Deck 12: Stress, Adjustment, and Health Differences

Question 1

Underlying psychosomatic medicine is the idea that

A) medications are relatively useless because illness is a mental state.
B) the mind is capable of affecting the body.
C) medicine should be used to treat illnesses that are "all in one's head."
D) medications can be used to treat psychiatric disorders.

Answer 1

the mind is capable of affecting the body.

Question 2

Which of the following sets up the scenario for a link between personality and health via health behaviors?

A) Jeannette enjoys spending time with her children and has a good sense of humor.
B) Jeannette is extremely extroverted and often attends parties.
C) Jeannette is an anxious person and often calms herself by smoking.
D) Jeannette is a very religious person.
E) Jeannette is often depressed and lethargic.

Answer 2

Jeannette is an anxious person and often calms herself by smoking.

Question 3

Smoking and drinking have been linked to which of the following personality characteristics?

A) Alienation
B) Impulsivity
C) Rebelliousness
D) Aggressiveness
E) All of these

Answer 3

All of these

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a subscale of Zuckerman's "sensation seeking"?

A) Disinhibition
B) Boredom susceptibility
C) Experience seeking
D) Social-support seeking
E) Thrill and adventure seeking

Question 5

In a study by Furnham & Saipe, it was found that fast, reckless drivers scored higher than "good drivers" on

A) Eysenck's psychoticism and Costa & McCrae's neuroticism.
B) Zuckerman's sensation-seeking and Scheier & Carver's optimism.
C) Zuckerman's sensation-seeking and Eysenck's psychoticism.
D) Beck's depression and Costa & McCrae's neuroticism.
E) Scheier & Carver's optimism and Costa & McCrae's neuroticism.

Question 6

Farley's "Type T" is most similar to which of the following?

A) Type A
B) Type B
C) Type C
D) Shyness
E) Sensation-seeking

Question 7

Of the following, who has entered the "sick role"?

A) Nancy was recently diagnosed with cancer, but she refuses to accept it; she works full-time, goes out with friends, and hasn't told anybody.
B) Matt mopes around the house and sleeps a lot. He is convinced he has the Epstein-Barr virus or perhaps chronic fatigue syndrome; the doctors haven't been able to make a diagnosis.
C) Andrew has HIV but doesn't know it; he lives his life as usual.
D) Sharon has been diabetic for many years, but she carefully controls her blood sugar level with diet, exercise, and insulin, so the disease is not causing problems for her.

Question 8

According to the theory of B.F. Skinner, some of the reinforcers that encourage adoption of the sick role might be

A) days off from work.
B) attention.
C) sympathy.
D) receiving help from others.
E) all of these.

Question 9

Which of the following can affect symptom reporting?

A) How neurotic the person tends to be
B) How depressed the person feels at the moment
C) The level of anxiety the person is experiencing at the moment
D) The person's usual level of attention to bodily sensation
E) All of these

Question 10

In the 1940s study of Johns Hopkins medical students, which temperament was found to be the biggest risk factor for serious health problems and even death?

A) Rapid and facile
B) Slow and solid
C) Irregular and uneven
D) Generous and kind
E) Introverted and humble

Question 11

June has a history of skin problems, and as a teenager, she had severe acne. Her breakouts are now controlled, but when she gets stressed out, her acne flares up. This is an example of the

A) reactance model.
B) reciprocity model.
C) diathesis-stress model.
D) operational-diagnosis model.
E) vulnerability-diametric model.

Question 12

According to Bernard Lown, which of the following does NOT precede sudden cardiac death?

A) A triggering event
B) Electrical instability in the heart muscle
C) A previous heart attack
D) A pervasive emotional state

Question 13

How would someone taking the interactionist approach to personality explain good health?

A) As a result of being biologically superior to sick people
B) As a result of good behaviors that have been learned thought the years
C) As a result of a good homeostasis; the integration between the self and environment
D) As a result of a good amount of control between the person and the environment
E) As a result of being able to release stress by using defense mechanisms

Question 14

Who coined the term "Type A Behavior Pattern"?

A) Farley & Dunbar
B) Alexander & Zuckerman
C) Rosenman & Friedman
D) Menninger & Menninger
E) Glass & Seligman

Question 15

What would someone who has "learned helplessness" be likely to do?

A) Attack aggressively at the first sign that someone is trying to force him or her to become helpless
B) Remain in a bad situation even when there is an available way to escape it
C) Wait patiently in a bad situation until the right moment comes for escaping
D) Expect other people to take care of him or her
E) None of these

Question 16

Friedman & Booth-Kewley's meta-analysis on personality and various diseases found that

A) there is no evidence for a "disease prone" personality.
B) depression is related to arthritis, but not to other diseases.
C) anxiety is related to asthma and ulcers, but not heart disease.
D) depression is related to cancer, but not to other illnesses.
E) there seems to be a generic "disease prone" personality.

Question 17

Terman began his longitudinal study of bright children in the

A) 1960s.
B) 1980s.
C) 1940s.
D) 1920s.
E) 1990s.

