Key Concepts in Psychology and Stress Management

AP PSYCH VOCAB TEST

Approach-Approach

In which two attractive but incompatible goals pull us - to choose tacos or pizza, a dance or a music class, the green or gray hoodie.

Broaden & Build Theory

Proposes that positive emotions broaden our awareness, which over time helps us build novel and meaningful skills and resilience that improve well-being.

Catharsis

in psychology, the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

Coping

Conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce and manage unpleasant emotions.

Daily Hassles

Routine nuisances of day-to-day living.

Distress

Umbrella term encompasses multiple common psychological conditions, ranging from subclinical symptoms to clinical diagnoses of depression, anxiety, stress, or posttraumatic stress disorder.

Emotion Focus Coping

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction (when we believe we cannot change a situation).

Feel Good - Do Good

People’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

Health Psychology

A subfield of psychology that explores the impact of psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors on health and wellness.

Internal Locus of Control

The perception that we control our own fate.

Learned Helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Longitudinal Study

A research that is done over a long period of time, over the years.

Personal Control

Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.

Psychoneuroimmunology

The study of how psychological neutral, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of promoting strengths and virtues that foster well-being, resilience, and positive emotions, and that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Primary Appraisal

Once we’ve assessed (appraised) an event as the stressor.

Problem focused Coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly - by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor (stressors we address directly).

Relative Deprivation

The perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves.

Secondary Appraisal

Assesses our ability to respond to the primary stressor.

Self Control

The ability to be in command of one’s behavior (overt, covert, emotional, or physical) and to restrain or inhibit one’s impulses.

Stress

A feeling of emotional strain and pressure.

Type A

A type A personality is defined by traits like ambition, drive, and competitiveness, which can lead to a high level of success.

Type B

People with a type B personality may be easygoing and laid-back, and approach tasks with less urgency.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

Such as abuse or other traumas, can influence long-term stress responses and negatively impact health and well-being.