Mr Bean's Experience During Exam Stress

Introduction

In the video, The Exam, Mr. Bean is given an exam to take with others. He does not know how to solve for the answers so he begins trying to cheat off of his neighbor. His neighbor begins to feel aggravated as he tries to stop Mr. Bean from copying his answers. Mr. Bean is desperate so he tries many ways to cheat from his neighbor until he finally gives up, has a small meltdown and falls asleep until the instructor announces two minutes were remaining. The instructor then gave directions on what to do with the completed exams. Mr. Bean realized there was a second exam in the envelope that must have been the one he was supposed to take so he frantically attempted to finish the exam in time. His pen would not write so he hastily stole his neighbor’s to finish when the time limit was announced by the instructor and Mr. Bean must turn in what he finished. This video was comical because it was relatable, although normally not acted out as dramatically.

Mr. Bean's Overdramatic Exam Experience

Mr. Bean's reaction to the exam was overdramatic but convincing. Normally, a testing instructor would not allow for a student to visibly attempt to cheat, cry out, fall asleep, or allow the overdramatic completion of the correct exam as it would be extremely distracting to others. It is not clear what the testing rules were because the video did not show the complete initial instructions that could have indicated that Mr. Bean suffered from a specific situational phobia of tests and experienced extreme forgetfulness or if he did not listen to all of the instructions. Emphasized in the video is Mr. Bean’s overdramatic reactions to a timed exam that he appears to not know the answers to. He experienced the four stages of a stress-related burnout. He shows enthusiasm when he first opens his test as if he were prepared for the exam until he begins to read the questions and entered the stagnation phase. Frustration sets in when he is not able to answer the questions in the exam by knowing the answers himself or cheating from someone else’s exam until he finally enters the apathy stage when he gives up and puts his head down for the remainder of the exam.

This video was a comical way to show what occurs mentally during an exam for me. While his reaction is felt, it is not acted out in real life. Occurring during the stress response, the nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, muscular, and digestive systems begin working together to adapt to the new environment. Occurring within testers with anxiety during an exam, initiation begins and the passing of electrical and hormonal messages through the nervous and endocrine systems occur. Next, increased blood pressure and heavy breathing in the circulatory and respiratory systems as well as twitching such as foot shaking or finger tapping by the muscular system may take place. The metabolizing of glucose in the digestive system is also happening within the body. It is important to regain control by calming down before the body becomes exhausted and is not able to cope as this leads to more serious illnesses and negative health developments.

Study of Mr Bean's Emotions

An article about stress and coping explained that common complaints by those who report emotional stress focus more on physical rather than mood symptoms (Hardie & Roemer, 2009). Mr. Bean’s emotional state can clearly be observed by others, but if he were to report his symptoms, he would more than likely describe faintness when he realized he did not know the answers, palpitations when his neighbor caught him trying to cheat, fatigue when his efforts to cheat were not helping him, and panic when he realized he was trying to take the wrong exam. I believe that this experience is relatable to many because Colton Scrivner completed a study that showed 34 percent of students who take an exam exhibit some type of stress response and 90 percent of those students had negative feelings about themselves after the exam was completed (2016).

Conclusion

This video emphasized the reality of what stress could look like. It exhibited the four stages of a stress-related burnout and the possible stress-related phobia of testing. Some questions remain after watching the video. For instance, what type of exam was this? If this was an exam he should have known more about, why didn’t he ask if he was taking the correct exam? Were any other instructions given before the start of this video that would have told him there were two exams in the envelope? What are his past anxiety levels during exams? Was this a normal response for him?  

Works Cited

1. Hardie, Elizabeth, and Robert M. Roemer. 'Social Anxiety and Daily Cortisol in Hair: Within-Person Associations and the Role of Physical Activity.' Stress and Health, vol. 25, no. 5, 2009, pp. 431-437.
2. Scrivner, Colton. 'Emotion Regulation and the Frequency of Stress-Eliciting Situations: Evidence for Gender and Individual Differences.' Emotion, vol. 20, no. 2, 2016, pp. 192-205.