14.1 What Is Stress?

Question 1

stress

Answer 1

process whereby an individual perceives and responds to events that one appraises as overwhelming or threatening to one’s well-being

Question 2

stressors

Answer 2

environmental events that may be judged as threatening or demanding; stimuli that initiate the
stress process

Question 3

primary appraisal

Answer 3

judgment about the degree of potential harm or threat to well-being that a stressor might entail

Question 4

secondary appraisal

Answer 4

judgment of options available to cope with a stressor and their potential effectiveness

Question 5

eustress

Answer 5

good form of stress; low to moderate in intensity; associated with positive feelings, as well as
optimal health and performance

Question 6

distress

Answer 6

bad form of stress; usually high in intensity; often leads to exhaustion, fatigue, feeling burned out; associated with erosions in performance and health

Question 7

health psychology

Answer 7

subfield of psychology devoted to studying psychological influences on health, illness, and how people respond when they become ill

Question 8

fight-or-flight response

Answer 8

set of physiological reactions (increases in blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and sweat) that occur when an individual encounters a perceived threat; these reactions are produced by activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system

Question 9

general adaptation syndrome

Answer 9

Hans Selye’s three-stage model of the body’s physiological reactions to stress and the process of stress adaptation: alarm reaction, stage of resistance, and stage of exhaustion

Question 10

Alarm reaction

Answer 10

first stage of the general adaptation syndrome; characterized as the body’s immediate physiological reaction to a threatening situation or some other emergency; analogous to the fight-or-flight response

Question 11

stage of resistance

Answer 11

second stage of the general adaptation syndrome; the body adapts to a stressor for a period of time

Question 12

stage of exhaustion

Answer 12

third stage of the general adaptation syndrome; the body’s ability to resist stress becomes depleted; illness, disease, and even death may occur

Question 13

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Answer 13

set of structures found in both the limbic system
(hypothalamus) and the endocrine system (pituitary gland and adrenal glands) that regulate many of the
body’s physiological reactions to stress through the release of hormones

Question 14

Cortisol

Answer 14

stress hormone released by the adrenal glands when encountering a stressor; helps to provide a boost of energy, thereby preparing the individual to take action