Positive Psychology (3615) Compton and Hoffman book

Minding

(Harvey and Pauwels) (related to mindfulness) A way of paying close attention to relationships, not acting out of habit, and of allowing creative new ways to experience a relationship and one's partner 1. Knowing and being known 2. Attributions 3. Acceptance and respect 4. Reciprocity 5. Continuity

Love Styles

(Hendrick and Hendrick) 1. Eros: Passionate Love 2. Storge: Primarily affectionate, close, and emotionally intimate (close friends) 3. Ludus: relationships are seen as a way to play with feelings of affection and attraction 4. Pragma: seek a person who fulfills certain conditions (pragmatic) 5. Mania: the experience of love always seems to be painful 6. Agape: selfless love; oriented in giving, not receiving

Emotional Creativity

(James Averill) People can use their emotions in creative ways that foster a greater sense of meaning, vitality, and connectedness in life

Core Affects

(James Russell and Feldman Barrett) These refer to primitive emotional reactions that are consistently experienced but often not acknowledged

Sustainable Happiness Model (SHM)

(Lymbomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade) Long-term happiness is a function of: 1. one's genetics (set point) 2. circumstantial factors: where they live, previous experiences, etc 3. intentional activity: how people choose to spend their time, interact, and think

Felt Security

(Maisel and Gable) A sense that one is protected against a threat of rejection and other forms of psychological harm

Capitalization

(Maisel and Gable) Sharing of positive events with others

Hypoegoic

(Mark Leary and Jennifer Guadagno) A state in which flow is experienced: self-awareness is low and attention is focused on concrete rather than abstract stimuli

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

(Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey) Refers to an ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them Dimensions: 1. Knowing one's emotions 2. Ability to handle interpersonal relationships 3. Ability to use emotions to motivate oneself 4. Recognize emotions in others 5. Ability to manage emotions Those higher in EI reported higher life satisfaction and psychological well being Women tend to score higher

Quality of Life Therapy (QOLT)

(Michael Frisch) Asks people to rate their satisfaction with 16 areas of everyday life. Uses CASIO assessment to create interventions that can be used to increase life satisfaction

Dispositional Authenticity

(Minding) An ability to be open, truthful, honest with yourself, and to operate in congruence with your deepest beliefs

Personal Control

(Peterson and Stunkard) Encourages emotional, motivational, behavioral, and physiological vigor in the face of demands

Transcendent Functioning

(Privette) Anyone can show peak performance under the right conditions.

Modes of Fulfillment

(Richard Coan) Life focus 1. Efficiency: focus on talents/skills 2. Creativity 3. Inner Harmony: Search for one's true self 4. Relatedness: Love and relationships 5. Self-Transcendence: God, spirit

Well-Being Theory

(Seligman) Argues that positive emotion, engagement, and meaning are not sufficient to cover the dimensions of a life well-lived. PERMA: Positive Emotion Engagement Relationships Meaning Accomplishment

4 Strategies for Goal Attainment

(Sheldon, Kasser, Smith, and Share) 1. Own your goal 2. Make it fun 3. Remember big picture 4. Keep a balance

Family-Centered Positive Psychology

(Sheridan and Burt) provides a framework for working with children and families that promotes strengths and capacity building within individuals and systems, rather than focusing on the resolution of problems of remediation of deficiencies

Hope Theory

(Snyder, Rand, and Sigmon) 1. Pathways, or believing that one can find ways to reach desired goals 2. Agency, or believing that one can become motivated enough to pursue those goals

Curiosity

(Todd Kashdan) The increase of this is associated with greater well-being, more frequent personal growth-oriented behaviors, more search for meaning, and greater persistence of meaning from day-to-day. Related to flow

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Values in Action (VIA) Project

Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman: Classification system for strengths and virtues. Considered the most influential system in pos psych

Mindfulness

Paying attention to one's own ongoing experience in a way that allows openness and flexibility. Langer proposed that it is comprised of 3 core qualities: 1. Create new categories of experience 2. Be open to new info 3. See more than one point of view Her goal was to use mindfulness knowledge to actively create new ways of thinking about one's life

Signature Strengths

Positive traits that a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises

Top-Down Theory

Subjective well-being evals reflect how we evaluate and interpret our experiences (internal factors such as attitudes, cognition, etc)

Greek Ideas on the Good Life

1. Contemplative life: one pursues higher knowledge and wisdom 2. Active life: Based on a sense of duty, social responsibility, and engagement in the world 3. Fatalistic life: recognizes that life brings difficulties and that consequently some measure of well-being must come from an acceptance without unnecessary complaint or struggle of these unwelcome inevitabilities 4. Hedonism

Levels of Well-Being

1. Emotional 2. Psychological 3. Social

3 Theological Virtues of Faith

1. Faith 2. Hope 3. Charity

Subjective Well-Being Variables

1. Happiness: Emotional state 2. Satisfaction with life: global judgement about the rightness of their lives 3. Low neuroticism These are subjective, but they are the most widely used assessment tool in most studies of happiness/life satisfaction

The 3 Dimensions of Positive Psychology

1. Positive subjective states (positive emotions) 2. Positive individual traits (more positive behavioral patterns) 3. Positive institutions (investigates how institutions can work better to support and nurture all the citizens they impact)

Self-Efficacy

An individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.

