Human Happiness Study Guide - Exam 1

Cortisol

Sustained striatal activity predicts eudaimonic well-being and cortisol output nature - reduced cortisol cortisol - stress hormone, is reduced when we have strong support give stressful talk with sense of social support shows lower cortisol levels

Long-term relationships require that we transcend narrow in-the-moment, pleasure-seeking self-interest. This is referred to in BTBG as the __________ problem.

commitment problem See BTBG p. 36

means "to suffer together" the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another's suffering

compassion

Simon-Thonas et al. showed participants blocks of slides intended to indusce two different emotions and found that _____ was associated with activation in the periaquedcutal gray, while ____ was associated iwth activation in the posterior medial cortex

compassion, pride

forgiveness

four components of forgiveness: - accepting transgression - decline in punitive tendency - decline in avoidance - increase in compassion toward partner - offenders have human suffering, want to be happy - think of a grudge you have, either hold it or forgive/release - forgiving led to decline in fight or flight cardiovascular physiology - in longitudinal research, couples report on conflicts, and whether they forgive (less revenge, more compassion) - those who forgive are happier 9 weeks later Forgiveness: a shift in thinking away from a desire for vengeance and avoidance. being resilient when things don't go the way you want - to be at peace with "no" be at peace with what is, be at peace with the vulnerability inherent in human life. forgiveness does not necessarily include reconciliation (the reestablishment of a close relationship) nor does it excuse or pardon the transgression: forgiving doesn't mean forgetting forgiveness: seek reconciliation over revenge: offer effective apologies Why forgive? - less likely to be hateful, depressed, anxious, hostile, angry, and neurotic - more likely to be happier, healthier, more agreeable, more serene - better able to empathize and less likely to ruminate - to make society more forgiving, changes need to be made to the environment to make forgiveness more likely

Barlett and DeSteno hypothesized that feels of ________ encourage an individual to performa. good social deed even if it will be costly to him or her in the short term

gratitude

feeling of reverence for that which is given to you

gratitude

laughter

many mammals laugh, laughter of friends synchronizes in rhythem, sound laughter = safe space for the "free play of the imagination" laughter signals safety, interaction not serious, light hearted space laughter is physiological arousal not distressing laughter enables quicker return to cardiovascualr baseline during stress laughter cascades between partners of shared humor, jokes, and amusement benefit marriage sense of humor (self-reports of finding mirth in daily living) correlates with better happiness, health

periaqueductal gray

related to compassion Nurturant behaviors in mammals In humans, it's activated by - distress calls in babies within 50 milliseconds - baby faces - kindness towards elderly - harm to fellow group member - pain regulation: reducing psychic distress associated with painful stimulus

Reverence

seeming something to be sacred, irreplaceable for other people - deep respect for someone or something

Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous System

sexual desire

sexual selection

sexual selection theory: cooperative peer networks of potential reproductive partners; explore reproductive posisibilities with cross sex friends

Soldiers at war may find themselves overwhelmed by the humanity of the humans they are fighting and killing. Some describe the force of compassion as overwhelming. This describes _________ ____________

sympathy breakthrough

consolation behaviors in primates

the comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment. primates wail for mothers who's lost an infant

Elevation

Similar to awe, this self-transcendent emotion is the warm, uplifting feeling experienced with viewing acts of human goodness, kindness, courage, or compassion.

Vastness

this idea that the self is small - Looking up at the star spattered sky, I thought about the universe and how infinite it is. It makes what I do feel less important; but the opportunity of what I could do more powerful and light weight. I never see how many stars are in the sky like I did tonight. Vastness: the feeling of being in the presence of something much larger than yourself

sacred

what gives us meaning in life, the sense of the sacred? why do we cry when sensing the scared? - awe-inspiring films, memes, stories - more viral than other content -viewing morally inspiring person leads to chills, tears, vagal tone, oxytocin, more sharing, cooperation, urge to be better - we tear up when we see things that are vast and sacred

