PSYC 201: Health & Well-Being

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering health psychology, stress appraisal, coping mechanisms, burnout, social support, and the determinants of subjective well-being from Chapter 11.

Biopsychosocial Model of Health

An approach holding that health and illness are determined by complex, interactive connections among biological factors (genetics, immune function), psychological factors (coping, emotions), and social system factors (support, socioeconomic status).

Subjective Well-Being

An individual's comprehensive cognitive and affective evaluation of their own life satisfaction and happiness.

Positive Psychology

A movement within psychology that applies scientific research to provide people with the knowledge and skills necessary to cultivate fulfilling and flourishing lives.

Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson's eight-stage model of lifespan personality growth, spanning from Trust vs Mistrust in infancy to Integrity vs Despair in older adulthood, with developmental challenges increasing in complexity.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Positive psychological transformation experienced by survivors of traumatic events following effective coping, social support, and deliberate cognitive reflection on positive outcomes.

Johari Window

A psychological framework for understanding self-awareness comprised of four quadrants based on what is known or unknown to oneself versus others: Open, Blind Spot, Hidden, and Unknown.

Stress

A state experienced when there is a perceived lack of fit between situational demands and coping resources, specifically when perceived resources are less than perceived demands.

Primary Appraisal

The initial subjective cognitive evaluation of an event to determine its personal relevance, threat level, and degree of harm.

Secondary Appraisal

The cognitive evaluation of one's available coping resources and behavioral options to meet the demands of a stressful situation.

Cognitive Appraisal Model of Stress

The framework illustrating that a stimulus event generates stress only if primary appraisal deems the event threatening and secondary appraisal deems available coping resources inadequate.

Acute Stressors

Threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear, foreseeable endpoint.

Chronic Stressors

Threatening circumstances that endure for a relatively prolonged duration without an obvious or readily apparent time limit.

Ambient Stress

Chronic negative conditions embedded directly within the physical environment, including excessive noise, traffic congestion, pollution, crowding, and poverty.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

An assessment tool developed by Holmes and Rahe that assigns numerical values to major life changes to quantify stress; an annual total score of $200$ or more predicts vulnerability to serious disease.

Burnout

A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion brought on by persistent stress, marked by low control, low social support, or unfulfilling demands in work or caregiving roles.

Burnout Subtypes

Three distinct profiles of workplace exhaustion: under-challenged (boredom from repetitive work), frenetic (work overload driven by ambition), and worn-out (surrendering effort due to neglect and perceived lack of control).

Hardiness

A stress-resistant personality disposition characterized by strong commitment to goals, viewing life changes as challenges, and possessing an internal locus of control.

Grit

A trait defined by sustained perseverance and deep passion for long-term objectives, demonstrating greater predictive value for college achievement and grades than intelligence.

Optimism

A generalized cognitive disposition to expect favorable outcomes, which promotes planned problem-focused coping and active social support seeking.

Learned Helplessness

Passive, non-reactive behavior produced by previous conditioning to unavoidable aversive stimuli, originally identified by Martin Seligman in experimental studies with dogs.

Catharsis

The Freudian hypothesis that acting aggressively discharges accumulated emotional tension; research demonstrates it typically inflates anger rather than reducing it.

Displacement

A defense mechanism involving the redirection of negative emotions and hostility from their primary provoking source toward an unrelated substitute target.

Rumination

A repetitive, passive focus on the symptoms, causes, and repercussions of one's emotional distress rather than engaging in active problem-solving.

The Procrastination Process

A cyclical four-step behavioral pattern progressing through task aversion, avoidance behavior/thoughts, temporary relief, and resulting increased stress that triggers renewed aversion.

Constructive Coping

Proactive, healthful cognitive and behavioral efforts undertaken to master, mitigate, or tolerate stressful conditions.

Problem-Focused Coping

Constructive coping efforts aimed directly at resolving or changing a controllable stressor, utilizing problem-solving, time-management, organization, and instrumental aid.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Constructive coping efforts deployed when a stressor is uncontrollable or irreversible, centered on regulating affective distress through relaxation, mindfulness, and breathing techniques.

Instrumental Support

A form of social support providing concrete, tangible assistance, such as lending money, offering rides, or helping with daily physical tasks during stressful times.

Esteem Support

Social support expressed through positive regard, encouragement, and affirmation, designed to elevate an individual's self-esteem and self-worth.

Informational Support

Social support centered on delivering constructive advice, directions, guidance, or performance feedback to assist an individual in resolving problems.

Network Support

Social support that fosters a sense of collective belonging and membership among individuals who share common social activities, values, and interests.

Behavioural Control

A dimension of personal control involving concrete, overt actions (such as self-discipline and delayed gratification) to reduce the direct impact of a stressor.

Cognitive Control

The intentional utilization of internal thought processes and cognitive reappraisal strategies to modify the perceived psychological impact of a stressor.

Decisional Control

The opportunity to select among distinct alternative courses of action or procedures, including formulating a secondary backup plan.

Informational Control

The opportunity to obtain knowledge in advance regarding an upcoming stressful event, including why it happens and its probable consequences.

Positive Illusion

An inflated, overly favorable evaluation of one's own positive characteristics and competencies, achieved through downward social comparisons or lowering personal aspirations.

Personality Model of Subjective Well-Being

Costa and McCrae's framework demonstrating that extraversion and neuroticism govern subjective well-being by creating differential susceptibility to positive affect and negative affect, respectively.

Income Satiation Threshold

The principle that income and happiness correlate positively only up to the point where basic human needs are secured; beyond this threshold, additional monetary gains yield little increase in happiness.