{"id":118133,"date":"2022-04-20T13:16:38","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T07:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=118133"},"modified":"2022-04-20T13:16:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T07:46:38","slug":"chapter-3-human-strengths-and-meeting-life-challenges-questions-and-answers-ncert-solutions-for-class-12-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/education\/chapter-3-human-strengths-and-meeting-life-challenges-questions-and-answers-ncert-solutions-for-class-12-psychology","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 3 – Human Strengths And Meeting Life Challenges Questions and Answers: NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"

1.Explain the concept of stress. Give examples from daily life.<\/h2>\n

Ans. The pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person\u2019s ability to cope. Origin in the Latin word \u2018strictus\u2019, meaning tight\/narrow and \u2018stringere\u2019 (to tighten). Stress may get manifested in two forms :
\n(a)Eustress :\u00a0The level qf stress that is good for you and is one of a person\u2019s best assets for achieving peak performance and managing minor crises. This is positive, healthy and inspiring.
\n(b)Distress:\u00a0Manifestation of stress that causes our body\u2019s wear and tear. It is negative, unhealthy and demotivating.
\nStressors:\u00a0Events that cause our body to give the stress response. Whatever causes stress is known as stressor.
\nStrain:\u00a0Reaction to external stressors is known as strain.Hans Selye (Father of modem stress research) defined stress as a non-specific response of the body to any demands.
\nBasic Features of Stress:
\n1.Different stressors may produce different patterns of stress reaction.
\n2.Stress is embedded in the ongoing process that involves individuals interacting \u2019 with their social and cultural environment. Stress is a dynamic mental\/cognitive state. It is a disruption in homeostasis\/imbalance that gives rise to resolution of the imbalance\/restoration of homeostasis.
\nPerception of stress is dependent on an individual\u2019s cognitive appraisal of events and the resources available to deal with them.<\/h3>\n

2.State the symptoms and\u2019sources of stress.<\/h2>\n

Ans. \u2022 Everyone has higher own pattern of stress response. So the warning signs may vary, as may their intensity.
\n\u2022Some of us know our pattern of stress response and can understand the depth of the \u2022 problem by the nature and severity of our own symptoms or changes in behaviour.
\n\u2022These symptoms of stress can be physical, emotional and behavioural.
\nA wide range of events and conditions can generate stress; among the most important of these are major stressful life events such as death of a loved one or personal injury, the annoying frequent hassles of everyday life and traumatic events that affect our lives.
\n(i)Recent Life Events:
\n\u2022 Changes, both big and small, sudden and gradual affect our life from the moment we are born.
\n\u2022We learn to cope with small, everyday changes but major life events can be stressful because they disturb our routine and cause trouble.
\n\u2022 If several of these life events that are planned (e.g., moving into a new house) or unpredicted (e.g., break-up of a long-term relationship) occur within a short period of timer we find it difficult to cope with them and will be more prone to the symptoms of stress.
\n(ii)Daily Hassles: There are daily hassles from which we have to cope like noisy surroundings, quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and water shortage, traffic jams,and so on.
\nThe more stressed people report as a result of daily hassles, the poorer is\u201d the | psychological well-being.
\n(iii)Traumatic Events:
\n\u2022These include being involved in a variety of extreme events such as fire, train or road accident, robbery, earthquake, tsunami, etc.
\n\u2022 The effects of these events may occur after some lapse of time and sometimes persist as symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreams and intrusive thoughts etc.
\n\u2022Severe trauma can also strain relationships.<\/h3>\n

3. Describe the GAS model and illustrate the relevance of this model with the help of an example.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Hans Selye\u2019s GAS Model explains the influence of stress on the body.
\n\u2022 From his studies, he found that there was a similar pattern of bodily responses in
\nanimals to a variety of stressors.
\n\u2022 According to Hans Selye, stress refer to non-specific bodily reactions. He believed that stresses may be many but responses are only physiological reactions. Selye is known as \u2018father of modern stress researches\u2019. He did many experiments on animals in extreme climatic conditions as well as he observed chronic patients and concluded that reaction of stress is the same.
\n\u2022On the basis of his experimental conclusions, he gave a pattern of stress reactions . He called this pattern the General Adaptation Syndrome\u00a0and it involves three stages:
\n1.Alarm Reaction: The presence of a harmful stimulus or stressor leads to activation of the adrenal-pituitary-cortex system.
\nThis triggers the release of hormones which produces the stress response and prepares the individual for fight or flight.
\n2.Resistance: If stress is prolonged, the parasympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious use of the body\u2019s resources.
\nDuring this stage, an individual makes an effort to cope with the threat.
\n3.Exhaustion: Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its resources and leads to burn out.
\nThe physiological systems involved in the first two stages become ineffective and susceptibility to stress-related diseases like high blood-pressure increases.
\nThis model is widely criticized because it focuses only on physiological aspects of stress and ignores the psychological dimension of stress.<\/h3>\n

