Chapter 12 - Emotions, Stress, and Health

Question 0

Emotions are a mix of:

Answer 0

Expressive behavior (yelling)
Bodily arousal (sweat, pounding heart)
Conscious experiences (thoughts and feelings)

Question 1

What is an emotion?

Answer 1

A emotion is a full mind / body / behavior response to a situation / stimulus change.

Question 2

What is the James-Lange theory? (of body-mind emotion bleh)

Answer 2

Our body arousal happens first and then the cognitive awareness and label for the feeling: “I’m angry.”

Emotion is our conscious awareness of our physiological responses to stimuli.

Question 3

What is the Cannon-Bard theory? (of body-mind emotion bleh)

Answer 3

Human body responses run parallel to the cognitive responses rather than causing them.

The conscious / cognitive experience happens at the same time as our body is responding.

Question 4

What is the Schachter-Singer theory? (of body-mind emotion bleh)

Answer 4

“Two Factor Theory”
Body + cognitive label = emotion.

Emotions do not exist until we add a label to whatever body sensations we are feeling.

Ex. I face a stranger and my heart is pounding. Why? Lust? Excitement? Anger?

The label completes the emotion.

Question 5

Define the spillover effect.

Answer 5

Subjects are injected with adrenaline.

They interpreted their agitation to whatever emotion the others in the room appeared to be feeling: the emotion label “spilled over” from others.

Ex. Mob situations.

Question 6

What are emotions without awareness / cognition?

Answer 6

Some emotional reactions, especially fears, likes, and dislikes, develop in a “low road” through the brain, skipping conscious thought.

Question 7

What is the “low road?”

Answer 7

In scary / simple situations, the thought process goes directly through the amygdala, skipping conscious thought.

Ex. Study where people were flashed pictures of fearful eyes. They didn’t know what they had seen, but amygdala activity increased.

Question 8

What is the “high road?”

Answer 8

Regular thought, when thoughts go through the cortex.

Question 9

What is the role of the autonomous nervous system in embodied emotion?

Answer 9

The physiological arousal felt during various emotion is orchestrated by the sympathetic nervous system which triggers activity and changes in various organs.

Sympathetic - arousing.
Parasympathetic - calming.

Question 10

How do emotions differ in body signs?

Answer 10

It is difficult to see difference in emotions from measuring only heart rate, breathing, and perspiration.

There is a large overlap in the patterns of activity in the brain.

There are, however, some small brain differences - more amygdala activity with fears than anger, etc.

Question 11

What side of the frontal lobe generates more positive emotions?

Answer 11

Left.

Question 12

What side of the frontal lobe generates more negative emotions?

Answer 12

Right.

Question 13

Detecting emotion in others:

Answer 13

People read a great deal of emotional content in the eyes / face.

Those who have been abused are biased toward seeing fearful faces as angry.

Autistic people are not as good at reading emotions.

Question 14

Emotional expression in men vs. women.

Answer 14

Women are generally more skilled at detecting emotions in others and reading nonverbal behavior.

When shown a movie, male and female viewers did not differ much in self-reported emotions / physiological responses, but the women’s face showed more emotion.

Question 15

Are there universally recognized emotions?

Answer 15

There are universally understood facial expressions.

People blind from birth show the same facial expressions as people with sight. This suggests that the origin of facial expressions must be largely genetic.

Cultures do differ in how much emotion is expressed.

Question 16

How can you tell what emotions someone is feeling?

Answer 16

Context + look at facial expressions, body language, and environment.

Question 17

Define the facial feedback effect.

Answer 17

Facial position and muscle changes can alter which emotion we feel.

When you smile a lot you generally feel happier. Fake a relaxed smile and you might feel better.

People with Botox can’t smile / frown as much so they report feeling less intense emotions.

Question 18

What are the ten basic emotions according to Carroll Izard?

Answer 18

Carroll Izard suggested there are seven basic emotions present at birth: anger, happiness, interest, fear, sadness, disgust, and surprise, plus contempt, shame, and guilt.

If these emotions are present at birth, they must serve a purpose for our survival.

Question 19

What do controlled expressions of anger promote?

Answer 19

Reconciliation rather than retaliation.

Ex. a non-accusing statement of feeling.

Question 20

What is the catharsis myth?

Answer 20

That we can reduce anger by releasing it in hostile outbursts. This is false because when you act angrier, you feel angrier.

Question 21

What is the best method for coping with anger?

Answer 21

Waiting. Distraction, exercise, verbal expression, hobby - something to take your mind off of it.

Question 22

Describe the feel good, do good phenomenon.

