Discuss the fight or flight response (16 marks)
The fight or flight response becomes activated when an individual enters a stressful or
dangerous situation. This activates the amygdala which is part of the limbic system, as this is
associated our sensory signals with the emotion of fear or anger. This sends a distress
signal to the hypothalamus which acts as a command centre in the brain. Then the
hypothalamus activates the sympathomedullary pathway, which runs to the adrenal medulla
and the sympathetic nervous system. After this, the sympathetic nervous system stimulates
the adrenal medulla, which is a part of the adrenal gland. The adrenal medulla secretes
adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream and this triggers a range of physiological
changes to the body such as increased heart rate and breathing rate so that blood flow and
oxygen intake increase as well as pupil dilation to increase light intake and sweat production
to regulate temperature. This prepares the body for fight or flight by preparing us to respond
to a threat.
A limitation of the fight or flight response is that it suffers from beta bias. This is evident since
research indicates that the response is different in females than in males. Taylor et al studied
this and concluded that females' response to a threat is more of a ‘tend and befriend’
response than fight or flight as their immediate response is to protect themselves and to form
alliances. Therefore, the assumption in previous research that women and men respond to
threats in the same way is limited by failing to recognise that this degree of generalisability is
unrealistic. This is even further supported by Lee and Harley who found a genetic basis for
gender differences. They found that the SRY gene was only found in the Y chromosome,
and this gene promoted aggression and triggered the fight or flight response whereas
females have more oestrogen and oxytocin and these hormones are likely to produce
different changes. Further biological differences across the two genders are likely to further
increase the extent to which women and men have variation in different levels of hormones
and research indicates that this is likely to be an important reason for a difference in their
biological response to a threat. This matters because understanding differences between the
two genders allows us to conduct further research into the causes of the fight or flight
response and indicates that this may vary across genders which indicates that different
genders may need to employ different strategies when considering ways to control their
response to a threat.
Another limitation of the fight or flight response is that it is argued to not be completely
biological, which indicates that this is a biologically reductionist approach by not considering
the influence of other variables which can influence the response. This was researched by
Symington who found that conscious dying patients had a different response to stress than
patients who were unconscious. This indicates that the response does not rely entirely upon
a biological response but psychological and environmental factors may also play a role in the
way that we respond to stress. This suggests that the fight or flight response is more
complex than indicated by initial research and while it is true that biological factors play a
role in our response to a threat, other factors in our environment, as well as more cognitive
factors, also influence the way that we respond to a threat. This indicates that this original
response may be reductionist and therefore future research should consider this explanation
alongside explanations which consider the role of cognitive processes in our fight or flight
response to adopt a more holistic approach. This matters because understanding the
psychological and cognitive components to our response to a threat can be useful to help us
The fight or flight response becomes activated when an individual enters a stressful or
dangerous situation. This activates the amygdala which is part of the limbic system, as this is
associated our sensory signals with the emotion of fear or anger. This sends a distress
signal to the hypothalamus which acts as a command centre in the brain. Then the
hypothalamus activates the sympathomedullary pathway, which runs to the adrenal medulla
and the sympathetic nervous system. After this, the sympathetic nervous system stimulates
the adrenal medulla, which is a part of the adrenal gland. The adrenal medulla secretes
adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream and this triggers a range of physiological
changes to the body such as increased heart rate and breathing rate so that blood flow and
oxygen intake increase as well as pupil dilation to increase light intake and sweat production
to regulate temperature. This prepares the body for fight or flight by preparing us to respond
to a threat.
A limitation of the fight or flight response is that it suffers from beta bias. This is evident since
research indicates that the response is different in females than in males. Taylor et al studied
this and concluded that females' response to a threat is more of a ‘tend and befriend’
response than fight or flight as their immediate response is to protect themselves and to form
alliances. Therefore, the assumption in previous research that women and men respond to
threats in the same way is limited by failing to recognise that this degree of generalisability is
unrealistic. This is even further supported by Lee and Harley who found a genetic basis for
gender differences. They found that the SRY gene was only found in the Y chromosome,
and this gene promoted aggression and triggered the fight or flight response whereas
females have more oestrogen and oxytocin and these hormones are likely to produce
different changes. Further biological differences across the two genders are likely to further
increase the extent to which women and men have variation in different levels of hormones
and research indicates that this is likely to be an important reason for a difference in their
biological response to a threat. This matters because understanding differences between the
two genders allows us to conduct further research into the causes of the fight or flight
response and indicates that this may vary across genders which indicates that different
genders may need to employ different strategies when considering ways to control their
response to a threat.
Another limitation of the fight or flight response is that it is argued to not be completely
biological, which indicates that this is a biologically reductionist approach by not considering
the influence of other variables which can influence the response. This was researched by
Symington who found that conscious dying patients had a different response to stress than
patients who were unconscious. This indicates that the response does not rely entirely upon
a biological response but psychological and environmental factors may also play a role in the
way that we respond to stress. This suggests that the fight or flight response is more
complex than indicated by initial research and while it is true that biological factors play a
role in our response to a threat, other factors in our environment, as well as more cognitive
factors, also influence the way that we respond to a threat. This indicates that this original
response may be reductionist and therefore future research should consider this explanation
alongside explanations which consider the role of cognitive processes in our fight or flight
response to adopt a more holistic approach. This matters because understanding the
psychological and cognitive components to our response to a threat can be useful to help us
