to another (Pedersen, 2012). One way to begin forming a support
group is by participating in various campus activities such as the Humans versus Zombies game.
The Humans versus Zombies game allows students who may not normally interact with each to
potentially become friends with people who are very different from themselves. A student who is
a biology major may not normally socialize with someone who is a business major. However
they become acquaintances through participation in this game.
Humans versus Zombies was invented at Goucher College in 2005 and is played at over 650
colleges and universities across the world, as well as high schools, military bases, summer
camps, and public libraries (Weed, et al., About HvZ, 2005). It is basically a giant game of tag
with a complex set of rules (see Appendix A (Weed, et al., The Rules, 2005)). For a short period
of time, the students (participants) are essentially engulfed within a new environment. Although
voluntary, the participants have very limited control over what happens within the game.
Different components of the game are managed by non-participants who watch the participants
and enforce the rules. An individual who has less control over their environment is likely to
exhibit high levels of stress. Even though this game is designed to create opportunities for social
networking, based on the theoretical model, the researcher suggests that the new environment of
the game will actually create stress for participants. Participation in the Humans versus Zombies
game is an independent variable in this study.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Research has indicated that stressful environments and associated elevations of stress-related
hormones may result in the impairment of logical and spatial reasoning, reaction time,
processing speed, and hand-eye coordination (Palmer, 2013). The environment a person is in
largely tends to reinforce and reward different patterns of abilities and interests (Feldman, Smart,
& Ethington, 2004). Stress involves a perceived environmental demand which threatens to
exceed the person’s capabilities and resources (McGrath, 1976). Stress occurs when either the
environment does not provide adequate supplies to meet the person’s needs, or the abilities of the
person fall short of the demands that come before receiving supplies.
One way to determine the stress level of a person’s environment is to determine how well
they fit into the environment. The Person-Environment Fit (P-E fit) Theory offers an explanation
for determining the relationship between a person’s environment and their stress levels. Person-
environment fit has two main concepts and uses the molar approach. The first concept is
demand-abilities (D-A) fit. D-A fit underlies the notion that stress involves a relationship
between the person and environment where environmental demands are appraised as taxing or
exceeding the person’s resources and endangering the person’s well-being (Lazarus & Launier,
1978). The second concept is supplies-values fit (S-V) which involves commitments that reflect
patterns of goals, motives, and values held by the person (Lazarus & Launier, 1978). D-A fit and
S-V fit are conceptually distinct because D-A fit is the result of and individual drawing from
their abilities to meet the demands of the environment, while S-V fit is the result of an individual
drawing from their values to assess the environment (McGrath, 1976). One of the most critical
sources of stress among college students involves the perceived inability to cope with events
over which they have limited control (Pettit, Jacobs, Page, & Porras, 2009). D-A misfit is the
result of discrepancies between the person and environment. These discrepancies can lead to
strain when the characteristics of the environment deviate from the characteristics of the person
(Lazarus & Launier, 1978). The molar approach involves studies which directly measure the
perceived fit or match between a person and their environment. This is found in studies that ask
respondents to rate the fit between themselves and their environments (Edwards, Cable,
Williamson, Lambert, & Shipp, 2006). The molar approach is also referred to as
phenomenology. In the broadest sense, ‘phenomenology’ refers to a person’s perception of the
meaning of an event, as opposed to the event as it exists externally to or outside of that person
(Bryant, 2013; Van, 1990). The objective of studying phenomenology is the direct investigation
and description of phenomena as they are consciously experienced, without theories about their
causal explanations or their objective reality. It seeks to understand how people construct
meaning within their environment (Van, 1990). A phenomenological approach such as
interactionism stresses how people perceive the world and interact with one another and relate to
a lived experience (Bryant, 2013).
In this study, D-A misfit will be used in an attempt to see if the new environment causes
undue or harmful stress to the participants. D-A misfit occurs when the demands of the
environment, or in this case the Humans versus Zombies game, exceeds the abilities of the
person playing the game, either as a human or a zombie. This study will focus on the stress of the
new environment on the people playing the game, and D-A fit or misfit as it relates to the ability
of a person to meet or fail to meet the demands of the new environment. Withdrawal of social
support as a function of the game may limit the person’s options for resolving problems caused
by demands in the environment leading to increased stress.
HYPOTHESIS
Based on the literature review and framework, the following have been hypothesized.
