1. Human Adjustment John W. Santrock
Chapter 5:
Coping
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2. Chapter Outline Exploring Coping Strategies of Coping
Coping with Emotions
Stress Management
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3. Learning Goals
1. Describe what coping is, types of coping, and the role of contexts in coping.
2. Discuss specific coping strategies.
3. Summarize factors involved in coping with emotions.
4. Explain stress management.
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4. What Is Coping? Coping involves: managing taxing circumstances
expending effort to solve problems
seeking to master or reduce stress
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5. Coping Classifications
Richard Lazarus proposed two types of coping:
Problem-focused coping - the cognitive strategy of squarely facing one’s troubles and trying to solve them
Emotion-focused coping - responding to stress in an emotional manner, especially by using defense mechanisms
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6. Coping Classifications
Over the long term, problem-focused coping is usually more effective than emotion-focused coping
Meaning-making coping involves drawing on beliefs, values, and goals to modify the meaning of a stressful situation
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7. Active-Cognitive, Active-Behavioral, and Avoidance Coping Strategies
Another classification consists of:
Active-cognitive strategies (actively thinking about a situation to adjust more effectively)
Active-behavioral strategies (taking some type of action to improve a problem situation)
Avoidance strategies (keeping stressful circumstances out of awareness)
Active-cognitive and active-behavioral strategies are more effective than avoidance strategies
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8. Coping and Contexts
Coping is influenced by the demands and resources of the environment
A particular coping strategy may be effective in one context but not another, depending on the extent to which the situation is controllable
The ability to modify coping strategies to fit the context greatly enhances efforts to manage stress
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9. STRATEGIES OF COPING Think positively and optimistically
Increase self-control
Seek social support
Use proactive coping
Engage in enjoyable activities and use humor
Use multiple coping strategies
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10. Think Positively and Optimistically
Thinking positively and optimistically facilitates our efforts to cope with stress
Cognitive restructuring can help individuals think more positively and optimistically
Cognitive restructuring = process of replacing thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that maintain an individual’s problems
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11. Think Positively and Optimistically
Self-talk (or self-statements) = the soundless, mental speech people use when they think about something, plan, or solve problems
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12. Adjustment Strategies for Self-Talk
1. Fine-tune your self-talk
2. Use uncomfortable emotions or moods as cues for listening to your self-talk
3. Capitalize on situations you anticipate might be difficult
4. Compare your self-talk predictions with what actually takes place
5. Enlist the help of a friend, partner, or therapist
6. Find out which self-statements help you to cope more effectively
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13. Positive Self-illusion
Having either mildly inflated positive illusions or a reality orientation may benefit our efforts to cope with stress
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14. Figure 5.3 Reality and Self-Illusion
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15. Developing an Optimistic Outlook
Martin Seligman - having optimistic outlook is a wise coping strategy and in many cases optimists have better physical and mental health than pessimists
Optimism - how a person explains causes of bad events
Optimists explain bad events as result of external, unstable, and specific causes
Pessimists explain bad events as due to internal, stable, and global causes
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16. Adjustment Strategies for Becoming More Optimistic
1. Identify thoughts and feelings you have after something unpleasant happens
2. Become aware of your pattern of thinking when you experience unpleasant events
3. Distract yourself from your pessimistic thoughts
4. Dispute your pessimistic thoughts
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17. Increase Self-Control
Engaging in self-control is an effective coping strategy
Components of self-control include:
internal locus of control
high self-efficacy
ability to delay gratification
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18. Increase Self-Control
Empowerment - assisting individuals to develop skills they need to control their lives
Thought stopping = self-control strategy in which individual says “Stop!” when an unwanted thought occurs and then immediately replaces it with a more pleasant thought
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19. Seek Social Support
Social support involves information and feedback from others that one is:
loved and cared for
esteemed and valued
included in network of communication
Included in network of mutual obligation
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20. Seek Social Support
Having social support helps people cope with stress
Social support may provide us with:
tangible assistance
information
emotional support
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21. Proactive Coping
Multiple strategies may be required for coping to be successful
Proactive coping = coping in advance to prevent or mute the influence of events that are potential stressors in the future
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22. Proactive Coping Proactive coping includes:
building a reserve of resources
recognizing potential stressors, initial appraisal of stressors, preliminary coping efforts
seeking and using feedback about the success of one’s efforts
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23. Humor and Coping
Engaging in enjoyable activities may bring us positive emotions and make us laugh
Laughing can release pent-up emotions and help us redefine stressful circumstances in a less threatening way
Humor can dampen stress and
strengthen the immune system
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24. Coping and Positive Emotion
Positive emotion can occur with relatively high frequency even in the most stressful circumstances and can be present when depression and distress are elevated
Experiencing positive emotions in
stressful circumstances can benefit
coping
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25. COPING WITH EMOTIONS Emotional Approach Coping Emotion Regulation
Emotional Intelligence
Coping and Positive Emotion
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26. Emotional Approach Coping
Emotion-focused coping is associated with higher distress
Processing emotion might be adaptive in the short term
Over time it may result in rumination, which is related to increased symptoms of depression
Emotional approach coping = strategy of actively processing emotion and expressing emotion
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27. Emotion Regulation
more effective when used early in emotional experiences
Emotion regulation = process of influencing which emotions we experience, when we experience them, and how we experience and express them
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28. Emotion Regulation Strategies of emotional regulation include:
appraisal (changing the way one thinks about a situation to dampen its emotional impact)
suppression (inhibiting outward signs of emotion)
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29. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence = ability to perceive and express emotion, understand emotion, and regulate emotion
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30. Emotional Intelligence
Goleman (1995) believes that being emotionally intelligent includes:
developing emotional awareness (separate feelings from actions)
managing emotions (control anger and anxiety)
reading emotions (taking perspective of others)
handling relationships effectively (cope effectively with relationship problems)
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31. STRESS MANAGEMENT Exploring Stress Management
Meditation and Relaxation
Biofeedback
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32. Exploring Stress Management
Stress management programs teach individuals:
how to appraise stressful events
how to develop skills for coping with stress
how to apply these skills in everyday life
Some stress management programs are broad in scope, teaching a variety of techniques, while others focus on a specific technique, such as meditation
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33. Meditation
Meditation = system of mental exercises that help the individual to attain bodily or mental control and well-being, as well as enlightenment
Transcendental meditation (TM) = the most popular style of meditation used in the United States, involves using a mantra
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34. Meditation
Meditation and relaxation bring physical and psychological benefits, but debate continues about whether meditation has superior effects to relaxation
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35. Biofeedback
Biofeedback can reduce migraine headaches and chronic pain
Relaxation is believed to be a key aspect of how biofeedback works
Biofeedback = process in which muscular or visceral activities are monitored by instruments; then the information from the instruments is given (fed back) to the individuals so that they can learn to voluntarily control their physiological activities
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