Seminar 2: Stress mindset

Question 1

what is a mindset?

Answer 1

• A generalised or overarching belief about a topic
  
  • Stable yet malleable (Dweck, 2008)
  • A portal between unconscious and conscious beliefs
  • May set off a chain of psychological, physiological and behavioural actions (e.g., goal striving, motivation)

Question 2

what is stress?

Answer 2

• Inevitable and unavoidable part of life for everyone
  
  • When you think that the demands of a stressful situation outweigh your ability to cope in stressful situations
  • When prolonged (i.e. chronic stress), stress is associated with poor psychological and physical health
  • Something you can learn to thrive in
  • Something you can change your mind about

Question 3

stress responses

Answer 3

If we judge a situation to be meaningful, our body responds to this by:
- Release of adrenaline
- Increase in heart rate
- Increase in breathing rate
- Oxytocin - encourages us to seek support and heals our heart
These responses can be beneficial to us if we consider them to be meaningful.

Question 4

what does stress mindset theory state?

Answer 4

• ‘Positive stress beliefs lead to positive rather than negative outcomes
  when dealing with stress’.

Question 5

What are the outcomes of a ‘stress-is-enhancing’ mindset?

Answer 5

• Research has found that stress mindset is directly linked to how stressed you feel and your level of physical wellbeing (e.g., Crum et al., 2013; Kilby & Sherman, 2016; Mansell, 2021)
  
  • Stress mindset has also been found to:
    ○ enhance academic performance
    ○ increase ‘approach’ behaviours and a ‘challenge’ state
    ○ be associated with increased energy levels (vitality)
    ○ be linked to decreases in depressive symptoms

Question 6

practical example of stress reappraisal

Answer 6

• E.g. Braga away – driving to the game.
  
  • “The increased heart rate is helping me to focus on
    getting to the game”.
  • Can you share an example where you have used this
    self-talk approach? What would you say to yourself to remind yourself that stress can be enhancing in the future?

Question 7

visualisation

Answer 7

• Otherwise known as ‘imagery’ or ‘mental rehearsal’, it allows us to experience an event in our head before the actual event has happened
  
  • Example shown by Robert Lewandowski ‘See it through your own eyes’
  • Visualisation (or imagery) can enhance our feelings of control of a situation by taking charge of our stress responses, thus tapping in to stress mindset theory