Chapter II

HUMAN BEBAVIOR AND COPING/DEFENSE MECHANICS

LESSON 1: Emotion

Emotion refers to feelings affective response as a result of physiological arousal,

thoughts and beliefs, subjective evaluation and bodily expression. It is a state characterized by
facial expressions, gestures posture and subjective feelings.
Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The
English word emotion is deprived form the French word émouvoir. This is based on the Lating
emovere, where e – (variant of ex -) means ‘out’ and movere means move. This related term
motivation is also derived from movere.

Theories of Emotion

1. James-Lange Theory
James-Lange theory states that emotion results from physiological states
triggered by stimuli in the environment: emotion occurs after physiological reactions.
This theory and its derivatives states that a changed situation leads to a changed bodily
state. James further claims that “we feel sad because we cry, angry because we strike,
nor tremble because we are sorry, angry or fearful, as the case may be.
2. Cannon-Bard Theory
This suggests that people feel emotions first and then act upon them. This is a
theory that emotion and physiological reactions occur simultaneously. These actions
include changes in muscular tension, perspiration, etc. The theory was formulated
following the introduction of the James-Lange theory of Emotion is in the late 1800’s
which alternately suggest that emotion is the result of one’s perception of their reaction,
or “bodily change.”
3. Two Factor Theory
This theory was provided by Schachter & Singer, in which they posited that
emotion is the cognitive interpretation of a physiological response. For many, this
remains the best formulation of emotion. Most people consider this to be the “common
sense” theory to explain physiological changes: their physiology changes as a result of
their emotion.

Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is the area of cognitive ability that facilitates interpersonal
behavior. Emotional Intelligence is the capacity to understand and manage emotion; however,
the content and boundaries of this construct remains unsettled.
5 Component of Emotional Intelligence

1. Self-awareness – a person has a healthy sense of emotional intelligence self-

awareness if they understand their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as how their
actions affect others. A person with emotional self-awareness is usually receptive to and
able to learn from, constructive criticism more than one who doesn’t have emotional self-
awareness.
2. Self-regulation - a person with a high emotional intelligence has the ability to exercise
restraint and control when expressing their emotions.
3. Motivation people with high emotional intelligence are self-motivated, resilient, and
driven by an inner ambition rather than being influenced by outside forces such as
money or prestige.
4. Empathy – an empathetic person has compassion and is able to connect with other
people on an emotional level helping them respond genuinely to other people’s
concerns.
5. Social Skills – people who are emotionally intelligent are able to build trust with people,
and are able to quick gain respect from the people they meet.

LESSON 2: Conflict

Conflict is a stressful condition that occurs when a person must choose between
incompatible or contradictory alternatives. It is a negative emotional state caused by an inability
to choose between two or more incompatible goals or impulse. Conflict is the state in which two
or more motives cannot be satisfied because they interfere with one another.

Types of Conflict
1. Psychological Conflict (Internal Conflict)
Psychological conflict could be going on inside the person and no one would
know.

2. Social Conflict
The different kinds of social conflict are:
a. Interpersonal Conflict
b. Two individuals me against you;
c. Inter-group Struggles – us against them, them against me;
d. Intra-group Conflict – members of group all against each other on a task.

3. Approach-avoidance Conflict
Conflict can described as having features of approach-avoidance: approach-
approach, avoidance-avoidance, and approach-avoidance. Approach speaks to things
that we want while Avoidance refers to things that we do not want.
Kinds of Approach-Avoidance
a. Approach-approach Conflict – the individual must choose between two positive goals
of approximately equal value. In this, two pleasing things are wanted but only one option
should be chosen.
b. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict – this conflict involves obvious sources of stress. The
individual must choose between two or more negative outcomes.
c. Approach-Avoidance Conflict – this conflict exist when there is an attractive and
unattractive part to both sides. It arises when obtaining a positive goal necessitates a
negative outcome as well.
d. Multiple Approach-Avoidance Conflict – this refers to conflict with complex
combinations of approach and avoidance conflict. It requires individual to choose
between alternatives that contain both positive and negative consequences.

Functional vs Dysfunctional Conflict

a. Dysfunctional Conflict – there is dysfunctional conflict if conflict disrupts, hinders job
performance, and upsets personal psychological functioning.
b. Functional Conflict – there is functional conflict if conflict is responsive and innovative
aiding in creativity and viability.

Crime and Conflict

Criminal behavior as an indicator of conflict within the person, emphasizing either:

a. Failure to resolve tensions generated in the course of interaction between the organism
and human figures in its environment;
b. Tensions generated by person’s inability to satisfy the contradictory expectations of
others, or else to mobilize the resources needed to perform a role assigned to him.

LESSON 3: Depression

Depression is an illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless much of the time.
It is different from normal feelings of sadness, grief, or low energy. Anyone can have
depression. It often runs in families. But it can also happen to someone who doesn’t have a
family history of depression. You can have depression one time or many times.

Different Forms of Depression

1. Major Depressive Disorder – this is also called major depression. It is characterized by
a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person’s ability to work, sleep, study,
eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Major depression is disabling and prevents a
person frim functioning normally.
2. Dysthymic Disorder – also known as Dysthymia. The symptoms do not occur for more
than two months at a time. generally, this type of depression is described as having
persistent but less severe depressive symptoms than Major Depression. Manifested
 nearly constant depressed mood for at least 2 years accompanied by at least two or
more of the following:
a. Decrease or increase in eating.
b. Difficulty sleeping or increase in sleeping.
c. Low energy or fatigue
d. Low self-esteem
e. Difficulty concentrating or making decisions and
f. Feeling hopeless.
3. Psychotic Depression – this occurs when a severe depressive illness is accompanied
by some form of psychosis, such as a break with reality, hallucinations, and delusions.
4. Postpartum Depression – this is a major depressive episode that occurs after having a
baby. A new mother develops a major depressive episode within one month after
delivery. It is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of women experience postpartum
depression after giving birth. In rare cases, a woman may have a severe form of
depression called postpartum psychosis. She may act strangely, see or hear things
that aren’t there, and be a danger to herself and her baby.
5. Seasonal Affective Depression (SAD) – this is characterized by the onset of a
depressive illness during the winter months when there is less natural sunlight. The
depression generally lifts during spring and summer. SAD may be effectively treated with
light therapy, but nearly half of those with SAD do not respond to light therapy alone.
Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy can reduce SAD symptoms either alone
or in combination with light therapy.
6. Bipolar Disorder – this called manic-depressive illness is not as common as major
depression or dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cyclical mood changes
from extreme highs to extreme lows.
7. Endogenous Depression – endogenous means from within the body. This type of
depression is defined as feeling depressed for no apparent reason.
8. Situational Depression or Reactive Depression – this is also known as Adjustment
Disorder with Depressed Mood. Depressive symptoms develop in response to specific
stressful situation or event. Depression symptoms cause significant distress or impairs
usual functioning and do not meet the criteria for major depressive disorder.
9. Agitated Depression – this kind of major depressive disorder is characterized by
agitation such as physical and emotional restlessness, irritability and insomnia, which is
the opposite of many depressed individuals who have low energy and feel slowed down
physically and mentally inappropriate social behavior.

How to Battle Depression?

a. Socializing – eating out, movies, ballgames with family or friends.
b. Helping each other in need – volunteer work, feeding the homeless, etc.
c. Praying – works for all moods, especially depression.

LESSON 4: Stress
Stress refers to the consequences of the failure of an organism, human or animal – to
respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Stress is a
form of Middle English destresse, derived via Old French from the Latin stringere, to draw
tight. The term stress was first employed in a biological context by the endocrinologist Hans
Selye in the 1930s. Stress can thought of as any event that strains or exceeds an individual’s
ability to cope.

What is Stressor?
Stressor is anything (physical or psychological) that produces stress (negative or
positive). For example, getting a promotion is a positive event, but may also produce great deal
of stress with all the new responsibilities, work load, etc.

