--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For a century, the human response to…" description: "\"“For a century, the human response to stress and danger has been defined as “fight or flight.” A 2000 UCLA study by several psychologists noted that th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1df/rebecca-solnit-569_nature-of-man_for-a-century-the-human-response-to-stre_1972494.jpg" --- # For a century, the human response to stress and danger has… ![“For a century, the human response to stress and danger has been defined as “fight or flight.” A 2000 UCLA study by several psychologists noted that this research was based largely on studies of male rats and male human beings. But studying women led them to a third, often deployed option: gather…” quote by Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1df/rebecca-solnit-569_nature-of-man_for-a-century-the-human-response-to-stre_1972494.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1df/rebecca-solnit-569_nature-of-man_for-a-century-the-human-response-to-stre_1972494.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1df/rebecca-solnit-569_nature-of-man_for-a-century-the-human-response-to-stre_1972494.jpg) > ““For a century, the human response to stress and danger has been defined as “fight or flight.” A 2000 UCLA study by several psychologists noted that this research was based largely on studies of male rats and male human beings. But studying women led them to a third, often deployed option: gather for solidarity, support, advice. They noted that “behaviorally, females’ responses are more marked by a pattern of ‘tend-and-befriend.’ Tending involves nurturant activities designed to protect the self and offspring that promote safety and reduce distress; befriending is the creation and maintenance of social networks that may aid in this process.”” [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Research shows women often respond to stress by nurturing and forming supportive social bonds, a pattern called “tend‑and‑befriend.” **In simple terms:** Women may cope by caring for others and building friendships. Key Takeaway Cultivate supportive networks during stressful times. Themes stress response gender differences social support Mood empathetic analytical Type psychological social When to use this quote - workplace crises - family emergencies - community organizing - mental health care Key Concepts tend‑and‑befriend evolutionary psychology coping strategies Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage tend‑and‑befriend behaviors in your community? - When might a “fight or flight” response be more effective? A Different Perspective Not all stress situations fit this model; individual differences exist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fight Or Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-or-flight/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Stress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stress/) ## Related quotes > [“Work by Shelley Taylor of UCLA shows that “fight or flight” is the typical response to stress in males, and naturally, the stress literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/work-by-shelley-taylor-of-ucla-shows-that-fight-or-flight-is-the/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) > [“even our best efforts to control our lives are ultimately not good enough. Christ alone is the solid rock on which a (w)holistic response…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-harbaugh/even-our-best-efforts-to-control-our-lives-are-ultimately-not-good/) Gary L. Harbaugh > [The response to stress is not less time in God's Word, but more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillon-burroughs/the-response-to-stress-is-not-less-time-in-god-s-word-but-more/) [Dillon Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillon-burroughs/) > [“The experience of stress has three components. The first is the event, physical or emotional, that the organism interprets as threatening. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-experience-of-stress-has-three-components-the-first-is-the-event/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“It turns out that our perspective has a surprising amount of influence over the body’s stress response. When we turn a threat into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama-xiv/it-turns-out-that-our-perspective-has-a-surprising-amount-of/) [Dalai Lama XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama-xiv/) > [Are you ready to take a chance and risk it all? It's do or die, fight or flight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiodos/are-you-ready-to-take-a-chance-and-risk-it-all-it-s-do-or-die-fight/) [Chiodos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiodos/) > [“I would disagree with fight or flight. That leaves no room for compromise and understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-marz/i-would-disagree-with-fight-or-flight-that-leaves-no-room-for/) Ron Marz > [Struggle has a natural place in our life, but the fight or flight syndrome is often false struggle. There are times for that but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/struggle-has-a-natural-place-in-our-life-but-the-fight-or-flight/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [“In certain circumstances, basically shit ones, it’s fight or flight. With Tommy it’s always fright and flight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-murphy/in-certain-circumstances-basically-shit-ones-it-s-fight-or-flight/) Terry Murphy > [In odd situation in life, nothing to fear. Believe in power of you inner strength which is guiding spirit.You are himself testimony of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kumar-sinha/in-odd-situation-in-life-nothing-to-fear-believe-in-power-of-you/) [Dr Anil Kumar Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kumar-sinha/) > [“UCLA psychologist Shelley Taylor has discovered a stress response that differs from fight or flight. She calls it tend and befriend. “One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-m-grant/ucla-psychologist-shelley-taylor-has-discovered-a-stress-response/) [Adam M. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-m-grant/) > [So, apparently there is this basic human reaction to fear. It's called the fight or flight response. When something scares us our first response…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dance-academy/so-apparently-there-is-this-basic-human-reaction-to-fear-it-s-called/) Dance Academy > [“My thoughts, normally bunched together, wrapped in gauze, insistent, urgent, impatient, one moment to the next, living in what I now realize is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/my-thoughts-normally-bunched-together-wrapped-in-gauze-insistent/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“My commitment is to urge us all toward moderation and good will toward fellow citizens. If we can set aside unworthy emotions that deepen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-rasley/my-commitment-is-to-urge-us-all-toward-moderation-and-good-will/) Jeff Rasley > [I cannot do confrontation. You know that fight or flight thing? I'm flight. I just don't want the argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saunders/i-cannot-do-confrontation-you-know-that-fight-or-flight-thing-i-m/) [Jennifer Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-saunders/) ## More by Rebecca Solnit > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/joy-doesn-t-betray-but-sustains-activism-and-when-you-face-a-politics/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“To love someone is to put yourself in their place, we say, which is to put ourself in their story, or figure out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/to-love-someone-is-to-put-yourself-in-their-place-we-say-which-is-to/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“People have always been good at imagining the end of the world, which is much easier to picture than the strange sidelong paths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/people-have-always-been-good-at-imagining-the-end-of-the-world-which/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Whose maps are we trying to read? And what are we trying to draw? 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Maybe Persephone was glad to run off with the king of death to his underground realm, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-wonder-now-about-demeter-and-persephone-maybe-persephone-was-glad/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [ \[In mountaineering, if\] we look for private experience rather than public history, even getting to the top becomes an optional narrative rather than the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-mountaineering-if-we-look-for-private-experience-rather-than/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [For me, being in a car or on an airplane is like being in limbo. It's this dead zone between two places. But to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/for-me-being-in-a-car-or-on-an-airplane-is-like-being-in-limbo-it-s/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“How do you calculate upon the unforeseen? It seems to be an art of recognizing the role of the unforeseen, of keeping your balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/how-do-you-calculate-upon-the-unforeseen-it-seems-to-be-an-art-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Walking shares with making and working that crucial element of engagement of the body and the mind with the world, of knowing the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/walking-shares-with-making-and-working-that-crucial-element-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Marriage equality is a threat: to inequality. It’s a boon to everyone who values and benefits from equality. It’s for all of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/marriage-equality-is-a-threat-to-inequality-it-s-a-boon-to-everyone/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Mountaineering is always spoken of as though summiting is conquest, but as you get higher, the world gets bigger, and you feel smaller in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/mountaineering-is-always-spoken-of-as-though-summiting-is-conquest/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“A procession is a participants' journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-procession-is-a-participants-journey-while-a-parade-is-a/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Explore all 469 Rebecca Solnit quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## More Nature of man quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. 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If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Every human creates his own problems. Problems are ones private property and we shouldnt meddle into them self-initiatively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/every-human-creates-his-own-problems-problems-are-ones-private/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. 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