Chapter 11 - Stress

Exam 4

stress

• physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging

stressors

• things that cause stress

distress

• experience unpleasent stressors

eustress

• positive events that still make demands on a person to adapt or change

• ALSO

• the optimal amount of stress that people need to promote health and wellbeing

arousal theory

• a certain amount of stress is needed for people to feel content and function well

• ex. if you have no stress you won’t do things (no stress for exam - won’t study)

catastrophes

• an unpredictable event that happens on a large scale and creates tremendous amounts of stress and feelings of threat 

• have large adaptive demands

• impact of these can affect unborn kids too

major life changes

• significant changes in one’s life

• ex. marriage, kids

social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)

• assessment that measures the amount of stress in a person’s life over a year period that results from major life events

• units of things that cause life changes

• as the score increases the risk of illness and accidents also increases

college undergrad stress scale (CUSS)

• sees how much stress you might have 

• SRRS but for college students 

hassles

• daily annoyances

• less intense but more frequent

lazarus and folkman hassles scale

• rate items on how much of a hassle they’d be

• 0 - no hassle, 3 - severe hassle

• predicts short term illnesses

pressure

• happens when given urgent demands or expectations for behavior from an outside source 

uncontrollability

• not able to affect the source of the stress

• how much control you have on a situation 

• less control more stress 

• Uncontrollable AND unpredictable = HIGH stress

frustration

• happens when people are blocked from achieving a desired goal or fulfilling a perceived need

external frustrations

• losses

• rejections

• delay

internal

• personal frustrations

• can’t attain something because of personal characteristics

• ex. can’t play basketball because i’m short

persistence

• continue your efforts in order to get around whatever is causing the stress

frustration-aggression hypothesis

• frustration leads to aggression -

displaced agression

• take out one’s frustration on a less threatening more available target 

escape or withdrawl

• leaving the presence of a stressor

• ex. drugs, fantasy, suicide

approach-approach

• have to choose between 2 desirable goals

• ex. win--win situation

• not too much stress involved

avoidance-avoidance

• choose between 2 undesirable goals

• lose-lose situation

• will try and delay the decision

approach-avoidance

• have to choose or not choose 1 goal that has positive and negative aspects

• ex. moving to school in NY

  • good prestige

  • lots of money

double approach-avoidance conflict

• have two goals and each has positive and negative aspects

• ex. choosing a house

• leads to indecisiveness

vacillation

indecisiveness

multiple approach-avoidance conflicts

• more than 2 goals with each having positive and negative aspects

• ex. choosing a college 

autonomic nervous system

• automatic activities are controlled by this

• sympathetic

  • fight or flight

• parasympathetic

  • returns everything to normal

general adaptation syndrome

• three stages of the body’s physiological reaction to stress

  • what is happening to your body when it goes through stress

alarm

• sympathetic nervous system activates when body first reacts to a stressor

• burst of energy because adrenal glands are releasing hormones and all your vitals are increasing

resistance

• as stress continues, body is settling into sympathetic activity

• less of the alarm stage (wears off)

• this stage continues until stressor ends

what affects the brain’s processing so you won’t feel pain in the resistance stage

norepinephrine

analgesia

insensitivity to pain

exhaustion

• when body resources are gone

• can lead to stress related diseases and death

• prolonged secretions of stress hormones during exhaustion can lead to the most harmful effects of stress

  • you are still stressing but your body has nothing to give anymore

immune system

• system of cells, organs, and chemicals of the body that respond to attacks from diseases, infections, and injuries 

psychoneuroimmunology

• the study of the effects of psychological factors on the immune system

vagus nerve

• longest nerve that connects the body to the brain

stress activates the same system that is used to deal with a…

infection

dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

• provides stress toleration to humans

• regulates effects of stress on the hippocampus

stress increases the activity of the immune system because it thinks its getting sick when get the priming where the white blood cells surround bacteria and releasees chemicals that activate receptor sites on the vagus nerve

continuous stress can cause what to the immune system inflammatory response (describe)

• breakdown

• damaged cells release chemicals that then cause the blood vessels to leak fluids into surrounding tissues that can cause inflammation 

  • increased inflammation causes more diseases

allostatsis

• maintains stability through change to meet both perceived and anticipated demands

  • through this the body protects itself form internal and external stress

allostatic load/allostatic overload

• prolonged exposure to stress hormones 

• results in wear and tear on the brain and body 

resillience

• our capacity to avoid the negative biological, psychological, and social outcomes of stress

coronary heart disease

• build up of plaque in the arteries of the heart

stress and the liver

• affects its functioning

• the liver is not activated while the SNS is aroused in the stress process (fighting and flighting, returning the body to normal) so it can’t clear fat and cholestrol from the bloodstream

type 2 diabetes

• excessive weight gain

• pancreas insulin levels become less efficient as weight increases

cytokines

• a chemical released in the IS

• stress increases this and causes insulin resistance

  • sugar isn’t being processes properly

natural killer cells (NK)

• antivirus and anticancer cell

  • suppresses viruses and destroys tumors

• stress lowers this so body can’t fight cancerous growth

health psychology

• focuses on how physical activities, psychological traits, stress reactions, and social relationships affect overall health and rate of illness

clinical health psychology

• subfield of health psychology

• uses the knowledge gained by researches in the field to promote healthy lifestyles 

behavioral psychology

• combine medicine and psych related to health issues

Lazarus cognitive-mediational theory of emotions

• cognitive view on stress

• the way that people think about a stressor is a major factor in how stressful that stressor becomes

primary appraisal (describe seeing things as a threat and a challenge)

• estimating the severity of the stressor and classifying it as a threat, a challenge, or a harm or loss that has already occurred

