Susan Folkman
American psychologist of stress, coping and health
American psychologist who studied how people appraise and cope with stress. She co-wrote Stress, Appraisal and Coping with Richard Lazarus (1984) and later studied caregiving, bereavement and chronic illness.
Why this person matters
In her doctoral work in Richard Lazarus's stress and coping group she is credited with coining problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, terms introductory courses still use. Appraisal theory is Lazarus's; the coping terms are credited to her. Her later research on caregivers and bereavement added attention to positive emotion alongside distress.
Main contributions
Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping
She is credited with coining both terms in her doctoral work in the 1970s, within Lazarus's stress and coping group. Problem-focused coping tries to change the stressful situation; emotion-focused coping tries to manage the emotions it produces.
Stress, Appraisal and Coping (1984)
Lazarus and Folkman co-wrote this book, which applies the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping to psychological stress. In Lazarus's account, primary appraisal judges what an event means for the person and secondary appraisal judges the person's ability to cope with its consequences.
Stress, coping and positive emotion in illness
Her later research covered caregiving, bereavement, chronic illness and end-of-life care, mainly in HIV and AIDS, with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health. She also studied how positive emotions occur alongside negative ones during long periods of stress, as in her 2008 paper 'The case for positive emotions in the stress process'.
Context and limits
The sources read for this profile treat the appraisal theory and the coping terms as shared work with Lazarus and do not summarise published critiques of the problem-focused and emotion-focused split, so none are claimed here. Her later titles, such as 'Coping: pitfalls and promise' (2004), show the framework being reviewed and extended, notably towards positive emotion.
In your introductory course
Stress, health and wellbeing.Appears in the stress and coping section of the health chapter, where appraisal and the two coping styles are taught.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 14.4. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1980
Published the article 'An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample', listed on her UCSF profile.
- 1984
Published Stress, Appraisal and Coping with Richard Lazarus.
- 1986
Published 'Dynamics of a stressful encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes'.
- 2001
Became director of the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, described in reference sources as its first full-time director.
- 2008
Published 'The case for positive emotions in the stress process'.
Sources
- UCSF Profiles, Susan Folkman, PhDUniversity. Institutional biography inspected.
- University of Minnesota Taking Charge, Interview with Susan FolkmanUniversity. Institutional biography inspected.
- Wikipedia, Susan FolkmanReference work. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, Richard LazarusReference work. Reference article inspected.