Psych 1235 Final Flashcards
Stress
involves any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities.
What are the three ways psychologists view stress?
A: 1) As a stimulus, 2) As a response, 3) As an organism-environment interaction.
What are minor stressors and why are they important?
Routine hassles that can cumulatively impact well-being more than major events.
Q: What are the three categories of stressors?
Acute, chronic, and anticipatory.
What are primary and secondary appraisals?
Primary: Evaluating relevance and threat level. Secondary: Evaluating ability to cope.
Q: What is ambient stress?
Chronic, negative environmental conditions like noise or pollution.
How does culture influence stress?
A: Cultural context shapes stress appraisal; discrimination and acculturation are major stressors for some.
What is the stress hormone?
Cortisol.
Internal conflict
– “occurs when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression.”
Q: What are the three stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome?
is a “model of the body’s stress response, consisting of three stages.”
1. Alarm reaction – initial response to threat, fight-or-flight response engages.
2. Resistance – if threat continues, physiological changes stabilize, coping begins.
3. Exhaustion – if the threat continues too long, the body’s resources are depleted, leading to physical exhaustion and illness
Coping: Can be adaptive or maladaptive.
Internal conflicts come in three types:
- Approach – approach – must make a choice between two attractive goals.
- Avoidance – avoidance – must make a choice between two unattractive goals.
- Approach – avoidance – must choose whether or not to pursue ONE goal, which has both pros and cons.
Measuring Stressful Life Events
► Life Event Scales ► To quantify the amount of life stress that a person has experienced over a given period of time
Pressure –
* Two basic types of pressure:
“involves expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way.”
* Two basic types of pressure:
* Pressure to perform by executing tasks and responsibilities quickly, efficiently, and successfully.
* Pressure to conform to expectations.
* Pressure is often self-imposed.
*Life scripts:
A cultural narrative that guides autobiographical memories and prescribes the age norms for important events in an individual’s life.
- Common negative emotional responses to stress include:
- Annoyance, anger, and rage
- Apprehension, anxiety, and fear
- Dejection, sadness, and grief
- Negative emotions are expected in response to stressful events.
- Maybe one’s ability to talk about them that makes the difference in experiencing severe reactions to stress.
- Stress can also prompt positive emotional responses:
- Gratitude
- Renewed love for friends and family
- Positive emotions:
- Contribute to building social, intellectual, and physical resources that can be helpful in dealing with stress
Bonds can be strengthened
Hope for future events
Responding to Stress (Physiological)
Endocrine system consists of glands that secrete chemicals called hormones into the bloodstream.
* Two brain-body pathways control our physiological responses to stress via signals to the endocrine system.
* Both pathways are activated by hypothalamus.
* Stress can suppress certain aspects of the immune response.
* Stress can interfere with neurogenesis, the formation of new neurons, in the brain
Q: What is catastrophic thinking?
A: Exaggerating the magnitude of problems due to irrational beliefs.
- Disruption of cognitive function:
- Increased tendency to jump to conclusions.
- Increased tendency to do unsystematic, poorly organized review of options.
- Decreased memory functioning.
- Stress may contribute to:
- Poor academic performance * Insomnia and other sleep disturbances * Lowered relationship satisfaction * Sexual difficulties * Substance abuse
- Stress may contribute to onset of psychological disorders (e.g., depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, eating disorders).
- Stress can have positive effects.
1. It can promote positive psychological change, or posttraumatic growth.
2. It can inoculate and psychologically prepare people so that they are less affected by future stress
Factors in Stress Tolerance
* Some people withstand stress better than others. * There are many moderator variables that may reduce the impact of stress on physical and mental health:
- Social support – “aid and support provided by members of one’s social networks.”
- Hardiness – “a disposition marked by commitment, challenge, and control that is purportedly associated with strong stress resistance.”
- Moderator variables, continued
- Optimism – “a general tendency to expect good outcomes.” * Optimists engage in action-oriented, problem-focused, carefully planned coping, and are more willing to seek social support. * Pessimists deal with stress by avoiding it, giving up, or using denial. * Optimism is associated with better mental and physical health around the world
Coping 3 types
Coping refers to “efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress.“
* General points for consideration:
1. People cope with stress in many ways. 2. It is most adaptive to use a variety of coping strategies. 3. Coping strategies vary in their adaptive value.
3 Categories of Coping: 1. Problem - focused 2. Emotion - focused 3. Seeking Social Support
WHO FARED BETTER?
Control group fared the worst. Not surprising. Emotional-focused training group adapted better than the problem-focused group. Why? The situation is uncontrollable. Therefore, an emotional focused coping strategy would be best.
►Social Support: example
Students doing exams who had more social support had higher levels of antibody that wards off respiratory infections. Social support acts as a buffer—reduces negative impact of stressful events.
Acute stress clear start and end point
Everyday life stresses can kill us slowly silently secretly
