Motivation, Emotion & Stress:
Stress & Health
AP PSYCHOLOGY: UNIT V
Stress & Health:
The Basics
PART ONE
Stress & Health: The Basics
 Stress
 The process by which we perceive & respond to
certain events (known as stressors) that we
appraise as threatening and/or challenging
 Stress is not…
 A simple stimulus or response
 Necessarily a negative thing
Stress & Health: The Basics
Two major classifications of stress…

Acute Stressors
 Relatively short in duration with a clear endpoint
 An encounter with a belligerent customer
 A major exam
 An impending natural disaster

Chronic Stressors
 Relatively long in duration with no apparent endpoint
 Persistent financial strains
 A sick family member
 A hostile boss
Stress & Health:
Types of Stress
PART TWO
Stress & Health: Types of Stress
 Frustration (Daily Hassles)
 Occurs in any situation in which a hassle or
annoyance is present
 Insignificant (in terms of stress)
 Traffic
 Broken air conditioner
 Aggravating people
 Significant
(in terms of stress)
 Failure and/or loss
Stress & Health: Types of Stress
 Conflict

Occurs when two (or more) incompatible motivations
or behavioral impulses compete for expression
 Approach-Approach Conflict

A choice must be made between two attractive goals
 Avoidance-Avoidance

Conflict
A choice must be made between two unattractive goals
• 100 Multiple Choice Questions
 Approach-Avoidance

OR
5 Short Answer Essays
Conflict
A choice must be made about whether to pursue a single
goal that has both attractive & unattractive aspects
Stress & Health: Types of Stress
 Significant Life Changes

Any significant alteration to one’s circumstances
that require readjustment
 Going off to college
 Marriage or divorce
 Death of loved one
 Loss of job
Stress & Health: Types of Stress
 Catastrophes
 Events causing great and often sudden damage or
suffering
War/Conflicts
 Natural disasters (floods, hurricanes, fires)

Prevalence of PTSD
following disasters
Rates of Acute Stress Disorder
Typhoon
7%
Bombing
34%
Industrial accident
6%
Plane crash into hotel
29%
Mass shooting
33%
Mass shooting
28%
Violent assault
19%
Stress & Health:
Stress Responses
PART THREE
Stress & Health: Response to Stress
“Fight or flight” – How the body responds
 Sympathetic nervous system
 Heart rate and respiration increases
 Digestion slows
 Release of sugars
 Adrenal glands
 Excrete epinephrine and norepinephrine
 Outer part of adrenal glands
 Secrete glucocorticoids – stress hormones
Physiological Response to Stress
 Heart disease
 Specifically coronary heart disease (90% of heart related deaths)

Increase heart rate
Higher levels of stress hormones
Higher blood pressure
 Increased respiration can cause asthma attacks or
hyperventilation
 Muscle tension can lead to tension-type headaches or
migraines
 Reproduction
 Testosterone production, sperm production and maturation
 Absent or irregular menstrual cycles (or changes in length)
 Premenstrual symptoms become worsened – cramping, bloating,
etc.
Stress & Health: Response to Stress
Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome


Body’s adaptive response to stress is as general as an
alarm sounding
Consists of three separate stages:

Alarm reaction – activation of sympathetic nervous system

Resistance – coping with stressor; resistance can only last so long

Exhaustion – reserves
depleted; vulnerable to
collapse or illness
Stress & Health: Coping with Stress
 Emotional Responses
 Dependent on the stimulus (and one’s personality)


Common responses to stress typically occur along three
dimensions of emotion
 (1) Annoyance, frustration, anger, rage
 (2) Apprehension, embarrassment, anxiety, fear
 (3) Dejection, depression, sadness, grief
Emotion-focused coping
 Trying to reduce negative emotional responses
 Praying, eating, drugs/alcohol, disclosure
 Used when we cannot change situation
 …or when we believe we cannot change
situation
Stress & Health: Coping with Stress
 Problem-focused coping
 Addressing stressors directly
 Used when we feel a sense of control over a
situation
 We believe we can change the circumstances or
change ourselves to alleviate the stress

Example:
 You have a disagreement with a friend and
confront the individual directly to discuss the
issue

How would emotion-focused be different in this case?
Stress and Health: Coping Strategies
Problem-focused OR Emotion-focused Coping Strategies
(Does this help me solve the problem?)
 Planning, information
seeking
 Staying busy to take your
mind off an issue
 Seeking social support
 Time-management
 Turning to religion
 Journaling
 “Venting” of emotions
 Taking control
 Distraction
 Evaluating pros and cons
 Humor
 Adjusting expectations
 Relaxation, meditation
Stress & Health: Coping with Stress
 Constructive Coping
 Healthy
efforts to deal with stressful
events
How?
 Realistic
appraisal of the stress & coping
resources
 Learning
to recognize, and in some cases
regulate, potentially disruptive emotional
reactions to stress
 Direct
confrontation of the problem
Stress & Health:
Effects of Stress
PART FOUR
Stress & Health: Effects of Stress
 Psychological Effects
 Burnout


Psychological problems & disorders


Physical & emotional exhaustion, as well as cynicism and
a lowered sense of self-efficacy
 Generally brought on by work-related stress
Poor academic performance, sleep disturbances, sexual
difficulties, alcohol & drug abuse, etc.
Positive effects?

Resilience
 Successful adaptation to significant stress & trauma
Stress & Health:
Personality Factors
PART FIVE
Stress & Health: Behavior Pattern
(Friedman and Rosenman)
Type A

General Characteristics
Competitive, self-critical, supermotivated
 Time-conscious & impatient
 Anger & hostility
 Easily annoyed; tend to overreact


In life…
Tend to be workaholics
 Often successful, but frequently unsatisfied
 Find it very difficult to relax/to do nothing


More prone to..?

High blood pressure and heart disease
Stress & Health: Personality Factors
Type B
 General
Characteristics
Easygoing & slow to anger
Relaxed & flexible
Less competitive
 In
life…
Don’t stress over
deadlines
Less time-bound