Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed)

Chapter 11

Emotions, Stress and Health

James A. McCubbin, PhDClemson University

Worth Publishers

Emotion

Emotion a response of the whole organism

physiological arousal expressive behaviors conscious experience

Theories of Emotion

Does your heart pound because you are afraid... or are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Fear(emotion)

Poundingheart

(arousal)

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Cannon-BardTheory of Emotion

Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger: physiological responses subjective experience of

emotion

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Poundingheart

(arousal)

Fear(emotion)

Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

To experience emotion one must: be physically

aroused cognitively label

the arousalCognitive

label

“I’m afraid”

Fear(emotion)

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Poundingheart

(arousal)

Cognition and Emotion

The brain’s shortcut for emotions

Two Routes to Emotion

Emotion and Physiology

Autonomic nervous system controlsphysiological arousal

Sympatheticdivision (arousing)

Pupils dilate

Decreases

Perspires

Increases

Accelerates

Inhibits

Secrete stresshormones

Parasympatheticdivision (calming)

Pupils contract

Increases

Dries

Decreases

Slows

Activates

Decreasessecretion of

stress hormones

EYES

SALIVATION

SKIN

RESPIRATION

HEART

DIGESTION

ADRENALGLANDS

Arousal and Performance

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

Emotion - Lie Detectors

Polygraph machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies measures several of the physiological responses

accompanying emotion perspiration cardiovascular breathing changes

Emotion - A Polygraph Examination

Emotion - Lie Detectors

Control Question Example- Up to age 18, did you ever physically

harm anyone?

Relevant Question Example- Did [the deceased] threaten to harm

you in any way?

Relevant > Control --> Lie

Emotion - Lie Detectors

50 Innocents 50 Thieves

1/3 of innocent declared guilty

1/4 of guilty declared innocent (from Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984)

Expressed Emotion People more speedily detect an angry

face than a happy one (Ohman, 2001a)

Expressed Emotion Gender and expressiveness

Men Women

Sad Happy ScaryFilm Type

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Numberof

expressions

Expressed Emotion

Culturally universal expressions

Experienced Emotion

Infants’ naturally occurring emotions

Experienced Emotion

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 a

good mood

Experienced Emotion

Subjective Well-Being self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life used along with measures of objective well-being

physical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s quality of life

Experienced Emotion Moods across the day

Experienced Emotion Changing materialism

Experienced Emotion Does money buy happiness?

Year

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Averageper-person

after-tax incomein 1995 dollars

Percentagedescribingthemselves asvery happy

$20,000$19,000$18,000$17,000$16,000$15,000$14,000$13,000$12,000$11,000$10,000

$9,000$8,000$7,000$6,000$5,000$4,000

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Percentage very happy

Personal income

Experienced Emotion Values and life satisfaction

MoneyLove

1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00Life satisfaction

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

Importancescores

Experienced Emotion Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

tendency to form judgments relative to a “neutral” level brightness of lights volume of sound level of income

defined by our prior experience

Relative Deprivation perception that one is worse off relative to those

with whom one compares oneself

Happiness is...Researchers Have Found ThatHappy People Tend to

Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries)

Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable

Have close friendships or a satisfyingmarriage

Have work and leisure that engagetheir skills

Have a meaningful religious faith

Sleep well and exercise

However, Happiness Seems Unrelated 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 and Illness

Stress the process by

which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Stress Appraisal

Stressful event(tough math test)

Threat(“Yikes! This isbeyond me!”)

