Abstract
Cortisol response to academic stress and its relation to stressful life events and personality. The goal of this paper was to compare the cortisol excreted in a stressful situation (exam) with the secreted in a non stressful (neutral) situation by a student sample and its relation to perceived stress, general stressors and personality traits. Results indicate differences in the urinary cortisol levels between the neutral and the stressful situation but not in the same direction. In fact, 32 students increased and 12 decreased the cortisol level in the stressful situation compared with the neutral. These changes in cortisol levels were not related to the perceived stress generated by the examination but rather with the stressful life events. That is, individuals with a greater cortisol response to the academic stressor evaluated higher their general life stress and those with a decrease in cortisol levels before the exam informed of less general stress in their lives when the stressful was compared with the neutral situation.
