Health Psychology Flashcards
What is stress?
Any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten your wellbeing
What determines whether people find events stressful?
Their primary appraisal
What is a primary appraisal?
initial evaluation of whether an event is irrelevant to you, relevant but not threatening, or stressful
What is a secondary appraisal?
an evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with the stress
What are acute stressors?
threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint
What are chronic stressors?
are threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit
What is frustration?
experienced whenever the pursuit of some goal is thwarted
What is conflict?
when two or more incompatible motivations or impulses compete with eachother
What are the three basic types of conflict? Explain them?
approach-approach: choosing between two attractive options (least stressful)
approach-avoidance: choice made about a single situation that has pros and cons
Avoidance-avoidance: choice between two bad goals (most stressful)
What are some common emotional responses to stress?
annoyance, anger, apprehension, fear, anxiety, dejection, sadness, grief
What is general adaption syndrome?
a model of the body’s stress response, consisting of 3 stages, alarm, resistance, and exhaustion
What is learned helplessness?
passive behaviour produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events
What does the social readjusment rating scale do?
measure change related stress, can also measure other stressful incidents
What is pressure a predictor of?
heart disease and psychological symptoms
Can periods of stress cause positive responses?
yes