Question 18

Using the Terman archives, Friedman and his colleagues found that __________ children tended to live longer, while __________ children tended to die earlier.

A) neurotic; conscientious
B) sociable; neurotic
C) cheerful; neurotic
D) conscientious; cheerful
E) cheerful; sociable

Question 19

The link between experiencing parental divorce as a child and subsequent mortality risk has been shown to be partially explained by the

A) decreased ability to sleep restfully in those who have experienced parental divorce.
B) increased rate of marital breakup in those who have experienced parental divorce.
C) increased level of openness in those who have experienced parental divorce.
D) increased cheerfulness in those who have experienced parental divorce.

Question 20

What is one reason it's sometimes tempting to "blame the victim" for his or her illness?

A) We don't like victims.
B) We crave an unpredictable world.
C) We don't want to take personal responsibility.
D) We desire a predictable world.

Question 21

Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of the healthy people in Maddi & Kobasa's (1984) study of stressed executives?

A) Excitement
B) Aggression
C) Commitment
D) Control

Question 22

Rotter's work on "locus of control" is well-known, but his which other topic did he also address extensively in his work?

A) Trust
B) Intelligence
C) Hypnotism
D) Acupuncture
E) Ingenuity

Question 23

Which of the following individuals best portrays a self-healing personality?

A) Pamela is constantly on the go, and she loves her work and never seems to get tired.
B) Ian is kind of boorish, but nobody will ever take advantage of him, because he is constantly on the offensive and has no anxiety.
C) Brent is quiet and shy. He doesn't seem to "match" with his siblings, who are all very outgoing, and in the past, this has made him feel badly about himself, so he now tries very hard to be outgoing and gain more friends.
D) Alicia is constantly on the go, and she always wants to win out over her peers.
E) Petra worries about everything, but she is able to put it out of her mind and walk around with a smile on her face.

Question 24

Individuals with a borderline personality disorder

A) are self-destructive.
B) struggle to avoid abandonment.
C) may attempt suicide.
D) have fragile relationships.
E) have all of these.

Question 25

The broaden-and-build model proposes that

A) there is a biological basis of resiliency.
B) it is important to have an open mind when beginning a romantic relationship.
C) in order to love another person, you must first build a friendship.
D) negative life experiences provide an opportunity for growth.
E) positive emotions can broaden people's modes of thinking.

Question 26

A somatopsychic effect is when

A) the mind affects the body.
B) the body affects the mind.
C) physiological deterioration in a person's health is clear by their physical appearance.
D) a psychological explanation for sickness is found.
E) a connection between the body and the mind cannot be determined.

Question 27

Research suggests that stress

A) is only unhealthy for "Type A" individuals.
B) very rarely occurs in most people's lives.
C) is psychologically disturbing but has no impact on health.
D) can contribute to triggering a heart attack.
E) does not affect health very much.

Question 28

If you consider Julia to be immoral, and therefore deserving of the disease she just got, you may be

A) blaming supernatural forces.
B) an proponent of retribution theory.
C) a proponent of germ theory.
D) choleric
E) blaming the victim.

Question 29

Mechanisms linking personality and health include all of the following EXCEPT

A) contracting contagious diseases due to difficult personalities.
B) underlying third variables that affect both personality and health.
C) personal responses to disease.
D) unhealthy habits and behaviors.
E) personality directly affecting physiology.

Question 30

A person who is hasty, impatient, and hyperalert is most likely

A) Type A.
B) Type B.
C) Type C.
D) Type T.
E) neurotic.

Question 31

Recent research suggests that hard work

A) predisposes one to cancer.
B) does not predispose one to heart disease.
C) predisposes one to asthma.
D) characterizes the Type B personality.
E) predisposes one to heart disease.

Question 32

A person with a(n) __________ feels that whatever happens to them is under their own control.

A) internal locus of control
B) healthy mental state
C) external locus of control
D) sense of spirituality
E) sense of over-control

Question 33

Self-healing people

A) are all focused on being relaxed.
B) are all focused on seeking a stimulating environment.
C) may be one of two types, those who focus on maintaining a stimulating environment or those who are more calm.
D) are all focused on achieving success.
E) may be one of three types, those who focus on maintaining a stimulating environment, those who are more calm, or those focused on achieving success.

Question 34

The salutogenesis theory of Aaron Antonovsky claims that

A) a sense of childlike security is key to good health.
B) life changes are more important to health than is personality.
C) the key to good health is really laid out in the Good Book.
D) a sense of coherence is a key to good health.
E) hassles are good for keeping you on your toes.

Question 35

The self-healing personality is most characterized by

A) enthusiasm.
B) rigid routines.
C) exhibitionism.
D) aggressiveness.
E) argumentation.

Question 36

The term "psychosomatic" can best be explained to mean what?

A) The mind affects the body.
B) The body affects the mind.
C) The mind controls the well-being of the body.
D) The body controls the well-being of the mind.
E) The body and the mind are inexplicably connected.

