Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (4th Ed)

Chapter 10

Emotions, Stress, and Health

James A. McCubbin, PhDClemson University

Worth Publishers

Emotion

Emotion a response of the whole organismphysiological arousalexpressive behaviorsconscious experience

Emotional ArousalAutonomic nervous system controls physiological arousal

Sympatheticdivision (arousing)

Parasympatheticdivision (calming)

Pupils dilate EYES Pupils contract

Decreases SALVATION Increases

Perspires SKIN Dries

Increases RESPERATION Decreases

Accelerates HEART Slows

Inhibits DIGESTION Activates

Secrete stresshormones

ADRENALGLANDS

Decrease secretionof stress hormones

Arousal and Performance

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

Performancelevel

Low

Arousal

High

Difficult tasks Easy tasks

Lie DetectorsPolygraph

machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies

measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotionperspirationheart rateblood pressurebreathing changes

Lie Detectors

Control Question Up to age 18, did you ever

physically harm anyone?Relevant Question

Did the deceased threaten to harm you in any way?

Relevant > Control --> Lie

Emotion-Lie Detectors

Control question

Relevantquestion

Control question

Relevantquestion(a) (b)

Respiration

Perspiration

Heart rate

Emotion-Lie Detectors

50 Innocents50 Thieves

1/3 of innocent declared guilty

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

Percentage

Innocentpeople

Guiltypeople

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Judged innocent by polygraphJudged guilty by polygraph

Emotion-Lie DetectorsIs 70% accuracy good?

Assume 5% of 1000 employees actually guiltytest all employees285 will be wrongly accused

What about 95% accuracy? Assume 1 in 1000 employees actually guilty

test all employees (including 999 innocents)50 wrongly declared guilty1 of 51 testing positive are guilty (2%)

Expressing Emotion

Smiles can show different emotions:

A) Mask angerB) Overly politeC) Soften

criticismD) Reluctant

compliance

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Expressing Emotion

Culturally universal expressions

Experiencing EmotionCatharsis

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

Experiencing Emotion

Subjective Well-Being self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life

used along with measures of objective well-beingphysical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s quality of life

Experiencing Emotion

Are today’s collegians materialistic?

Percentagerating goal

as veryimportant

oressential

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

01966 ‘68 ‘70 ‘72 ‘74 ‘76 ‘78 ‘80 ‘82 ‘84 ‘86 ‘88 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96

Year

Developing a meaningful life philosophy

Being very well-off financially

Experiencing 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

Experiencing EmotionAdaptation-Level Phenomenon

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

defined by our prior experienceRelative Deprivation

perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

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 EmotionExperience of emotion is awareness of

physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

James-Lange Theory

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

Cannon-Bard Theory

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 arousal

Schachter’s Theory

Poundingheart

(arousal)

Fear(emotion=labeled arousal)Cognitive

label

“I’m afraid”

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Cognition and Emotion

The brain’s shortcut for emotions

Thalamus

Visualcortex

To pounding heart

Amygdala

Instant fearresponse

Slightly slowerinterpretation:

“This is a snake!Get away.”

Cognition and Emotion

Emotion and cognition feed on each other

Experiencedemotion

Cognition

What is Stress?

Stress the process by

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

StressorsCatastrophes

Life changes

Hassles

InterveningfactorsAppraisal

Perceived control

Personality

Social support

Coping behaviors

StressreactionsPhysiological

Emotional

Behavioral

What is Stress?

General Adaptation Syndrome Selye’s concept of

the body’s adaptive response to stress as composed of three stages

Stressresistance

Phase 1Alarm

reaction(mobilize

resources)

Phase 2Resistance(cope with stressor)

Phase 3Exhaustion(reservesdepleted)

The body’s resistance to stress can onlyLast so long before exhaustion sets in

Stressoroccurs

What is Stress?

Coronary Heart Disease clogging of the vessels that nourish

the heart muscle leading cause of death in the

United States

Stress & Coronary Heart Disease

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 & Coronary Heart Disease

Type A Friedman and Rosenman’s term for

people who are competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, anger-prone

Type B Friedman and Rosenman’s term for

easygoing, relaxed people

Stress and Disease

Psychophysiological Illness “mind-body” illness any stress-related physical illness distinct from hypochondriasis –

misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

Stress and DiseaseLymphocytes

two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune systemB 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(immune suppression)

UCS(drug)

CS(sweetened water)

UCR(immune suppression)

CS(sweetened water)

CR(immune suppression)

Stress and DiseaseNegative emotions and health-related

consequences

Unhealthy behaviors(smoking, drinking,

poor nutrition and sleep)

Negativeemotions

Stresshormones

Heartdisease

Immunesuppression

Autonomic nervoussystem effects

(headaches,hypertension)

Promoting Health

Aerobic Exercise sustained

exercise that increases heart vand lung fitness

may also alleviate depression and anxiety

Depressionscore

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3 Before treatmentevaluation

After treatmentevaluation

No-treatmentgroup

Aerobicexercise

group

Relaxationtreatment

group

Promoting HealthBiofeedback

system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological stateblood pressuremuscle tension Patient observes

Promoting HealthModifying 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

Life events

Tendency toward

Health Illness

Personal appraisal

Challenge Threat

Personality typeEasy going

NondepressedOptimistic

HostileDepressedPessimistic

Personality habitsNonsmoking

Regular exerciseGood nutrition

SmokingSedentary

Poor nutrition

Level of social support

Close, enduring Lacking