Read the given case-study carefully and answer the question that follow.

According to Lazarus and his colleagues, people have a tendency to appraise any situation as positive, negative or neutral. When Vikram lost his job as event manager, he perceived the situation as negative but he didn't lose heart and decided to start a food joint as he was handling similar projects in the past. Whereas Vikas who also lost his job as a marketing manager, started feeling helpless and hopeless and consumed alcohol regularly. He started coming up with excuses for not doing anything. He could not even think of starting his own venture as he had no money to invest. He would often become very angry or would start crying bitterly.

According to cognitive theory of stress, primary appraisal refers to the perception of new environment as :

Positive, Negative, Neutral

The correct answer is Option 1: Positive, Negative, Neutral

According to the cognitive theory of stress by Lazarus and his colleagues, primary appraisal involves an individual's initial evaluation of a situation to determine its significance for their well-being. In this stage, a person assesses whether the situation is positive, negative, or neutral. In the given case study, Vikram and Vikas both face the same stressful event—job loss—but their responses differ based on how they appraise the situation. Vikram perceives it as a negative event but sees potential for growth, whereas Vikas feels overwhelmed and helpless. The reference in the passage to people appraising situations as "positive, negative, or neutral" clearly aligns with the definition of primary appraisal.

While "Harm, threat, and challenge" are more detailed sub-categories of negative appraisal, the question and passage focus on the broad-level classification made during primary appraisal.

NCERT:Lazarus has distinguished between two types of appraisal, i.e. primary and secondary. Primary appraisal refers to the perception of a new or changing environment as positive, neutral or negative in its consequences. Negative events are appraised for their possible harm, threat or challenge. Harm is the assessment of the damage that has already been done by an event. Threat is the assessment of possible future damage that may be brought about by the event. Challenge appraisals are associated with more confident expectations of the ability to cope with the stressful event, the potential to overcome and even profit from the event. When we perceive an event as stressful, we are likely to make a secondary appraisal, which is the assessment of one’s coping abilities and resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat or challenge of the event. These resources may be mental, physical, personal or social. If one thinks one has a positive attitude, health, skills and social support to deal with the crises s/he will feel less stressed. This two-level appraisal process determines not only our cognitive and behavioural responses but also our emotional and physiological responses to external events.