Two Types of Stress

1. Eustress (Positive) – eustress is a word consisting of two parts. The prefix derives from
the Greek eu meaning either well or good. When attached to the word stress, it literally
means good stress.
It is a stress that is healthy or gives one a feeling of fulfilment or other positive
feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential gains. A stress that enhances
function is considered eustress. Example of positive personal stressors includes:
a. Receiving a promotion or raise at work.
b. Starting a new job
c. Marriage
d. Buying a home
e. Having a child
f. Moving
g. Taking a vacation
h. Holiday seasons
i. Retiring and
j. Taking educational classes or learning a new hobby.
2. Distress (Negative) – distress is known as the negative stress. Persistent stress that is
not resolved thorough coping or adaptation, deemed distress, may lead to anxiety or
withdrawal (depression) behavior. Effects of distress are:
a. Ineffectiveness at task.
b. Self-defeating behavior
c. Transitional suicidal behavior
d. Anxiety and fear
e. Loss of interest and initiative
f. Poor decision – making
g. Dangerous action
h. Accidents, and
i. Apathy and cynicism

Three Stages of Stress

1. Alarm - alarm is the first stage. When the threat or stressor is identified or realized, the
body’s stress response is a state of alarm. During this stage adrenaline will be produced
in order to bring about fight-or-fight response.
 2. Resistance – resistance is the second stage. If the stressor persists, it becomes
necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to
try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up
indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted.
3. Exhaustion – exhaustion is the third and final stage in GAS model. At this point, all of
the body’s resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal
function.

Types and Categories of Stress

1. Acute Stress – is what most people identify as stress. It makes itself felt through
tension, headaches, emotional upsets, gastrointestinal disturbances, feelings of agitation
and pressure.
2. Episodic Stress – stress is more serious and can lead to migraines, hypertensions,
stroke, heart attack, anxiety, depression, and serious gastrointestinal distress.
3. Chronic Stress – is the most serious of all. It’s the stress that never ends. It grinds us
down until our resistance is gone. Serious systemic illness such as diabetes, decreased
immune-competence, perhaps cancer is its hallmark.
4. Traumatic Stress – is the result of massive acute stress, the effects of which can
reverberate through our systems for years. Posttraumatic stress disorder is treatable and
reversible and usually requires professional aid.

Types of Short Term Stress

1. Acute Time – acute time refers to limited stresses that come on suddenly and are over
relatively quickly. Situations like public speaking and doing math in your head fall into
this category.
2. Brief Naturalistic Stress – brief naturalistic stress is relatively short in duration. Think of
a classroom test or a final exam. These are stresses that rise out of other things and are
over quickly.

Types of Long Term Stress

1. Stressful Event Sequences – stressful event sequences stress is a single event that
starts from a chain of challenging situations. For example, losing a job or surviving a
natural disaster.
2. Chronic Stress – chronic stress lacks a clear end point. Often, they force people to
assume new roles or change their self-perception. Think of a refugee leaving their native
country or an injury leading to permanent disability. These life-changing events – you
rarely get to go back to way things were.
3. Distant Stress – distant stress may have been initiated in the past (like childhood abuse
or trauma resulting from combat experiences) but continue to affect the immune system.
Distant stressors have long-lasting effects on emotional and mental health.

LESSON 5: Frustration
Frustration is a negative emotional state that occurs when one is prevented from
reaching a goal. Frustration is an unpleasant state of tension and heightened sympathetic
activity, resulting from blocked goal. Frustration is associated with motivations since we won’t be
frustrated if we were not motivated to achieve the goal. Frustration may be external or
personal.

What is External Frustration?

External frustration is a distress caused by outwardly perceivable conditions that
impedes progress toward a goal.

What is Internal/Personal Frustration?

Personal frustration is a distress caused by the individual’s inner characteristic that
impedes progress towards a goal. The sources of frustration are follows;
1. Physical Obstacles such as drought, typhoons, flat tire, etc., that prevents a person
from doing his plans or fulfilling his wishes.
2. Social Circumstances such as obstacles through the restrictions imposed by other
people and customs and laws of social beings.
3. Personal Shortcomings such as handicapped by diseases, blindness, deafness or
paralysis.
4. Conflicts between Motives such as wanting to leave college for a year to try painting,
but also wanting to please one’s parents by remaining in school.

Common Responses to Frustration

1. Aggression – to refer to any response made with the internal harming some person or
objects. The intentional infliction may be a physical or psychological harm.
2. Displaced Aggression – it refers to the redirecting of aggression to a target other than
the actual source of one’s frustration.
3. Scapegoating – it refers to the act of blaming a person or group of people for conditions
not of their making.
4. Escape – it is the act of reducing discomfort by leaving frustrating situation or by
psychologically withdrawing from them such as apathy (pretending not to care) or illegal
drug use.

