AP Psychology Unit 5 Part 1: Intro Health and Positive Psychology

Health psychology

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

Psychoneuroimmunology

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

Stress

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

Stressful Situation

Stressors can be viewed as motivation (eustress) or debilitating (distress)

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases: Alarm (fight-flight-freeze response), resistance, exhaustion. Susceptibility to illness occurs during the exhaustion phase. Prolonged exposure to stress can cause health issues like coronary heart disease.

Tend and Befriend

Under stress, people (especially women) may nurture themselves and others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend).

External locus of control

The perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal locus of control

The perception that we control our own fate

Adverse Childhood Experience

Disruptions to the promotion of safe, stable, and nurturing family relationships and are characterized by stressful or traumatic events that occur during an individual’s first 18 years of life

Problem Focused Coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly – by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

Emotion-focused Coping

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring the stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

• May include deep breathing, meditation, or taking medication aimed at reducing stressful emotional responses

Positive Psychology

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

Subjective well-being

Self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life

Expressing gratitude

Positive subjective experience, increases subjective well-being

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

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

Adaptation-level phenomenon

Our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

Relative deprivation

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

Posttraumatic Growth

Positive subjective experience, may result after the experience of trauma or stress

Signature Strengths

People exercise their _____ ______ or virtues report higher levels of positive objective experiences such as happiness and subjective well-being

Virtues

A classification of character strengths has been developed around 6 categories

Wisdom

Creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective

Courage

Bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest

Humanity

Kindness, love, social intelligence

Justice

Fairness, leadership, teamwork

Temperance

Forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation

Transcendence

Appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

Level of dysfunction

the degree to which a person's thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are significantly impaired or disrupted, impacting their daily life functioning

Perception of distress

how an individual interprets and experiences a stressful situation as negative and debilitating

Deviation from the social norm

normality where a person's behavior is considered abnormal if it significantly deviates from the accepted standards of behavior or unwritten rules considered "normal" within a particular society or culture

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)

Diagnosing psychological disorders requires specialized training and the use of evidence-based diagnostic tools

Maladaptive

No providing adequate/appropriate adjustment to environment/stimulation

Behavioral Perspective

The causes of mental disorders focus on maladaptive learned associations between/among responses to stimuli

Psychodynamic Theory

The cause of mental disorders focus on unconscious thoughts and experiences, often developed during childhood

Humanistic Perspective

The causes of mental disorders focus on a lack of social support and being unable to fulfill one’s potential

Evolutionary/Sociobiological Perspective

Causes of mental disorders focus on behaviors and mental processes that reduce the likelihood of survival

Cognitive Perspective

The causes of mental disorders focus on maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or emotions

Sociocultural Perspective

Causes of mental disorders focus on maladaptive social and cultural relationships and dynamics

Biological/Neuroscience Perspective

Cause of mental disorders focuses on physiological or genetic issues

Biopsychological Model

Assumes that any psychological problem potentially involves a combination of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors

Diathesis-stress model

The concept that genetic predispositions combine with environmental stressors to influence psychological disorder

Epigenetics

Environments can influence genetic expression