Chapter 11

Question 1

Tightness-looseness

Answer 1

Tighter cultures place greater values on adherence to social norms than looser cultures do.

Question 2

Health Psychology

Answer 2

Field that involved the application of psychological principles to promote health and well-being

Question 3

Well-being

Answer 3

Positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life satisfaction.

Question 4

Socioeconomic status health gradient

Answer 4

People with fewer resources have worse health outcomes even when health care is universal.

Question 5

Immigrant paradox

Answer 5

Pattern among immigrant communities where later generations are unhealthier than the immigrant generation.

Question 6

What causes people to eat more?

Answer 6

More selection and bigger portions

Question 7

Availability heuristic

Answer 7

Tendency to believe information that comes most easily to mind.

Question 8

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 8

Placing a person or an object in a category if that person or object is similar to one’s prototype for that category

Question 9

Stress

Answer 9

A type of response due to the demands placed on us exceeding our abilities to respond to them.

Question 10

Stressor

Answer 10

Something in the external situation that is perceived as threatening or demanding and therefore produces stress.

Question 11

Eustress

Answer 11

Stress of positive events.

Question 12

Distress

Answer 12

Stress of negative events

Question 13

Three categories of stressors

Answer 13

Major life stressors (new baby), chronic stress (poverty), and daily hassles.

Question 14

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

Answer 14

Slower-acting stress response where the hypothalamus sends a chemical message to the pituitary gland, which then sends a hormone to the adrenal glands which then secrete Cortisol. Cortisol then shuts off the hypothalamus through negative feedback loop

Question 15

Effects of prolonged stress

Answer 15

Cortisol becomes less effective and can damage long-term memory.

Question 16

Fast-acting physiological stress response

Answer 16

Hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system which activates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine. This and HPA axis are to prepare for flight or fight response.

Question 17

General adaptation syndrome

Answer 17

Pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages: Alarm (emergency response), resistance (defenses maximized), exhaustion (systems fail).

Question 18

Allostatic load

Answer 18

Cumulative wear and tear on biological systems after repeated stressful events

Question 19

Tend-and-befriend response

Answer 19

Tendency to protect and care for offspring and form social alliances rather than fight or flee in response to threat.

Question 20

Lymphocytes

Answer 20

Three types of specialized white blood cells which make up the immune system. B Cells produce antibodies, T Cells attack intruders and increase strength of immune response, and natural killer cells which kill viruses and attack tumors.

Question 21

Type A behavior pattern

Answer 21

People who are competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, hostile, impatient, and time pressed. Much more likely to develop heart disease.

Question 22

Anticipatory coping

Answer 22

Coping that occurs before the onset of a future stressor. Applies to coping with the same stressor over time.

Question 23

Hardiness

Answer 23

Tendency to view threats as challenges and positively reappraise stressors. See themselves as being in control of their lives.

Question 24

Why does stress increase risk of heart disease?

Answer 24

Decreases blood flow and creates clogged vessels.

Question 25

Buffering hypothesis

Answer 25

Impacts of stress can be buffered through being surrounded with friends and comforting things

Question 26

Primary appraisal

Answer 26

Part of coping process that involves deciding whether a stimulus is stressful, benign, or irrelevant.

Question 27

Secondary appraisal

Answer 27

Part of coping with stressful stimuli where people evaluate their response options and choose coping behaviors

Question 28

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 28

Type of coping in which people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor. Only helpful in the short term with uncontrollable stressors.

Question 29

Problem-focused coping

Answer 29

Type of coping in which people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor. Some responses are positive reappraisal, downward comparison, and identifying everyday occurrences as positive events.

Question 30

Positive psychology

Answer 30

Launched by Martin Seligman, emphasizes the strengths and virtues that help people thrive in an attempt to understand their psychological well-being.