AO3 evaluation

• • While the fight or flight response may have been a useful survival mechanism for our ancestors, who faced genuinely life-threatening situations (e.g. from predators), modern day life rarely requires such an intense biological response. Furthermore, the stressors of modern-day life can repeatedly activate the fight or flight response, which can have a negative consequence on health. This suggests that the fight or flight response is a maladaptive response in modern-day life.​
• • The fight or flight response is typically a male response to danger and more recent research suggests that females adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ response in stressful/dangerous situations. According to Taylor et al. (2000), women are more likely to protect their offspring (tend) and form alliances with other women (befriend), rather than fight an adversary or flee. Furthermore, the fight or flight response may be counterintuitive for women, as running (flight) might be seen as a sign of weakness and put their offspring at risk of danger.
• When faced with a dangerous situation some psychologists suggest that humans actually engage in an initial ‘freeze’ response. Gray (1988) states that the first response to danger is to avoid confrontation altogether, which is demonstrated by a freeze response. During this animals and humans are hyper-vigilant, while they appraise the situation to decide the best course of action for that particular threat. Therefore, this explanation is limited and doesn’t fully explain the complex factors that underpin the human response.