Flight or fight:

• LIMITATION:

  • It suffers from beta bias
  • Flight or fight response does not fully explain the stress response in females
  • According to Taylor 2000 women are more likely to protect their offspring 'tending' and form alliances with other women 'befriending' rather than fight a threat or flee
  • This is a limitation as the original explanation is limited in its application to females however it has promotes more recent research which has provides an alternate explanation
• COUNTERPOINT:

  • Moreover there have been genetic differences found between males and females which could explain why the fight or flight response only applies to males
  • Lee and Harley 2012 conducted research that showed that the SRY gene found on the male Y chromosome which promotes aggression is responsible for flight or right response during stressful situations
  • In contrast the absence of the SRY gene in female may prevent this stress response leading to instead 'tend and befriend'
• STRENGTH:

  • Flight or fight response has been seen to be adaptive for the stressful situation of the past that required energetic responses such as encountering predators
  • However, for modern day stresses such as exam stress, these energetic responses are not required
  • Mordern day stressors tend to repeatedly activate the flight or fight response which can result in serious health conditions such as increased blood pressure which can cause heart disease