Personality, Managing Emotions and Stress Flashcards
What is personality?
A complex set of psychological qualities of an individual that influence a variety of characteristic behaviour patterns across different situations and over time
What is a personality type?
Distinct pattern of personality characteristics used to assign people to categories; qualitative differences; rather than differences in degree, used to discriminate among people
Are personality types an all or non phenomena?
Yes
If a person is assigned to one personality type, could he/she belong to another?
No, they could not belong to any other type within a system
Are there separate, discontinuous categories in which people fit?
Yes (e.g. first born child)
What is a trait?
Enduring qualities or attributes that predispose individuals to behave consistently across situations
Constant element of the self that makes the person who they are
(what you list if you are asked to describe a friend)
What are the personality difference theories?
- Allport
- Eysenck
- McCrae and Costa
- Social Learning and Cognitive Theories
- Theory of Expectancy
- Affect Theory
Allport
Stimulus > Trait > Response
(giving a Shyness Avoidance/withdrawal
speech)
How does Allport view traits?
Building blocks of personality and the source of individuality
Eysenck
Each of the four quadrants represents one of the four personality types
Combinations:
> Emotionally Unstable (Neurotic) & Extraverted
(Impulsive, Optimistic, Aggressive)
> Emotionally Unstable (Neurotic) & Introverted
(Unsociable, Pessimistic, Ancxious, Quiet, Moody)
> Emotionally Stable & Extraverted
(Sociable, Outgoing, Talkative, Easygoing, Carefee)
> Emotionally Stable & Introverted
(Passive, Careful, Thoughtful, Peaceful, Controlled, Calm)
What are the personality dimensions of McCrae and Costa?
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Openness to Experience
Extroversion
Conscientiousness - People tend to be…
Careful, dependable, self-disciplined
Agreeableness - People tend to be…
Courteous, good-natured, empathic, caring
Neuroticism - People tend to be…
Anxious, hostile, depressed
Openness to experience - People tend to be…
Imaginative, creative, curious, sensitive
Extroversion - People tend to be…
Outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive
Social Learning and Cognitive Theories
- Personal Determinants
- Behavioural Determinants
- Environmental Determinants
What does the social learning and cognitive theory emphasise?
We participate in creating our own personality
Theory of Expectancy
The extent to which people believe their behaviours in particular situations will bring about rewards
Locus of Control
A personality trait thought to distinguish between those who attribute responsibility for events to themselves (internal) or to external factors
Internal LOC VS. External LOC
Internal > You make things happen (E.g. I can determine my future)
External > Things happen to you (E.g. There is nothing I can do about my future)
Why is LOC important?
- Influence health related behaviours
- Adherence to recommended health care
- Modify our behaviour as HP’s
Emotion
Complex psychological state that involves three distinct components:
- PHYSIOLOGICAL response
- SUBJECTIVE (COGNITIVE) experience
- BEHAVIOURAL/EXPRESSIVE response
What factors make up a physiological response?
Blood pressure
Heart Rate
Respiratory changes
What factors make up a subjective (cognitive) experience?
Feelings/thoughts
What factors make up a behavioural/expressive response?
Facial changes
Postural changes
Deliberate actions
What is the difference between emotions and moods?
Emotions
- Intense feelings
- Specific to events
- Short lived (mins to hours)
Moods
- Less intense
- Lack contextual stimulus
- Longer in duration
Are emotions innate?
Innate or primary emotions include:
Happiness Sadness Fear Surprise Anger Disgust
Can infants respond without prior learning?
Yes, they respond to certain stimuli with a prewired emotional response to a wide range of circumstances
Affect Theory (Silvan Tomkins)
There were 9 affects to be innate and the source of all emotions
Positive (Affect Theory)
Interest/excitement
Enjoyment/joy
Neutral (Affect Theory)
Startle/Surprise
Negative (Affect Theory)
Fear/Terror
Anger/rage
Distress/Anguish
Shame/Humiliation
Disgust
Dissmell
How does the affect theory organise its affects?
