Principles of Psychology

 Introduction: Root, Field, Goal, Methods, Misconceptions about

Psychology
 The Aware Mind: Consciousness, State of Consciousness
 The Feeling Mind: Feeling, Expressing and Interpreting Emotion
 The Thinking and Knowing Mind: Learning, Memory, Forgetting,
Thinking, Intelligence
 The Individual Mind: Personality, Seeking Selfhood: Self concept,
Personal Control, Mastery and Growth
 The Connected Mind: Attitude, Attribution, Prejudice, Group Behavior
 Psychology Today: Stress: Good or Bad, Success: Intelligence or More
 Stress is psychophysical reaction toward any threat which
create a demand over our strength.
 Hans Selye popularized the concept of stress in 1950s.
 Stress is inevitable but not always bad.
 Physiological Response: SNS, Pituitary Gland, Adrenal
Cortex,
 Epinephrine: focuses body attention to self-preservation
inhibiting functions as- digestion, tissue repair, immune
response, reproduction.
General Adaptation
Syndrome

Stress and performance

 Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain
 Gritting, grinding teeth
 Stuttering or stammering
 Tremors, trembling of lips, hands
 Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms
 Light headedness, faintness, dizziness
 Ringing, buzzing or "popping sounds
 Frequent blushing, sweating
 Cold or sweaty hands, feet
 Dry mouth, problems swallowing
 Frequent colds, infections, herpes sores
 Rashes, itching, hives, "goose bumps"
 Unexplained or frequent "allergy" attacks
 Heartburn, stomach pain, nausea
 Excess belching, flatulence
 pressure to perform at work, at school or in sports
 threats of physical violence
 money worries
 arguments
 family conflicts
 divorce
 bereavement
 unemployment
 moving house
 alcohol or drug abuse.
 Sometimes, there is no particular reason for developing stress, or it arises out
of a series of minor irritations.
 Pressure to perform at work, at school or in sports,
Threats of physical violence,
 Money worries,
 Family conflicts,
 Divorce.
 anxiety or panic attacks
 a feeling of being constantly pressured, hassled, and hurried
 irritability and moodiness
 physical symptoms, such as stomach problems, headaches, or
even chest pain
 allergic reactions, such as eczema or asthma
 problems sleeping
 drinking too much, smoking, overeating, or doing drugs
 sadness or depression

Heart attack

Hypertension

Stroke

Cancer

Diabetes

Depression

Obesity
 Eating disorders
 Substance abuse
 Ulcers
 Irritable bowel syndrome
 Memory loss
 Autoimmune diseases (e.g. lupus)
 Insomnia
 Thyroid problems
 Infertility
 Stress: It’s Worse Than You Think – This long, comprehensive article
covers in detail the physiological basis for stress and the devastation it can
cause in persons of all ages. (Psychology Today)

 Stress System Malfunction Could Lead to Serious, Life Threatening

Disease – Provides somewhat technical but still readable explanations of
how the chemistry of stress works and how stress causes ill effects in the
human body and brain. (National Institutes of Health)

 Stress: Unhealthy response to the pressures of life – Offers readable

descriptions of how stress creates symptoms in different systems in the
body. (Mayo Clinic)