Challenge(“I’ve got to apply

all I know”)

Panic, freeze up

Aroused, focused

Appraisal Response

Stress and Illness

General Adaptation Syndrome Selye’s concept of

the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages

Stressresistance

Phase 1Alarm

reaction(mobilize

resources)

Phase 2Resistance(cope with stressor)

Phase 3Exhaustion(reservesdepleted)

The body’s resistance to stress canlast only so long before exhaustion sets in

Stressoroccurs

Stress and Health

Health Psychology subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s

contribution to behavioral medicine

Perceived Control

Equality and Longevity

Stress and the Heart

Hopelessnessscores

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0 Heart attack DeathLow risk Moderate risk High risk

Men who feel extreme hopelessnessare at greater risk for heart attacksand early death

Stress and the Heart

Coronary Heart Disease clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart

muscle leading cause of death in many developed

countries

Stress and the Heart

Type A Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive,

hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Type B Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing,

relaxed people

Stress and Disease

Psychophysiological Illness “mind-body” illness any stress-related physical illness

some forms of hypertension some headaches

distinct from hypochondria— misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

Stress and Disease

Lymphocytes two types of white blood cells that are part of the

body’s immune system B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release

antibodies that fight bacterial infections T lymphocytes form in the thymus and, among other

duties, attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Stress and Disease

Conditioning of immune suppression

UCS(drug)

UCR(immunesuppression)

UCS(drug)

UCR(immunesuppression)

CS(sweetenedwater)

CS(sweetenedwater) CR

(immunesuppression)

Stress and Disease

Negative emotions and health-related consequences

Unhealthy behaviors(smoking, drinking,

poor nutrition and sleep)

Persistent stressorsand negative

emotions

Release of stresshormones

Heartdisease

Immunesuppression

Autonomic nervoussystem effects

(headaches,hypertension)

Promoting Health

Aerobic Exercise sustained exercise that

increases heart and lung fitness

Depressionscore

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3 Before treatmentevaluation

After treatmentevaluation

No-treatmentgroup

Aerobicexercise

group

Relaxationtreatment

group

Promoting Health

Biofeedback system for electronically

recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state blood pressure muscle tension

Promoting Health Modifying Type A life-style can reduce

recurrence of heart attacks

Percentageof patients

with recurrentheart attacks

(cumulativeaverage)

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Year1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

Life-style modification patients

Control patients

Modifying life-stylereduced recurrent

heart attacks

Promoting Health Social support across the life span

12-14 18-19 25-34 45-54 65-74 15-17 20-24 35-44 55-64 75+ Age in years

100%

90

80

70

60

50

Percentagewith high

support

Life events

Tendency toward

Health Illness

Personal appraisal

Challenge Threat

Personality type

Easy going, Nondepressed,Optimistic

Hostile, Depressed,Pessimistic

Personal habits

Nonsmoking, Regular exercise, Good nutrition

Smoking, Sedentary,Poor nutrition

Level of social support

Close, enduring Lacking

Promoting Health

Alternative systems ofmedical practice

Bioelectromagneticapplications

Diet, nutrition,life-style changes

Herbal medicine

Manual healing

Mind-body control

Pharmacological and biological treatments

Subfields of Alternative MedicineHealth care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,to care rendered in an organized health care system based onalternative traditions or practices

The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic (EM) fields

The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or nutritional intervention

Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditionsfor pharmacological use

Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnosticand therapeutic tool

Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnected-ness of mind and body

Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine

Alternative systems ofmedical practice

Bioelectromagneticapplications

Diet, nutrition,life-style changes

Herbal medicine

Manual healing

Mind-body control

Pharmacological and biological treatments

Subfields of Alternative MedicineHealth care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,to care rendered in an organized health care system based onalternative traditions or practices

The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic (EM) fields

The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or nutritional intervention

Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditionsfor pharmacological use

Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnosticand therapeutic tool

Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnected-ness of mind and body

Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine

Alternative Medicine

Promoting Health Predictors of mortality

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0

Men Women

Not smoking Regular exercise Weekly religious attendance

Relativerisk

of dying

Promoting Health Religious Attendance

Promoting Health The religion factor is multidimensional

Religiousinvolvement

Healthybehaviors

(less smoking,drinking)

Social support(faith

communities,marriage)

Positiveemotions

(less stress,anxiety)

Better health(less immune systemsuppression, stress

hormones, and suicide)