Week 8

Question 1

What is the traditional focus of positive psychology?

Answer 1

• Focus on distress as a cause of suffering
• Focus on preventing and alleviating human suffering

Question 2

What is negativity bias ?

Answer 2

• We tend to focus more on the “negative” than the “positive”
• awareness of threat in our environment is adaptive, but largely misplaced in society today

Question 3

What did Barbura Fredrickson propose ?

Answer 3

• 3:1 Positivity Ratio for Flourishing
• 3 positives for every 1 negative emotion (a sense of flourishing)
• 80% of Americans don’t meet this ratio
• Similar work: Losada 3:1 ratio for team performance; Gottman 5:1 ratio for relationships
• Eustress -> prompts us to grow psychologically

Question 4

What is positivity psychology ?

Answer 4

• the field of study in psychology that focuses on examining and promoting well-being
• Examines what people doright rather than what goes wrong

Question 5

What are the 3 pillars of positive psychology?

Answer 5

1. Positive Experiences (e.g., joy, happiness, love, hope)
2. Positive States and Traits (e.g., hratitude, resilience, compassion)
3. Positive Institutions (e.g., application of positive principles)

Question 6

What are the antecedents to positive psychology?

Answer 6

• Divine Command Theory
• Aristotle’s Virtue Theory of Happiness
• Buddhism beleifs

Question 7

What is the Divine Command Theory ?

Answer 7

• Those who are happy follow the commands of a supreme being and live in accordance with divine laws and morals
• today’s notion of religiosity, spirituality and meaning making

Question 8

What is Aristotle’s Virtue Theory of Happiness?

Answer 8

• Eudaimonia (“happiness possessed of true wellbeing”) is not a goal to pursue but a byproduct of living the virtuous life (e.g., courage, good temper, honour)
• Contrats with hedonisitic happiness: happiness is acheived through pleasurable experiences and enjoyment

Question 9

What does Buddhism state regarding happiness?

Answer 9

Happiness is acheived when a person can perceive the true nature of reality, unmodified by the mental constructs we superimpose upon it

Question 10

What compromises the basic dimensions of emotional experience ?

Answer 10

Postive and negative affect compromise the basic dimensions of emotional experiences

Question 11

What is negative affect?

Answer 11

• withdrawl-oriented, important for survival or protection from harm (e.g., FoF)
• sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, resentment, jealousy
• evolutionary adaptive

Question 12

What is positive affect?

Answer 12

• approach-oriented, leads the person to experiences that yield pleasure
• joy happiness, amusement, love
• evolutionary adaptive? connections (social)

Question 13

What does Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Model explain ?

Answer 13

Explains the adaptive and evolutionary value of our positive emotions

Question 14

What does the B&B model propose ?

Answer 14

• Negative emotions tend to limit our options, positive emotions tend to broaden them

Question 15

How are negative and positive emotions seen in the B&B Model?

Answer 15

• Negative emotions can make a person act quickly (specific action tendencies)
• Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repetoires (non-specific action tendencies) which leads to resource-building action (responding skilfully with thought)
• Adaptive for short-term survival gains (negative; automatic; e.g., run out of burning building)
• Adaptive for long-term survival gains (positive; social connections)

Question 16

What did Frederick state about positivity?

Answer 16

• “Positivity doesn’t just change the contents of your mind…It widens the span of possibilities that you see”
• creating spaciousness; widening our window of tolerance
• move away from narrow focus

Question 17

What does Fredrickson’s Undoing hypothesis state?

Answer 17

• positive emotions help us recover more quickly from detrimental effects of negative emotions (e.g., laugh after being startled - helps relieve tension and regain equilibrium)
• Regain equilibrium and then broaden attention to resources (e.g., social support)

Question 18

What did Fredrickson et al., 2000 show?

Answer 18

• provoked anxiety in participants (speech anticipation task) and then showed a film clip (positive or neutral)
• The positive clip resulted in greater cardiovascular recovery relative to the neutral clip (offset negative affect helping participants come back to baseline)

Question 19

What are the 5 things that occur in the B&B Model?

Answer 19

1. Positive emotions
2. Broadening of Thought-Action Repertoires (possibillities, problem-solving, activities I can engage in)
3. More flexible thoughts and behaviours (more creative, more skillfull decision making)
4. Build personal resources (cultivating skills)
5. More social support and greater life satisfaction

Question 20

What was found when Fredrickson & Branigan (2005) tested the broaden hypothesis?

Answer 20

• Participants underwent a mood induction of positive, negative or no mood induction via video clips
• Later asked: “what do you feel like doing right now?”
• Results: Positive emotions resulted in listing more things they would like to do (i.e., potential actions) and the list was more varied (broad focus). Negative emotion induction resulted in listing fewer potential actions (less felxible;more narrow)

Question 21

What was found when Fredrickson & Cohn (2009) tested the broaden hypothesis?

Answer 21

Visual attention study: The negative emotion induction correlated with attention to detail (local bias); the positive emotion induction correlated with global bias (narrow vs. broader focus)

Question 22

What was found when testing the build hypothesis (Fredrickson et al. 2008) ?

