Chapter 18 STRESS, COPING, ADJUSTMENT, AND HEALTH © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 1

Part VI. Adjustment Domain Personality helps us adjust to the challenges and demands of life. Two Areas of Adjustment: (1) Physical Health ◦Optimism/Pessimism and Health ◦Coping with Stress (2) Mental Health ◦Personality Disorders Introductory Video: © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 2

4 Views of Optimism Optimism-pessimism; Learned Optimism (Peterson, 2000; Seligman): ◦Pessimists - make stable, global, and internal explanations for bad events ◦Optimists - unstable, specific, external explanations for bad events termed “optimists” Dispositional optimism (Scheier & Carver, 2000): ◦Expectation that good events will be plentiful and bad events rare in future Optimistic bias (Weinstein): ◦People generally underestimate their risks, with the average person rating risks as below true average Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986): ◦Belief that one can do behaviors necessary to achieve desired outcome 3 © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD

Learned Optimism Did I or an outside force cause this event? Internal vs. External Will this good or bad event happen again? Stable vs. Unstable Is this good or bad event a reflection of my global self or a specific life domain? Universal vs. Specific © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 4

Bad Event External Unstable Specific Optimist Internal Stable Universal Pessimist © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 5

Good Event Internal Stable Universal Optimist External Unstable Specific Pessimist © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 6

For each statement: 1=Strongly disagree 2=Moderately disagree 3=Neutral - neither disagree nor agree 4=Moderately agree 5=Strongly agree 1)In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. (O) 2)[It's easy for me to relax.] 3)If something can go wrong for me, it will. (P) 4)I'm always optimistic about my future. (O) 5)[I enjoy my friends a lot.] 6)[It's important for me to keep busy.] 7)I hardly ever expect things to go my way. (P) 8)[I don't get upset too easily.] 9)I rarely count on good things happening to me. (P) 10) Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad. (O) (LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) [ ] = filler item Dispositional Optimism © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 7

Optimism and Health Fewer doctors visits After heart attack, survive longer Deal more effectively with AIDS and cancer Better immune system functioning Faster rehab after breast cancer surgery Exercise more, avoid fatty foods, drink in moderation, better response to colds Higher life satisfaction/well-being Longer life © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 8

Pessimism and Health Learned Helplessness More likely to die at an earlier age Lower well-being/life satisfaction More depression © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 9

Do you think….. A) Depression causes pessimism? B) Pessimism causes depression? © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 10

Causal Direction: Does pessimism cause depression? Or vice versa? Time 1: September of Fall Semester Tested all students for depression and explanatory style October: Asked “What counts as failure on an exam?” Average Answer = B+ 1 Week after October question Took Midterm Exam Time 2: Following Exam Week: received grades © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 11

Pessimism and Depression: Causal Direction 70% of people: Pessimists + Failed (B+) Became depressed from Time 1 to Time 2 Pessimism combined with perceptions of failure causes depression © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 12

Pessimism and Depression: Causal Direction Before and after incarceration **People who entered with high level of pessimism showed highest levels of depression upon leaving incarceration Children over 4-year period (3 rd grade to 6 th grade) Pessimists in 3 rd grade mostly likely to be depressed and remained depressed later on. When bad events occurred (e.g., divorce), pessimistic children experienced greatest depression. © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 13

Do you think….. A) Cancer causes pessimism? B) Pessimism causes cancer? © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 14

Pessimism as a Cause for Cancer Implanted sarcoma cells on each rat’s flank before shocks Manipulation #1: 1) Mild Inescapable Shock – Learned Helplessness 2) Mild Escapable Shock 3) No Shock DV: % who lived © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 15

© 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 16

Does childhood pessimism determine cancer in adulthood? Manipulation #1: Young rats placed in one of same three conditions 1) Mild Inescapable Shock 2) Mild Escapable Shock and 3) No Shock Now, implanted sarcoma in adulthood after shocks given in childhood Rats with learned helplessness failed to reject tumors as adults Most rats who mastered shocks rejected tumors as adults © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 17

