Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed) Chapter 11 Emotions, Stress & Health Modified from: James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

Emotion  Response of whole organism  Physiological arousal  Expressive behaviors  Conscious experience  Theories of emotion

James-Lange Theory  Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion- arousing stimuli Fear (emotion) Pounding heart (arousal) Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus)

Cannon-Bard Theory  Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:  Physiological responses  Subjective experience of emotion Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal) Fear (emotion)

Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion  To experience emotion, must:  Be physically aroused  Cognitively label arousal Cognitive label “I’m afraid” Fear (emotion) Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal)

Cognition & Emotion  Brain’s shortcut for emotions

Two Routes to Emotion

Emotion & Physiology Autonomic nervous system controls physiological arousal Sympathetic division (arousing) Pupils dilate Decreases Perspires Increases Accelerates Inhibits Secrete stress hormones Parasympathetic division (calming) Pupils contract Increases Dries Decreases Slows Activates Decreases secretion of stress hormones EYES SALIVATION SKIN RESPIRATION HEART DIGESTION ADRENAL GLANDS

Arousal & Performance  Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well- learned tasks

Expressed Emotion  People more speedily detect angry face (threats) than happy one (Ohman, 2001a)

Expressed Emotion  Gender & expressiveness Men Women Sad Happy Scary Film Type Number of expressions

Expressed Emotion  Culturally universal expressions

Anger & Happiness  Catharsis  Emotional release  Catharsis hypothesis  “Releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges  Feel-good, do-good phenomenon  People’s tendency to be helpful when already in good mood

Happiness  Subjective Well-Being  Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life  Adaptation-Level Phenomenon  Tendency to form judgments relative to those previously experienced (“neutral” level)  Relative Deprivation  Perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Happiness is... Researchers Have Found That Happy People Tend to Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries) Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage Have work and leisure that engage their skills Have a meaningful religious faith Sleep well and exercise However, Happiness Seems Not Much Related to Other Factors, Such as Age Gender (women are more often depressed, but also more often joyful) Education levels Parenthood (having children or not) Physical attractiveness

Stress Appraisal Stressful event (tough math test) Threat (“Yikes! This is beyond me!”) Challenge (“I’ve got to apply all I know”) Panic, freeze up Aroused, focused Appraisal Response

Stress & Illness  Stress  Process by which perceive & respond to certain events (stressors) that appraise as threatening or challenging  General adaptation syndrome (GAS) (Selye’s)  Body’s adaptive response to stress  3 stages – alarm, resistance, exhaustion

3 Stressful Life Events  Catastrophic Events  Unpredictable, large-scale events nearly all see as threatening  Life Changes  Significant personal life change  Daily Hassles  Most significant sources of stress  Happiness stems from response to daily events  Especially problematic when perceived as negative & uncontrolled (perception of control)

Stress & Heart  Coronary Heart Disease  Clogging vessels that nourish heart muscle  Leading cause of death in many developed countries (like USA)  Friedman & Rosenman’s 2 personality types  Type A vs. Type B

Stress & Disease  Psychophysiological Illness (“Mind-body”)  Any stress-related physical illness  Not hypochondriasis (misinterpreting normal physical sensations as disease symptoms)  Lymphocytes  2 types (B & T lymphocytes) of white blood cells that are part of immune system

Stress & Disease  Negative emotions & health-related consequences Unhealthy behaviors (smoking, drinking, poor nutrition and sleep) Persistent stressors and negative emotions Release of stress hormones Heart disease Immune suppression Autonomic nervous system effects (headaches, hypertension)

Promoting Health  Aerobic exercise  Biofeedback (& Meditation)  Modifying type A life-style  Social support  Spiritual & faith communities

Life events Tendency toward HealthIllness Personal appraisal ChallengeThreat Personality type Easy going Non-depressed Optimistic Hostile Depressed Pessimistic Personality habits Nonsmoking Regular exercise Good nutrition Smoking Sedentary Poor nutrition Level of social support Close, enduringLacking