4. Enumerate the different ways of coping with stress.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Coping is a dynamic, situation-specific reaction to stress. It is a set of concrete responses to stressful situations that are intended to resolve the problem and reduces stress. Endler and Parker gave following Coping Strategies:
\n1.Task-oriented Strategy:
\n\u2022It is goal management through confrontation with the problem.
\n\u2022This involves obtaining information about the stressful situation and making best use of resources available.
\n\u2022It also involves prioritising and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation.
\n\u2022Mostly it is used by optimists.
\nTask-oriented strategies are particularly effective when the resources in the environment are within the control of the individual.
\nIt is cognitive response to stress.
\n2.Emotion-Hyper oriented Strategy:
\n\u2022It is emotion management.
\n\u2022This strategy involve efforts to maintain hope and to control one\u2019s emotions. Individual works on his emotions rather than situations and goals.
\n\u2022This mainly happens when the stressful event is such that it can not be manipulated in any way eg. loss of spouse or a family member.
\n\u2022The individual deals with his emotions of anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness etc. and tries to gain hope and happiness again in his life.
\n\u2022It can also involve venting feelings of anger and frustration or deciding that nothing can be done to change things.
\n\u2022Emotion oriented strategies are particularly effective when the resources in the environment are beyond the controlled of the individual.
\nAvoidance-Hyper oriented strategy
\n\u2022It is avoiding stressful event by indulging in different activities. Individual does not want to accept that he is facing such a stressful situation.
\n\u2022This involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation.
\n\u2022It also involves conscious suppression of stressful thoughts and their replacement by self protective thoughts.
\n\u2022Watching T.V., attending parties or going to sleep are example of this type of coping.
\n\u2022It is basically escapism by using defense mechanisms.
\nAccording to Lazarus and Folkman, coping responses can be divided into two types of responses:
\n(a)Problem-Focused:
\n\u2022It includes taking direct action to solve the problem.
\n\u2022It is seeking information that will be relevant to the solution for, e.g., developing a study schedule to cope up with the semester demands, and thereby reduce examination pressure.
\n\u2022It is basically confronting with the problem using all the available resources.
\n(b)Emotion-Focused: It refers to reduction of the negative emotional reaction to stress, e.g., by distracting oneself from the problem, relaxing or seeking comfort from others.<\/h3>\n

5.Explain Behavioural effects of stress.
\nExplain the effect of stress on psychological functioning.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Physiological Effects: When the human body is placed under physical or psychological stress, it increases the production of certain hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. It causes:
\n\u2022Changes in heart-rate, blood-pressure levels, metabolism and physical activity.
\n\u2022Slowing down of digestive system.
\n\u2022Constriction of blood vessels.
\nCognitive Effects: High levels of stress can lead to:
\n\u2022Mental overload.
\n\u2022Impairment in the ability to make sound decision.
\n\u2022Poor concentration.
\n\u2022Reduced short term memory.
\nEmotional Effects: Those who suffer from stress are more likely to experience:
\n\u2022Mood swings.
\n\u2022Erratic behaviour.
\n\u2022Maladjustment with family and friends.
\n\u2022Feeling of anxiety and depression.
\n\u2022Increased physical and psychological tension.
\n\u2022Intolerance.
\n\u2022Impatience.
\nBehavioural Effects: Stress affects our behaviour in the form of:
\n\u2022Eating less nutritional food.
\n\u2022Increasing intake of stimulants such as caffeine or excessive consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.
\n\u2022Disrupted sleep pattern.
\n\u2022Reduced work performance.<\/h3>\n

6. Describe how life skills can help meet life\u2019s challenges.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enables individual to deal effectively with stressful situations.
\nFew such skills are as follows:
\n(i)Assertiveness:
\n\u2022It helps to communicate, clearly and confidently, our feelings, needs, wants and thoughts.
\n\u2022It is ability of an individual to say \u2018no\u2019 to a request which is against his wishes.
\n\u2022If one is assertive then he or she feels confident high self-esteem and maintains his\/her identity. \u2018
\n(ii)Time Management:
\n\u2022Learning time management determines quality of life.
\n\u2022It is setting the priorities, goals and values in life.
\nEach day making list of things one wants to accomplish:
\n\u2022Arranging work schedule.
\n\u2022Changing perception of time.
\n\u2022Setting aside time in schedule for exercise and leisure activities
\n\u2022Learning to plan time.
\n(iii)Rational Thinking:
\n\u2022It is challenging the distorted thinking and irrational beliefs.
\n\u2022Deriving the anxiety provoking thoughts.
\n\u2022Making positive statements.
\n\u2022It is learning to ignore negative thoughts and images.
\n(iv) Improving Relationship: It consists following essential skills: ,
\n(a) Listening to what the other person is saying.
\n(b) Expressing what one feels and thinks.
\n(c)Accepting the other person\u2019s opinions and feelings, even if they are different from your own.
\n(d) Avoiding jealously and sulking behaviour.
\n(v) Self-care: Healthy mind in healthy body.
\n\u2022Learning right pattern of breathing i.e., relaxed, slow, stomach-centered breathing from diaphragm.
\n\u2022Avoiding environmental stress like pollutions, because it affects our mood.
\n(vi)Overcoming Unhelpful Habits: Perfectionism, avoidance, procrastination and our strategies which provides short-term gain but makes the individual vulnerable to stress.
\nPerfectionists want to get everything just as they want which is not always possible. Avoidance is ignoring the issue and refusal to face it or accept it.
\nProcrastination means putting off what we know we need to do, i.e., postponing the things like \u2018I will do it later\u2019 just to avoid confrontation due to the fear of failure.<\/h3>\n

