Human Motivation
Chapter 9
Emotions, Stress, and Health
Stress
o
Negative source of affect; gets in the way of
doing things we want to do
Interferes with out ability to focus our attention
Has been linked to wide range of health
disorders; can weaken immune system.
Emotions often have their roots in the way we
appraise the environment and our reactions to it.
Emotions and Motivation
We cannot think about emotions without considering
motivation, and we cannot think about motivation without
considering emotions.
To achieve their goals, people need to learn how to
manage their emotions.
Emotions occur as a result of an interaction among
subjective factors, environmental factors, and neural and
hormonal processes; function to reward/punish behavior.
Give rise to affective experiences
Stimulate us to generate cognitive explanations
Trigger internal adjustments
Elicits expressive, goal directed, and adaptive behaviors
The Universal Nature of Emotions
Emotional responses grow out of our interactions with
the environment (are relational), are highly cognitive,
and are often complex.
Certain basic emotions can be identified in a wide
range of cultures according to facial expressions.
When people experience an emotion, they are inclined
to wear that emotion on their faces.
When people deliberately put on a happy/sad face,
they tend to trigger the emotion that corresponds to the
facial expression.
Cognitions are central to emotions.
What is Stress?
Has to do with adapting to threat/challenge.
Common definition:
Describes a set of negative feelings
Scientific definition:
Neurological/physiological reactions that serve some
adaptive purpose.
Distress: (negative feeling) event viewed as
threatening; health can be adversely affected.
Eustress: (positive feeling) event viewed as
challenging; health not adversely affected; coping
responses engaged.
The Biological Component of Stress
Sympathetic system allows us to respond to the
immediate demands of the situation by activating the
body: heart rate accelerates, blood pressure rises, become
more alert.
Adrenal glands release epinephrine (released during
environmental extremes) and norepinephrine (released
during coping).
Pituitary gland mobilizes beta-endorphin (produces
feelings of euphoria).
Stressors (both acute and chronic) can cause changes in
the immune system, making us more susceptible to
infections and common colds.
The Learned Component of Stress
 Exposure to aversive events is much more likely to
produce stress and disease if the events are
unpredictable than if they can be foreseen.
Factors that influence if aversive event will lead to stress:
1. Discrimination of stress cues
2. Availability of coping response
3. Repeated experience with aversive stimulus
Two suggestions for functioning under stress:
1. Learn a prescribed set of rules for making decisions.
2. Learn not to react.
The Cognitive Component of Stress
How an individual appraises an event plays a fundamental
role in determining not only the magnitude of the stress
response but also the kind of coping strategies that the
individual employs to deal with the stress.
Two stages of appraisal:
1. Primary appraisal: determine if event represents
harm/loss, threat, or challenge.
2. Secondary appraisal: evaluate our coping resources and
options.
Coping: cognitive and behavioral efforts to master, reduce, or
tolerate the internal or external demands created by t hey
stressful transaction.
Moderators of Stress
Reduces the stress response
The Biological Component:
We are inclined to look to others for help and support
(emotional, tangible, informational) when we feel
threatened.
People who resist seeking out social support appear to be
susceptible to a number of physical diseases (repressive
personality)
Social support benefits the cardiovascular system,
endocrine functioning, and a strong immune response.
Moderators of Stress
The Learned Component:
We manage stressful situations by breaking
the stress down in order to deal with it.
We can learn to think differently to gain
control of stress (constructive vs. destructive).
Emotion focused strategies include
meditation, relaxation, exercise, and
biofeedback training.
Moderators of Stress
The Cognitive Component:
Talking/writing about trauma reduces stress and
leads to health benefits; suppression leads to
decrease in immune response.
Beliefs about personal control also affect
physical health; optimism is associated with
better mood and higher T cell count.
Optimism, positive illusions, meaning, and
humor all follow a common pathway to health
by creating a positive emotional state.
Rules for Dealing with Stress
1. Plan activities to reduce or eliminate stressors.
2. Plan activities so that stressors come at times when
they are easier to handle or tolerate.
3. Learn to relax between activities.
4. Learn to recognize the early signs of stress.
5. Learn to treat stress as a challenge.
6. Learn to prevail by becoming problem focused.
7. Actively develop those personality characteristics
that will ward off stress.
Stress and Health

1.
2.
3.
Three stages of the stress response:
Alarm reaction
Stage of resistance
Stage of exhaustion
 Bidirectional effect of stress/disease: disease
typically causes stress, the progression of
disease is largely governed by the magnitude
of the stress response.
The Cancer Model
Certain behaviors will strengthen the immune
systems.
The Biological Component:
Humans can influence the immune system by
engaging in behaviors that decrease stress.
Diet, exercise, sleep quality, alcohol
consumption, and other factors have direct
effect on our health.
The Cancer Model
The Learned Component:
Relaxation response can be used in a variety
of situations.
Social support has been linked to improved
mental/physical health.
Behavioral/emotional coping skills are
important part of treatment program.
The Cancer Model
The Cognitive Component:
Diminished immune response might be caused by
negative cognitions.
People who have a malevolent implicit theory of the
world tend to experience more stress than do people
who have a benign or benevolent implicit theory of
the world.
Simply knowing we have coping responses is
sufficient to reduce stress.
Hope, optimism, and constructive thinking have been
linked to health.
Relaxation response reduces stress.
The Cancer Model
Religion, Spirituality, and Health
A perceived closeness to God has a number of
health benefits including less depression,
higher self-esteem, less loneliness, greater
relational maturity, and greater psychosocial
competence. It also appears to mitigate
against stress in a variety of health-related
situations.