 the traffic jam is the trigger or Activating Event, each driver's individual expectations about how the traffic should be flowing are the Beliefs, and the emotions and stress reactions that the drivers do or do not experience in response to the interaction between the traffic jam and their beliefs is the Consequence.
The first driver may initially experience a mild stress or neutral response, and she may end with having a a pleasant time chatting with her sister. In other words, she has experienced neutral or positive consequences to her beliefs about the activating event. The second driver however, has become very stressed, upset, and angry. Her beliefs have triggered a fight/flight response which will probably continue to cause her to remain angry and upset long after the traffic has resumed moving.
The cognitive theory of emotion suggests that our self-talk (our "automatic thoughts" and our beliefs) is influential in determining whether we will experience eustress or distress. We will talk more specifically about how to use this theory (employing the ABC model) to relieve negative stress in a later section where we discuss methods of stress reduction.