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avoidant (minimizing) coping style  The tendency to cope with threatening events by withdrawing, minimizing, or avoiding them; believed to be an effective short-term, though not an effective long-term, response to stress.
buffering hypothesis  The hypothesis that coping resources are useful primarily under conditions of high stress and not necessarily under conditions of low stress.
confrontative (vigilant) coping style  The tendency to cope with stressful events by tackling them directly and attempting to develop solutions; may ultimately be an especially effective method of coping, although it may produce accompanying distress.
coping  The process of trying to manage demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding one's resources.
coping outcomes  The beneficial effects that are thought to result from successful coping; these include reducing stress, adjusting more successfully to it, maintaining emotional equilibrium, having satisfying relationships with others, and maintaining a positive self-image.
coping style  An individual's preferred method of dealing with stressful situations.
direct effects hypothesis  The theory that coping resources, such as social support, have beneficial psychological and health effects under conditions of both high stress and low stress.
emotional support  Indications from other people that one is loved, valued, and cared for; believed to be an important aspect of social support during times of stress.
informational support  The provision of information to a person going through stress by friends, family, and other people in the individual's social network; believed to help reduce the distressing and health-compromising effects of stress.
invisible support  When one receives help from another, but is unaware of it; support that is most likely to benefit a person.
matching hypothesis  The hypothesis that social support is helpful to an individual to the extent that the kind of support offered satisfies the individual's specific needs.
negative affectivity  A personality variable marked by a pervasive negative mood, including anxiety, depression, and hostility; believed to be implicated in the experience of symptoms, the seeking of medical treatment, and possibly illness.
pessimistic explanatory style  A chronic tendency to explain negative events as due to internal, stable, and global qualities of the self and to attribute positive events to external, unstable, and nonglobal factors; believed to contribute to the likelihood of illness.
social support  Information from other people that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation.
stress carriers  Individuals who create stress for others without necessarily increasing their own level of stress.
stress inoculation  The process of identifying stressful events in one's life and learning skills for coping with them, so that when the events come up, one can put those coping skills into effect.
stress management  A program for dealing with stress in which people learn how they appraise stressful events, develop skills for coping with stress, and practice putting these skills into effect.
stress moderators  Internal and external resources and vulnerabilities that modify how stress is experienced and its effects.
tangible assistance  The provision of material support by one person to another, such as services, financial assistance, or goods.
time management  Skills for learning how to use one's time more effectively to accomplish one's goals.







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