Chapter 13
Acquired
immune
deficiency
syndrome
(AIDS)
A disorder in which the immune system is gradually weakened and eventually disabled by
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Acute stressors
Threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint.
Aggression
Any behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or verbally.
Approachapproach
conflict
A conflict situation in which a choice must be made between two attractive goals.
Approachavoidance
conflict
A conflict situation in which a choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal
that has both attractive and unattractive aspects.
Avoidanceavoidance
conflict
Learning that has occurred when an organism engages in a response that prevents
aversive stimulation from occurring.
Biopsychosocial A model of illness that holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of
model
biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.
Burnout
Physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that is attributable to work-related stress.
Catastrophic
thinking
Unrealistically pessimistic appraisals of stress that exaggerate the magnitude of one’s
problems.
Catharsis
The release of emotional tension.
Chronic
stressors
Threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit.
Conflict
A state that occurs when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses
compete for expression.
Constructive
coping
Relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressful events.
Coping
Active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress.
Defense
mechanisms
Largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as
anxiety and guilt.
Fight-or-Flight
response
A physiological reaction to threat in which the autonomic nervous system mobilizes the
organism for attacking (fight) or fleeing (flight) an enemy.
Frustration
The feeling that people experience in any situation in which their pursuit of some goal is
thwarted.
General
adaptation
syndrome
Selye’s model of the body’s stress response, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance,
and exhaustion.
Health
psychology
The subfield of psychology concerned with how psychosocial factors relate to the
promotion and maintenance of health and with the causation, prevention, and treatment of
illness.
Immune
response
The body’s defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign
substances.
Internet
addiction
Spending an inordinate amount of time on the Internet and being unable to control online
use.
Learned
helplessness
Passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events.
Life changes
Any noticeable alterations in one’s living circumstances that require readjustment.
Optimism
A general tendency to expect good outcomes.
Pressure
Expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way.
Psychosomatic
diseases
Physical ailments with a genuine organic basis that are caused in part by psychological
factors, especially emotional distress.
RationalAn approach to therapy that focuses on altering clients’ patterns of irrational thinking to
emotive therapy reduce maladaptive emotions and behavior.
Social support
Various types of aid and succor provided by members of one’s social networks.
Stress
Any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and that
thereby tax one’s coping abilities.
Type A
personality
Personality characterized by (1) a strong competitive orientation, (2) impatience and time
urgency, and (3) anger and hostility.
Type B
personality
Personality characterized by relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior.