Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Coping519Problem-Focused Coping People rely ondifferent coping strategies at differenttimes in dealing with the same stressor. Afterdealing with the emotional impact oflosing their homes to a hurricane, theseFlorida neighbors engaged in problemfocusedcoping as they help clear the sitebefore rebuilding.Psychologists Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman (1984) described two basictypes of coping, each of which serves a different purpose. Problem-focusedcoping is aimed at managing or changing a threatening or harmful stressor.Problem-focused coping strategies tend to be most effective when you can exercisesome control over the stressful situation or circumstances (Park & others,2004). But if you think that nothing can be done to alter a situation, you tend torely on emotion-focused coping: You direct your efforts toward relieving orregulating the emotional impact of the stressful situation. Although emotionfocusedcoping doesn’t change the problem, it can help you feel better about thesituation. People are flexible in the coping styles they adopt, often relying on differentcoping strategies for different stressors (Park & others, 2004).Although it’s virtually inevitable that you’ll encounter stressful circumstances,there are coping strategies that can help you minimize their health effects. We suggestseveral techniques in the Enhancing Well-Being with Psychology section at theend of the chapter.Problem-Focused Coping StrategiesChanging the StressorProblem-focused coping strategies represent actions that have the goal of changingor eliminating the stressor. When people use aggressive or risky efforts to changethe situation, they are engaging in confrontive coping. Ideally, confrontive coping isdirect and assertive without being hostile. When it is hostile or aggressive, confrontivecoping may well generate negative emotions in the people being confronted,damaging future relations with them (Folkman & Lazarus, 1991).In contrast, planful problem solving involves efforts to rationally analyze thesituation, identify potential solutions, and then implement them. In effect, youtake the attitude that the stressor represents a problem to be solved. Once youassume that mental stance, you follow the basic steps of problem solving (seeChapter 7).Emotion-Focused Coping StrategiesChanging Your Reaction to the StressorWhen the stressor is one over which we can exert little or no control, we oftenfocus on dimensions of the situation that we can control—the emotional impactof the stressor on us (Thompson & others, 1994). All the different forms ofemotion-focused coping share the goal of reducing or regulating the emotionalimpact of a stressor.copingBehavioral and cognitive responses used todeal with stressors; involves our efforts tochange circumstances, or our interpretationof circumstances, to make them morefavorable and less threatening.problem-focused copingCoping efforts primarily aimed at directlychanging or managing a threatening orharmful stressor.emotion-focused copingCoping efforts primarily aimed at relievingor regulating the emotional impact of astressful situation.