 | Term | Definition |
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Stress |
psychological tension or strain; state where a person wonders how he/she can cope with his/her environmental demands-can manifest by nausea, headache, pounding heart, anxiety, or muscle ache/tension |
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Adjustment |
any attempt-successful or not-to cope with stress, balance personal needs against the demands of the environment, weigh desires against realistic possibilities, and to manage as well as we can |
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Health psychology |
field that studies the biological model of stress and the ways in which psychological factors such as stress influence wellness and illness |
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Pressure |
a feeling that occurs when an individual feels forced to speed up, intensify, or shift direction in our behavior; compulsion to meet a higher standard of performance; often felt at places of employment |
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Frustration |
feeling when a person is prevented from reaching a goal; 5 common sources of frustration (Morris, 1990): delays (delay in time), lack of resources (“keeping up with the Jones”), losses (cause hopelessness or worthlessness), failure (depends on individual talent and effort), and discrimination (denial of opportunities); road rage is an example of increased frustration |
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Compromise |
a direct coping skill; one of the most common and effective methods of dealing with conflict and frustration; deciding on a more realistic solution or goal when the ideal solution or goal is not practical |
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Withdrawal |
a direct coping skill; avoiding a situation when other forms of coping are not practical; can be seen as a refusal to face problems or can be effective way to cope with stress |
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Denial |
defense mechanism; refusing to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality; Example: Ray has terminal cancer but instead he believes he has bronchitis |
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Repression |
defense mechanism; most common of defense mechanisms; pushing or excluding uncomfortable thoughts from consciousness; Example: Lisa, who was caught shoplifting when she was in high school, has no recollection of the event |
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Defense Mechanisms |
developed by Sigmund Freud but enhanced by Anna Freud; self-deceptive techniques to reduce anxiety and guilt; can operate consciously or unconsciously; means of coping with stress |
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Projection |
defense mechanism; attributing one’s own repressed motives, feelings, or wishes; Example: Marilyn is unfairly passed over for a promotion; she denies that she is angry but is sure that her supervisor is angry with her |
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General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) |
extension of Cannon’s theory of the fight or flight response by Hans Seyle; reactions to physical/psychological stressors in 3 stages: alarm reaction (alert, increase emotions, increase physical reactions), resistance (coping techniques, physical symptoms), exhaustion (desperate attempt @ coping, “burn out”) |
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Conflict |
most common of life’s troubles; simultaneous existence of incompatible demands, opportunities, needs, or goals; Kurt Lewin, 1930s, describes conflict in terms of 2 opposing tendencies-approach and avoidance |
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Approach/Approach Conflict |
one of Kurt Lewin’s basic types of conflict; conflict dilemma where an individual is attracted to 2 appealing goals; the stress in this type of conflict is the fact that in choosing one desirable option, the individual must give up another desirable option |
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Avoidance/Avoidance Conflict |
one of Kurt Lewin’s basic types of conflict; conflict dilemma where an individual is attracted to 2 possibilities are undesirable or threatening and do not any positive features; people tend to “escape” the situation or choose the possibility which is the least worst or wait for the situation to resolve the conflict for the individual |
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Approach/Avoidance Conflict |
one of Kurt Lewin’s basic types of conflict; conflict dilemma where an individual is both attracted to and repelled by the same goal; the most common form of conflict; there is both good and bad about the goal; the tendency to avoid increases as an individual gets closer to the goal |
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Confrontation |
a direct coping skill; acknowledging to oneself that there is a problem for which a solution must be found, attacking the problem head-on, and pushing resolutely towards one’s goals; can include expressions of anger |
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Displacement |
defense mechanism; shifting repressed motives from one object to another object; Example: angry at this instructor’s unreasonable request, Nelson yells at his mother instead of confronting his instructor. |
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Identification |
defense mechanism; taking on characteristics of someone else to avoid feeling incompetent; Example: Anthony, uncertain of his own attractiveness, takes on this dress and mannerisms of a popular teacher. |
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Regression |
defense mechanism; reverting to childlike behavior and defenses; Example: Angry because his plan to reorganize his division has been rejected, Bob throws a tantrum. |
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Intellectualization |
defense mechanism; thinking abstractly about stressful problems as a way of detaching oneself from them; Example: After learning that she has not been asked to a classmate’s costume party, Tina coolly discusses how social cliques control school life. |
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Reaction Formation |
defense mechanism; expression of exaggerated ideas and emotions that are the opposite of one’s repressed beliefs or feelings; Example: At work, Michael loudly states that he would never take advantage of a rival, though his behavior indicates the opposite. |
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Sublimation |
defense mechanism; redirecting repressed motives and feelings into a more socially accepted channel; Example: Hitting a punching bag instead of hitting the person who made you angry. |
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Psychoneuro-immunology (PNI) |
new field; studies the interaction between stress and immune, endocrine, and nervous system activity; the extent that stress disrupts the functioning of the immune system, it can impair health. |
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) |
psychological disorder; characterized by episodes of anxiety, sleeplessness, and nightmares resulting from some disturbing event in the past (typically a trauma); victims of abuse, soldiers, refugees |
