Psychology in Everyday Life: Chapter 10

lymphocytes

the two types of white blood cells that are part of the body's immune system:
B Lymphocytes: Release antibodies that fight bacterial infections
T Lymphocytes: attache cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Fight or flight response

an emergency response, including activity f the sympathetic nervous system that mobilizes energy and activy for attacking or escpaing a threat

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three stages-alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Three types of stressors:

catastrophe, significant life changes, daily hassles

Tend and befriend response

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

Psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural and endocrine processes combine to affect our immune system and health

Coronary Heart Disease

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in the US and many other countries

Type A

competitive, hard working, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people

Type B

Easy going, relaxed people

Coping

reducing stress using emotional, cognitive or behavioral methods

Emotion focused coping

attempting to reduce stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our own stress reaction

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Catastrophe

unpredictable large scale events such as earthquakes, floods, wildfires and storms.

Daily Hassles

spotty cell phone connections, irritating housemates, lines lines at the store

Significant Life Events

leaving homes, becoming divorced, having a loved one die

Personal Control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External locus of control

the perception that chance our outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal locus of control

The perception that we control our own fate

Optimism

anticipation of positive outcomes. Optimists are people who expect the best and expect their efforts to lead to good things.

Pessimism

anticipation of negative outcomes. Pessimists are people who expect the worst and doubt that their goals will be achieved.

Aerobic Exercise

Sustained activity that increases heart and lung fitness, may also reduce depression and anxiety

Faith factor

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

Mindfulness meditation

attending to current experience in a nonjudgmental accepting manner

Three factors that help explain why religiously active people might be healthier and live longer

Healthy lifestyles, social support and positive emotions

Resilience

the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma

Feel good do good phenomenon

our tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Subjective well being

self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well being to judge our quality of life.

Adaptation level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments relative to a neural level defined by our past experiences

Relative deprivation

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

How does our appraisal of an event affect our stress reaction, and what are the three main types of stressors?

If we appraise an event as challenging, we will be aroused and focused in preparation for success. If we appraise an event as a threat, we will experience a stress reaction, and our health may suffer.

How does the body respond to stress?

People may react to stress by withdrawing, turning to alcohol, or becoming aggressive.

How does stress influence our immune system?

Stress takes energy away from the immune system, inhibiting the activities and if B and T lymphocytes, macrophages, and natural killer (NK) cells. This leaves us more vulnerable to illness and disease

Hoe does stress increase coronary heart disease risk?

The fight or flight stress reaction may divert blood from the liver to the muscles, leaving excess cholesterol circulating the bloodstream. Stress can also trigger altered heart rhythms.

What are 2 basic ways that people cope with stress?

We use direct, problem focused coping strategies when we feel a sense of control over a situation and these are usually most effective
When lacking the sense of control, we may need to use emotion focused coping strategies to protect our long term well being. These strategies can be harmful if misused

How does our sense of control influence stress and health?

Feelings of loss of personal control can trigger physical symptoms, such as increased stress hormones and rising blood pressure. A series of uncontrollable events can lead to learn helplessness.
Those who develop and maintain self control achieve more academic and social success and are healthier.

How well does aerobic exercise help manage stress and improve well being?

Exercise increases arousal and triggers serotonin activity.

In what ways might relaxation and meditation influence stress and health?

By relaxing muscles, lowering blood pressure, improving immune functioning, and lessening anxiety and depression

What are the causes and consequences of happiness?

A good mood brightens people's perceptions of the world. Happy people tend to be healthy, energized, and satisfied with life. Even significant good or bad events dont usually change our subjective weill being for long.

Selye's general adaptation system (GAS) consists or an alarm reaction followed by (blank), then (blank)

Resistance, exhaustion

When faced with stress, women are more likely than men to experience the (blank) and (blank) response

Tend and Befriend

The number of short term illnesses and stress related psychological disorders was higher than usual in months following an earthquake. Such findings suggest that:

Experiencing a very stressful event increases a person's vulnerability to illness

Stress hormones released in response to a signal from the brain suppresses (blank), the immune cells that ordinarily attack bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, and other foreign substances

Lymphocytes

Research has shown that people are at increased risk from cancer a year or so after experiencing depression, helplessness, or bereavement. In describing this link, researchers are quick to point out that:

Stress does not create cancer cells, but it weakens the body's natural defense against them

A Chinese proverb warns, "the fire you kindle for your enemy often burns you more than him". How is this true of Type A individuals?

Type A individuals frequently experience negative emotions, during which the sympathetic nervous system diverts blood away from the livers. Type A individuals harm themselves more by directing anger at others

The components of the Type A personality that have been linked most closely to coronary heart disease are anger and other (blank) feelings

Negative

When faced with situations over which you feel you have no control, it is most effective to use (emotion/problem) focused coping

Emotion

Research has showed that a dog will respond with learned helplessness if it has received repeated shocks and has had:

No control over the shocks

When elderly patients take an active part in managing their own care and surroundings, their morale and health tend to improve. Such findings indicate that people do better when they experience an (internal/external) locus of control

Internal

People have close relationships are less likely to die prematurely than those who dont, supporting this idea that:

Social support has a beneficial effect on health

Because it triggers the release of mood boosting neurotransmitters such as serotonin, (blank) exercise raises energy levels and helps alleviate depression and anxiety

Aerobic

Research on the faith factor has found that:

Religiously active people tend to outlive those who are not religiously active

One of the most consistent findings of psychological research is that happy people are also:

More likely to help others

After moving to a new apartment, you find that the street noise irritatingly loud, but after a while, it no longer bothers you. This reaction illustrates the

Adaptation level phenomenon

A philosopher observed that we cannot escape envy, because there will always be someone more successful, more accomplished, or richer with whom to compare ourselves. In psychology, this observation is embodied in the (blank) principle

Relative deprivation