Parasympathetic Autonomic Nervous System

Romantic love

Name two different ways Piff measured awe to test the hypothesis taht awe leads to the diminishment of the self and increased prosocial behavior

self-report - trait-level dispositional awe (DPES) experimental induction - watched videos to induce awe - looked up at 200 ft. eucalyptus trees

inequality

Top 1% Thirty years ago, executives made 28 times more than average workers in the company, now the ratio is 300 to 1 int 2010, the average annual family income of the top 1% of the US was $1,019,089, for those at the bottom 90th percentile, it was $29,840 the top 1% owns 34.5% of the wealth in the US, the bottom 90% own 26.9% Two Monkeys Were Paid Unequally Video Angry for getting cucumber/grape Other monkey didn't feel like sharing Monkey was checking if the rock was working Inequality = anger, "but i'm giving the same rock!" One of the reason of american paradox is inequality → reducing wellbeing a passion for fairness in nonhuman primates two capuchins exchange tokens for food 25 times (cucumbers/grapes) - unequal condition: about 40% refuse to do task compared to 3% in equal condition egalitarian in hunter gatherers, living in small groups - collaborative childc are -sharing of care - collaborative hunting - food sharing - inequality aversion - leveling mechanisms against inequality public goods game in groups of 4 - give between 0 and 40 cents to group fund; each gift was doubled and then split amongst group. - make decisions within 10 seconds: give 65% - make decisions after 10 seconds: give 50% shift toward inequality in the past - expanding human settlements, neighboring and interlocking tribes - rise of agriculture, food surplusses - rise in social hierarchies, big chiefs who could organize force - shifts from communal gathering rooms to temples shift to indentured relations, slavery - emergency of polgamy: men can have multiple wives a country's level of inequality correlates with - increased violence - decreased rust -increased bullying in Schools - poorer health - increased problems with drugs, alcoholism - increased anxiety, depression inequality and reduced happiness - citizens happier during times of greater equality due to perceptions of fairness, trust in fellow citizens, mostly true for low income citizens When you study the small societies, you see equality drive how they allocate resources, work, and how they fold in to social structures You see it in collaborative child care, food, ceremonial rituals with food, Inequity aversion: there's a lot of gossip/teasing and they really target people The most homo economic - I give 99 cents, then he gives 1 cents, oh we're rational homo economics - people don't behave that way On average, people will give 40% of their resources to strangers You think people are selfish but not necessarily We moved from small settlements to large settlements (societies) With that shift, there is a shift to vertical hierarchies Gini = measure of economic inequality Green = more balances Red = greater income inequality The U.S is in the middle There are places where the degree of inequality is astounding Inequality makes us sane - it makes us mad anger/frustration → better change in intense social movements But it should be done in nonviolent ways Stress is impermanent - we're always shifting, our emotions are always shifting

reconcilation

(the reestablishment of a close relationship) Evolution of reconciliation - chimpanzee politics: - one animal: bowing, exposure of vulnerable parts of body, open-handed gestures, vocalization - other animal: groom, embrace - all mammals reconcile except domesticated cat! - embarrassment is everyday reconciliation - embarrassment arises after norm violations that threaten social stability - embarrassment as appeasement device - embarrassment display prompts forgiveness - punished less, liked more, given more resources, forgiven

Warnekan and Tomasello compared children and chimps annd found that whil both were biologicall predisposed to help others achieve goals but only children were predisposed to engage in these two types of behaviors

- sharing resources altruistically - informing others helpfully

4 Horseman of the Apocalypse

1st horsemen: Critical: Carp, cavil, focus on problems, partner's flaws Jen: Sharing good events + constructive responsive to good news (enthusiasm, interest, encouragement) versus passive response (silence) predicts increased intimacy, trust, positive activities, and reduced conflict even when controlling for how satisfied couple is 2nd horsemen: Defensiveness: React to conflict, discussion with counterattack Jen: Teasing, jokin g, laughter during conflict discussion associated with increased romantic satisfaction 3rd horsemen: block discussion of problem jen: Emotional disclosure, acceptance, compassionate love, empathic listening 4th horsemen: look down on partner, sneer, roll eyes jen: Appreciation in daily experience boosts happiness of couples over 6 months, reduces chance of break up Criticism: find fault and flaws in your partner (not just complaining braodly) Defensiveness: respond to critique by striking back stonewalling: shutdown communication contempt: looking down on partner 92% likelihood of divorce when these 4 behaviors are present

Set point

A set point is a theory that states everyone's body has a genetically determined range of weight and temperature that their body will try to maintain to stay at optimal health

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, how you think about yourself and others is more important to happiness than the objective circumstances of your life. She breaks happiness down as 50% genetics, ____% intentional activities, and _____ % life circumstances.

