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Meeting Life Challenges – Class 12 Psychology notes, important questions and MCQs

NCERT Class 12 Psychology, chapter 3. Notes, key terms, important questions with answers and MCQs.

Chapter overview

Life challenges can lead to stress, the pattern of responses an organism makes to a stimulus event that disturbs its equilibrium. Stress may be positive (eustress) or negative (distress). Stressors include environmental, psychological and social factors, and their effects can be physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioural. People cope with stress in different ways, and life skills and positive health help in meeting life challenges.

Nature and effects of stress

Hans Selye described the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) with three stages: alarm reaction, resistance and exhaustion.
Lazarus's cognitive theory says stress depends on primary appraisal (is this event threatening) and secondary appraisal (can I cope with it).
Sources of stress include life events, hassles (daily irritations), traumatic events, frustration, conflict and internal and social pressure; effects include emotional, physiological, cognitive and behavioural changes, burnout and weakened immunity (studied by psychoneuroimmunology).

Coping and positive health

Coping strategies (Endler and Parker): task-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented; Lazarus and Folkman distinguished problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
Stress management techniques include relaxation, meditation, biofeedback, creative visualisation, cognitive behavioural techniques and exercise.
Life skills promoting positive health include assertiveness, time management, rational thinking, improving relationships, self-care and avoiding unhealthy habits; factors such as diet, exercise, positive attitude, positive thinking and social support build resilience.

Key terms

Stress: the pattern of responses to an event that disturbs equilibrium and taxes coping ability
Eustress: a healthy, positive level of stress that motivates
General Adaptation Syndrome: Selye's three-stage response to prolonged stress
Coping: dynamic efforts to manage stressful demands
Resilience: the ability to bounce back after adversity

Important questions with answers

What is eustress?2 marks

Eustress is a healthy or positive level of stress that motivates a person and improves performance, such as the excitement before a competition. It contrasts with distress, which is harmful.

Explain Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome.3 marks

In the alarm reaction stage, the body recognises the stressor and the sympathetic system and adrenal glands mobilise energy. In the resistance stage, the body tries to cope with the stressor using its resources. If stress continues, the exhaustion stage follows, resources are depleted and illness may occur.

Describe the coping strategies and stress management techniques.5 marks

Coping is a dynamic process of managing demands that are appraised as stressful. Endler and Parker described three coping strategies. Task-oriented strategies involve obtaining information, planning and taking direct action to change the situation, such as preparing a study plan before exams. Emotion-oriented strategies involve managing emotions, such as expressing feelings, seeking support or trying to stay hopeful. Avoidance-oriented strategies involve denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation and avoiding thinking about it, which may help briefly but is often harmful in the long run. Lazarus and Folkman similarly distinguished problem-focused coping, which deals with the problem itself, from emotion-focused coping, which reduces emotional distress. Several stress management techniques are useful. Relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing, reduce physical arousal. Meditation, including yoga practices, trains attention and produces calmness. Biofeedback teaches people to control physiological processes such as heart rate with the help of monitoring devices. Creative visualisation uses mental images to reduce stress. Cognitive behavioural techniques, such as stress inoculation training, replace negative thoughts with positive ones and build coping skills. Regular exercise improves physical and mental health. Social support from family and friends, time management, assertiveness and a healthy lifestyle further help people meet life challenges.

Quick revision

Eustress and distress.
GAS and Lazarus's appraisal model.
Sources and effects of stress.
Coping strategies, stress management, life skills.

Exam tips

Remember Selye's stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
Classify coping examples as problem-focused or emotion-focused.

Practice MCQs

A healthy level of stress that motivates is called
1. eustress
2. distress
3. burnout
4. trauma
Show answer
Answer: (a) eustress. It improves performance.
The General Adaptation Syndrome was proposed by
1. Hans Selye
2. Lazarus
3. Freud
4. Maslow
Show answer
Answer: (a) Hans Selye. It has three stages.
Daily minor irritations such as traffic jams are called
1. life events
2. traumatic events
3. hassles
4. conflicts
Show answer
Answer: (c) hassles. They accumulate over time.
The first stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome is
1. resistance
2. recovery
3. exhaustion
4. alarm reaction
Show answer
Answer: (d) alarm reaction. The body mobilises resources.
Evaluating whether one has the resources to deal with a stressor is
1. primary appraisal
2. secondary appraisal
3. denial
4. projection
Show answer
Answer: (b) secondary appraisal. Lazarus described it.
The study of links between the mind, the nervous system and the immune system is
1. psychophysics
2. neuroanatomy
3. psychometrics
4. psychoneuroimmunology
Show answer
Answer: (d) psychoneuroimmunology. Stress can weaken immunity.
Making a study timetable to deal with exam pressure is an example of
1. problem-focused (task-oriented) coping
2. emotion-focused coping
3. avoidance coping
4. denial
Show answer
Answer: (a) problem-focused (task-oriented) coping. It acts on the source of stress.
A worker who feels emotionally drained and detached after long stress is experiencing
1. eustress
2. burnout
3. resilience
4. self-actualisation
Show answer
Answer: (b) burnout. It reflects the exhaustion stage.

All chapters of Class 12 Psychology

Written by Kundali IQ from standard, well-established facts to help with revision. This is not an official NCERT publication; always read your textbook too.