Forms of behavior that are aimed at overcoming a stressful or conflict situation in psychology are called overcoming behavior, or coping. This behavior is aimed at resolving a stressful or conflict situation using certain actions.
Key Definitions
Copying behavior is the actions performed by a person aimed at overcoming stress. This term includes cognitive, emotional, as well as behavioral methods. They are used to cope with the demands of everyday life. Coping behavior is also emotion management, stress management. This category includes all strategies aimed at self-regulation of behavior.
The emergence of the term
This term first appeared in psychology in the second half of the 20th century. Its author is Abraham Harold Maslow. This concept is also found in the works of L. Murphy. He used the term "coping" in 1962, in the process of exploring ways to overcome stress in children. Four years later, in 1966, R. Lazarus also used this term in his study “Psychological stress and the process of coping with it”. The translation of this word is “to control”, “overcome”, “fight”, “measure”, “cope”. The term coping occurs, the translation of which was presented above, from the English verb sora. In psychology, the concept of coping has long been associated with the process of coping with stress, overcoming unpleasant situations and circumstances.
Other definitions
A more precise definition of this concept is as follows: coping behavior is a person’s constantly changing mental and behavioral attempts to cope with certain external and internal requirements, which are subjectively assessed as excessive or exceeding available resources. This process is constantly changing for the reason that the individual and the environment form a dynamic relationship between themselves. They constantly exert mutual influence on each other. Abraham Harold Maslow defines coping as a form of human behavior. It involves the individual’s ability to use specific means to overcome emotional stress. Such behavior is intended for adaptation.
Features of stress
The overwhelming majority of people have an internal conflict or acute stress reactions accompanied by negative experiences, feelings that are completely unacceptable to a person and incompatible with his image of his own “I”. This is aggression towards oneself and loved ones, envy, fear and other experiences. The absence of these reactions in a difficult situation is a symptom of psychopathology, the abnormal functioning of the emotional sphere.
The need to express emotions
Often it turns out to be unacceptable not just any feeling, but the inability to express it openly. For example, this is illustrated by the setting "real men do not cry." As a result of such an action of psychological defenses, experiences and emotions during an acute stress reaction are supplanted. And that intrapersonal conflict, which provoked the beginning of a negative reaction, often remains relevant. In some cases, he remains unconscious for many years.
Copying behavior is a certain strategy aimed at finding an acceptable method of expressing negative feelings that are associated with a conflict or crisis situation. At the same time, the reality and significance of the experiences themselves are recognized. Often found ways to cope with stress is not direct, but indirect.
Copying as a way to respond to stress
Gradually, scientific psychologists began to supplement this definition. Over time, it became clear that coping behavior is not only a reaction to excessive or extraordinary stimuli that exceed a person’s resources. It is also a daily way to respond to stressful circumstances.
The content of the coping strategy, however, remains the same - it includes all those actions that allow a person to cope with stress. Copying combines cognitive, emotional and behavioral strategies that are used to cope with the daily demands of reality. In many ways, the choice of a particular strategy depends on the level of stress resistance of a person. For example, an individual with low stress tolerance will choose an avoidance strategy. Anyone with a higher rate will focus on the method of accepting responsibility.
Productive and unproductive strategies
Psychologists who deal with coping strategies have different opinions about the effectiveness of various coping strategies. Many concepts take into account that in themselves, these ways of coping with stress can be both productive and dysfunctional. In other words, many authors take into account the usefulness of a particular approach by which a person copes with stress. For example, an individual constantly uses the strategy of “seeking help from others”. However, if this approach helps him get rid of stress, then for others this method may not be entirely pleasant and appropriate. Not every, even close, friend is always ready to provide support to a person who is always in a stressful state.
Emotionally Oriented Copying
There are a large number of types of behavior in stressful situations that are aimed at working with emotions and experiences. Most often, the chosen path is not direct, but indirect, bypass.
They are as follows:
- Expression of experiences. No matter how intense they are, feelings should find their way out in a socially acceptable way. Expression of emotions is desirable if it does not create additional difficulties in social interaction.
- Replacing activities. In a way, this strategy is similar to the concept of sublimation in psychoanalysis. However, the term “substitute activity” is broader. In the process of such activity, aspirations are found that are impossible to realize a specific need. For example, those people who are deprived of family warmth often tend to have pets in order to fulfill their need for love. People, for some reason who have not been able to realize their career ambitions, are immersed in various hobbies or social activities.
- Detente is the transfer of negative experiences to material objects that can be broken or broken. As a rule, such actions are condemned in society. But if censure can be avoided (for example, by being left alone), and if the material damage from discharge is not great, then this method in some cases helps to cope with surging feelings.
- Fantasy, or overcoming difficulties outside of reality. This reaction of people to stress allows you to achieve the desired even in the world of imagination. The positive experiences that arise at the same time give strength to life in difficult life situations.
- Creativity is one of the most effective ways of overcoming behavior. Based on several or even all of the above forms of stress management. Creativity allows you to express experiences - for example, in a picture or in an acting game. It is an approved version of detente, contributes to the embodiment of fantasies in a particular work of art.
- Containment. Similar to psychological repression into the unconscious. It is a conscious behavior aimed at avoiding unpleasant thoughts, deeds, difficulties. Often combined with distraction to other experiences, thoughts, activities. A person seeks to switch consciousness to other types of activity in order to avoid a traumatic situation.
- Suspension A person using this coping behavior seeks to perceive circumstances without an emotional reaction. His emotions seem to be “turned off," or he feels the unreality of everything that happens to him.
- Humor. It is a rethinking of the difficulty with emphasizing its amusing sides.
Problem-Oriented Copying
There are other coping strategies for stress, different types of strategies for this behavior, which in foreign science are called the word coping (the translation of this term was discussed above). The following strategies are not aimed at coping with emotions, but at working with a problem. A person may use one or more of the following:
- Confrontation is an active activity that is aimed at transforming a conflict situation. Usually, this strategy is preferred by those people who are prone to impulsive behavior, hostility, conflicting personalities.
- Self - control is the restraint and subsequent suppression of emotions. As a rule, this strategy is used by those people who seek to hide experienced emotions from others.
- Search for social support. A person using this method of coping seeks to attract external resources, looking for people who can sympathize with him or support him.
- Avoidance A person seeks to avoid existing problems. This is not always a shift of attention - weak personalities who do not want to recognize objective reality go into alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, and other addictions. This type of coping is considered destructive.
Self change
Finally, one of the most important ways of coping is reassessment of values, as well as self-change. The circumstances in which a person must overcome the conflict is considered as a source of personal growth, the opportunity to gain experience and change for the better.
Self-perception can change in such a person in the direction of self-image as a confident and strong personality. Thus, the crisis acts as the basis for changing the system of worldview and values, the ability to join the new philosophical or religious views. That is why any, even the most unsuccessful experience can have a positive aspect - in the event that it serves as the basis for positive personal transformations.
Mixed strategy: taking responsibility
Taking responsibility is a way of overcoming stress that a person is not always able to resort to. However, some individuals are able to reorient their behavior vector from trying to get rid of negative feelings for responsible actions. In this case, the person is aware of his role in a particular situation and begins to act according to available opportunities. But in some cases, this strategy leads to excessive guilt. It is expressed in excessive self-criticism. Or a person falls into unnecessary apologies, attempts to make amends on their own without realizing the role of the other side in the situation.
It is believed that a healthy person should use different ways to deal with stress. A focus on one strategy suggests that the individual needs to think about introducing diversity in this area.