PSY-102-A Chapter 17
Theory of Planned Behavior
A theoretical model that includes the basic ideas of the theory of reasoned action but adds the person's perceptions of control over the outcome.
Psychoneuroimmunology
A new field of scientific inquiry that explores connections among psychological factors (such as attitudes and emotions), the nervous system, and the immune system.
Hardiness
A personality trait characterized by a sense of commitment rather than alienation and of control rather than powerlessness; a perception of problems as challenges rather than threats.
Stress Management Program
A regimen that teaches individuals how to appraise stressful events, how to develop skills for coping with stress, and how to put these skills to use in everyday life.
Relapse
A return to former unhealthy patterns.
Health Psychology
A subfield of psychology that emphasizes psychology's role in establishing and maintaining health and preventing and treating illness.
Theory of Reasoned Action
A theoretical model that states that effective change requires individuals to have specific intentions about their behaviors, as well as positive attitudes about a new behavior, and to perceive that their social group looks favorably on the new behavior as well.
Behavioral Medicine
An interdisciplinary field that focuses on developing and integrating behavioral and biomedical knowledge to promote health and reduce illness; overlaps with health psychology.
Social Support: Tangible Assistance
Family and friends can provide goods and services in stressful circumstances.
Social Support: Emotional Support
In stressful situations, individuals often suffer emotionally and may develop depression, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem. Friends and family can reassure the person under stress that she/he is valuable and loved.
Social Support: Information
Individuals who provide support can also recommend specific actions and plans to help the person under stress cope more successfully.
Social Support
Information and feedback from others indicating that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and included in a network of communication and mutual obligation; can be in the form of tangible assistance, information, or moral support.
Health Behaviors
Practices that have an impact on physical well-being, such as adopting a healthy approach to stress, exercising, eating right, brushing one's teeth, performing breast and testicular exams, not smoking, drinking in moderation (or not at all), and practicing safe sex.
Stages of Change Model
Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation/determination, action/willpower, maintenance.
General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)
Selye's term for the common effects of stressful demands on the body, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Implementation Intentions
Specific strategies for dealing with the challenges of making a life change.
Exercise
Structured activities whose goal is to improve health.
Aerobic Exercise
Sustained activity -- jogging, swimming, or cycling, for example -- that stimulates heart and lung functioning.
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis)
The complex set of interactions among the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands that regulates various body processes and controls reactions to stressful events.
Problem-focused Coping
The coping strategy of squarely facing one's troubles and trying to solve them.
Emotion-focused Coping
The coping strategy that involves responding to stress that one is feeling -- trying to manage one's emotional reaction -- rather than focusing on the problem itself.
Stages of Change Model: Stage #2 Contemplation
The individual acknowledges that they have a problem but may not yet be ready to change.
Stages of Change Model: Stage #4 Action/Willpower
The individual commits to making a behavior change and enact a plan.
Stages of Change Model: Stage #1 Precontemplation
The individual is not yet ready to think about changing and may not be aware that they have a problem that needs to be changed.
Stages of Change Model: Stage #3 Preparation/Determination
The individual is preparing to take action.
Stages of Change Model: Stage #5 Maintenance
The individual is successful in continuing their behavior change over time.
GAS Resistance Stage
a number of glands throughout the body make different hormones that protect the body: endocrine and sympathetic nervous system activity are not as high as the alarm stage but are still elevated; the body's immune system can fight off infection with incredible efficiency; hormones that reduce inflammation associated with injury are circulated at high levels.
GAS Alarm Stage
a temporary state of shock where resistance to illness and stress fall below normal levels; the body releases hormones that weaken the immune system, leaving the body susceptible to infection.
GAS Exhaustion Stage
the wear and tear on the body takes its toll; the person may collapse in a state of exhaustion; vulnerability to disease increases.
Extrinsic Motivation
tied to external factors (wanting an A, wanting results from working out)
Intrinsic Motivation
tied to values and beliefs (belief in the fact that I am a hard worker)