Stress can affect health, especially when it is chronic. Coping strategies are the mental and behavioral efforts people use to manage problems related to stress. This lesson introduces two major coping styles and explains when each may be useful.
Lazarus and Folkman identified two broad approaches to coping: problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. People may use both approaches in response to a single stressor, but the strategies have different targets.
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Problem-focused coping
Efforts to manage or change the stressor itself, often through problem-solving and action.
Learned helplessness
A belief that one's actions cannot affect outcomes, acquired through experiences of apparent uncontrollability.
Attribution
A mental explanation for why an event occurred.
Social support
Comforting and practical help received through relationships with other people.
Biofeedback
A method that measures bodily activity and provides signals to help people practice influencing it.
Quiz questions
What does perceived control mean?Answer: Believing that one can influence events and shape outcomes.
Which pattern of explanation for negative events is associated with greater vulnerability to depressive symptoms?Answer: Internal, stable, and global explanations.
Which sequence names the stages of the general adaptation syndrome?Answer: Alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
What is a central idea of learned helplessness?Answer: Past uncontrollable events can lead someone to stop trying, even when action could help.
What conclusion is supported by research linking stronger social relationships with better survival?Answer: Stronger relationships are associated with better survival, but do not guarantee it.
Based on Psychology 2e by Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.