Hypothesis 1: Students who play the Humans versus Zombies game will have increased levels of
stress.
Hypothesis 2: Freshman and sophomores who play the Humans versus Zombies game will report
higher levels of stress than juniors and seniors.
Hypothesis 3: Students who participate in the Humans versus Zombies game with hard majors
will report higher levels of stress than those with soft majors.
METHODS
Self-doubt can lead to increased stress, especially for people with low self-esteem. This
can lead to under- or over-reaction to stressors and cause more problems. When similarly
situated people are faced with similar stressors, they do not all react in the same manner. Some
are able to handle the stress well while others may have some difficulty. A group, thrown into an
entirely new environment and forced to find ways to adapt to the stress, offers researchers a
unique opportunity to uncover factors associated with stress (Welle & Graf, 2011).
The population will include all the students who participate in the Humans versus
Zombies game on campus at a small university in Texas. The sampling frame will be a census.
This will give us the best representation of the students who play. The independent variable is
participation in the Humans versus Zombies game. The dependent variable will be the stress
level of students participating in the Humans versus Zombies game. The participant’s gender,
age, and number of semester hours will be controlled for. The sample will yield the results
needed to determine whether there is a correlation between campus activity and stress. The game
can be related to any sport in that effective time management is critical to reducing stress. People
who participate in sports spend several hours every week practicing and competing. Like sports,
this game puts an increased demand on the participant’s time as it is pulling them away from
doing other things. Also, men and women experience stressors differently from each other
because of the difference in the way our brains work. The number of classes a person takes per
semester also places a constraint on their time. Generally, people who are taking fewer classes
will be less stressed than people who are taking more classes.
Quantitative Measure
A two–part questionnaire will be administered. The first half of the questionnaire will be
administered during the mandatory pre-game meeting. It will ask the control questions which
includes a modified stress scale. This stress scale was created from questions out of three
different stress surveys for college undergraduates (Managing Stress: A Guide for College
Students, 2013; Crandall, Priesler, & Aussprung, 1992; Holmes & Rahe, 1967). The participants
will be asked to rate each item on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being low and 5 being high. This is
because they are certain to answer yes to all the questions and it would appear that they are all
highly stressed all the time. The items will then have the score multiplied by the rating and a
predetermined range will be used to determine normal stress level. The second half of the
questionnaire will be administered after the game has concluded. It will contain some of the
same questions that relate to stress. These will also be rated on a scale of 1-5. The survey is
divided so each student’s pre-game and post-game stress level can be recorded for analysis. The
objective is to get a 90 percent response rate from the participants. By using a two-part survey, I
am able to collect a baseline stress level that can be used to compare with the stress level after
the game. The survey will be completed at the time it is administered and returned.
The instructions on the survey explain the purpose for which the data is being analyzed
and defines stress as it is intended for the study (see Appendix B). The questions selected for the
survey were chosen from reliable self-assessed stress surveys. The intention is to obtain
information that will assist in determining if a correlation exists between campus activity and
stress levels in undergraduate students. It will also be used to graph the data to show correlations
and variances. By administering a simple survey, it will generate the most accurate responses and
reduce the chance of confusion.
Qualitative measure
To obtain subjective data a comments section has been added. This will give us
information that cannot be obtained using a questionnaire. It also allows for the collection of
more in-depth information in a shorter amount of time.
.
11
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Appendix A
It is a complex set of rules like in any other game to ensure the safety of the players. There
are also safe zones. These “no play zones” are: academic buildings, libraries, indoor athletic
facilities, health centers, bathrooms, dorm rooms, and dining halls. The objectives are twofold:
• The Zombies win when all human players have been tagged and turned into zombies; or
• The Humans win by surviving long enough for all of the zombies to starve.
The safety rules are:
1) No realistic looking weaponry. Blasters must be brightly colored and have blaze-orange
tips;
2) Blasters may not be visible inside of academic buildings or jobs on campus;
3) Players may not use cars or play where there is traffic;
4) Darts must not hurt on impact.
There are five rules for humans and four rules for zombies. The rules for humans are:
1) Staying On Campus: Humans must sleep on campus. If you need to leave campus for
longer than 24 hours, contact the game moderators and remove yourself from the game;
2) I.D. Number: Humans must keep an index card with their unique identification number
on them at all times;
3) Stunning a Zombie: Humans may stun a Zombie for 15 minutes by blasting them with a
dart blaster or throwing a sock at them;
4) When Tagged By a Zombie: When tagged by a Zombie, a Human is required to distribute
their ID card. One hour after being tagged, tie your bandanna around your head – you are
now a member of the Zombie team! Go tag some Humans; and
15
5) Wearing a Bandanna: Humans must wear a headband around an arm or leg to identify
them as players of the game. (This headband will come in handy when you become a
zombie!).
