The 'Fight or Flight' Response

What is the ‘fight or flight’ response?

It is an adaptive response inherited from ancestors in response to stress

It primes the body to do something, whether that be to run away or staying to fight the stressor

1st stage of the process

Sympathomedullary pathway is activated

2nd stage of the process

Hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland

3rd stage of the process

Sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is activated

4th stage of the process

Adrenal medulla is instructed to release adrenaline

5th stage of the process

Physiological changes in the body occurs to either fight or flight the stressor

What is the ‘rest and digest’ response?

When the parasympathetic branch of the ANS returns the body back to its normal rested state once the stressor has passed

Limitation - bias

Research suggests that it suffers from beta bias

Fight or flight doesn’t apply to women

Taylor et al did research and found that women in stressful situations protect themselves by caring and nurturing their young or by forming alliances with others

Evaluation - research

Differences found between male and female genes which could explain why the fight or flight response only applies to males

Lee and Harley found that the SRY gene found on the male Y chromosome is what is responsible for the FFR during stressful times

SRY gene absent in females so not generalisable

Limitation - health

Fight or flight response has a negative impact on health in modern times

It is seen to be adaptive for stressful situations in the past that required energetic responses such as encountering animal predators

Modern day stressors like exam stress don’t need this and repeatedly activate the FFR which can lead to health conditions such as high blood pressure leading to heart disease

Limitation - criticism

Model criticised for being incomplete

Gray proposes that animals also freeze before fleeing or fighting as to gather information about the situation and the best reaction whilst they are hypervigilant

Limits the theory as reductionist