7. Describe briefly four factors which facilitate development of positive health.
\nOr
\nDiscuss the factors that lead to positive health and well-being.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Factors facilitating positive health and well-being are:
\n1.Diet: Diet can affect health independently or may enhance or modify the effects of stress in combination with other factors:
\n(a) How much nutrition one needs depends on one\u2019s activity level, genetic structure,climate and health history. In fact, there is no one diet, which is ideal for everyone, in all situations.
\n(b) Stress is supposed to affect diet and weight in many wrays. People, who are under stress or in a negative moods are often seen eating more. They seek \u2018comfort foods\u2019 or foods that make them feel better.
\n(c)Stress may increase consumption of less healthy foods. Such people gain weight and loose stamina to fight stress.
\n(d)Obesity and weight gain is a problem for a section of the society. A much larger section of the society, which is below the poverty line, suffer from malnutrition.
\n(e)In the condition of poverty, women are the one who are most malnourished. Studies have shown that in India diets of female children and women are inadequate due to discriminatory practices.
\n2. Exercise:
\n\u2022Exercise is directly related to promoting positive health.
\n\u2022Two kinds of physical exercises essential for good health are \u2018stretching exercises\u2019 such as yogic asanas and \u2018aerobic exercises\u2019 such as jogging, swimming and cycling.
\n\u2022Stretching exercises have a calming effect.
\n\u2022Aerobic exercises increase the arousal level of the body.
\n\u2022Yogic asanas provide systematic stretching to all the muscles and joints of the body and massages the glands and other body organs.
\n\u2022Regular exercise reduces stress because it improves efficiency of vital body organs and improves immune system.
\n\u2022Positive health and well-being come through a positive attitude of the mind.
\n\u2022Positive health is the state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well\u00acbeing. It is not merely the absence of disease.
\n\u2022Positive health comprises high quality of personal relationships, a sense of purpose in life, self regard, mastery of life skills and resilience to stress, trauma and change.
\n3.Positive Attitude:
\nPositive health and well-being can be realized by:
\n\u2022Perceiving the reality fairly accurately.
\n\u2022Tolerating and understanding different points of view.
\n\u2022Having a sense of purpose in life.
\n\u2022Having a sense of responsibility, accepting blame for failures and taking credit for success.
\n\u2022Being open to new ideas, activities, or ways of doing things.
\n\u2022Having a good sense of humour, to be able to laugh at oneself and absurdities of life helps to see things in their proper perspective.
\n4.Positive Thinking:
\n\u2022Positive thinking leads to a belief that adversity can be handled successfully whereas negative thinking and pessimism anticipate disaster.
\n\u2022Optimism, which is the inclination to expect favourable life outcomes is directly linked to psychological and physical well-being.
\n\u2022Optimists use more problem-focused coping and seek advice and help from others. This optimism function helps the individual to cope up stress effectively.<\/h3>\n

8.How does stress affect the immune system?<\/h2>\n

Ans. Stress can cause illness by impairing the workings of the immune system. The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside.
\nThe white blood cells (leucocytes) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign bodies (antigens) such as viruses. It also leads to the production of antibodies. There are several kinds of white blood cells or leucocytes within the immune system, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. T cells destroy invaders, and T-helper cells increase immunological activity. It is these T-helper cells that are attacked by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV), the virus causing Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). B cells produce antibodies. Natural killer cells are involved in the fight against both viruses and tumours.<\/h3>\n

9. Give an example of a life event which is likely to be stressful. Suggest reasons why it is likely to cause different degrees of stress to the person experiencing it.<\/h2>\n

