Chapter 13 stress, coping and health

Question 1

primary appraisal is an

Answer 1

initial evaluation of whether an event is (1) irrelevant (2) relevant but not threatening (3) stressful

Question 2

secondary appraisal is an

Answer 2

evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with stress

Question 3

acute stressors are

Answer 3

threatening events that have a relatively short duration and clear end point

encounter a lion

flood

exam

Question 4

chronic stressors

Answer 4

threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit
annoying boss
debt
sick family member

Question 5

Frustration occurs

Answer 5

in any situation in which the pursuit of goals is thwarted
Traffic
failures and losses (I lost my phone)

Question 6

conflict occurs

Answer 6

when 2 or more incompatible motivations of behavioural impulses compete for expression

Question 7

approach-approach conflict is

Answer 7

a choice between two attractive goals
pizza or spaghetti
low stress

Question 8

avoidance-avoidance conflict is

Answer 8

a choice between 2 unattractive goals
pay 200 for chiro or stay in back pain
most unpleasant and highly stressful

Question 9

approach-avoidance conflict is

Answer 9

a choice must be made whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects

offered a spot at a good university but I don’t want to move to Waterloo

common and stressful

any time you take a risk you’re probably in this type of conflict:

if you ask someone out you are risking rejection

produce vacillation - you go back and forth / indecision

Question 10

The 4 main Stressors are

Answer 10

Frustration; conflict; life changes; pressure

Question 11

Describe the relationship between emotional arousal and task performance

Answer 11

if a task is simple, the optimal level of arousal is high

if a task is complex, the optimal level of arousal is low (you need to make a lot of decisions so you gotta stay cool)

and medium // medium

Question 12

Selye is associated with which term?

Answer 12

fight/flight

Question 13

the general adaptation syndrome is a model of the body’s stress response, consisting of three stages:

Answer 13

Selye

alarm, resistance and exhaustion

(1) Alarm: recognizes the existence of a threat
body goes into fight/flight

(2) Resistance happens as you get used to it, and stress is still high but plateaus

(3) the body’s resources for dealing are limited so you can go into exhaustion; chronic overreaction of stress response can have damaging physiological effects
called the disease of adaptation

Question 14

Discuss the two major pathways along which the brain sends signals to the endocrine system in response to stress

1st pathway is:

Answer 14

Hypothalamus

first pathway is through the ANS
Adrenals release catecholamines into the bloodstream which radiate through the body creating the FF response feeling

Question 15

Discuss the two major pathways along which the brain sends signals to the endocrine system in response to stress

2nd pathway is:

Answer 15

hypothalamus and through to the pituitary gland controlling the endocrine system

releases corticosteroid hormone that increase energy and ward off tissue inflammation

females tend to have milder stress responses than men between puberty and menopause pointing to the idea
that estrogen may play a role in regulating the stress hormones

and perhaps account for why men have higher cardio diseases

stress may affect neurogenesis

Question 16

coping refers to

Answer 16

active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress; maybe adaptive or maladaptive approach to dealing with things

Question 17

coping strategy 1) Learned Helplessness is

Answer 17

is passive behaviour produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events

occurs when people begin to believe that events are beyond their control

associated with increased distress and can contribute to depression

BLAMING ONESELF is big way to respond to stress; excessive self-blame is really destructive

Question 18

coping strategy 2) Aggression

Answer 18

is any behaviour that is intended to hurt someone either physically or verbally

always cause by frustration but not in a one-to-one sense (Freud called it displacement)

according to Freud it is adaptive because you are releasing pent-up energy leading to a catharsis

it used to be common to say that blowing off steam and releasing aggression is healthy, but more modern

findings show the opposite, that it creates even more

Question 19

coping strategy 3) Indulging Oneself

Answer 19

reduced impulse control

overeating, smoking, drinking etc…

men gambling problems twice as often as women
internet addiction consists of spending inordinate amounts of time at the internet and inability to control online use ; leads to anxiety, depression

Question 20

name 5 defense mechanisms

Answer 20

Denial of Reality
Fantasy 
Intellectualization 
Undoing 
Overcompensation

Question 21

Denial of Reality

Answer 21

protecting oneself from unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive or face it

smoker concludes that evidence linking smoking to health problems is scientifically worthless

