Psychology (Ch 11)

Type B behavior pattern

A cluster of behaviors characterized by a patient, cooperative, noncompetitive, and nonaggressive manner.

Type A behavior pattern

A cluster of behaviors involving hostility, competitiveness, time urgency, and feeling driven; links with coronary heart disease

proactive coping

A final strategy for coping with stress is ____________, anticipating and trying to head off stress before it is encountered.

stress

A person's response to events that are threatening or challenging; personal thing

hardiness

A personality trait characterized by a sense of commitment, the perception of problems as challenges, and a sense of control.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A phenomenon in which victims of major catastrophes or strong personal stressors feel long-lasting effects that may include re-experiencing the event in vivid flashbacks or dreams; s/sx emotional numbing, sleep difficulties, interpersonal problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and in some cases suicide.

learned helplessness

A state in which people conclude that unpleasant or aversive stimuli cannot be controlled—a view of the world that becomes so ingrained that they cease trying to remedy the aversive circumstances even if they actually can exert some influence on the situation.

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

A theory developed by Selye that suggests that a person's response to a stressor consists of three stages: alarm and mobilization, resistance, and exhaustion.

background stressors

AKA daily hassles; everyday annoyances, such as being stuck in traffic, that cause minor irritations and may have long-term ill effects if they continue or are compounded by other stressful events.

direct physiological effects

Consequence of stress including an increase in blood pressure, an increase in hormonal activity, and an overall decline in the functioning of the immune system

harmful behaviors

Consequence of stress that leads people to engage in behaviors that are harmful to their health, including increased nicotine, drug, and alcohol use; poor eating habits; and decreased sleep.

indirect health-related behaviors

Consequence of stress that produces some indirect consequences that ultimately result in declines in health

Control

Hardiness is marked by a sense of ______ — the perception that people can influence the events in their lives.

Challenge

Hardy people believe that change, rather than stability, is the standard condition of life. To them, the anticipation of change is something positive, rather than change being seen as a threat to their security.

emotion-focused coping

In ________________, people try to manage their emotions in the face of stress by seeking to change the way they feel about or perceive a problem.

avoidant coping

In _________________, a person may use wishful thinking to reduce stress or use more direct escape routes, such as drug use, alcohol use, and overeating.

set point

It is a marker that establishes the tone for one's life; consistent level relating to subjective well-being.

psychophysiological disorders

Medical problems influenced by an interaction of psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties; include high blood pressure, headaches, backaches, skin rashes, indigestion, fatigue, and constipation.

creative nonadherence

Patients also may practice ____________ in which they alter a treatment prescribed by a physician by substituting their own medical judgment

positive illusions

People hold moderately inflated views of themselves, believing that they are good, competent, and desirable

Commitment

People with a strong level of _________ tend to throw themselves into whatever they are doing. They have a sense that their activities are important and meaningful.

subjective well-being

People's sense of their happiness and satisfaction with their lives.

exhaustion

Stage of GAS that a person's ability to fight the stressor declines to the point where negative consequences of stress appear: physical illness and psychological symptoms in the form of an inability to concentrate, heightened irritability, or, in severe cases, disorientation and a loss of touch with reality.

alarm and mobilization

Stage of GAS that occurs when people become aware of the presence of a stressor. On a biological level, the sympathetic nervous system becomes energized, which helps a person cope initially with the stressor.

resistance

Stage of GAS that the body is actively fighting the stressor on a biological level; people use a variety of means to cope with the stressor—sometimes successfully but at a cost of some degree of physical or psychological well-being.

true

TRUE or FALSE: Among the most effective tools for ending the smoking habit are drugs that replace the nicotine found in cigarettes

false

TRUE or FALSE: Hostility does not produces excessive physiological arousal in stressful situations.

true

TRUE or FALSE: Lack of communication between medical care providers and patients can be a major obstacle to good medical care

True

TRUE or FALSE: Most of us characteristically cope with stress by employing a coping style that represents our general tendency to deal with stress in a specific way.

true

TRUE or FALSE: Stress can produce both biological and psychological consequences. Often the most immediate reaction to stress is biological.

false

TRUE or FALSE: Stress may increase levels Lymphocytes

resilience

The ability to withstand, overcome, and actually thrive after profound adversity.

health psychology

The branch of psychology that investigates the psychological factors related to wellness and illness, including the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems.

coping

The efforts to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate the threats that lead to stress.

uplifts

The flip side of hassles is ________, the minor positive events that make us feel good—even if only temporarily.

psychoneuroimmunology

The study of the relationship among psychological factors, the immune system, and the brain.

Defense mechanisms

These are unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others.

emotional insulation

Type of defense mechanism iin which a person stops experiencing any emotions at all and thereby remains unaffected and unmoved by both positive and negative experiences.

negatively framed messages

Type of message that highlight what you can lose by not performing a behavior; lead to the dete​ction of disease EX: a physician might say that if you don't use sunscreen, you're more likely to get skin cancer, which can kill you if it's not detected early.

Positively framed messages

Type of message that suggests that a change in behavior will lead to a gain and thus emphasize the benefits of carrying out a health-related behavior; preventive Ex: suggesting that skin cancer is curable if it is detected early and that you can reduce your chances of getting the disease by using a sunscreen

personal stressors

Type of stressor that includes major life events, such as the death of a family member, that have immediate negative consequences that generally fade with time. Example: major life events such as the death of a parent or spouse, the loss of one's job, a major personal failure, or even something positive such as getting married.

Cataclysmic events

Type of stressors are strong stressors that occur suddenly and typically affect many people simultaneously. Disasters such as tornadoes and plane crashes as well as terrorist attacks are examples.

emotion-focused coping problem-focused coping

What are the 2 main positive ways for coping with stress?

Alarm and mobilization resistance exhaustion

What are the 3 general adaptation syndrome (GAS) model of major stages to stress responses?

cataclysmic events personal stressors background stressors

What are the 3 general types of stressors?

direct physiological effects harmful behaviors indirect health-related behaviors

What are the 3 major types of consequences result from stress?

Commitment Challenge Control

What are the three components of hardiness?

Hostility

__________ is the key component of the Type A behavior pattern that is related to heart disease.

Resilient

___________ people are generally optimistic, good-natured, and have good social skills. They are usually independent, and they have a sense of control over their own destiny—even if fate has dealt them a devastating blow.

Problem-focused coping

________________ attempts to modify the stressful problem or source of stress; lead to changes in behavior or to the development of a plan of action to deal with stress.

Type D behavior

behavior that is also linked to coronary heart disease. In this view, insecurity, anxiety, and the negative outlook put them at risk for repeated heart attacks; distressed

social support

the knowledge that we are part of a mutual network of caring, interested others, enables us to experience lower levels of stress and better cope with the stress we do undergo

stressors

this produces threats to our well-being