Question

all please

For questions 1 through 5, describe how the listed psychological factors modulate the stress-response. Also, give an example of how the listed factor could impact someone's stress response (do not use the examples provided in the textbook, powerpoint, or audio lecture...think of your own example).

1. Outlets for frustration
2. Social support
3. Predictability
4. Control
5. A perception of things worsening
6. Is a lack of control and predictability always bad? Describe why and give an example.

Answer 1

Outlets for Frustration: An outlet for expressing frustration can lessen the intensity of the stress-response immensely. Outlets like writing a journal can be very helpful as they allow the person to articulate their thoughts. Writing things down subsequently can help them make sense of the situation better. For example- Sally is unable to solve a fight with her friend, so she writes her feelings in a journal and feels lighter.

Social Support: The main logic behind the presence of social support is that it makes you feel less alone in the situation you are in. People around you can hence offer empathy and understanding in a tough situation. For example, Cindy loses her husband in a tragic accident, so her neighbors rally around her to help her with housework and taking care of the funeral arrangements.

Predictability: If one is able to predict the occurrence of some event, it invariably lessens the stress-response because in this case, the situation does not bring about sudden distress. For example, Bob knew that he hadn't studied for his test and he was going to fail, so when his result was handed out to him, he was disappointed but not distressed.

Control: Control over a situation enables you to minimize the stress aroused from it. For example, Fran has a dinner party for important guests, so instead of stressing out over the food as well as entertaining, she hires a cook for the night to handle the kitchen.

A Perception of Things Worsening: If, from the outset, you perceive that things will worsen, in some cases that can add to the stress, while in others it can offer predictability and lessen the intensity of the stress response. For example, Gina goes to the doctor for a suspicious spot on her back. She is afraid it could be skin cancer. This stresses her out at the outset, even though she does not know what the spot is.

Lack of Control and Predictability in a lot of cases can worsen the stress response.