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, how you think about yourself and others is more important to happiness than the objective circumstances of your life. She breaks happiness down as 50% genetics, 40% intentional activities, and 10% life circumstances.

greater good (utilitarianism)

Age of Enlightenment: reason, individual rights, science, freedom, industrialization (destruction of Europe's environment) all rise Happiness is freedom Happiness is found in actions that promote happiness for the greatest number of people (Greater Good). Overly focused on greater good could hurt minority.

moderation

Anybody can be angry, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

awe

Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast and mysterious that transcends your frame of a current frame of reference requires that you seek integration a meaning Awe is a subjective experience in which you encounter something that is vast and alters your expectations or way of understanding your space in the world. Supernatural: an encounter with God/divine being Threat: tornado beauty: grand vista, landscape other: grand theories, ideas Why did we evolve to have this feeling of awe? Prosocial behavior Helps us connect to the systems of life Helps us discover things/find meaning to life Maybe awe helps us move beyond routineness of social normalities Brief history of awe Awe is an old emotion - we see traces of it in social mammals Awe is the center of cultures (Maya, Aztecs, etc.) Mesoamerican art - they felt reverential/mystical relationships with nature Written record - awe in the mystical experiences of prophets/religious figures Mystical experience of seeing the world/understanding truth 1757 - age of enlightenment - he turns it into a psychological experience, before that it was a religious experience Power and mystery/obscurity/vastness causes awe You can feel awe when you see patterns of shadows in the sidewalk Awe reflection Ineffable - can't describe it with words Noetic - knowing fundamental things Through people's personal stories rather than objective measures, we can find the mystical experiences of the world Collective effervescence = moving together, sense of joined identity, then you feel awe Art can produce awe, buildings, sculpture, something human made If you're constantly focusing on self, you'll start to get a little depressed Primary source of awe is from other people Nature teaches us that we're impermanent Things change fundamentally awe integrates the self into the systems of life awe motivates the search for meaning and integration awe reduces stress for teens, reduces ptds symptoms (flashbacks, sleep disruption, on edge) for veterans awe increases social well being, happiness, expanded sense of time, greater sense of community

Adaptation

Compassion as an adaptation

dependent variable

Dependent Variable (DV): the outcome you expect to be changed by the IV

Give an example of a threat-based appraisal of awe.

E.g., natural disasters, war ● "Negative awe" may lead to fear or threat-based appraisals ● May short circuit some of the beneficial outcomes associated with awe

Circle of Care

East Bay Agency for Children's Circle of Care is a unique program that supports children and their families coping with a life threatening illness or the death of a loved one.

Anatomically based method for identifying every visible facial muscle movement in the frame-by-frame analysis of facial expression as it occurs in the seamless flow of social interaction - often used as an objective measure of emotion.

Facial action coding system (FACS) - Duchenne smile (real vs. posed)

compassion

Feeling of concern and interest in elevating well-being of others What does compassion do to our minds? Our mind becomes sharper and more ethically acute when we engage in suffering Compassion brings people together When we feel compassion, we're less revengeful, punitive, there's greater forgiveness ex: If a friend lost a parent and you haven't, but you'd be able to feel compassion Take care or die - why has compassion become an adaptation? Help us survive? If you want others to be happy, practice compassion, if you want to be happy, practice compassion Darwin - what happened to Darwin changed his life - Annie, his daughter, got tuberculosis, helped him write, she started to decline and Emma, the wife was so upset and saw that her daughter was dying and handed over Annie's death to Darwin. It blew his mind and realized how powerful our caring instincts are - "will have been increased through natural selection; for those communities, which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members, would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring - the more compassion that's distributed, the better offspring will fare Theories: is compassion supported by genetically based physiological systems? Does compassion help us meet a survival or reproduction-related challenge? Can we locate its origins in mammalian evolution? The compassionate mind: the strength of embracing others' suffering Brief inductions of compassion lead to - great sense of similarity between self and different kinds of people - an increased inclination to share, assist others - reduced punishment, greater forgiveness Practicing compassionate thoughts toward others once a week boosts positive emotions over an 8 week period Compassion activates old regions of the brain, called the periaqueductal gray matter When stimulated produces caregiving behavior in mammals In humans, it's activated by baby faces When people act kindles towards elderly When someone in your group is harmed It reduces the pain in yourself, so you can help others If i hear a baby distress call within 50 milliseconds - my periaqueductal gray is getting activated and i'm getting ready to help - generates a signal that we need to get ready

Sympathy breakthrough

George Orwell felt for Fascist in Spain 75% of soldiers refuse to shoot at enemy; difficult to kill other people sympathy: feeling of concern for someone in need or who suffers

This physiological outcome of awe occurs when we feel expanded beyond the boundaries of our skin and involves the activation of minute muscles that surround hair follicles.

