Test 1 Flashcards
Who is the father of positive psych and why did he create field
Used to study depression but then asked why not study courage, joy, hope, happiness instead of just anxiety, violence, pathology, conformity, and prejudice.
Why positive psychology
BALANCE:
- General psychology: restoring balance to psychology’s historical emphasis on the negative and add studies of positivity.
- Clinical psychology: providing language of mental health and human strengths to compliment and complete the language of mental illness and the disease model. In order to help people flourish not just be at baseline
COMPLETENESS:
- Bringing off-limits for scientific psychology. In positive psychology “forbidden topics” like religion and virtue are no longer off limits in order to allow for a more complete field
- Study people who live a “good life” or a life well lives to find ways for others to implement it
Why has Psychology Historically Focused on the Negative (Disease Model, World Wars, Factors Outside Psychology –depression, divorce, juv crime;
- The disease model and the need to be useful
a. Done to fulfill the desire to be useful, gain status and respect as a scientific discipline by solving problems through the disease model
b. The dominance of the disease model had the primacy of pathology as a focus
c. Was during the time of world wars
During these times there was a need to address the millions of people suffering from mental health conditions specifically PTSD after the world wars
There was a need to relieve the suffering for people rather than increase joy or happiness - Beliefs about authenticity
o Negative states feel more authentic - Beliefs about positive emotions
- The power of negativity
o Ex: the trait negativity bias research:
People have a bias to focus on the negative not the positive
FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR: the fundamental need to focus on the negative
d. Current Culture Vs. Traditional Psychology
- Interest in books, articles, press coverage etc has exploded
o Measure of material well-being is going north and measures of subjective well-being is going south
o Levels of happiness have remained flat despite dramatic gains in income and material possession
o People have what they need but happiness is low - Rates of depression is higher than ever
- Self-help books becoming more popular
o Millions are looking for guidance and direction to find happy and meaningful lives
People are looking for some sort of guidance
What’s the definition of positive psychology
- Positive psychology is the scientific study of the personal qualities, life choices, life circumstances, and sociocultural conditions that promotes a life well-lives, defines by criterial of happiness, physical and mental health, meaningfulness and virtue
What’s the hedonic vs eudaimonic view
- HEDONIC: Happiness, pleasure and no pain. Positive emotions and satisfactions. The focus is on happiness, defines as the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affects
o Hedonic experiences:
Drugs, gambling, excessive sex, excessive video games/screen time - EUDAIMONIC: focus is on living in a full and satisfying way
o Theory of self-realization and optimal functioning
o Noslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs
Once needs are met: can experience positive life, emotions or health
What did the study by waterman on hedonic and eudaimonic happiness find
o Found there’s a strong correlation between hedonism and eudaimonia
Concluded that the 2 conceptions of happiness are related but distinguishable and that personal expressiveness but not hedonic enjoyment is a signifier of success in process of self-realization
What is Subjective Well-Being – 3 major components (life satisfaction, + affect, - affect)
- Subjective well being is experiencing a high level of positive affect, a low level of negative affect, and a high degree of satisfaction with one’s life
1. life satisfaction — with life
2. Positive feelings — enjoying life and love for others
3. Low negative feelings — chronic worries, sadness, or anger
What are global measure, satisfaction in life domains and specific emotions scales
- Scales that measure levels of happiness
o Health, financial, family, leisure, healing, work
iii. Specific Emotions (e.g. PANAS; facial emotions, Harker & Keltner study) - Measure general emotional state, specific emotions, and positive and negative affects
What are Some Problems with Global Self-Report Measures (current mood, memory selectivity and weighting (Peak-end-rule –State-dependent memory)
- Can be bias due to current mood
- Distorted memory
a. Does money make us happy? Deiner & Kahneman correlation findings
o Psychological well being (PWB) by Ryff
o Mental health continuum short form (MHC-SF) by Keyes
- Measures of need fulfillment
o Based on the self-determination theory by Ryan and Deci
o Questions about autonomy, competence, relatedness
j
What’s the Hedonic treadmill, Social comparison
- Hedonic treadmill: we adapt and want more. Relative deprivations affects people since they often feel poorer compared to others regardless of wealth
o Can lead to narrow focus, neglections of other sources of happiness like relationships, and personal growth - Social comparison: its about being richer than others in surroundings
- There’s more stress and anxiety with higher incomes
What are the studied on lottery winners
- Lottery winners and trauma victims have the same level of happiness
What’s importance of contrasts (how to spend money to maximize happiness)
o buy experiences not things
o Spend on others
o Buy time to reduce stress
Whats a trait and its importance in SWB
- TRAIT: an enduring, stable, internal characteristic of a person that influences how they act, perceive and feel about the world. It remains relatively stable over time.
- Individual differences in traits account for as much as 50% of differences in levels of happiness and well-being
What is positive vs negative affect
- Positive: feels happier, experiences joy and excitements, sees things as a good challenger
o Negative is the opposite - Has a strong genetic component
- Positive and negative affect are independent
What is temperament and how was it measured
- Looked at young kids and found that 20% of infants are reactive to new situations and 40% were not reactive
o Reactive: shy, introverts and easily upset
o Non-reactive: comfortable with change, outgoing and eager to explore
Those who aren’t reactive tend to be happier as the grow up - Temperament: initial biases, inherent differences in brain activity in the amygdala
What does the amygdala do
nfluences how people perceive and respond to events which affects subjective well-being over time
o Life choices and environment can change this
What are the big 5 personality traits
- Extraversion vs. Introversion
o Extroverts are happier - Neuroticism vs. Emotional stability
o Increased emotional instability and decreased subjective well-being for neuroticism - Agreeableness vs. Antagonism
o Antagonists are less agreeable and relaxed - Conscientiousness vs. Undirectedness
o Conscientious people have goals in mind - Openness to experience vs. Non-openness
o Open people have higher subjective well being
What is the behavioural activation system (BAS)
o reward, incentive which drives positive emotions
o More likely to pursue life’s rewards
What is the behavioural inhibition system (BIS)
o If overactive & its heightened, its associated with excessive threat and punishment, negativity and increases stress
o Want some BIS but not too much
Want balance between the two
What is approach orientation
o Positive attitude towards themselves and the world and more positive experiences
What is avoidance orientation
o Negative attitude towards themselves and the world and decreased positive experiences
What is dispositional optimism
- as a personality trait that leads people to see positives more than negatives
