Psy_210_Final_Project__Case_Study

Final Project: Case Study Axia College 1. What are the causes of stress in Jennifer’s life' How is stress affecting Jennifer’s health' Critical life changes, either pleasant or not may cause stress, particularly if the change requires major life changes and in this case, Jennifer is experiencing both. Jennifer recently married Antonio an Italian engineer currently they live together in Nebraska, Jennifer commutes an hour each way to her work. Marriage and moving can be exciting changes; however, they both need adjustments and can cause stress. Jennifer now has a much longer commute, which can help to aid stress. Jennifer and Antonio have been trying now for over a year to start a new family. Jennifer miscarried in her first trimester only eight months earlier. Just before she lost her mother. Along with all of this she has had to put her father in a nursing home ageist his wish, she is facing pressure from her in-laws about starting a family, and she has a great deal of responsibility at work. The stress is starting to affect Jennifer’s health and she is experiencing headaches, backaches, and indigestion. 2. How are these stressors impacting Jennifer’s self-concept and self-esteem' There are many different types of self-concept, which includes physical self and personal self, self-concept is learned, and reflects ones thinking about him or herself as a whole. It includes things such as justice, competence, strengths, mass, and appearance. Self-esteem is an individual’s overall sense of self worth, develops throughout our lives and the knowledge we gain with all different kinds of actions and people. The self-concept has a key impact on ones self-esteem and peaks during childhood, drops during adolescence, only to rise gradually throughout adulthood, and decline in older age. Any changes in physical, emotional, sexual, and familial and health can affect our self-concept and self-esteem, like in Jennifer’s case. The blow of these stressor are influencing Jennifer’s health and making her question herself. She begun to question her efficiency as an employee, she has questioned her role of a wife and she has begun to questioning her future role of becoming a mother. On top of that, she is skeptical of her role as a good daughter probably due to the fact of facing the possibility of sending her father away to a nursing home instead of taking care of him herself. All these stressors in Jenifer’s life threaten to interfere with her self-concept and her self-esteem. Self-concept can be enhanced throughout support of knowledge of how to cope better with stressors and self-esteem can be changed or shaped in particularly if a better skill of coping with stressors is provided. 3. How might Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment' How might this situation become an opportunity for personal growth' Adjustment is coping behavior that allows us to meet the demands of our life including the environment we are surrounded by. Jennifers situation is illustrating adjustment by using ineffective coping strategies. However the facts speak for themselves and illustrating that Jennifer is not coping to well with certain situations or stressors that are affecting her life, for example the loss of loved ones. As in the end we can see that all these stressors are affecting her performance at work, at home and her health due to experiencing increasing pains. Adjustment is required so that one can meet the challenges and expectations of our own environment. We are not only reactors but also actors and not only do we react to our environment, but we are also influenced by our environment. This situation might become an opportunity of personal growth if we learn to become not only reactors but also actors to what we are facing during our lives. A combination of genetic predispositions, environmental influences and personal choice determine our traits, disorders and behaviors and as this is every human being possess the great ability of adjusting and choice. So personal growth is a never-ending journey and ongoing process of development in which we frequently inspect who we are, what we become and where we are heading off. 4. What defensive coping methods Jennifer using' What active coping methods might be healthier for Jennifer to use' Explain why you would recommend these methods. Jennifer is using denial as self-protective coping method. While, she may think and insist that she is happy and not feeling under stress at all, facts speak for themselves. She has begun making mistakes at work, she is often very tiered, cannot keep up with housework, feels weighed down and experience physical symptoms such as: headaches, backaches, and indigestion for which her doctor cannot find any physical causes. Appropriate coping methods are the right way of dealing with problems and stressors. these methods may consist of: trying not to take too many tasks and categorize them by deadlines and importance. Developing good time management skills, cooperating better with co-workers by involving them more into certain assignments and at home asking her husband for help with the housework are great ways to allow appropriate coping methods. Jennifer needs also to take time for herself, relax more, and consume a balanced diet and exercise. Developing higher self-efficacy could help to withstand some stressors and boost Jennifer’s motivation to finish certain tasks, like keeping up with the housework. 5. Select one theory of personality and use this theory to tell Jennifer how this theory explains her situation. Behaviorism believes that one’s surroundings influences and shapes their personality and that it is our outlook on life and the way we learn that influences our behavior. Everything Jennifer does is has no reflection of the environment that she has been surrounded by. Therefore, everything that has been going on in Jennifer’s life, positive as negative will in the end influence her behavior. To the traditional learning theory, we are who we are because of what we have learned in the past and the present time. Therefore, everything that Jennifer does or the way she reacts to certain stressors in her life is because it was learned. They are not always her free choices or the freedom of a direction she alone choose, no Jennifer acts and reacts this way because it is what she had learned in the past. 6. In what stage of development is Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be impacting her perspective of this situation' Jennifer is in a stage where she is trying to establish herself as a person and develop her individuality or you can call this being a young adult. This is also the time where she is trying to fulfill her carrier goals and visualize her life. In addition, she might be also inquiring herself about life and the choices she made. Therefore, also these factors could be influencing Jennifer in one way or the other. Yes, this is the time her wanting to reach certain stages of development, such as starting a family and becoming a parent, managing responsibilities at home and starting a carrier. However all these new life developments take a lot of energy, need time to get used to it and to become comfortable in it. So this is a new stage of life that needs to be learned and could impact her perspectives of the situation she is in. They might keep her just so busy and of the focus that she is unable to acknowledge her real problems influencing her life. 7. What relationship factors or considerations might be influencing Jennifer’s problems' The relationship factors or considerations that might be influencing Jennifer’s problems are certainly the wish for a new baby and the pressure of encouragement from her in-laws to focus on having a new baby. This may cause her to move on faster as she might be ready from the past miscarriage. There is also still the grief of losing her mother, which seems to very relentless as well as the guilt of not being able to take care of her father in the manor she feels she is suppose to. Jennifer’s health, busy schedule and her dad’s weak health make it impossible for her to grieve. In addition, the long drive to and from work and her loving personality of wanting to support every coworker her stressors do not make her problems any easier. In addition, her husband Antonio, who is an Italian, might provide additional problems that can influence her health considerably due to the cultural differences both might be facing from time to time.