Goosebumps(piloerection)

The tendency to adjust to new life circumstances or events, resulting in a quick return to a relatively stable level of happiness after positive or negative events. This is adaptive when the new event is unpleasant but not when it is positive.

Hedonic adaptation - We don't want to quickly adjust/adapt to our positive life circumstances!

Jen

Humanity reverenced, thinking the better for other people. A person of Jen "brings the good things of others to completion and does not bring the bad things of others to completion." and a person of Jen "wishing to establish his own character, also established the character of others." Happiness found social rituals, pattern ways of interacting and honoring others

independent variable

Independent variable (IV): the thing you change, and that you expect to also change the DV

Oxytocin

Neurotransmitter systems/pathways Oxytocin counters stress; enables connection, closeness Biology that connects pro-social states and behaviors to happiness: Vagus, OT, reward pathways... Oxytocin signals pleasure with, trust in, and reliability of others Oxytocin counters stress and enable connection, closeness as women recalled a time of deep interpersonal affection, their sexual desire cues (lip licks, wipes, puckers) and love cues (head tilts, smiles, open posture) were coded and correlated with oxytocin release in the bloodstream Oxytocin and friendship in humans: - oxytocin (administered with nasal spray) increases empathy, generosity, gaze at the face, memory for faces - warm, soothing touch elicits oxytocin - expressions of gratitude associated with expression of oxytocin-related gene that in other studies is related to plasma levels of oxytocin Neural bases of connection function of Oxytocin: - uterine contractions, breast feeding, regualtes blood pressure, glucose prodcution, vasodilation - extends to amygdala (inhibits) and forebrain Prairie voles (who pair bond) differ in oxytocin receptors in brain compared to Montane voles (who are promiscuous) Oxytocin levels predict pairbonding and care-giving in nonhuman species The neuropeptide oxytocin is known for enhancing trust and approach behaviour to one's conspecifics and to exert stress-reducing and anxiolytic effects. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide that the body produces to promote nurturance and pair-bonding produces feelings of pleasure, trust and safety/security. Touching or being touched releases oxytocin, which reduces stress and strengthens immune responding. OT promotes pair-bonding and approach behaviors, signals pleasure and reduces stress and anxiety OT levels are correlated with more affectionate contact & positive engagement w/infants OT release is triggered by maternal and paternal touch, intimate relations and supportive touch in general OT administration enhances paternal play, recognition of socially relevant information, interpersonal trust, cooperation, generosity, and protective behaviors This is because oxytocin enhances the recognition of socially relevant information, "really making you see the individualness of the individual" — and that this can have a lasting effect, says Young, professor of psychiatry at Emory University. This study shows that oxytocin may modulate maternal behaviors by enhancing positive motivation by sensitizing care-related insula activity, and by reducing negative motivation by desensitizing anxiety-related amygdala responses as infant pictures themselves has been shown to do to mother brains (Bartels & Zeki, 2004) In rodents, the MPOA likely plays a primary role in the dramatic transformation of the maternal brain in response to hormonal changes though inhibiting avoidance pathways and activating mesolimbic dopamine-approach pathways. In humans, these mechanisms may modulate parental sensitivity, motivation, and drive, whereas higher- order cortical, hormone-independent mechanisms play a more prominent role in cognitively enriching the parental experience. Depressed mothers have lower salivary OT In humans, oxytocin has been linked to a variety of interpersonal behaviors associated with prosocial motivation, including trust, charitable donations and generosity, in-group favoritism, and parental responses to infant cues. Oxytocin is also implicated in other social and affective phenomena that are presumably related to effective care-giving. For example, oxytocin enables social memory, including the recognition of faces. Oxytocin also can facilitate the interpretation of social cues, empathy, and possibly the recognition of fear (and therefore need) in others. Perhaps the most convincing evidence for a link between oxytocin and prosocial behavior in humans comes from studies of individuals who are notably deficient in their ability to recognize need and help others, as is the case in individuals suffering from autism spectrum disorder (e.g., Asperger's syndrome). In these individuals, nasal administration of oxytocin has stimulated prosocial behavior, and facilitated the recognition of emotion in others. We have more oxytocin than others - you both feel sense of warm and connection; reduction in anxiety Oxytocin is associated with pleasure, the tendency to be generous and cooperate Oxytocin tends to bring out group identity , defensive element when it comes to groups and identities