Answer 22

Happy people are better decision makers, cooperate more easily, live healthier, are more tolerant, and more socially connected. They are also more generous and charitable towards others.

Question 23

Can money buy you happiness?

Answer 23

If it gets you out of poverty, yes.

Once you have enough money or comfort and security, gaining more and more money matters less and less.

Ex. Once your current condition improves, you are initially very happy, then this becomes your new “normal” level and you need something even better.

Happiness is relative to your own past experiences and to others’ health and success.

Question 24

What is happiness correlated to?

Answer 24

Happy people tend to have high self-esteem, are optimistic and outgoing, have close friendships, have work and leisure that engage skills, sleep well, exercise, and are religious.

Happiness is unrelated to age, gender, being a parent, and physical attractiveness.

Question 25

What determines your “happiness set point?”

Answer 25

Genes, culture, personal experiences, and outlook.

Question 26

Define stressor.

Answer 26

A stressor is an event / condition that we view as threatening, challenging, or overwhelming. It can be real or imagined.

Question 27

What are the categories of stressors?

Answer 27

Catastrophes - generally viewed as a disaster by everyone.

Significant life changes - can be positive (promotion) or negative (divorce).

Chronic daily hassles.

Low social status / power - poverty, oppressive political condition, being bullied, etc.

Question 28

Define appraisal.

Answer 28

Deciding whether to view something as a stressor or not - subjective process.

Question 29

Define stress reaction.

Answer 29

Any emotion and physical response to the stressor.

Question 30

Define stress.

Answer 30

The process of appraising and responding to a stressor.

Question 31

What is the body’s stress response system?

Answer 31

“Fight or flight.”
Sympathetic nervous system.
Epinephrine and norepinephrine.
Cortisol and other stress hormones.

Three phases: alert, resistance, exhaustion.

Question 32

How does stress increase our risk of disease?

Answer 32

Psychoneuroimmunology - stress doesn’t make you sick but it makes sickness worse and last longer because the body is less able to fight diseases and viruses.

It takes energy to fight off intruders. Stress creates a competing energy need and leaves us less able to resist infection.

Question 33

Stress is closely linked to what disease?

Answer 33

Coronary heart disease.

Many factors contribute: genes, smoking, inactivity, diet.

Question 34

What are some characteristics of a Type A personality?

Answer 34

Impatient, reactive, verbally aggressive, competitive, easily angered.

Type As have an increased risk for heart attacks.

The most toxic component of this personality is anger.

Question 35

What are some characteristics of a Type B personality?

Answer 35

Relaxed.

Question 36

What is chronic stress?

Answer 36

The repeated release of stress hormones.

Question 37

What are the health consequences of chronic stress?

Answer 37

The stress hormone cortisol helps our bodies respond to brief stress. Chronically high cortisol levels damage the body.

Ex. persistent stress + negative behavior = increased smoking and drinking, less sleep.

Question 38

What are the two strategies for coping with stress and explain?

Answer 38

Problem focused coping - reduce the stressors by working out the conflict of tackling a difficult project. (directed outward)

Emotion focused coping - reduce the emotional impact of stress by getting support, comfort, and perspective from others. (directed inward)

Question 39

Talk about optimistic people and control.

Answer 39

Optimistic people expect to have more control and to cope better with stressful events and have stronger immune systems.

Question 40

Describe the experiment about perceived level of control and the mice.

Answer 40

The “executive” rat was able to turn off the shocks and the “subordinate” rat was not. Later the “subordinate” rat had more health problems and was more stressed.

Why?
Losing control provokes an outpouring of stress hormones. Blood pressure increases and immune responses drop.

Question 41

What are some benefits of having close relationships?

Answer 41

Having close relationships is associated with improved health and longevity.

Having close relationships calms and reduces blood pressure and stress hormones.

They foster stronger immune functioning.

Confiding in others helps manage painful feelings.

Question 42

Discuss aerobic exercise and health.

Answer 42

Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of heart disease, cognitive decline and dementia, and early death.

Aerobic exercise reduces depression and anxiety and improves management.

Question 43

Discuss lifestyle modification and health.

Answer 43

Experiment: Survivors of heart attacks were separated into two groups - control, with diet, exercise, and medication - and lifestyle modification, who were told to smile more, eat slower, laugh more, and spend more time with family, along with control group advice.

The lifestyle modification group led to reduced heart attack rates.

Question 44

Discuss religious involvement and health.

Answer 44

Religiously active people tend to live longer than those who are not religiously active.

Why?
Healthy lifestyle behavior, social support, relaxed meditation and prayer, feelings of acceptance, and hope for the future.