 Stress – Good discussion of stress and its symptoms and long-term effects,
with focus on cardiovascular health. (Mount Sinai School of Medicine)
 Exercise and eat regularly
 Avoid excess caffeine intake which can increase feelings of anxiety and agitation
 Avoid illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco
 Learn relaxation exercises (abdominal breathing and muscle relaxation
techniques)
 Develop assertiveness training skills. For example, state feelings in polite firm
and not overly aggressive or passive ways: ("I feel angry when you yell at me”
"Please stop yelling.”)
 Rehearse and practice situations which cause stress. One example is taking a
speech class if talking in front of a class makes you anxious
 Learn practical coping skills. For example, break a large task into smaller, more
attainable tasks
 Decrease negative self talk: challenge negative thoughts about yourself with
alternative neutral or positive thoughts. "My life will never get better” can be
transformed into "I may
 Relax. It’s important to unwind. Each person has her own way to relax. Some
ways include deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and massage therapy. If you
can’t do these things, take a few minutes to sit, listen to soothing music, or read a
book.
 Make time for yourself. It’s important to care for yourself. Think of this as an
order from your doctor, so you don’t feel guilty! No matter how busy you are,
you can try to set aside at least 15 minutes each day in your schedule to do
something for yourself, like taking a bubble bath, going for a walk, or calling a
friend.
 Sleep. Sleeping is a great way to help both your body and mind. Your stress
could get worse if you don’t get enough sleep. You also can’t fight off sickness
as well when you sleep poorly. With enough sleep, you can tackle your problems
better and lower your risk for illness. Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep
every night.
 Eat right. Try to fuel up with fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Good sources of
protein can be peanut butter, chicken, or tuna salad. Eat whole-grains, such as
wheat breads and wheat crackers. Don’t be fooled by the jolt you get from
caffeine or sugar. Your energy will wear off.
“To be totally without
stress is to be dead.”

- Hans Selye
 Negative “bad” stress vs. Positive “good” stress – how
can that be?

 Stress is any time your body has to adjust to any kind of

change.

 Stress causes a significant overload to the MIND and

BODY.
 People who report a high level of stress are twice as likely to
get a cold.
 Being “stressed out” is bad for your body!
 Hormones are produced when you “stress out” – these
hormones suppress the IMMUNE SYSTEM, thus making the
body more susceptible to diseases, viruses and infections.
Immune System: the body’s defense and surveillance
network of cells and chemicals that fight off bacteria,
viruses and other foreign or toxic substances.
 FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE

 Primitive physiological responses (sweat, heart rate increase etc.) that

arouse and prepare the body (muscles and brain) for action. It’s
triggered by physical or psychological situations that are new,
threatening or challenging.

 This response provides the body with increased energy to deal with
perceived threatening situations whether real or imagined.

 The number of fight or flight we experience depends on our levels of

stress.
 It’s a survival mechanism to prepare the body for action and
survival – it’s automatic. It used to prepare the body to
escape from predators now we use the same response for non-
threatening situations such as traffic.

 If we overuse it and
keep our body in a
near constant state
of arousal = painful
physical symptoms
 Your body can’t distinguish between physical stress and
mental stress.
 So your body is ready to FIGHT or FLEE even when that’s
not what you need to do
 This activation is hard on your body and you’re more likely to
get sick if it continues
 Sources are often different
◦ Married men show better mental health than married women
◦ Caring for children is more stressful than almost any job

 New research: men are more likely to have “fight or flight”

reaction, while women have “tend and befriend” reaction (seek
social support)

◦ Women: emotional coping

◦ Men: problem-solving strategies
 The pattern your body goes through when it’s stressed.

 ALARM STAGE – initial reaction to stress; fight or

flight response which causes physiological arousal.
Short bursts of stress - bodies go in and out of this
stage many times a day. Can be “false alarms.”
 RESISTANCE STAGE – “eye of the storm” body’s reaction to
continued stress – bodily responses return to normal levels – to do
this, since the body is stressed, the body has to use up great stores of
energy. Body seems to be functioning normally but actually it has to
work 2x as hard to do this.

 EXHAUSTION STAGE – Body’s reaction to long-term, continuous

stress: actual breakdown in internal organs or weakening of the
infection-fighting immune system. Body gets tired of constant state
of arousal. During this stage, for example, stomach pains turn into
ulcers.
 Change in immune system
reduces body’s resistance
to disease
 Can alter a disease’s
course
 Response in heart:
◦ Increase in blood pressure
◦ Increase in blood clotting
◦ Increase in chance of clots
◦ Increase in likelihood that
loose fat deposits will close
off coronary arteries
◦ Arrhythmias
 Whatever part of our body is genetically vulnerable will be
attacked (different for different people).
 The parts of our bodies that are targeted or weakened will be
especially vulnerable during stress.