Question 37

Type-T theory suggests what motive is responsible for differing levels of sensation seeking?

A) Conditioned responses to environmental strains
B) Unconscious conflicts
C) Psychobiological motives
D) Psychosexual motives
E) An inability to become self-actualized

Question 38

The sick role arises from

A) biological physical responses that affect productivity.
B) a set of societal expectations.
C) physical laws that define physiological processes.
D) hormone imbalances in men and women.
E) giving birth.

Question 39

People with borderline-personality disorder

A) encompass two polar opposite personalities.
B) have little to no personality.
C) conform to societal rules and laws to an unhealthy extreme.
D) usually grew up in stable nurturing environments.
E) are self-destructive, impulsive, and have fragile identity.

Question 40

Mary's mother died of breast cancer at a young age. Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36, a year after she got divorced and was forced to sell her house and move to a lower income area. Which of the following models is the most likely explanation of why Mary got cancer?

A) Psychosomatic Model
B) Somatopsychic Model
C) Diathesis-Stress Model
D) Repression-Reaction Model
E) Germ Theory of Disease Model

Question 41

Which of the following personality profiles is correlated with increased risk of heart problems?

A) Hard worker, active, enjoys challenges
B) Excessively hard worker, confrontational, competitive, and driven
C) Relaxed, non-confrontational, placid
D) Serious, studious, conscientious
E) Warm, outgoing, friendly

Question 42

What is one strength of the technique of meta-analysis?

A) The results are conclusive beyond reasonable doubt.
B) The method allows for manipulation of more than one IV.
C) The method allows for results from multiple studies to be combined.
D) The results always show "causation" as opposed to "correlation."
E) The method allows for more control over extraneous variables than other methods.

Question 43

What does the term "Human Termites" refer to?

A) People who experience early death due to poverty
B) People with stable, resilient personalities
C) People who have unstable, weak personalities
D) People who were involved in a longitudinal study started by Lewis Terman
E) People who live in substandard living facilities

Question 44

How might "blaming the victim" relieve stress?

A) By allowing a person to believe that he or she is different from the sick person, and thus not likely to get sick
B) By helping a person to understand how people get sick, allowing him or her to avoid disease in the future
C) By providing the positive feelings that come from criticizing someone
D) By affirming a person's belief in the randomness of life
E) By increasing self-actualization

Question 45

How is control correlated with health?

A) The less control a person has in life, the less health afflictions arise.
B) The more control a person has in life, the more health afflictions arise.
C) The less control a person has, the more control they have over future health afflictions.
D) The more control a person has in life, the less health afflictions arise.
E) The more control a person has in life the more stressed the person is, thus leading to a higher chance of heart problems.

Question 46

How would the psychoanalytic approach to personality explain poor health?

A) As a biological function of the body not related to personality
B) As a function of unconscious and/or repressed conflicts showing themselves in medical symptoms
C) As a result of bad habits picked up through modeling
D) As a result of conditioning
E) As a result of inadequate medical care as a child

Question 47

There is now strong evidence that people who are __________ and competitive are more likely to suffer heart disease than are more easygoing people.

Question 48

The idea that the mind affects the body is called __________ medicine.

Question 49

The __________ is a scale developed to measure an individual's level of susceptibility to excitement or boredom.

Question 50

The theory that suggests a psychobiological need for stimulation due to an internal arousal deficit is called Type __________.

Question 51

The __________ role comprises the set of societal expectations about how you should behave when you are not healthy.

Question 52

The notion that disease or predispositions to illness affects personality is called a __________.

Question 53

The __________ suggests that although a predisposition to illness exists because of genetics or upbringing, the illness itself will not appear unless or until it is elicited by the environment.

Question 54

People with a(n) __________ behavior pattern are tense and competitive, and may be susceptible to coronary heart disease.

Question 55

The reason many people with a(n) __________ personality remain healthy is because of their __________ to something they feel is important.

Question 56

According to the idea of __________, the world must not necessarily be controlled or ordered for healthy individual, but the individual must have a sense of coherence.

Question 57

A sense of __________ is a person's confidence that the world is understandable, manageable, and meaningful.

Question 58

__________ is the predisposition (often hereditary) of the body to a disease or disorder.

Question 59

List three diseases that research suggests are influenced by personality factors. What specific factors are associated with these diseases?

Question 60

Some studies have shown that hostility is a risk factor for heart disease and that depression is a risk factor for cancer. Why is it that we cannot say that depression causes cancer or that hostility causes heart disease?

Question 61

What does it mean to say that a risk factor is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause for disease?

Question 62

What are the potential ramifications (both positive and negative) of linking physical health to behavioral factors? What about linking physical health to personality traits?

Question 63

Briefly describe the two broad types of self-healing personalities. What does it mean to say that the personality-environment match is of paramount importance?

Question 64

How do behaviors provide a link between personality and health? What is one other link, as discussed in the textbook?

Question 65

Discuss at least two findings from the "Terman's Termites" study. What do these studies tell us about the role of personality in longevity?