Psych notes, ch. 12 - emotions, stress, and health, Dr. Juan Angulo PDF

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emotions, stress, and health, Dr. Juan Angulo...

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INTRO TO PSYCH 1300, SEC 004 CHAPTER 12: EMOTIONS, STRESS, & HEALTH EMOTION: AROUSAL, BEHAVIOR, AND COGNITION  Emotions are adaptive responses that support survival  Emotional components: o Bodily arousal o Expressive behaviors o Conscious experiences EMOTION: AROUSAL, BEHAVIOR, AND COGNITION (PT. 2)  Theories of emotion generally address two major questions: o Does physiological arousal come before or after emotional feelings? o How do feelings and cognition interact? HISTORICAL EMOTION THEORIES (PT. 1)  James-Lange Theory: Arousal comes before emotion. o Experience of emotion involves awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli  Cannon-Bard Theory: arousal and emotion happen at the same time o Emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion o Human body responses run parallel to the cognitive responses rather than causing them HISTORICAL EMOTION THEORIES (PT. 2)  Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: arousal + label = emotion o Emotions have 2 ingredients: physical arousal and cognitive appraisal o Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it o Emotional experiences require a conscious interpretation of arousal o Spillover effect: arousal spills over from one event to the next-influencing the response SPILLOVER EFFECT  Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which can descend into rioting or other violent confrontations HISTORICAL EMOTION THEORIES (PT. 3)

 Zajonc, LeDoux, and Lazarus: Emotion and the two-track brained  Zajonc (quick reactions: parent saves child without thinking) o Sometimes emotional response takes a neural shortcut that bypasses the cortex and goes directly to the amygdala o Some emotional responses involve no deliberate thinking  Lazarus o The brain processes much information without conscious awareness, but mental functioning still takes place o Emotions arise when an event is appraised as harmless or dangerous EXPERIENCING EMOTION (PT. 1)  Izard isolated 10 basic emotions that include physiology and expressive behavior o Joy, interest-excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt  Two dimensions that help differentiate emotions: o Positive vs. negative valence o Low vs. high arousal EXPERIENING EMOTION: ANGER (PT. 1)  Causes o With threat or challenge, fear triggers flight but anger triggers fight— each at times is an adaptive behavior o Anger is most often evoked by misdeeds that we interpret as willful, unjustified, and avoidable o Smaller frustrations and blameless annoyances can also trigger anger EXPERIENCING EMOTION: ANGER (PT. 2)  Consequences of anger o Chronic hostility is linked to heart disease o Emotional catharsis may be temporarily calming, but does not reduce anger over the long term o Expressing anger can make us more angry o Controlled assertions of feelings may resolve conflicts, and forgiveness may rid us of angry feelings o Anger communicates strength and competence, motivates action, and expresses grief when wisely used

EXPERINCING EMOTION: ANGER (PT. 3)  Individualist cultures encourage people to vent anger; collectivist cultures are less likely to do so  The Western vent-your-anger advice presumes that aggressive action or fantasy enables emotional release, or catharsis  Better ways to manage anger: o Wait o Find a healthy distraction or support o Distance yourself THE SHORT LIFE OF EMOTIONAL UPS AND DOWNS  Emotional ups and downs tend to balance out; moods typically rebound o Even significant good events, such as sudden wealth, seldom increase happiness for long o Happiness is relative to our own experiences (the adaptation-level phenomenon) and to others’ success (the relative deprivation principle) WEALTH AND WELL-BEING  Wealth does correlate with well-being in some ways o Having resources to meet basic needs and maintain some control over life does “buy happiness” o Increasing wealth matters less once basic needs are met o Economic growth in affluent countries provides no apparent morale or social well-being boost o 82% of entering US college students say that “being very well off financially” is “very important” or “essential” TWO PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA: ADAPTATION AND COMPARISON  Adaptation-level phenomenon o The tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience o Prior experience partly influences feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and success and failure  Comparison o Satisfaction comes from income rank, rather than income level o Relative deprivation is the perception that one is worse off relative to the comparison group

STRESS AND ILLNESS  Stress: the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging o Stressors appraised as threats can lead to a strong negative reaction o Extreme or prolonged stress can cause harm STRESSORS: THINGS THAT PUSH OUR BUTTONS  Catastrophes: unpleasant, large-scale events  Significant life changes: personal events; life transitions  Daily hassles: day-to-day challenges HEALTH AND COPING  People deal with stress using several coping strategies o Problem-focused coping o Emotion-focused coping EVIDENCE-BASED SUGGESTIONS FOR A HAPPIER LIFE  Take control of your time  Act happy  Seek work and leisure that engage your skills  Buy shared experiences rather than things  Give your body the sleep it wants  Give priority to close relationships  Focus beyond self  Count your blessings and record your gratitude  Nurture your spiritual self PERSONAL CONTROL (PT. 1)  In both animals and humans, uncontrollable threats trigger the strongest stress responses o Animal studies  Laudenslager et al. (1984) rat studies  Seligman et al. (1967) learned helplessness dog studies o Human studies  PERSONAL CONTROL (PT. 2)  Why does perceived loss of control predict health problems?

o Losing control increases stress hormones  blood pressure increases  immune responses decrease o Increasing control has noticeably improved health and morale in prison and nursing home studies o Tyranny of choice can create information overload PERSONAL CONTROL (PT. 3)  Those who have an external locus of control believe that chance or outside forces control their fate  Those who have an internal locus of control believe they control their own destiny LEARNED HELPLESSNESS  Uncontrollable bad events  perceived lack of control  generalized helpless behavior STRESS & ILLNESS  Stress: the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging o Stressors appraised as threats can lead to strong negative reactions o Extreme or prolonged stress can cause harm STRESSORS: THINGS THAT PUSH OUT BUTTONS  Catastrophes: unpleasant, large-scale events  Significant life changes: personal events; life transitions  Daily hassles: day-to-day challenges HEALTH AND COPING  People deal with stress using several coping strategies o Problem-focused coping o Emotion-focused coping...