Emotions, Stress, and Health (Modules 35-39) Flashcards
A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from one’s interpretations
Emotions
The theory that our experience of emotion occurs when we become aware of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus
James-Lange Theory
The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory
The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory (Arousal + Label = Emotion)
Some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal
Zajonc, LeDoux Theory*
Cognitive appraisal (“Is it dangerous or not?”)—sometimes without our awareness—defines emotion
Lazarus Theory*
Arousal detectors (not lie detectors); they measure emotion-linked changes in breathing, heart rate, and perspiration
Polygraphs
The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness
Facial Feedback Effect
The tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions
Behavior Feedback Effect
10 Basic Emotions (Debatable)
Joy, interest-excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt
In psychology, the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges
Catharsis
People’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood
Feel-good, Do-good Phenomenon
The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive
Positive Psychology
Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life
Subjective Well Being
Can Money Buy Happiness?
Over time, a rising economic tide has not produced increased happiness or decreased depression
Our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience
Adaptation-level Phenomenon
The perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves
Relative Deprivation
The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging
Stress
Three Main Types of Stressors
Catastrophe, significant life changes, and daily hassles (including social stress)
The drive to move toward (approach) or away from (avoid) a stimulus
Approach and Avoidance Motives
A stress response system where our heart rate and respiration increase, our blood is diverted from digestion to the skeletal muscles, our feelings of pain are dulled, and sugar and fat are released from the body’s stores
Fight or Flight
Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)
Tend-and-Befriend Response
A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine
Health Psychology
The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health
Psychoneuroimmunology
The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; a leading cause of death in many developed countries
Coronary Heart Disease
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people
Type A
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people
Type B
Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods
Cope
Attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
Problem-focused Coping
Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction
Emotion-focused Coping
Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless
Personal Control
The hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events
Learned Helplessness
The perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate
External Locus of Control
The perception that we control our own fate
Internal Locus of Control
The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards
Self-Control
Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety
Aerobic Exercise
A reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner
Mindfulness Meditation
