When finishing the course successfully, students will be able to1. explain how stress impacts people’s behaviour. Specifically, students will be able to illustrate and explain how stress affects human behaviour at the level of the underlying mechanisms and processes;
2. critically reflect on a selection of current theoretical and empirical approaches related to  stress and human behaviour. Also, you will be able to effectively communicate your critical reflection in both written (review) and oral (discussion) form;
3. develop and formulate your own theoretical perspective on a pressing issue in the domain of stress and human behaviour by building and extending on prior work

Behavioural Consequences of Stress consists of nine meetings. Most of these meetings will be structured as follows: In the first hour, one of the lecturers will present a selection of theoretical and empirical work on that meeting’s theme. In the second hour, based on an academic article, we will together zoom in on how that theme may relate to stress. We will do this through discussion and assignments, which will be facilitated by the lecturers.
To give some examples, these are some of the questions that will be addressed in this course: 1) When does stress impair vs. increase cognitive performance? How does this work for motor performance? 2) When and how does stress trigger health-damaging behaviours, such as alcohol use and smoking? Also, what is the role of the social environment in producing such behaviours? 3) How is stress related to sleep? 4) Stress can be a cause and a consequence of physical illness — but how does this work?
In addition to joining the meetings, you will gradually develop your own original theoretical perspective on a stress-related societal challenge. This theoretical perspective will, in the end, become the topic of your final essay (~1500 words). You will receive feedback, from the lecturers and your fellow students, to help you to write up your ideas in a clear and compelling manner.