• if seen as threat

  • negative emotions arise and can’t cope with threat

  • ex. seeing a quiz as threatening because wasn’t preprared

• if seen as a challenge

  • will meet that challenge

  • ex. excited for psych exam because see it as an opportunity to do well

  • better way

secondary appraisal 

• people who have identified a threat, or harmful effect must estimate the resources they have available for coping with the stress

• if adequate

  • less degree of stress

cognitive reappraisal approach

• tell participants to reappraise (reevaluate) their arousal while experiencing a stressor to help shift negative effects to positive ones

• trying to see how you can go from stress to primary appraisal

  • trying to get away from the stress and reappraise the situation 

• ex. telling you stress is good right before getting on an amusement ride

arousal

stress

amount of arousal in an easy task

• high moderate level for optimal performance-

amount of arousal in a difficult task

• low moderate level for an optimal performance

Yerkes-Dodson Law

• when tasks are simple a high level of arousal leads to better performance and when the task is difficult low levels of arousal lead to better performance

Type A personality

• workaholics

• competitive

• easily annoyed

• usually unsatisfied

• can’t relax

• fit neuroticism personality trait

  • worry a lot and moody

• more likely to develop heart disease

Type B personality

• easygoing

• slow to anger

• not competitive or driven 

Type C personality

• try to keep the peace

• difficulty in expressing emotions

• internalize anger (not good, can lead to cancer)

  • weakens the IS and slows recovery

Type D personality

• distressed people

• prone to chronic stress

• experience social inhibition (don’t do well or won’t do something because of others there)

Hardy personality

• thrive on stress but lack anger and hostility of the Type A personality

• don’t see things that go wrong as a threat but a challenge

• feel in control of their lives

• AKA Type H

3 C’s in Hardy Personality

• they feel commitment to their beliefs and work

• they feel like they are in control of their lives

• see things as a challenge

optimist 

• tend to look for positive outcomes 

• have high levels of T cells that increase function of the Immune System

pessimist

• expect worst to happen

4 ways optimism may affect lifespan

1. optimists are less likely to develop learned helplessness

2. they will take care of their health by preventative measures because they believe their actions make a different in what will happen

3. less likely to be depressed

4. have better immune systems because they are less stressed

burnout

• psychological strain resulting from prlonged response to job stressors 

• negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior as a result of prolonged stress and frustration

• mental and physical exhaustion

• leads to withdrawal 

  • drop in work quality, late, lack of enthusiasm 

acculturation

• the process of adapting to a new or different culture 

acculturative stress

• stress resulting from the need to change and adapt to the dominant culture

integration

• how to deal with acculturative stress

• the individual tries to maintain a sense of the original cultural identity while also trying to form a positive relationship with members of the majority culture

assimilation 

• how to deal with acculturative stress

• minority person gives up old cultural identity and completely adopts the majority culture’s ways

• moderate stress

separation (how to deal with acculturative stress)

• how to deal with acculturative stress

• minority person rejects the majority cultures ways and tries to maintain old cultural identity

• high stress 

marganlized

• don’t join majority or maintain their old cultural

• don’t feel apart of either one

  • no security from the familiar culture or acceptance from the majority one

homeopathy

• the treatment of disease by introducing small amounts of substances that would cause disease 

law of infinitesimals

• dilute treatments to levels that won’t cause symptoms

coping strategies

• actions people can take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors

problem-focused coping

• attempting to deal directly with the stressor

• ex. not understanding prof so go to their office hours

emotion-focused coping

• involves changing the way a person feels or emotionally reacts to a stressor

• ex. talking to a friend about the prof

meditation

• mental series of exercises meant to refocus attention and achieve a trancelike state of consciousnessc

concentrative meditation

• focus min on repetitive or unchanging stimulus so mind can be cleared and body can relax

mindfulness mediation

• form of concentrative meditation

• purposefully paying attention to the present moment without judging or evaluating that experience

progressive muscle relaxation

• tense your muscles and then relax them so you know how it feel for them to be relaxed

visualization

• use imagination to go to a calm place using as many senses as you can

social-support system

• network of people who can offer help to a person in need

tend and befriend

• women will become friends with enemies and try to negate the threat

what gene found on the Y chromosome heightens sympathetic activity to stress and the reason why men “fight or flight'“ in stress

SRY

what can hassles also be known as

minor life changes

issues with life events scale (SRRS, CUSS)

• can be dated/need revision

• counteracts the definition of stress that says it is based on appraisal

  • doesn’t take into account appraisal

emotional exhaustion

• emotional drain from work

depersonalization/cynicism

• clients/customers/patients are treated as objects

  • ex. feel like they are a hindrance to getting the job done

• depersonalization - “seeing customers like objects and not people”

• cynicism - “I hate this CFA job”

• ex. i hate my CFA job because I always have to smile

low personal achievement/lowered self-efficacy

• feel like don’t have real impact on workplace

• best efforts are seen as futile and no real motivation to improve

Lazarus cognitive-mediational theory image

giving up

• stop approaching goal so stress are no longer relevant

problems with giving up

• feel bad/guilty for stopping

  • leads to a different kind of stress

• people may erroneously believe they can’t do it

  • falsely believe that they can’t

  • ex. learned helplessness

agression

• act aggressively towards the thing causing stress (block goal attainment) 

• punch someone because it’ll get rid of stress they are causing me

problems with agression

• consequences are usually bad and cause stress themselves

  • ex. jail

better-than-average-effect

• widely held perception that one is better than average on a range of positive characteristics/qualities

self-indulgence

• find a rewarding task in which to engage or object to posses and get it

• ex. Ohill ice cream