The rules for zombies are:
1) Feeding: Zombies must feed every 48 hours. A zombie feeds by reporting their tag on the
website;
2) Wearing A Headband: Zombies must wear a bandanna around their heads at all times.
The Original Zombie does not need to wear a headband;
3) Tagging: A tag is a firm touch to any part of a Human. After tagging a Human the
Zombie must collect their ID card and report the tag; and
4) Getting Shot: When hit with a dart or a sock, a Zombie is stunned for 15 minutes. A
stunned zombie may not interact with the game in any way. This includes shielding other
zombies from bullets or continuing to run toward a human. If shot while stunned, the
zombie’s stun timer is reset back to 15 minutes.
16
Appendix B
Effects of Activity on Stress Questionnaire
The information obtained from this questionnaire will be used as a tool to aid in
determining whether or not campus activities have any impact on the perceived stress levels of
college students. In this study, stress will be defined as anything that causes anxiety or paranoia.
Part I:
Gender: □ Male □Female HvZ ID#_______________
Age: □18 or younger □19 □20 □21 □ 22 or older
Major(s):___________________________ Minor(s):__________________________
Classification: □Freshman □Sophomore □Junior □Senior □Graduate
Current Number of Hours Enrolled: □12 or less □13-15 □16 or more
Average Number of Hours Spent Sleeping Per Night: □7 or less □ 8 □ 9 □ 10 or more
If less than 7, how many? ____
Average Number of Hours Spent Studying Per Day: □ 0-1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4+
Average Number of Hours Spent Relaxing Per Day: □ 0-1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4+
Rate each item on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being low/no stress and 5 being high/very stressful.
In the last 6 months, how much were you affected by:
____Death of a close family member____Death of a close friend____Major personal injury or illness____Difficulty with a roommate____Difficulty in identifying a major____An increased workload at school____Your first semester in college____Changes in living conditions____Recieving lower grades than expected____Changes in sleeping habits
____Changes in social habits____Changed in eating habits____Missing too many classes ____Oversleeping for an exam____Writing a major term paper____Getting caught cheating on a test____Being overloaded at school or work____Having two exams in one day____Having difficulties with parents____Taking a class you hate
17
____Peer pressures____Being away from home for the 1st time____Getting sick____Falling asleep in class____Having a lot of tests in the same week____Having multiple assignments due in your
classes on the same day ____Having lots of deadlines to meet in the
same week____Having a hard upcoming week____Going into a test unprepared____Doing worse than expected on test
____Having multiple projects due on the same day
____Thinking about unfinished assignments____Not getting enough sleep____Being sick or injured____Working while in school____Not finishing everything you needed to____Cramming for a test____Feeling unorganized____Feeling isolated____Having an erratic schedule____Staying up late writing paper____Feeling peer pressure
Comments: _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
18
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
EFFECT OF CAMPUS ACTIVITIES ON STRESS 19
Part II: HvZ ID#:_____________
While Playing Humans v Zombies:
As a Human
How serious were you about the game?
□Not Serious □Little Serious □Average □More Serious □Very Serious
Average Number of Hours Spent Playing the Game Per Day: □0-2 □3-4 □5-6 □7+
Average Number of Hours Spent Sleeping Per Night: □7 or less □ 8 □ 9 □ 10 or more
Average Number of Hours Spent Relaxing Per Day: □0-1 □1-2 □2-3 □3+
Average Number of Hours Spent Studying Per Day: □0-1 □1-2 □2-3 □3+
Comments:_________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
As a Zombie
How serious were you about the game?
□Not Serious □Little Serious □Average □More Serious □Very Serious
Average Number of Hours Spent Playing the Game Per Day: □0-2 □3-4 □5-6 □7+
Average Number of Hours Spent Sleeping Per Night: □7 or less □ 8 □ 9 □ 10 or more
Average Number of Hours Spent Relaxing Per Day: □ 1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4+
Average Number of Hours Spent Studying Per Day: □ 1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4+
Comments:_________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