What is Frustration induced Criminality?

Frustration induced criminality is the idea that when our behavior is directed at a specific
goal and is blocked, arousal increases and the individual experiences a need to reduce it.
Individuals “who employ violence to reduce this frustration will, under extreme frustration,
become more vigorous that usual, possibly even resorting to murder and other violent actions”.

LESSON 6: Coping Mechanism vs Defense Mechanism

Coping Mechanisms are the sum total of ways in which people deal with minor to major
stress and trauma. Some of these processes are unconscious ones, other are learned behavior,
and still others are skills that individual consciously master in order to reduce stress or other
intense emotions like depression. Not all ways of coping are equally beneficial, and some can
actually be very detrimental.
Defense Mechanisms refer to an individual’s way of reacting to frustration. These are
unconscious psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality
and to maintain self-image. Healthy persons normally use different defense throughout life.
According to Freud, defense mechanisms are methods that ego used to avoid recognizing ideas
or emotions that may cause personal anxiety; it is unrealistic strategies used by the ego to
discharged tension.

The following is the list of Coping Mechanisms:

1. Acting Out – this means literally acting out the desires that are forbidden by the Super
Ego and yet desired by the ID. A person who is acting out desires may do it in spite of
his/her conscience or may do with relatively little thought. Thus, the act may be being
deliberately bad or may be thoughtless wrongdoing.

2. Aim Inhibition – sometimes we have desires and goals that we believe or realize that
we are unable to achieve. In aim inhibitions, we lower our sights, reducing our goal to
something that we believe is actually more possible or realistic.

3. Altruism – avoid your own pains by concentrating on the pains of others. Maybe you
can heal yourself and feel good by healing them and helping them to feel good.

4. Attack – ‘The best form of defense is attack’ is a common saying and is a common
saying and is also a common action, and when we feel threatened or attacked (even
psychologically), we will attack back. When a person feels stressed in some way, he/se
may lash out at whoever is in the way whether the other person is a real cause or not.
He/she may also attack inanimate objects.

5. Avoidance – in avoidance, we simply find ways of avoiding having to face

uncomfortable situations, things or activities. This discomfort, for example, may come
from unconscious sexual or aggressive impulses.

6. Compartmentalization – it is a ‘divide and conquer’ process for separating thoughts

that will conflict with one another. This may happen when there are different beliefs or
even when there are conflicting values.

7. Compensation – where a person has a weakness in one area, they may compensate
by accentuating or building strengths in another area. Thus, when they are faced with
their weakness, they can say ‘ah, but I am good at….’, and hence feel reasonably good
about the situation.
8. Conversion – conversion occurs where cognitive tensions manifest themselves in
physical symptoms. The symptoms may well be symbolic and dramatic and it often acts
as a communication about the situation. Extreme symptoms may include paralysis,
blindness, and deafness, becoming mute or having a seizure. Lesser symptoms include
tiredness, headaches and twitches.

9. Denial – denial is simply refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred. The
person affected simply acts as if nothing has happened, behaving in ways those other
may see as bizzare.

10. Displacement – it refers to the shifting of actions from a desired target to a substitute
target is not permitted or not available.

11. Dissociation – dissociation involves separating a set of thoughts or activities from the
main area of conscious mind, in order to avoid the conflict that this would cause. This
can also appear as taking an objective, third-person perspective, where you ‘go to the
balcony’ and look down on the situation in order to remove emotion from your
perspective (this is sometimes called dissociation of affect).

12. Emotionality – when we become stressed or tension is caused, a number of negative

emotions may start to build, including anger, frustration, fear, jealousy and so on. When
we display these emotions, it can affect others around us arousing similar or polar
feelings.

13. Fantasy or Day Dreaming – when we cannot achieve or do something that we want,
we channel the energy created by the desire into fantastic imaginings. Fantasy also
provides temporary relief from the general stresses of everyday living.

14. Fight-or-Fight Reaction – when we perceive a significant threat to us, then our bodies
get ready either for a fight to fight to the death or a desperate flight from certain defeat
by a clearly superior adversary. It also happens when a creative new idea makes us feel
uncertain about things of which we previously were sure.

15. Help-rejecting Complaining – a person become upset or otherwise elicits supporting

actions form other people. When helpful suggestions or other comfort is offered,
however, he/she reject this and return to his/he complaint.