◦ When and why stressors surface:

1. Inherited predisposition
2. Nutrition
3. Lifestyle
4. Stressful situation
5. Appraisal of situation as a threat
PROBLEM-FOCUSED Coping:
Change the situation (for when you have control).
Ex.
EMOTION-FOCUSED Coping:
Change ourselves (for when we have no control).
EF coping changes how we think about the situation.
Ex.

Coping =control!
*How stressed we are
depends on how we
appraise events.*
 Appraisal
Response
THREAT Panic,
(“Yikes, this is freeze up
Stressful event beyond me!”)
(tough math test)

CHALLENGE Aroused,
(“I’ve got to apply
focused all I know!”)
Locus of control: our belief about how much control we
have over our situations in our lives

 External locus of control: - more stress!

◦ Belief that we don’t have much control
 because fate determines what happens to us
 Internal locus of control:
◦ Belief that we have at least some control over what happens to
us
◦ People with an internal locus of control are more likely to have
self-efficacy and are healthier
 Studies show: better mental health, report of less stress,
 preventive health measures taken
 Our personality makes a difference
◦ High Self-efficacy/Internal Locus of Control and hardiness –
Optimism
◦ Low Self-efficacy/External Locus of Control - Pessimism
 Negative affectivity
 Pessimistic explanatory style
 Suffer more illnesses
 More stress
 Die earlier
 More likely to die of a second heart attack
◦ Type A personality vs. Type B personality
 Shown to
predict:
◦ Good health
◦ Immune system
functioning
◦ Faster
rehabilitation
◦ Living longer
 Accomplish your goals 34%
 Be happy or satisfied with yourself 21%
 Get a job with strong earning potential 18%
 Earn good grades, B or better 13%
 Try your best and reach your potential 12%
 Doing things you want to do 8%
 Go to a prestigious college 4%
 Make my parents proud 3%
 Excel in a certain field 1%
 What is success?
 Adverse effects of narrow perception of success
 Factors behind success
 “I very much support the notion that ‘success’ has a million definitions.”
Joanna Cheffins
 Be really hungry for success – but be brave enough to know that success
can be measured in many different ways.
Nicola Padfield
 “Success is measured in many ways – the most important of which is how
you feel about yourself.”
Linda King
 “We don’t all have to aspire to the top job just because we think we ought
to; but equally we shouldn’t set our sights too low, just because it’s what
other people expect.”
Margaret Robinson
 Quarter life crisis
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis
 Mid life crisis
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midlife_crisis
 Empty nest syndrome
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_nest_syndrome
 Meaning of life
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life
 Existential Crisis
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_crisis
 Lack of motivation
 Wallowing in personal difficulties
 Lack of impulse control
 Distraction and lack of
concentration
 Lack of perseverance  Spreading oneself too thin or too
 Using wrong abilities thick
 Inability to translate thought into  Inability to delay gratification
action  Inability to see the forest for the
 Lack of product orientation trees
 Inability to complete tasks
 Lack of balance between critical,
 Failure to initiate analytical thinking and creative,
synthetic thinking
 Fear of failure  Too little or too much self-
 Procrastination confidence
 Excessive self-pity
 Excessive dependency
Smart people have a different set of potential reasons directly or
indirectly overlapping with the reasons of failure for intelligent:
 Their goals are lot bigger

 What makes them smart makes them ineffective competitors

 They falsely mistake most people as being more like them than they

are
 Thinking by itself is not a success

 They require different kinds of stimulation

 The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-
ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly
assessing their ability as much higher than it really is.
 Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or
fraud syndrome) is a term coined in 1978 by clinical psychologists
Dr. Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes referring to high-
achieving individuals marked by an inability to internalize their
accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a
"fraud".