title: Nonlinear bifurcations of psychological stress negotiation: new properties of a formal dynamical model.
abstract: Dynamical systems analysis is applied to a nonlinear model of stress and  coping (Neufeld, 1999).  The model is composed of 6  order parameters and 11   control parameters, and  integrates core constructs of the topic domain, including  variants of cognitive appraisal, differential stress susceptibility, stress activation,  and coping propensity. In part owing to recent advances in  Competitive Modes Theory (Yao, Yu & Essex, 2002), previously intractable but substantively  significant dynamical properties of the 6-dimensional model are identified. They include  stable and unstable fixed-point equilibria (higher-dimensional saddle-node bifurcation),  oscillatory patterns attending fixed-point de-stabilization, and chaotic behaviors.  Examination of the nature of system fixed-point de-stabilization, in relation to its  control parameters, unveils mechanisms of re-stabilization, and dynamic stability control.  All identified dynamics emerge naturally from a system whose construction guideposts are  lodged in the addressed content domain. Dynamical complexities therefore may be intrinsic  to the present content domain, possibly no less so than in other disciplines where the  presence of such attributes has been established.
authors.affiliation: University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lawrence R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Weiguang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: Dan N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Vollick
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jette
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Shanahan
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: Richard W J
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Neufeld
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007600:Judgment; D008960:Models, Psychological; D017008:Negotiating; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*