16. Idealization – it is the over-estimation of the desirable qualities and underestimation of

the limitations of a desired thing. We also tend to idealize those things that we have
 chosen or acquired. The opposite of Idealization is Demonization, where something that
is not desired or disliked has its weak points exaggerates and its strong points played
down.

17. Identification – it occurs when a person changes apparent facets of his/her personality
such that he/she appears to be more like other people. This process may be to copy
specific people or it may be to change to an idealized prototype.

18. Intellectualization – this refers to a ‘flight into reason’, where the person avoids
uncomfortable emotions by focusing on facts and logic. The situation is treated as an
interesting problem that engages the person on a rational basis, whilst the emotional
aspects are completely ignored as being irrelevant.

19. Introjection – introjection occurs as a coping mechanism when we take on attributes of

other people who seem better able to cope with the situation than we do.

20. Passive Aggressive – a person who uses passive-aggressive method to cope with
stress does this by ‘attacking’ other through passive method. Passive aggression often
appears when a person is asked to do something which he/she wants to avoid for some
reason.

21. Post-traumatic Growth – an individual who has suffered a traumatic experience

somehow finds way to turn it into something good.

22. Projection – when a person has uncomfortable thoughts or feelings, he/she may project
these onto other people, assigning the thoughts or feelings that he/she need to repress
to a convenient alternative target. Projection may also happen to obliterate attributes of
other people with which we are uncomfortable.

23. Provocation or Free-floating – when a person feels stresses, his/her way to avoid
dealing with the real issues is to provoke other into some kind of reaction. The attention
can then be put on the other person and away the originator’s stress.

24. Reaction Formation – occurs when a person feels an argue to do or say something and
then actually does or says something that is effectively the opposite of what he/she
really wants. It also appears as defense against a feared social punishment.
25. Rationalization – when something happens that we find difficult to accept, then we will
make up a logical reasons why it has happened. We rationalize to ourselves. We also
find it very important to rationalize to other people, even those we do not know.

26. Regression – it involves taking the positions of a child in some problematic situation,
rather than acting in a more adult way. This is usually in response to stressful situations,
with greater levels of stress potentially leading to more overt regressive acts.

27. Repression – it involves placing uncomfortable thoughts in relatively inaccessible areas

of the subconscious mind. Thus, when things occur that we are unable to cope with now,
we push them away, either planning to deal with them at another time or hoping that
they will fade away on their own accord.

28. Self-harming – the person physically deliberately hurts himself/herself on some way or
otherwise puts themselves at high risk of harm.

29. Somatization – occurs where a psychological problems turns into physical and
subconscious symptoms. This can range from simple twitching to skin rashes, heart
problems and worse.

30. Sublimation – it is the transformation of unwanted impulses into something less

harmful. This can simply be a distracting release or may be a constructive and valuable
piece of work. Many sports and games are sublimations of aggressive argues, as we
sublimate the desire to fight into the ritualistic activities.

31. Suppression – this is where the person consciously and deliberately pushed down any
thought that leads to feelings of anxiety. Actions that take the person into anxiety-
creating situations may also be avoided.

32. Substitution – this takes something that leads to discomfort and replace it with
something that does not lead to discomfort.

33. Symbolization – it is a way of handling inner conflicts by turning them into distinct
symbols. Symbols are often physical items, although there may also be symbolic acts
and metaphoric ideas.

34. Trivializing – when we are faced with disappointment over something that is important
to us, we are faced with the problem of having our expectations and predictions dashed.
 We may even have told other people about it beforehand, making it doubly
embarrassing that we have not gained what we expected. One way that we trivialize is to
make something a joke, laughing it off.

35. Undoing – it refers to performance of an act to ‘undo’ a previous unacceptable act or

thought. Confession is a form of undoing, including that done is a church to a priest or
secret admission.

36. Positive Coping – there are a number of approaches that we can take to cope in a
positive way with problems, including:

a. Immediate Problem-solving: Seeking to fix the problem that is the immediate cause
of our difficulty.
b. Root-cause solving: Seeking to fix the underlying cause such that the problem will
never recur.
c. Benefit-finding: Looking for the foo things amongst the bad.
d. Spiritual Growth: Finding ways of turning the problem into a way to grow “spiritually”
or emotionally.