Piff, Keltner: Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior

Paul K. Piff's article, Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial behavior, discussed the hypothesis of whether feeling awe makes people less self-focused and more altruistic. There were 5 studies that tested the themes of awe, which can cause people to realize that although their existence is important to themselves, there is a bigger picture that displays something greater than themselves. This realization, or feeling of awe, makes people want to give and feel for others.The Calvin and Hobbes citation in the beginning is a great example of how feeling awe can diminish how grand we feel about ourselves. The first few studies tested for confounding variables, and although they seemed to support the hypothesis, there were missing pieces that were later addressed in the subsequent studies. The study that interested me most was study 5, which involved immersing participants in a natural environment where they looked up at a grove of enormous trees. The results show that feeling awe from this experience led participants to have increased helpfulness, decreased entitlement, and increased ethicality. Having experienced this kind of immersion myself before, I found this study to be only somewhat relatable. After silently walking through and looking up at the towering trees of Muir Woods a few months ago, I felt a sense of smallness as well, but not necessarily a desire to contribute towards a bigger group. I simply only realized my existence. I felt that I was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things in this universe, yet I could feel and imagine my entire existence, life, meaning, and purpose within my small body, even if I could not see myself from a third person perspective.

Dunn: Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness

The article discusses a hypothesis that spending money on other people will increase happiness relative to spending money on oneself. There were multiple experiments involved that had asked some participants to spend a certain amount of money on others or a certain amount of money on themselves. Most people think that they'll be happier spending money on themselves, but the results from their experiments conclude that spending more of one's income on other people provides greater happiness than spending money on oneself. It also concluded that how people choose to spend their money is just as important as how much money they earn. The article suggested in the end that we focus on encouraging prosocial behavior to increase national happiness and national wealth. Some questions I have for their claim is: what are some possible confounds in their study? What if there are measurement errors that they made when designing their experiment? What is the calculated error that shows how far apart people are from their psychological estimate of how they think spending money on themselves or on others truly affects their happiness versus how it actually affects them? Is it simply spending money on others that promotes happiness or is there something deeper we can explore, such as altruism and cooperation, given through resources such as money. Spending money on others can be the means of acting upon altruism, which can be further studied to understand how it promotes happiness.

Barlett: Gratitude and Prosocial Behavior: helping with it costs you

The article discusses the hypothesis of how gratitude encourages prosocial behavior even if the person benefiting the recipient has to 'pay' a cost. There were three studies. Study 1 explored how gratitude encourages people to help each other more even if it costs them more to be selfless. Study 2 explored how having gratitude can make others feel more inclined to help strangers. Study 3 helped demonstrate that prosocial norms were not the cause of helping. Furthermore, gratitude helps preserve relationships as well. The studies tested the amount of time spent helping benefactors and strangers, but what about the specific population within benefactors? How much more would we spend time on helping someone we're closer to for longer hours versus someone we're acquainted with? How much gratitude propels us to help others and how long does that feeling last? Do we just stop giving to others once that feeling fades? What are some studies we can make to study "long-term gratitude" and "short-term gratitude" where one feelings forever grateful for a certain person and temporarily grateful for another?

Simon-Thomas: An FMRI Study of Caring vs. Self-Focus During Induced Compassion and Pride

The article explains a study that aims to describe the physiological processes associated with compassion and pride. It started off by first defining compassion and pride. Then, it provided predictions of neural correlates and described a study that took place at UC Berkeley using emotion-inducing slide blocks, neutral slide blocks, and self-reports. Neuroimaging studies about pride reported that when there is a stimulus for pride, the midline cortical structure would be activated. When it comes to compassion, the midbrain PAG was stated to be correlated with people putting themselves in others' shoes, especially if others are suffering. There is more activation in the 'empathy network' regions and the regions that are associated with parental nurturing behaviors. They also noted that their findings were constrained by a few design features in the study.

