Psych Positive Approach Classic Research- Findings Flashcards
(29 cards)
What was found about happiness and age
People of all ages were equally happy
People do face times of crisis but not at any predictable age
No time of life is notably happier or unhappier than others
Knowing someone’s age gives no clue to their average sense of wellbeing
What did Inglehart (1990) find about happiness and age?
A mean score of “satisfied with life” was 80%
What did Herzog et al (1982) find about happiness and age?
Different factors contribute to happiness at different ages
E.g health contributes to happiness later in life
What was found about happiness and gender
Women have greater capacity to feel joy in good times compared to men
What did Robins and Reiger (1991) find about happiness and gender?
Women are twice as vulnerable to depression and anxiety compared to men
Men are 5x as vulnerable to alcoholism and anti-social personality disorder compared to women
What did Haring et al (1984) find about happiness and gender?
Gender accounted for less than 1% of people’s global wellbeing in a meta-analysis of 146 studies
What did Inglehart (1990) find about happiness and gender
80% of men and women said that they were at least “fairly satisfied” with life
What was found about happiness and ethnic group?
Knowing someone’s ethnic group gives little clue to their happiness
African- Americans report nearly as much happiness as European- Americans
Black people and white people scored similarly
What was found about happiness and culture?
Nations differ strikingly in happiness
Japan had a lower subjective wellbeing than expected of a prosperous country
Collectivist cultures reported lower subjective wellbeing than individualistic cultures (concerned with meeting their own needs)
What did Inglehart (1990) find about happiness and culture?
In Portugal, 10% of people say they are very happy compared to 40% in the Netherlands
What was found about happiness and money?
“Being very well off financially” topped a list of 19 possible life objectives going ahead “raising a family” and “helping others in difficulty”
Most adults believe increased income would make them happier
In poor counties e.g.Bangladesh and India, satisfaction with finances is a moderate predictor of wellbeing
Increases and decrease in income had no long term influence on subjective wellbeing
As cultures become richer, it doesn’t seem to increase happiness. In USA 1957, 35% said they were “very happy” compared to 32% in 1993 with doubled affluence (they were richer)
What was the correlation between happiness and money?
The correlation between national health and wellbeing is +67
In the USA there is a +12 correlation between income and happiness
What did Inglehart (1990) find about happiness and money
In europe income has a weak effect on happiness
What did Diener et al (1985) find about happiness and money?
Americans who made it onto the list of wealthiest Americans reported only slightly greater happiness than other Americans.
37% reported they were less happy than the average American
What did Argyle (1986) find about happiness and money?
Those who won the lottery only gained a temporary jolt of joy
What was found about the key characteristics of happy people?
People who are happy share the following traits:
Self esteem
Personal control
Optimism
extraversion
What does it mean for people to have positive self esteem?
Happy people have positive self esteem believing themselves to be more intelligent, less prejudice, healthier and better able to get along with others
What does it mean if a person has a sense of personal control
They feel empowered rather than helpless, they tend to do better at school and cope with stress
When people have a lack of control they suffer with low morale and worse health
What does it mean for a person to be optimistic?
Happy people tend to be optimists
“When I undertake something new I expect to succeed”
They tend to be more successful and healthier than pessimists
What does it mean to be an extravert?
Happy people are extraverts
They are happier both when they live alone or with others, in rural areas or cities or if they work alone or in social occupations
What was found about happiness and relationships
People who have several intimate friends to share things with are happier, healthier, less likely to die prematurely than those who have few or no intimate friends
The happiness gap between married and never married people was slightly greater among men than women
In Europe though, the happiness gap between married and never married was almost identical for men and women
In western culture married people of both sexes report more happiness than never married, divorced or separated
What did Pavot et al (1990) AND Lee et al (1991) say about happiness and relationships?
Pavot said people report higher positive affect when they are with others
Lee said 39% of married couples said they were “very happy” compared to 24% of never married adults
What was found about happiness and work?
Work satisfaction affects life satisfaction
Work provides people with a sense of community, a network of relationships, and a sense of purpose which increase subjective wellbeing
If we are challenged and engaged by our work, we enter a state called “flow” which increases our sense of wellbeing
Out of work people are less likely to feel satisfied with life than those productively engaged with work or leisure
What did Csikszentmihalyi (1990) find about work and happiness?
Happiness comes from engagement
People are happier when absorbed in the flow of an activity than when doing nothing meaningful