Ans. \u2022 Loosing a long-term job is a life event which is likely to be a cause of stress to an individual.
\n\u2022A person\u2019s response to stress largely depends on how the events are appraised or interpreted.
\n\u2022This was explained by Lazorus in his Cognitive theory of stress.
\n\u2022According to this theory, stress depends on his primary or secondary appraisal. A new or changing event is positive, negative or neutral.
\n\u2022A negative event, such as loosing a long-term job, can be appraisal for its harm, instead a challenge.
\n\u2022If it is appraised as a threat, which may result in future damage, it will result in high levels of stress.
\n\u2022If it appraised as a challenge, then the individual, who lost the job, will have more confident expectations of the ability to cope with the stressful event, overcome it.
\n\u2022If appraised as a harm, assessment of the damage, which has already been caused by the event, will result in high stress.
\n\u2022Through secondary apptaisal, one\u2019s coping abilities and resources are analysed as to whether they are sufficient in meeting the harm, threat or challenge.<\/h3>\n

10. Given what you know about coping strategies, what suggestions would you give to your friends to avoid stress in their everyday fives?<\/h2>\n

Ans. High school students these days avoid extremely stressful fives, with increasing completion, expectations and demands. Therefore, I would suggest \u2018task-oriented strategy\u2019 as explained by Endler and Parker, to be an effective means in coping with stress.
\nTask-oriented coping involves:
\n1.Obtaining information about a stressful situation.
\n2.Deciding our priorities.
\n3.Dealing directly with the stressful situation.
\nSuch an approach helps during exams and project deadlines.
\nI would also suggest the adoption of positive attitude and thinking which promotes health and well-being.
\nA positive attitude where the individual has a fairly accurate perception of reality; ability to take credit for success and blame for failure; acceptance and tolerance for other\u2019s view points.
\nPositive thinking interns of being optimistic. Optimism points towards the inclination to expect favourable life outcomes. An optimist will always use problem-focused coping and try and find the source of stress. Relaxation Techniques, Exercise, Balanced Diet all contribute significantly to stress reduction.<\/h3>\n

11. Reflect on the environmental factors that have (a)a positive impact on the being and (b) a negative effect.<\/h2>\n

Ans. Until recently, catastrophic events were not studied systematically, because of their infrequent and unpredictable occurrence. However, because the survivors of these devastating events often experience the severe psychological aftermath termed \u2018post-
\ntraumatic stress disorder\u2019.
\nWhether large-scale natural disasters produce lasting psychological effects, however, remains a source of controversy. Some research shows evidence of long-term psychological effects, whereas other studies show that the psychological impact of natural disasters is minimal.
\nIn certain respects, the psychological trauma that results from human-produced disasters can be more dramatic and long term in its scope than natural disasters. Several factors seem to contribute to this phenomenon. One important factor seems to be control. Human-produced disasters are usually the result of human error; but we expect that adequate precautions will be taken to prevent human error. Thus, when disaster strikes, our expectations are violated, leading to a loss of control. In contrast, we do not expect to have control over hurricanes, earthquakes, or other types of natural disasters and accept them as fate.
\nA second factor has to do with the consequences associated with each type of disaster.
\nNatural disasters, while large in scope, tend to be clearly marked and limited in time. In contrast, human-produced disasters\u2014such as the contamination of ground water with toxic chemicals\u2014can, potentially exert their effects for many years. For example, exposure to toxic chemicals can increase people\u2019s risk of developing cancer or produce genetic damage. Moreover, the psychological trauma combined with the uncertainty regarding when or if these consequences will appear can produce chronic stress-related problems.<\/h3>\n

12. We know that certain life-style factors can cause stress and may lead to diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease, yet we are unable to change our behaviour. Explain 1 why?<\/h2>\n

Ans. Life-style is the overall pattern of decisions and behaviours that determine a person\u2019s health and quality of life. An individual, when stressed, is more likely to expose himself\/herself to pathogens\u2014agents causing physical illness.
\nStressed individuals have poor nutritional habits, disturbed sleeping patterns, tendency to engage in health-risking behaviours such as intake of stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs like tranquil lies such health impairing behaviours develop gradually and provide pleasant experiences temporarily, but have detrimental long-term consequences.
\nAs they are addictive, and pleasurable, individuals using these psychoactive substances are unable to give them up.
\n\u2022Such type of life-style ultimately cause serious health hazards like cancer, diabetes and coronary heart diseases.
\n\u2022Knowing that faulty lifystyle causes various physical and psychological hazards.Still people continue, because the consequences and side effects are not likely to occur immediately. Their effects get manifested after several years. So people ignore them. Because they are aware with the side effects. They develop anxiety because of inconsistency in their attitude and behaviour but because this lifestyle becomes a part of their habit pattern. So they find it very difficult to change and continue such hazardous lifestyle and ultimately it causes a stage of burn out.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Class 12 Psychology NCERT book solutions for Chapter 3 – Human Strengths And Meeting Life Challenges Questions and Answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21830,"featured_media":118123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-118133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118135,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133\/revisions\/118135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}