The Impact of Optimism and Pessimism

Optimists: people who expect positive outcomes ●​ Longer life, increased immune-system functioning, more energy ●​ Mayo Clinic Study: 50% less premature death ●​ Higher levels of helper T cells (increase immune functioning) and natural killer cells ●​ Seligman: Less likely to develop learned helplessness, take care of their health, less depressed, more effectively functioning immune system (more successful) Pessimists: expect the worse to happen 78% of drivers in road rage or aggressive driving behavior, 3.7% get out to confront another driver, 2.8% intentionally bump into another vehicle Poverty: lack of life necessities creates stress for overcrowding, lack of medical care, disabilities due to poor prenatal care, noisy environments, increased illness rates, abuse Job Stress: adds to daily stresses, workload, lack of variety or meaningful work, lack of decision control, long hours, poor physical conditions, racism, lack of job security ●​ Headaches, high BP, indigestion, anxiety, anger, depression, drug use, relations Burnout: negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior from prolonged stress or frustration, leading to exhaustion from job stress, college students ●​ Emotional Exhaustion: emotional drained from work ●​ Depersonalization (emotional detachment from self/others “on autopoliot”)/Cynicism: (mistrust from other’s motives/intentions and feeling frustrated) clients/customers/patients treated as objects (impediment to getting job done, only care about themselves) ●​ Low personal Achievement/Lowered Self-esteem: feeling as if one has no real impact at their workplace, best efforts are futile so no real motivation to improve Acculturative Stress: stress from need to change and adapt a person’s ways to the majority culture (dealing with prejustice and discrimination, learning new language, finding employment, navigating the educational system) ●​ Integration: tries to maintain sense of original cultural identity while forming a positive relationship with members of the majority culture ○​ Home cultural traditions but dress as dominant culture outside ○​ Low acculturation stress ●​ Assimilation: gives up old cultural identity and completely adopts majority culture ○​ Moderate acculturation stress due to rejection from their minority members ●​ Separation: rejects majority culture and only is original culture ○​ Refuse to learn dominant language or socialize with them “Chinatown” ○​ High acculturation stress, especially if its forced from minorirty group ●​ Marginalized: neither maintaining contact with majority or minority while not being apart of either culture, don’t have security of familiar or acceptance ○​ Highest stress Coping Strategies: actions that people can take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors Problem-Focused Coping: try to eliminate the source of a stress or reduce its impact through direct actions ●​ Student can’t understand professor, so talks to professor after class or asks other students to clarify Emotion-Focused Coping: change the impact of a stressor by changing the emotional reaction to the stressor ●​ Changing the way a person feels or reacts to a stressor to reduce its impact and deal with the problem more effectively. Works for uncontrollable stressors and views it as a challenge ●​ Student tells friend that can’t understand professor to calm down and tackle problem ●​ Ignoring: only good if not possible to change or eliminate stressor ○​ People worrying about a future heart attack more likely to suffer from stress ○​ Humor and laughter can boost natural killer cells in immune system, decrease levels of damaging hormones, repetitive laughter acts as an exercise that enhances mood and immune system to decrease bad cholesterol, BP Escape/Withdrawal: frustrated with job and decided to quit Mediation: mental series of exercises to refocus attention and achieve a trancelike state of consciousness. Brain waves change to more theta and alpha waves, with little delta waves, which indicate deep sleep Concentrative Meditation: person focses the mind on some repetitive or unchanging stimulus to clear the mind of disturbing t thoughts and the body can experience relaxation ●​ Lowers BP, increased alpha waves (relaxation), increased melatonin at night ●​ Reduces chronic pain, anxiety, depression, hostility, heart disease ●​ Mindfulness meditation: person purposely pays attention to the present moment without judgment of evaluation, moment-by-moment “unfolding” ●​ Progressive Muscle Relaxation: tensing and relaxing each muscle groups from fee tup to recognize the difference as we tense up without realizing it ●​ Visualization: use imagination to go to a calm, peaceful place using many senses Social-Support System: network of family, friends, coworkers who offer support, comfort ●​ Increases ability to cope with stressors, less likely to die from injuries/illnesses ●​ Good marriage improves people with lupus (chronic autoimmune system with widespread attack and inflammation), cancer, HIV ●​ Makes stressor less threatening as support is available and talk to ●​ Men “fight or flee” while woman befriend enemy or seek social support ○​ SRY chromosome in males heightens sympathetic activity with stress and regulate dopamine -> impulsive behaviors Viet Culture: polishes own old coffin as dying is not stressful compared to western society ●​ Viet coping: rituals, fortune-teller, eating certain foods, meditation, tai chi ●​ Thai children: 2x likely to use emotion-focused coping when faced with adults (doctors, angry teachers) than U.S. children ●​ N Ireland Adolescents blame themselves for stress and use emotional support than Colombia and Australia ●​ 9/11: Asians thought out of their control, so less stress, Africans and Hispanics used chruch ●​ Whites and latinas more likely to use social support with abuse than africans Strong religious beliefs belong to a religious organization and attend regular activities: vital part of person’s social support system due to their community, spiritually, and intangible presence of their deity ●​ Rituals: help person feel better about their weaknesses, failures, and inadequacy ●​ Increase likelihood of volunteering, meanings to things with no purpose (death, natural disaster, destruction of home) encourage healthy living habits