Question 22

Fantasy

Answer 22

gratifying frustrated desires by imaginary achievements

a socially inept and inhibited young man imagines himself chosen by a group of women to provide them with sexual satisfaction

Question 23

Intellectualization

Answer 23

Cutting off emotion from hurtful situations or separating incompatible attitudes so that the appear unrelated

a prisoner on death row awaiting execution resists appeal on his behalf and coldly insists that the letter of the law be followed

Question 24

undoing

Answer 24

atoning for or trying to magically dispel unacceptable desires or acts

a teenager who feels guilty about masturbation touches a doorknob 20 times following the occurrence of each act

Question 25

overcompensation

Answer 25

covering up felt-weakness by emphasizing some desirable characteristics, or over-gratifying in another area a dangerously overweight woman goes on an eating binge when neglected by her husband

Question 26

positive illusions may be useful at times for well-being; when?

Answer 26

normal people tend to have overly positive self-images depressives have less favorable but more realistic self-images normal people overestimate the control they have over chance events depressives are less prone to this illusion normals can project positively into the future but still the normals have a higher rate of well-being probably there's an "optimal margin of illusion" i.e. small ones are helpful while big ones are not

Question 27

constructive coping is

Answer 27

relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressful events (1) involves confronting problems directly task-relevant and action oriented conscious effort to rationally evaluate your options so you can try to solve your problems (2) based on realistic appraisals of stress and coping resources balancing out self-deception and excessive amounts (3) learning to regulate disruptive emotional reactions

Question 28

Baumeister theory: pressure to perform

Answer 28

makes people self-conscious which disrupts attention // uses working memory space students who wrote down their fears before an exam did better, so it proved to be a good mechanism for coping

Question 29

Burnout involves

Answer 29

physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a lowered sense of self-efficacy that can be brought on gradually by chronic work related stress

Question 30

PTSD involves

Answer 30

enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event

Question 31

Positive effects of stress (positive psychology movement)

Answer 31

stress can promote personal growth and self-improvement sick people have reported deriving benefits from their adversity force people to develop new skills, re-evaluate priorities, learn new insights and acquire new strengths adaptation process initiated by stress may lead to personal changes that are for the better conquering = better coping mechanisms for the future

Question 32

Psychosomatic diseases

Answer 32

were genuine physical ailments that were thought to be caused in part by stress and other psychological factors Typically high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, asthma, skin disorders, tension headaches but they soon realized that stress causes all kinds of problems so there's nothing unique about psychosomatic diseases so the term fell out of use

Question 33

3 traits of a TYPE A personality

Answer 33

strong competitive orientation impatience and time urgency anger and hostility early peaks in career may be the factors that set the conditions for early death stress = early death, but evidence is not conclusive or thorough enough but anger/hostility seems to be related to heart disease so that is the component in the TYPE A equation that causes the problems

Question 34

TYPE B personality is marked by

Answer 34

relatively relaxed, patient, easy-going, amicable behaviour

Question 35

3 things that moderate individual difference in stress tolerance

Answer 35

social support, optimism, conscientiousness

Question 36

ALBERT ELLIS | rational-emotive therapy is an

Answer 36

approach that focuses on altering clients' patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive emotions and behaviour

Question 37

catastrophic thinking involves

Answer 37

unrealistically negative appraisals of stress that exaggerate the magnitude of one's problems

Question 38

A B C's of ALBERT ELLIS | rational-emotive therapy

Answer 38

A) Activating event the thing like a cancelled date a job loss B) Belief system your appraisal or belief about the event people often go into catastrophic thinking here C) Consequence consequence of your negative thinking this causes more distress when your belief system is set up to go catastrophic most people think that A causes C but his assertion is that B causes C , which it the buddhist second arrow

Question 39

Albert Ellis suggestion around stress coping

Answer 39

learn to detect catastrophic thinking dispute irrational assumptions that cause it i.e. subject your reasoning process to scrutiny root out assumptions from which you derive your conclusions