Ch. 5 Coping & Social Support

Question 1

coping

Answer 1

constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person

Question 2

coping process

Answer 2

process of reacting to a stressor & resulting in either a favorable (health and well-being) or unfavorable (sickness and unhappiness) outcome

Question 3

moderator

Answer 3

a variable that changes the magnitude (sometimes direction) of the relationship between an antecedent variable and an outcome variable

Question 4

mediator

Answer 4

the intervening process (variable) through which an antecedent variable influences an outcome variable

Question 5

coping styles

Answer 5

general predispositions to dealing with stress

- tools a person tends to use repeatedly

Question 6

basic types of coping style

Answer 6

(1) approach coping

(2) avoidant coping

Question 7

approach coping

Answer 7

approach a stressor and make active efforts to resolve it

Question 8

avoidant coping

Answer 8

avoid the problem

Question 9

coping strategies

Answer 9

specific behavioral and psychological efforts people use to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events

Question 10

problem-focused coping

Answer 10

directly facing the stressful situation and working hard to resolve it

Question 11

emotion-focused coping

Answer 11

use either mental or behavioral methods to deal with the feelings resulting from the stress

Question 12

personality

Answer 12

an individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral traits, where traits are durable dispositions to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations

Question 13

Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern

Answer 13

(Friedman and Rosenman)

people who showed a sense of time urgency (always doing more than one thing at the same time), competitiveness, and hostility in their interactions with other people were found to have a higher risk for coronary heart disease and stress

Question 14

conscientiousness

Answer 14

ethical, dependable, productive, purposeful

Question 15

agreeableness

Answer 15

sympathetic, warm, trusting, cooperative

Question 16

neuroticism

Answer 16

anxious, insecure, guilt-prone, self-conscious

Question 17

openness to experience

Answer 17

daring, nonconforming, imaginative

Question 18

extraversion

Answer 18

talkative, sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

Question 19

optimism

Answer 19

personality trait where a person ahs a general tendency to expect that good things, rather than bad things, will happen

Question 20

mastery

Answer 20

the extent to which one regards one’s life chances as being under one’s own control

• a relatively stable tendency of an individual and another variable that can influence the appraisal of stress and help people cope
• mediator

Question 21

resilient

Answer 21

ability to bounce back and do fine

Question 22

received support

Answer 22

the social support the person reports was provided to him or her

Question 23

perceived support

Answer 23

the social support the person believes to be available to him or her

Question 24

familialism

Answer 24

a cultural value that emphasizes close family relationships, with social support, stress, pregnancy anxiety, and infant birth weight

Question 25

social convoy model

Answer 25

theory suggesting that people are motivated to maintain their social network sizes as they themselves age, despite changes in the composition of the networks
- individuals construct & maintain social relationships while becoming increasingly aware of specific strengths and weaknesses of particular members

Question 26

socioeconomical selectivity theory

Answer 26

theory of social support change that proposes that people prune their social networks to maintain a desired emotional state depending on the extent to which time is perceived as limited
- basic functions of social interactions, such as maintaining a good mod, differ in respect to their relative importance for determining social preferences across the lifespan

Question 27

daily process methodology

Answer 27

“daily diaries”

assessment of timing, frequency, emotions, and more details on the spot

Question 28

biofeedback

Answer 28

procedure where a computer or other monitoring device measures heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in real-time allowing one to modify one’s behavior and thinking to see resulting changes in cardiovascular reactions
- a form of relaxation

Question 29

positive psychology

Answer 29

area of psychology that involves the scientific study of strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive
- major foci: emotions & individual traits

Question 30

religiosity

Answer 30

measure of how religious a person is commonly assessed by counting the frequency of temple/church/mosque/synagogue attendance, the average frequency of prayer, and the commitment to religious rituals

Question 31

Coping is best defined as

a. individual efforts made to manage the outcomes of stress
b. processes designed to increase relaxation
c. ways to prevent stressful events from occurring
d. techniques to reduce the impact of stress

Answer 31

a. individual efforts made to manage the outcomes of stress

Question 32

Life is complex and few variables directly influence each other. Moderating variables:

a. are those that directly influence stress and coping
b. change the relationship between variables
c. are more powerful than mediator variables
d. are more important for predicting Western coping styles

Answer 32

b. change the relationship between variables

Question 33

Most of the following variables can be mediators and moderators except for:

a. happiness
b. optimism
c. social support
d. sex

Answer 33

d. sex

Question 34

The theory of social support change that proposes that people prune their networks to maintain a desired emotional state depending on the extent to which time is perceived as limited is:

a. socioemotional selectivity theory
b. gain-loss theory
c. social convoy theory
d. optimization

Answer 34

a. socioemotional selectivity theory

Question 35

One of the most commonly studied mediators in health psychology is:

a. sex
b. social support
c. health behaviors
d. stress

Answer 35

c. health behaviors

Question 36

The two most basic styles of coping are:

a. positive and negative
b. acute and chronic
c. approach and avoidant
d. primary and secondary

Answer 36

c. approach and avoidant

Question 37

Each of the following is considered one of the “Big Five” factors in personality except:

a. extraversion
b. neuroticism
c. agreeableness
d. optimism

Answer 37

d. optimism

Question 38

In contrast to early research on the Type A personality, current views hold that the most unhealthy component of the Type A profile is:

a. being competitive
b. showing a sense of time urgency
c. being hostile
d. being hardy

Answer 38

c. being hostile

Question 39

People who enjoy challenges, have a high level of control, and are committed to their lives are high in:

a. optimism
b. hardiness
c. extraversion
d. mastery

Answer 39

b. hardiness

Question 40

The empirical evidence suggests that the following cultural group receives the most social support from tis members during stressors such as pregnancy:

a. European American
b. Chinese American
c. Japanese American
d. Mexican American

Answer 40

d. Mexican American