Rand: Spontaneous Giving and Calculated Greed

The article explores a few questions: Are we innately interested in our own selves and will only force ourselves to cooperate after we reflect and think about how to reject our selfish impulses? Or are we innately willing to cooperate, but with reflection and time to think about things, we end up acting selfishly? One of the hypotheses made was that when people are intuitively self-interested and need reflection to overcome selfish impulses, they'll likely be less cooperative when it comes to making faster decisions. Another hypothesis was that people are intuitively cooperative and reflection is the cause to increasing selfishness, which means that when they need to make fast decisions, they'll likely be more cooperative. There were ten studies that examined decision-making times, and the method used was a one-shot PGG, an economic game, which resulted in the finding that on average, intuition encourages cooperation in comparison to reflection, which tends to have a side effect of making us more selfish. Although the studies supported their hypothesis, it is important to note that Rand warned us about using the term innate since there could be reasons such as cultural evolution and social learning that could be hidden factors in the explanation of their results. Some questions I have are: what if people are just generally less cooperative because of past experiences with working with uncooperative people? What if it's just trust issues and not personal self interest to cooperate? What if people are cooperating out of self interest because they're scared to do it on their own?

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness

The environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA) is a concept developed by John Bowlby in regards to his attachment theory. It describes the conditions and properties of the external world in which evolutionary adaptations occur. It is not a specific place but a conceptual environment.

Accommodation

The experience is beyond the boundaries of our normal idea of the world. Awe-inspiring things transcend our current understanding of the world new information has to be accommodated by either updating schemas or creating new ones restructure frames of reference, beliefs, causal understandings and categories

Keltner et. al found high ____ activation from compassion inducing images

Vagus nerve - reduces heart rate, releases oxytocin, which promotes trust and love

Gratitude

The feeling of reverence for things that are given Gratitude allows us to celebrate the present, blocks toxic, negative emotions. grateful people are more stress resistant Grateful people have a higher sense of self-worth express reverence for what is given - primates food sharing traded for gratitude Gratitude was the engine an reward for trading affection, resources, assistance Gratitude was the glue = altruistic relationships The heart of life is when we feel gratitude/reverential for the chance to be with my friends, to hike one of the best national parks, etc. You can trace tendencies in humans back in time Primates use touch as a way to reward other primates the trade of goods How might touch be a reward for positive social exchanges Hugging Shaking hands Primates will groom each other (15% of their time) a lot Primates will share food with other primates if they were groomed by them In humans, we have ways to share foods communally to express gratitude for the people around us Like how you shared food with sam in gratitude for her helping Food sharing is fundamental to reciprocal altruism and shared kindness in small groups we've evolve in Benefits of gratitude: - verbal expressions of gratitude to others lead to more friendships in social networks a couple of months later Benefits of gratitude If you're the kind of person who expresses gratitude, you take that moment to express thanks, you have stronger social ties later in time Later, I have a stronger position in that social group Spontaneously say appreciations in relationships will help make stronger relationships

Principle of Serviceable Habits

The first of the three is the "principle of serviceable habits," which he defined as useful habits reinforced previously, and then inherited by offspring. Ex: The third of the principles is expressive habits, or nervous discharge from the nervous system. This principle proposes that some habits are performed because of a build-up to the nervous system, which causes a discharge of the excitement. Examples include foot and finger tapping, as well as vocal expressions and expressions of anger. Darwin noted that many animals rarely make noises, even when in pain, but under extreme circumstances they vocalize in response to pain and fear.[1

hedonic adaption

The tendency to adjust to new life circumstances or events, resulting in a quick return to a relatively stable level of happiness after positive or negative events. This is adaptive when the new event is unpleasant but not when it is positive.

empathy

The understanding and feeling of what others feel affective empathy - feel others' feeling - when two people's experiences of emotions resemble one another Empathy makes the care that we direct to our offspring/vulnerable individuals around us more adaptive/tailored cognitive empathy - understand others' feeling - The understanding of other's emotions, mental states more generally (desires, aspirations, intentions) - operationalized as how effective are you at reading signs of others' emotions? A knowing, feeling of what others feel ex: If a friend lost a parent and you have, you feel empathy Empathy is Lincoln's greatest strength benefits of empathy - cognitive empathy - better peer relations as 8-year-old - better grades in school - more committed romantic partnerships -more likely to rise in organizations, lead effectively - empathy mindsets in schools reduce school suspensions of children

