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interval scale

a scale marked in equal intervals so that the difference between any two consecutive values on the scale is equivalent regardless of the two values selected. Interval scales lack a true, meaningful zero point, which is what distinguishes them from ratio scales. For example, Fahrenheit temperature uses an interval scale: The difference between 50 °F and 49 °F is the same as the difference between 40 °F and 39 °F, but a temperature of 0 °F does not indicate that there is no temperature. See also interval data.

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Psychology term of the day

February 21st 2025

reactive coping

reactive coping

a stress-management strategy that involves efforts to deal with a past or present stressful situation (e.g., marital dissolution, losing one’s job) by compensating for or accepting the associated harm or loss. Reactive coping may also involve efforts to readjust goals, find benefit, or search for meaning. One of four types of coping proposed by German psychologists Ralf Schwarzer (1943–  ) and Nina Knoll, reactive coping may be problem-focused, emotion-focused, or social-relation-focused. See also anticipatory coping; preventive coping; proactive coping.