Adjustment in Behavior

Coping with Frustration,

Conflict, and Stress
 Coping
 refers to the way in which we
respond to the situations,
including stimuli, threats, and
promises that we are frequently
faced with.
 Adaptation
 carries the connotation of
biological accommodation;
psychological processes are,
likewise, as fully adaptive as
biological ones.
 Adjustment
 a continuous process of
satisfying one’s needs, rather
than something fixed and static
The Nature of Frustration
and Conflict
Frustration – occurs when progress
toward a desired goal is blocked or
delayed.

Conflict – occurs when a person

experiences demands or desires that
are incompatible with each other
 Kinds of obstacle:
a. physical environment
b. social environment
c. Non-social factors
d. Personal limitations
 Frustration Tolerance

 ability to endure anxiety

(also known as anxiety tolerance)
without resorting to maladaptive
defense artifices varies from
person to person.
 major source of frustration is often
a CONFLICT between two opposing
motives.

When our needs or goals are not

compatible with environmental or
social requirements, we experience
CONFLICT.
 Types of Conflict
1. Approach-Approach or
Double Approach Conflict
2. Approach-Avoidance Conflict
3. Avoidance-Avoidance or
Double Avoidance Conflict
4. Double Approach-Avoidance
or Multiple Conflicts
 Values Conflicts
 Conformity
Caring vs. Non-involvement
Avoidance vs. Facing reality
Fearfulness vs. Positive action
Integrity vs. Self-advantage
Sexual desires vs. Restraints

 usually arise from the contradictory

demands imposed by the society.
 Unconscious Conflicts
 hidden
Person may not recognize the
conflict or may not know it’s
source.
Hard to resolve
Persons may fail to deal with
this.
 Stress
Some stress is necessary for normal
functioning. When life is peaceful
and quite for too long, people become
bored and seek excitement. But stress
that is too intense or prolonged can
have destructive physiological and
psychological effects.
“Our goal isn’t a
life without
stress”.
- Robert M. Sapolsky
 Two Kinds of Stress
a. Positive Stress called Eustress
b. Negative Stress called Distress
 3 Stages of General
Adaptation System
1. The Alarm reaction stage – e.g.,
in a state of shock
2. The stage of Resistance-
“adapts” to the stress
3. The stage of Exhaustion-
serious injury or even death may
occur.
 5 Major sources of Stress
1. Biological deprivation
2. Danger (real or imagined)
3. Threats to self-esteem
4. Overload
5. Crises and stress
 Coping
 is an active effort to eliminate
or to get rid of stress.
 Coping Strategies
1. Direct Action
2. Avoidance
3. Prediction
4. Use of defense mechanisms
3 main types of Defense
Mechanisms
I. Escape Reactions
II. Compromise Reactions and
Substitute activities
III. Aggressive Reactions
 Escape Reactions
 characterized by withdrawal
from the frustrating or anxiety-
producing situation.
Forms of Escape Reactions
Repression
Unconscious withdrawal of
certain painful thoughts or feelings
State of defensive “forgetfulness”
A retreat from reality
 Fantasy
Daydreaming several types:
a. Display
b. Saving
c. Grandeur
d. Homage
Regression- reverse of
progression

Apathy- opposite of active

aggression.
 Reaction Formation
To conceal a motive from
oneself by giving strong
expression to the opposite
motive.
 Denial
 Negative Fantasy
Refuse to admit the existence
of a reality too painful or
unpleasant to face.
Review : Forms of Escape Reactions
Repression –tend to forget
Fantasy- Daydreaming
Regression – reverse of progression
Apathy- opposite of active aggression
Reaction Formation- to conceal a motive
Denial- negative fantasy, refuse to admit
the reality
Compromise Reactions and
Substitute Activities
 to change the anxiety-arousing
situation in some way
Kinds of Compromise Reactions
and Substitute Activities
I. Rationalization
II. Identification
III. Sublimation
IV. Compensation and Atonement
 Rationalization
 self-esteem is maintained by
assigning plausible and
acceptable reasons to one’s own
failure. Alibis are used to
substitute for real cause.
Cohen’s Different Forms and
Examples of Rationalization
1. Argument by “Sour Grapes”
2. Argument by Predestination
3. Argument by Exception
4. Argument by the Doctrine of Balance
5. Argument by Extenuating Circumstances
6. Argument by Necessity for Self-
Preservation
7. Argument by Comparison
8. Argument by Sympathy
9. Argument by Procrastination
10.Argument by Fault Definition
11.Argument by Intellectualism
 Identification
 unconsciously identifies
himself with other persons or
things
 he perceives the satisfied
motives of others as his own.
 Types of Identification
a) Introjections ( Positive Identification)
senses a “oneness”, to other person.
assimilate “reflected glory” to himself.
a) Projection ( Negative Identification)
not only repress intolerable thoughts or
feelings but accused other people done
those things.
 Sublimation
 redirection or rechanneling or
urges (mostly libidinal or sexual)
Toward more socially acceptable
forms of expression.
Compensation and Atonement
 make up for a weakness by
excelling in some other function.
 manifested as inferiority
feelings
Manifested as guilt
 Aggressive Reactions
May manifest destructiveness
and hostile modes of behaving
 Two types of
Aggressive Reaction
a) Direct Aggression – actual
aggression against the source
individual or objects that is
the source of frustration
b) Displaced Aggression – when
the source is vague and
intangible or the person was a
powerful, a displaced reaction
would be done through an
innocent person or object.
 The end…

Thank you for listening.   