Answer 22

RCT (7-week loving kindness meditation vs. waitlist control): Engaging in loving kindness mediation associated with improved resource building (e.g., seeking more social support) and greater life satisfaction and reduced depression compared to WLC

Question 23

What are the two competing views of happiness and well-being?

Answer 23

• subjectivisit view
• prescriptive view

Question 24

What does subjectivist view state?

Answer 24

states that happiness is defined by subjective well-being (most prevalent)

Question 25

What are the **general components** of subjective wellbeing?

Answer 25

* Life satisfaction (global judgement about how good one's life is) * Satisfaction with important life domains (e.g, work, family, health) * Positive affect * Low negative affect

Question 26

What does the **perspective** view state?

Answer 26

* states that certain factors must be present for a person to experience happiness and well-being * less prevalent and parallel's Aristotle's virtue theroy of happiness (i.e., eudaimonia)

Question 27

What are the **6 dimensions** in **Carol Ryff's model of psychological wellbeing**?

Answer 27

1. **Autonomy**: ability to think independently and make decisions 2. **Self-aceptance**: balanced realistic view of self 3. **Positive relations** with others: ability to love, empathize, and connect 4. **Environmental mastery**: self efficacy in shaping experiences 5. **Purpose in life**: direction in life, set of aims that guide behaviour/decisions 6. **Personal growth**: ability to learn and evolve, tapping into potential

Question 28

What does the **happiness set point** state?

Answer 28

* 50% biology * 40% personal actions * 10% circumstances

Question 29

What is **happiness set point** ?

Answer 29

* when we are too happy or too unhappy, our internal biological regulators try to bring happiness levels back to a genetically determined set point * Assertion: We each have a happiness set point * can't control or change it; set point; fixed; stable across time; ex: thermostat that is locked into position

Question 30

What did **Lykken and Tellegen(1996)** find ? | study in regards to happiness set point

Answer 30

* Examined identical twins at age 20 and then again at age 30 * Well-being scores were very stable across time * Genetic variation accounted for **44%-52% of the variance of well-being** * Happiness set point *probably* determines about 50% of our long-term stable happiness levels (**Lyubomirsky et al., 2005**)

Question 31

What is **hedonic adaptation** ?

Answer 31

novelty of a new stimulus (i.e., buying a new car) wears off and happiness levels return to baseline (habituation)

Question 32

What did **Luca's (2007)** study find?

Answer 32

* Archival panel data from Germany and Britain, spanning 14-21 yrs * Findings suggest that hedonic adaptation is more likely to occur for marriage, widowhood, and divorce and is least likely to occur for disability and severe disability * Happiness levels are moderately stable over time, howver happiness levels do change, adaptation is not inevitable, and life events do matter

Question 33

What does **resilience** mean?

Answer 33

* People not only cope with a negative event, but they are transformed by the experience * Resilient people may show positive growth and thrive after negative life experience (i.e., post-traumatic growth)

Question 34

What does substantial changes in one's set-point **depend on**?

Answer 34

* Personality traits (extraverion (+), neuroticism (-), internal locus of control (+) * Choice of life goals (materialism (-), family life (+), altruism (+)

Question 35

What did **Deaton & Kahnemen (2010)** find? | Does money buy happiness?

Answer 35

* The magic number: $75,000 US * Distinction b/w emotional wellbeing vs. life evaluation * Income and education are more closely related to **positive life evaluation** BUT health, caregiving, loneliness, and smoking are relatively stronger predictors of daily **emotional wellbeing** * Emotional well-being also rises with income, but there is no further progress beyond and annual income of ~$75,000

Question 36

What did **Galbraith et al (2023)** find? | Does money buy happiness?

Answer 36

* 2,966 participants from Indigenous and local communities across 19 sites worldwide, revealed an average life satisfaction score of 6.8/10 * Only 64% of surveyed households had any cash income, yet some communities reported happiness levels exceeding those of wealthy nations * **Income/wealth is not a universal predictor of happiness** * Why? Family and social support, spirtuality, and connections to nature may be important factors on which this happiness is based

Question 37

What is a **society of consumerism** ?

Answer 37

excessive focus on pursuing material goods can lead individuals to neglect other factors necessary for high well-being such as intimate relationships and life purpose

Question 38

What are **bottom-up** theories of happiness?

Answer 38

life's circumstances influence happiness (i.e., the sum of our positive experiences)

Question 39

What are **top-down** theories of happiness?

Answer 39

happiness levels begin in ourselves and they effect how we view life's circumstances

Question 40

What is **flow**?

Answer 40

An experience of merging one's consciousness with an event in the present moemnt. The experience of complete absorption in the present moment.

Question 41

What are the **conditions** to enter flow?

Answer 41

* Perceived challenge that stretch but do not overextend existing skills * Clear proximal goals and immediate feedback about progress being made

Question 42

What is invovled in the **subjective state** of flow?

Answer 42

* Intense and focused concentration in the present moment * Merging of action and awareness and loss of reflective self-consciousness * Temporal distortion * The process is intrinsically rewarding

Question 43

What did a study **find** in regards to flow and wellbeing?

Answer 43

* Prospective longitudinal study of 474 univeristy students in Southwest China during COVID-19 * Measures: Flow experience, well-being and psychological resilience measured across 3 waves of data collection * Results: Flow -> well being which is explained by PR