Chapter Review: Stress, Health, and Human Flourishing

Test yourself by taking a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within the chapter). Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term memory of the concepts (McDaniel et al., 2009).

Stress: Some Basic Concepts

Question 10.8

How does our appraisal of an event affect our stress reaction, and what are the three main types of stressors?

  • Stress is the process by which we appraise and respond to stressors—events that challenge or threaten us.
  • If we appraise an event as challenging, we will be aroused and focused in preparation for success. If we appraise an event as a threat, we will experience a stress reaction, and our health may suffer.
  • The three main types of stressors are catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles.

Question 10.9

How does the body respond to stress?

  • Walter Cannon viewed our body’s response to stress as a fight-or-flight system.
  • Hans Selye proposed a general three phase (alarm-resistance-exhaustion) general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
  • People may react to stress by withdrawing, turning to alcohol, or becoming aggressive (more common in men) or by showing a tend-and-befriend response (more common in women), such as when helping others after natural disasters.

Stress Effects and Health

Question 10.10

How does stress influence our immune system?

  • Stress takes energy away from the immune system, inhibiting the activities of its B and T lymphocytes, macrophages, and natural killer (NK) cells. This leaves us more vulnerable to illness and disease.
  • Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of these mind-body interactions.
  • Although stress does not cause diseases such as AIDS and cancer, it may make us more vulnerable to them and influence their progression.

Question 10.11

How does stress increase coronary heart disease risk?

  • Stress is directly connected to coronary heart disease, the United States’ number one cause of death
  • Heart disease has been linked with the competitive, hard-driving, impatient, and (especially) anger-prone Type A personality. Type A people secrete more stress hormones. Chronic stress contributes to persistent inflammation, which is associated with heart and other health problems.
  • Type B personalities are more relaxed and easygoing and less likely to experience heart disease.
  • The fight-or-flight stress reaction may divert blood from the liver to the muscles, leaving excess cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream. Stress can also trigger altered heart rhythms.

Coping With Stress

Question 10.12

What are two basic ways that people cope with stress?

  • We use direct, problem-focused coping strategies when we feel a sense of control over a situation, and these are usually most effective.
  • When lacking that sense of control, we may need to use emotion-focused coping strategies to protect our longterm well-being. These strategies can be harmful if misused.

Question 10.13

How does our sense of control influence stress and health?

  • Feelings of loss of personal control can trigger physical symptoms, such as increased stress hormones and rising blood pressure. A series of uncontrollable events can lead to learned helplessness.
  • Those with an internal locus of control achieve more in school and work, act more independently, enjoy better health, and feel less depressed than do those with an external locus of control.
  • Those who develop and maintain self-control achieve more academic and social success and are healthier.

Question 10.14

How do optimists and pessimists differ, and why does our outlook on life matter?

  • Optimists (those expecting positive outcomes) tend to be in better health than pessimists (those expecting negative outcomes). Studies of people with an optimistic outlook show that their immune system is stronger, their blood pressure does not increase as sharply in response to stress, their recovery from heart bypass surgery is faster, and their life expectancy is longer. Yet realistic anxiety over possible future failures can help motivate us to do better.

Question 10.15

How do social support and finding meaning in life influence health?

  • Social support promotes health by calming us, by reducing blood pressure and stress hormones, and by fostering stronger immune function. We can significantly reduce our stress and increase our health by building and maintaining relationships with family and friends, and by finding meaning even in difficult times.

Managing Stress Effects

Question 10.16

How well does aerobic exercise help manage stress and improve well-being?

  • Aerobic exercise is sustained activity that increases heart and lung fitness, which leads to greater well-being.
  • Exercise increases arousal and triggers serotonin activity. It may also reduce depression and anxiety.

Question 10.17

In what ways might relaxation and meditation influence stress and health?

  • Relaxation and meditation have been shown to reduce stress by relaxing muscles, lowering blood pressure, improving immune functioning, and lessening anxiety and depression.
  • Mindfulness meditation is attending to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.
  • Massage therapy also relaxes muscles and reduces depression.
  • Counseling Type A heart attack survivors to slow down and relax has helped lower rates of recurring attacks.

Question 10.18

Does religious involvement relate to health?

  • Religious involvement predicts better health and longevity. This may be explained by the healthier lifestyles of religiously active people, the social support that comes along with practicing a faith in community, and the positive emotions often found among people who regularly attend religious services.

Happiness

Question 10.19

What are the causes and consequences of happiness?

  • A good mood brightens people’s perceptions of the world. Happy people tend to be healthy, energized, and satisfied with life. They also are more willing to help others (the feel-good, do-good phenomenon).
  • Even significant good or bad events don’t usually change our subjective well-being for long.
  • Happiness is relative to our own experiences (the adaptation-level phenomenon) and to others’ success (the relative deprivation principle).
  • Tips for increasing happiness levels: focus beyond finances, take charge of your schedule, act happy, seek meaningful work and leisure, exercise, sleep enough, foster friendships, focus beyond the self, and nurture gratitude and spirituality.