Pessimism as a Cause of Cancer: Why? What happens? For helpless rats, immune system weakens T-Cells Recognize specific invaders, such as measles; then, T-cells quickly multiple to kill invaders Natural Killer Cells (NK; white blood cells): Kill anything foreign they come across © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 18

Pessimism as a Cause of Cancer: Why? What happens? Replicated with adults Senior Citizens, average age 71 Gave interviews about nutrition, health, and blood sample Optimists had better immune activity than pessimists Pessimism was strongest predictor of lower immune activity (not depression or health) May be that pessimists have weakened immune response to tumors/cancer cells, which prevents them from warding off cancer Not necessarily that pessimists experience more cancer © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 19

How does optimism lead to better health? 1. Optimists experience fewer episodes of learned helplessness, which keeps immune defenses stronger 2. Optimists stick to health regimens and seek medical advice 3. Optimists experience a smaller number of bad life events ◦Pessimists less likely to take active steps to avoid bad events 4. Optimists have better social support At the beginning of an illness, optimistic people have a better chance of survival. © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 20

21 AdvantagesDisadvantages Pessimism Optimism © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD

Oh no! I’m a pessimist what do I do? © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 22

You can change your explanatory style! Martin’s Seligman’s Research Focuses on changing explanatory style using cognitive approaches Typical cognitive therapy focuses on reducing the number of negative thoughts, but not on increasing the number of positive thoughts. Reducing negative thoughts does not automatically lead to an increase in positive thoughts. © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 23

Does changing explanatory style cure cancer? Cognitive Therapy as boost to immune system 40 patients diagnosed with melanoma and colon cancer Continued with chemotherapy and radiation Received Cognitive Therapy: Once a week for 12 weeks Recognizing automatic thoughts, distraction, disputing pessimistic explanations, relaxation training for stress 2 years later: Experimental cancer patients higher NK activity (vs. control) Future research needs to look at association between CBT and recovery from cancer. © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 24

But, should I become more optimistic? Is optimism always a good thing? © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 25

Unrealistic Optimism Optimists believe they are less likely to experience negative events than average person Optimists believe that they are more likely to experience positive events than the average person © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 26

Defensive Pessimism Strategy: Anticipate Failure So, mentally over-prepare for negative outcomes Should we make pessimists more like optimists? © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 27

Origins of Optimism: What are the causes of optimism? Parents’ and Teachers’ Attributions Life Crises Personality Traits Frontal Assymetry Genetics © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 28

Origins of Optimism: What are the causes of optimism? Parents’ Explanatory Style ◦Pessimistic Child: If parents’ reasons for bad events are internal, pervasive, and permanent ◦Optimistic Child: If parents’ reasons for bad events are specific, temporary, and external Adult’s (Parents’ and Teachers’) Attributions ◦Boys: “You weren’t paying attention, “You didn’t try hard enough” ◦Incremental View – More Optimism ◦Girls: “You’re not good at math” “You never check your work” ◦Entity View – More Pessimism (Learned Helplessness) Life Crises ◦Families who showed greater recovery during Great Depression had children who showed more optimism in old age 29 © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD

Origins of Optimism: What are the causes of optimism? Genetics! 500 same-sex pairs, identical and fraternal, middle-age ½ reared together; ½ reared apart Heritability for Opt = 24%;Heritability for Pess = 29% Shared Environment for Optimism = 13% Determined optimism, but not pessimism Possibly Our Big Five Traits: ◦Optimism positively correlated with Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness ◦Optimism negatively correlated with Neuroticism © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 30

Left Frontal Lobe = More behavioral activation than behavioral avoidance Right Frontal Lobe = More behavioral avoidance than behavioral activation Anger and Happiness Fear Neuroticism (Hecht, 2013) Extraversion? Optimism; High Self- Esteem Pessimism; Low Self- Esteem © 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 31

© 2015 M. GUTHRIE YARWOOD 32 Negative images (e.g., car accident) shown in right visual field. During cognitive reappraisal, fMRI showed greater brain activity in LH vs. RH.