Warneken: Varieties of Altruism in Children and Chimpanzees

This article discusses the study of altruism in children and chimpanzees. The article concludes that infants are innately predisposed to helping others, sharing resources, and informing others out of altruism. Culture plays a role later on as they grow up when they become more selective of who to be altruistic towards. Chimpanzees on the other hand, are instrumentally altruistic, but do not share resources or inform others altruistically. There are important differences between children and chimpanzees due to how both species used to forage for food in the past. There is a theory that our cooperative nature comes from foraging food in the past. The key takeaway was that infants are naturally empathetic, helpful, and informative. Questions I have for this study is that I still don't understand why are we studying the differences between chimpanzees and humans? How does studying the differences of chimpanzees and infants help us understand that infants are innately empathetic? I would also like to explore more about informing others and how that is an altruistic act itself. I think that is something we do on a daily basis and I'd like to learn more about whether sharing information is the biggest way most people are altruistic. I wonder what form of expression (sharing resources, information, etc.) most people use to provide for others.

Vagus Nerve

Vagus nerve as part of care giving system - unique to mammals - activates muscles to enable head movements, vocalizations - slows heart rate - interconnected with oxytocin networks - regulated digestion, immune system - activated by vocalization Compassion elicits greater vagal activity than a positive state, inspiration peripheral physiology Prosocial Nervous System documented by looking at physiological reactions in brain and vagus nerve when viewing images of harm compared to other images (pride/inspiration) Vagus nerve: Three or four breaths - I feel like a different human being (22 seconds - i'm not mad anymore, berkeley is organized and gives a lot of admin support lol) Simple neurophysical explain - deep breathing activates the vagus nerve: it's the largest nerve As part of the care taking system

According to Keltner & Haidt, these two appraisals are present in all experiences of awe.

Vastness and Need for accommodation

A brief, non-word utterance that arises between speech incidents that is sufficient to communicate a specific emotion.

Vocal burst

vocal burst

We can sense compassion in the tone of voice: - awe, interest, sympathy, triumph, love, contentment, ecstasy There's a universality in vocal burst across 10 cultures where compassion sounds the same

Philosophical approach that teaches four noble truths and emphasizes loving kindness, compassion, and nonjudgmental mindfulnness

What is Buddhism?

The philosophical approach emphasizes that happiness is found in respect, reverence, social harmony, and bringing out the good in others

What is Confucianism?

Philosophical approach teaches that happiness is the sum of our sensory pleasures and the absence of pain

What is Epicureanism?

Philosophical approach that emphasizes five prohibitions or yamas - violence, greed, sex, stealing, and lying

What is Hinduism?

The philosophical approach emphasizes that happiness is found in actions that promote happiness for the greatest number of people

What is Utilitarianism?

American paradox

Why hasn't happiness in the US risen alongside our rise in wealth, GDP, innovation, comforts, medical expenditures, knowledge, shifts in geneder attitudes, rise in rights for some marginalized commmunities in the past 40 years? role of the emotions? empathy? compassion? gratitude? awe? Mirth? Beatuy? Mysticism?

materialism

a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. out of expanding markets, materialism, disease, etc.. several themes such as moral passions,social ethics, resilience, calm mind rised up in Axial Age (2500 years ago)

Awe-inspiring stimuli are not able to be accounted for by existing mental structures and schemas and may require the individual to restructure frames of reference, beliefs, causal understandings, and categories. This process is called ____________

accommodation

Similar to awe, this self-transcendent emotion is the warm, uplifting feeling experienced with viewing acts of human goodness, kindness, courage, or compassion.

elevation

The ability to take the perspective of and feel the meotinos of another person

empathy

mimicry

mimic others' emotional behavior Mimicry: modeling behavior on another's behavior - neonates imitate facial expressions - people will conform their posture to the posture of sculptures in museums -participants imitate subliminally (below awareness) presented smiles - mimicry, affective empathy predict better - teacher/student relationships - MD/patient relationships -closeness to strangers -better-performing cricket teams, organizations involve people whose positive emotions mimic those of other team members

Rabd et, ak found that subjects in a time-pressuring condition contributed significantly ______ money on average compared to subjects in a time-delay condition

more ; contributions were higher when subjects were primed to promote intuition relative to reflection

Commitment Problem

oxytocin and the commitment problem - how do we stay committed to others in face of attractive alternatives - romantic love solves this problem