Meeting Life Challenges Class 12 Psychology Exam Questions

Please refer to Meeting Life Challenges Class 12 Psychology Exam Questions provided below. These questions and answers for Class 12 Psychology have been designed based on the past trend of questions and important topics in your class 12 Psychology books. You should go through all Class 12 Psychology Important Questions provided by our teachers which will help you to get more marks in upcoming exams.

Class 12 Psychology Exam Questions Meeting Life Challenges

Class 12 Psychology students should read and understand the important questions and answers provided below for Meeting Life Challenges which will help them to understand all important and difficult topics.

Very Short Answer Questions

Question. What do you understand by Resilience ?
Ans. Resilience is a dynamic development process referring to the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging life conditions. Resistance has been conceptualised as reflecting feelings of self-worth and self-confidence, autonomy and self-reliance, finding positive role models, feeling a close friend, cognitive skills such as problem-solving, creativity, resourcefulness and flexibility and a belief that one’s life has purpose and meaning effects of trance, stress and adversity and leave to live psychologically healthy and meaningful lives for a child to be resilient, s/he needs to have more than one of these strengths; social, interpersonal strengths, inner strengths, interpersonal and problem-solving skills.

Question. Explain the role of social support in promoting positive health and well-being.
Ans. Emotional support helps to overcome anxiety, loss of self-esteem by the availability of people on whom we can rely upon, those who love, care and value us. Social support
reduces psychological distress, depression or anxiety during times of stress. It helps in promoting positive health and providing psychological well-being.

Question. What do you mean by ‘burnout’?
Ans. The state of physical, emotional and psychological exhaustion is known as burnout.

Question. What is fight or flight response?
Ans. (i) Selye observed that animals exposed to stressors show a similar pattern of bodily response. He called this pattern General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).
(ii) The fight or flight response, also called as ‘acute stress response’ refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare the body to deal with a threat or to run away to safety. The term ‘fight or flight’ represents the choices.

Question. What is coping?
Ans. Coping is a dynamic situation-specific reaction to stress. E.g., watching TV, phone up a friend or try to be with other people.

Short Answer Questions

Question. What are the sources of stress?
Ans. The various sources of stress are:
(i) Life Events: Changes due to life events such as moving into a new house, break-up of a long-term relationship cause stress.
(ii) Hassles: Happenings in our daily lives such as noisy surroundings, commuting,quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and water shortage, traffic snarls cause stress.
Attending to various emergencies are daily hassles experienced by a housewife.
(iii) Traumatic Events: Effects of extreme events such as fire, train or road accident,robbery, earthquake, tsunami persist as symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreamsand intrusive thoughts. Severe trauma can also strain relationships or can lead to disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Question. What is Examination Anxiety?
Ans. Examination anxiety involves feelings of tension, apprehension, fear of failure occurring before, during or after an examination. Although, this feeling of anxiety helps in motivating and creates pressure required for increased productivity (Eustress),but some students fall sick during exams. They show symptoms of body aches, stomach upset, nausea, diarrhea, fever. These students are extremely nervous and emotionally aroused. It decreases concentration, produce high emotional reactions, feelings of helplessness and attentional blocks. To overcome it, one has to give ample study time, judge one’s strengths and weaknesses, discuss difficulties, plan out further studies,concentrate and keep one-self cool by relaxation techniques.

Question. What is GAS? How does Selye’s model relate prolong stress to bodily response. Explain.
OR
Explain the reaction of body to stress according to General Adaptation Syndrome.
OR
Describe the GAS model of stress. 
OR
Explain stress according to General Adaptation Syndrome, (GAS) model, giving examples from everyday life. 
Ans. Selye observed that animals exposed to stressors show a similar pattern of bodily response. He called this pattern General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).
According to him GAS involves three stages:
(i) Alarm reaction: The presence of a stressor leads to activation of the adrenal-pituitarycortex system. This triggers the release of hormones producing the stress response.Now the individual is ready for fight or flight.
(ii) Resistance Stage: Under prolonged stress, the para-sympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious use of the body’s resources in which the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat.
(iii) Exhaustion stage: Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its resources and leads to the third stage of exhaustion. The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction and resistance become ineffective and susceptibility to stress-related diseases increases.

Question. Distinguish between Eustress and Distress giving suitable examples.
Ans. Eustress describes the level of stress that is good and positive and is one of a person’s best assets for achieving peak performance and managing minor crisis. Distress is the
manifestation of stress that causes our body’s wear and tear. It produces unpleasant effects, hampers our productivity, emotionally upsets us and causes our performance to deteriorate.

Question. Differentiate between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies with examples.
Ans. According to Lazarus and Folkman the coping responses are of two types:
(i) Problem-focused Strategies: These strategies attack the problem itself with behaviours designed to gain information, to alter the event and to alter belief and commitments. For example, to make a plan of action.
(ii) Emotion-focused Strategies: These call for psychological changes designed primarily to limit the degree of emotional disruption caused by an event, with minimal effort to alter the event itself. E.g., to do things to let it out of your system.

