Chapter 6: The Neo-Freudian Theories

Question 1

What are efforts to cope with anxiety called?

Answer 1

Coping strategies
(conscious effort to reduce anxiety)

Question 2

What does coping style refer to?

Answer 2

a person’s general approach to dealing with stress

Question 3

What was the early researchers division in personality groups? (repression-sensitization)

Answer 3

Repression:
“try not to think about the situation and thereby succeed in avoiding the anxiety as much or as long as possible.”

Sensitization:
“These people typically deal with a stressful situation by finding out as much as possible, as soon as possible, and thereby put themselves in a position to take the most effective action.”

Question 4

Explain:

Problem-focused strategies

Emotion focused strategies

Avoidance strategies

Answer 4

Problem-focused strategies:

are intended to take care of the problem and thereby overcoming the anxiety.
If the problem is financial, we look for ways to obtain more money or reduce expenses.
(Planning)

Emotion focused strategies:

reduce the emotional distress that accompanies the problem. A student not accepted to law school might consider how this apparent setback could be for the best.

Avoidance strategies:

deal with their emotions by pushing the anxiety-provoking situation out of awareness. When learning that a friend has a serious health problem, a woman might respond by not thinking about the friend or by convincing herself that the problem is not as serious as people are making it out to be

Question 5

Explain the gender differences with coping strategies:

Answer 5

Women: emotion focused strategies

Men: Problem focused strategies

Question 6

Should people use active coping strategies or avoid the issue?

Answer 6

active strategies are more effective in helping people cope with stressors than avoidance strategies

(only might be helpful in short run)

Question 7

What is this ability to effectively utilize different coping strategies called?

Answer 7

coping flexibility,

Ppl who do this: are likely to deal with life’s problems more effectively than those who do not

Might be personality related

Question 8

how people cope with stressful events focuses on the loosely defined concept of _____?

Answer 8

resilience

Although we all respond emotionally to loss and trauma, some people are nonetheless still able to function well at work and in their personal relationships; that is, they are resilient

Question 9

Why are people resillient?

Answer 9

flexible in their use of coping strategies

and

rely on a strong network of friends and family members for support

Question 10

Freuds initial opinion on aggression?

Answer 10

Freud initially proposed that aggression is the result of frustrated libido

Freud argued, we often displace our aggression (Because we can’t attack the police officer who won’t let us drive as fast as we want, we express our aggressive impulses by yelling at employees, friends, or family members. )

Question 11

Freuds later opinion on aggression? (after WW1)

Answer 11

Death instinct (Thanatos).

Can’t kill / harm ourselves so we turn it to others

Question 12

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis? and what was added to it later?

Answer 12

Aggression is always a consequence of frustration

Frustration always leads to some form of aggression

Later:
our lives are like always frustrating, why not more aggression?

Answer/update to hypothesis: Frustrated individuals can displace the aggression to a new target,

Question 13

Explain! Frustration and bank study:

Answer 13

People who were more frustrated when being cut in line at the bank displayed more aggressive behavior

Question 14

Explain! Shock study with displaced frustration:

Answer 14

Tasked to do: Anagram
had another participant annoying them the whole time
then asked to grade others via painful (non-harmful) shocks

BUT!

Sometimes they were paired up with ppl that annoyed them sometimes not

Ppl displaced their anger at the person that annoyed them onto innocent bystander (more shocks)

Question 15

Outbursts due to displace aggression is called:

Answer 15

triggered displaced aggression

Question 16

Does a cathartic reaction reduce aggression?

Answer 16

No!
several studies find that acting aggressively often increases the tendency to aggress

Contrasted with original hypothesis: which maintained that aggression leads to a tension-reducing catharsis that then reduces the need for aggression.

Question 17

(Catharsis) researchers often find :

a sudden drop in physiological arousal after participants are allowed to attack another person,

and

acting aggressively often increases the tendency to aggress

why? (3 proposed reasons)

Answer 17

• Acting aggressively may lead to a kind of disinhibition. That is, most of us have strong reservations about physically hurting other people. However, once we violate that rule, we may find it easier to attack in the future

-seeing something we associate with violence (a gun, for example) often increases aggression. By observing our own aggressive actions, we may be spurred on to more aggression.

• because a cathartic release of tension feels good, aggressive acts may be reinforced.

Question 18

IS THIS TRUE?

“neo-Freudians who first presented these ideas maintained that how we relate to significant others as adults is a reflection of the relationship we had with our parents.”

Answer 18

TRUE

Recent research finds considerable merit in this notion

Question 19

What key thoughts define object relations theorists?

Answer 19

1. great emphasis on early childhood experiences. (not internal conflicts and drives like freud)
   infants’ relationships with important people in their lives (usually parents)
2. the child develops an unconscious representation of significant objects in his or her environment. (ex. caregiver is an important object)

Generally: kind of attachment children feel with their parents influences their ability to develop meaningful attachments with significant others down the road.

Question 20

What did Object relations theory heavily influence later?

Answer 20

attachment theory

John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth

Question 21

What are attachment relationships according to John Bowlby (attachment theory)?

Answer 21

emotional bonds between infants and their caregivers, again usually the mother

Question 22

Explain and name the three types of parent–child relationships: (attachment styles)

Answer 22

1. secure infant–mother pairs
   Mother = attentive and responsive
   Child = happy and self-confident (understand mom is responsive even if not physically there)
2. anxious-ambivalent relationships
   Mother= not particularly attentive or responsive to the child’s needs
   Child= Not calmed by other adults and afraid in unfamiliar situations.(children are anxious whenever mother leaves, sometimes breaking into tears as soon as they are separated.)
3. avoidant relationships
   Mother= also are not very responsive to the child
   Child= developing a type of aloofness or emotional detachment from the mother. (These children do not become anxious when mother leaves and are not particularly interested in her attention when she returns.)

Question 23

What does Bowlby argue about attachment styles?

Answer 23

infant forms unconscious “working models”

Use these in adult relationships and throughout life

Question 24

Briefly describe the four-category model of attachment:

Answer 24

Fear of closeness (Can rank high or low)

fear of abandonment (can rank high or low)

Combine these two results to get an attachment style

(Study actual picture if he discusses it in class)

Question 25

Which of the three attachment styles is the most happy in their romantic relationships?

Answer 25

Secure

(fun note: ppl are also more happy if partner is secure attachment type)

Question 26

What is love like for an avoidant adult?

Answer 26

hampered by a fear of intimacy and problems with jealousy

Question 27

What is love like for an anxious-ambivalent adult?

Answer 27

fall in love many times but have difficulty finding the long-term happiness they desperately seek

Question 28

Are attachment styles set in stone?

Answer 28

It IS relatively stable over time,

it may be possible for people to change their attachment style when they enter a secure, long-lasting adult relationship