Discreet categories connected with its response
E.g. joy > display of smiling)
How does affect theory differ from cognitive approaches?
Postulates that we are born with nine very basic emotions cause affects and all emotions are thought to stem from these affects
What would optimum mental health consist of?
Maximisation of positive affect
Minimisation of negative affect
Are emotional expressions universal? (Edman & Friesen)
All people share an overlap in ‘facial language’
> 7000 possible variety of expression
7 universally recognised and produced expressions of emotions
What are the 7 universally recognised and produced expressions of emotions?
- Happiness
- Surprise
- Sadness
- Anger
- Disgust
- Fear
- Contempt
Are emotions culturally conditioned?
Cultures have norms that govern emotional expression, s how we experience an emotion isn’t always how we show it (e.g. love)
How does culture influence emotional expressions?
Early life experiences impact innate emotional responses
Social rules / Social appropriateness
What are the 4 functions of emotions?
Motivational Function
Drive Attention
Social Level
Cognitive Function
Motivational Function
Arousing an individual to take action with regard to some experienced or imagined event
Drive Attention
Directing and sustaining behaviours towards specific goals
Social Level
Regulation of social interactions (closer to some people and distance from others)
Cognitive Function
Influences what an individual attends to - the way they perceive themselves/others - remembering various features of life situations
How can health professionals deal with patients and their emotions?
Listen Recognise Respond Make a plan Offer follow up
Addressing Emotions: The Empathic Response
- Identify the emotion (theirs/yours)
- Identify the source of the emotion
- Respond in a way that shows you have made the connection
- You do not have to feel the emotion yourself/agree
What is the number 1 rule?
BE SAFE!
Strategies for managing emotion PRIOR to the interaction
- Identify what is causing your emotional response
- Put personal experiences aside during upcoming interaction
Strategies for managing emotion - PRACTICE the interaction
- Imagine how they are going to react
- Clarify your goals
- Empathic/listening
- Validating emotions
- Bring a colleague
Strategies for managing emotion - DURING the interaction
Recognise when your emotions are impacting the situation
- HR
- Sweating
- Resp changes
- Repeating yourself
- Realising you are not listening
etc.
Stressors
Uncontrollable or unpredictable events that can alter our normal reaction to every day events (e.g. excessive workload)
Acute Stress
Rapid change in psychological and physiological which have clear onset and offset patterns
Chronic Stress
Continuous state of arousal in which an individual perceived demands are greater than the resources available for dealing with them, continuing over a long period of time
Walter Cannon - Fight or flight response
Primitive response that quick;y increases HR, respiration, blood pressure and serum cholesterol
The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - Selye
Aging/disease are caused by chronic exposure to stress
Biological explanation of how the body responds and adapts to stress
Steps of GAS
- Alarm Stage
- Resistance Stage
- Exhaustion
- Alarm Stage
Initial reaction of the body to stress - labels stressor as threat
Increase adrenaline
- Resistance Stage
Body’s defence becomes weaker as it needs to allocate energy to repair the damaged muscle tissues
If stressor if prolonged - body enters resistance (moderate arousal)
- Exhaustion
Persistent stress for a long period so the body starts to lose its ability to combat stressor
Taylor (2000) Tend and Befriend
In response to threat, oxytocin motivates women to seek out social support to help respond to challenge and aleviate the negative impact of stress
The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale (1967)
Whether or not stress contributes to illness
Life change unit - different weight for stress - more events = higher score
High score = more likely to become ill
Low 300
Cognitive Appraisal
Cognition, interpretation and evaluation of a stressor
Lazarus’s and Folkman’s Transition Model of Stress & Coping
More vulnerable to stress because of environment
Imbalance of perceived demands & coping resources
Demands/pressure exceed our resources or ability to cope
Stress arose from a mismatch between perceived demands and resources
Primary appraisal
whether a person has a PERSONAL STAKE in a particular encounter with their environment
Secondary Appraisal
Evaluate our coping options in order to deal with situation
