This review of ideas presented in life event research presents a psychological and a sociological research tradition. Physiological recordings of endocrine factors have been utilized in studies of life events both in the study of natural course (bereavement and accidents, for instance) and in the laboratory during talk about critical life events. Recently, several programmes have been started for improving people’s life event tolerance. However, ‘eventlessness’ has also been observed to be a possible disease-provoking factor.