Fight or Flight Versus Tend and Befriend
The dominant model of the human responses to stress has been the fight or flight response. In response to threat, humans (and other animals) can become aggressive and confront a stressor (fight) or flee either literally or through avoidant coping, such as social withdrawal or substance abuse. From the standpoint of human beings, however, this analysis of stress responses is incomplete. Another tendency is to affiliate, that is, to come together in groups in threatening times. This tend and befriend response refers to the fact that people often manage threats by caring for offspring and seeking social support in time of stress.
Read more about this topic: Tend And Befriend
Famous quotes containing the words fight, flight and/or tend:
“I write with one hand, but I fight with both.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“In all her products, Nature only develops her simplest germs. One would say that it was no great stretch of invention to create birds. The hawk which now takes his flight over the top of the wood was at first, perchance, only a leaf which fluttered in its aisles. From rustling leaves she came in the course of ages to the loftier flight and clear carol of the bird.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Crude men who feel themselves insulted tend to assess the degree of insult as high as possible, and talk about the offense in greatly exaggerated language, only so they can revel to their heart’s content in the aroused feelings of hatred and revenge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)