Meaning & use
primary appraisal
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
In psychology, the first judgment a person makes about whether an event is stressful, threatening, or irrelevant to their well-being.
Grammar: Often used with 'of': primary appraisal of a situation. Can be countable (a primary appraisal) or uncountable (primary appraisal occurs first).
Patterns
- primary appraisal of something
- make a primary appraisal
- primary appraisal process
When she heard the strange noise, her primary appraisal was that it was a threat.
The researchers asked participants to describe their primary appraisal of the exam.
Primary appraisal happens before we decide how to cope with a problem.
Common combinations
- primary appraisal of a situation
- His primary appraisal of the situation was that it was dangerous.
- initial primary appraisal
- The initial primary appraisal often happens automatically.
- primary appraisal process
- The study focused on the primary appraisal process in stressful events.
- challenge primary appraisal
- A challenge primary appraisal sees the event as an opportunity, not a threat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- initial evaluation
- A more general term; 'primary appraisal' is the specific psychological concept for the first stress-related judgment.
- first assessment
- Everyday phrasing; 'primary appraisal' is the technical term used in psychology research.
Word family
- secondary appraisal noun
- The second step in the stress process, where a person evaluates their ability to cope with the event.
- appraise verb
- To judge or assess something, often used in psychology for the act of making an appraisal.
- appraisal noun
- A general judgment or evaluation; 'primary appraisal' is a specific type of appraisal.
Commonly confused: primary appraisal or primary evaluation? primary appraisal or secondary appraisal?
primary appraisal vs primary evaluation
'Primary evaluation' is not a standard term in psychology; the correct term is 'primary appraisal'.
primary appraisal vs secondary appraisal
This is the next step, not the same thing: it deals with coping, while primary appraisal deals with the initial judgment of threat.
Practice
In psychology, what does 'primary appraisal' refer to?
Choose one answer.
Primary appraisal is the initial judgment of an event's relevance to well-being, often as a threat or challenge. Option A describes secondary appraisal, which is about coping. Option C confuses the term with school assessment, and option D confuses it with secondary appraisal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “primary appraisal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.