PSYA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Explanatory Style, Posttraumatic Growth, Viktor Frankl
Document Summary
Health psychologists study both the positive and negative effects that humans" behavior and the decisions have on their health, survival and well-being. Smoking causes life-shortening health problems including lung, mouth and throat cancers, heart disease, and pulmonary disease such as emphysema. 21% death in canada is led by smoking. Body mass index is a statistic commonly used for estimating a healthy body weight given an individual"s height. Set point is a hypothesized mechanism that serves to maintain body weight around a physiologically programmed level. Social contagion is the often subtle, unintentional spreading of a behavior as a result of social interactions. Framingham heart study indicates that over time, clusters of people from this study group become increasingly similar in certain characteristics such as weight. Stress is a psychological and physiological reaction that occurs when perceived demands exceed existing resources to meet those demands.