Question. Describe the cognitive theory of stress (primary appraisal and secondary appraisal).
OR
Describe Lazarus general model of stress appraisal.
Ans. The perception of stress is dependent upon the individual’s cognitive appraisal which is of two types, primary and secondary. Primary appraisal refers to the perception of a new or changing environment as positive, neutral or negative in its consequences. Negative events are appraised for their possible harm, threat or challenge. Harm is the assessment of the damage that has already been done by the event. Threat is the assessment of the possible future damage that may be brought about by the event. Challenge is associated with expectations of the ability to cope with the stressful event. Secondary appraisal is the assessment of one’s coping abilities and resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat or challenge of the event.

Long Answer Questions

Question. Describe the techniques that can help manage stress in life.
Ans. Some of the Stress Management Techniques are described as follows:
(i) Relaxation Techniques: Reduces symptoms of stress and incidence of illness such as high blood pressure and heart diseases. Deep breathing and muscle relaxation is used to relax the mind and body which starts from the lower part of the body and progresses up to the facial muscles.
(ii) Meditation Procedures: This technique refocuses the attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness. This is possible through concentration so that the mediator is unaware of any outside stimulation.
(iii) Biofeedback: This involves three stages: developing an awareness of the particular physiological response, e.g. heart rate, learning ways of controlling that physiological response in quiet conditions; and transferring that control into the conditions of everyday life.
(iv) Creative Visualisation: This involves imagery and imagination for keeping one’s mind quiet, body relaxed and eyes closed. This reduces the risk of interference from unhidden thoughts and provides the creative energy needed for turning an imagined scene into reality.
(v) Cognitive Behavioural Techniques: This approach involves replacing negative and irrational thoughts with positive and rational ones. It includes assessment, stress reduction techniques, and application and follow-through. Assessment involves discussing the nature of the problem and seeing it from the viewpoint of the client. Stress reduction involves learning the techniques of reducing stress such as relaxation and self-instruction.
(vi) Exercise: Regular exercise improves the efficiency of the heart, enhances the function of the lungs, maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure, reduces fat in the blood and improves the body’s immune system. Swimming, walking, running, cycling, skipping help to reduce stress.

Question. We know that certain lifestyle factors can cause stress and may lead to diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease, yet we are unable to change our behaviour. Explain why?
Stress can lead to unhealthy lifestyle or health damaging behaviour. Lifestyle is the overall pattern of decisions and behaviours that determine a person’s health and quality of life. Stressed individuals may be more likely to expose themselves to pathogens,which are agents causing physical illness. People who are stressed have poor nutritional habits, sleep less and are likely to engage in other health risking behaviours like smoking and alcohol abuse. Such health impairing behaviours develop gradually and are accompanied by pleasant experiences temporarily.

Question. State the symptoms and sources of stress.
Ans. Response to stress varies depending upon personality of an individual. Every person has his/her own pattern of stress response. Warning signs of stress vary from individual to individual depending upon intensity. Physical symptoms of stress can be palpitation or sweating, emotional symptoms can be confusion and irritability which are manifested in behavioural symptoms such as withdrawal or restlessness. If any of these symptoms is left unresolved, they may lead to suicide, burnout, a psychological disorder or a medical disease.
The various sources of stress are:
(i) Life Events: Changes due to life events such as moving into a new house, break-up of a long-term relationship cause stress.
(ii) Hassles: Happenings in our daily lives such as noisy surroundings, commuting,quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and water shortage, traffic snarls cause stress.Attending to various emergencies are daily hassles experienced by a housewife.
(iii) Traumatic Events: Effects of extreme events such as fire, train or road accident,robbery, earthquake, tsunami persist as symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreams
and intrusive thoughts. Severe trauma can also strain relationships or can lead to disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Question. How does stress affect the immune system?
Ans. Release of stress hormone results in weakening of our immune system thus affecting mental and physical health. Weakened immune system has a serious effect on the individuals’ health. Stress has physiological effects and can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defense against various infections and cancer. Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, persons who have lost a loved one and those who are severely depressed. Psychological stress is accompanied by negative emotions or burnout situation and associated symptoms such as depression, anxiety, irritability and aggression. Individuals may have panic attacks or show obsessive behaviours, mood swings or phobias. These individuals have feelings of hopelessness which is worsened by injury or disease. Studies reveal that immune functioning is better in individuals receiving social support.Emotions such as fear, anger or hostility are associated with anger outbursts, tantrums,withdrawal symptoms and feelings of hopelessness thus leading to weakening of the immune system thus effecting mental and physical health.

Question. Give an example of a life event which is likely to be stressful. Suggest reasons why it is likely to cause different degrees of stress to the person experiencing it.
Ans. Life Events which are likely to be stressful are like moving into a new house, break-up of a long-term relationship cause stress.The stresses or the dimensions of stressors which people experience vary in terms of intensity (low intensity vs. high intensity), duration (short-term vs. long-term), complexity (less complex vs. more complex) and predictability (unexpected vs. predictable).The outcome of stress depends on the position of a particular stressful experience along these dimensions. Usually more intense, prolonged or chronic, complex and unanticipated stresses have more negative consequences than less intense, short-term,less complex and expected stresses. An individual’s experiences of stress depend on the physiological strength of that person. Thus, individuals with poor physical health and weak constitution would be more vulnerable than those who enjoy good health and strong constitution.

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