Buddhist mindfulness

An open or receptive awareness in which attention is focused on one's ongoing immediate experience. Doesn't suggest that info gained should be used in any specific way

Approach vs. Avoidance Goals

Approach: motivate us to move toward something Avoidance: motivate us to avoid difficulties, dangers, or fears

The Stoics

Believed that the only choice is to perform one's duties without complaining and to accept one's place in the divine plan

Hedonic Calculus

Bentham's 7 step calculator for determining whether an action will produce more pleasure than pain for the greatest number

Utilitarianism

An ethical system stating that the greatest good for the greatest number should be the overriding concern of decision makers

Complete Mental Health

A combination of high emotional well-being, high psychological well-being, and high social well-being, along with low mental illness

Consummate Love

A combination of passion, commitment, and intimacy

Alfred Adler

(1870-1937) Individual psychology was his theory of well-being. Stressed the importance of social felling in healthy child development and adult functioning

Carl Jung

(1875-1961) Analytic psychology was his theory of well-being. Emphasized our capacity for personality growth in the second half of the lifespan

Flourishing Family

(Alfred Adler) 1. Warmth and respect among family members 2. Democratic rather than authoritarian decision making 3. Emotional maturation and autonomy 4. Friendly and constructive relations with other families and the community

Self-Expansion Model

(Aron et al.) A person in motivated to expand his concept of self by incorporating qualities of those he feels close to

Absorption

(Auke Tellegen and Atkinson) Aspect of flow: the ability to become deeply involved in an experience

Undoing Hypothesis

(Barbara Fredrickson) Positive emotions help both the body and the mind regain a sense of balance, flexibility, and equilibrium after the impact of negative emotions

Broaden-and-Build Model

(Barbara Fredrickson) Positive emotions help preserve the organism by providing nonspecific action tendencies that can lead to new adaptive behavior. Positive emotions broaden our awareness and build upon resultant learning to create future emotional and intellectual resources

Adult Playfulness

(Brown and Vaughn) Adults need to play in order to develop emotionally, socially, and creatively

Flow

(Csikszentmihalyi) A completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one's skills. Being in the zone 1. Merging of action and awareness 2. Complete concentration on the task at hand 3. Lack of worry about losing control (sense of control) 4. Loss of self-consciousness 5. Time no longer seems to pass in ordinary ways 6. Autotelic nature of the experience 7. Flow accompanies a challenging activity that requires skill 8. An activity has clear goals and immediate feedback

Affective Forecasting

(Daniel Gilbert) Someone's ability to predict how they would feel when they reached their goals. Therefore, we should try to enjoy the journey towards our goals because their satisfaction may not be what we expected

Self-Determination Theory

(Deci and Ryan) Certain inherent tendencies toward psychological growth, along with a core group of innate emotional needs, are the basis for self-motivation and personality integration Basic needs are: 1. Competence 2. Relatedness 3. Autonomy

Savoring

(Fred Bryant and Joseph Veroff) Involves an awareness of pleasure along with quite deliberate attempts to focus attention on the sensation at hand and delight in it (mindfulness)

Engaged Living

(Froh, Kashdan, Yurkewicz, Fan, Allen, et al.) Comprises social integration and absorption. Involves a passion to help others and complete immersion in one's day-to-day activities

The Michelangelo Phenomenon

(Gable and Gosnel) Describes how close relationship partners are often active participants in each other's personal development and goal pursuit. This can be bad if the relationship is not going well, they may hinder each other's development

Peak Performance

(Gayle Privette) Moments when we perform at a level beyond our normal level of functioning 1. Clear focus on self, object, and relationship 2. Intense involvement in an experience 3. Strong intention to complete task 4. Spontaneous expression of power

Demand-Withdraw Pattern/Stonewalling

(Gottman and Gottman) Destructive relationships: 1. Criticism and complaint from one partner that often takes the form of a harsh setup and negative reciprocity 2. A sense of contempt from the other 3. Leads to defensiveness 4. One person withdraws attention in a passive-aggressive attempt to punish the other, this becomes stonewalling

Harsh Setup that leads to Negative Reciprocity

(Gottman and Silver) A sequence wherein an initial negative comment, often designed to hurt, only serves to stimulate a negative response from the partner and an increasing cycle of disagreeable comments

Love Maps

(Gottmans) Storing info about your relationship and details about your partner (Minding)

Bids for Attention

(Gottmans) little gestures that indicate attention, support, humor, or affection. They help each partner stay connected for the other

Social Comparison Processes

(Greenberg, Pyszczynski, and Solomon) Social and cultural standards of behavior provide us with both a context for comparison and the actual standards we use to make such judgements; the results determine our feelings of value and self worth

7 Deadly Sins

1. Anger 2. Envy 3. Sloth 4. Pride 5. Lust 6. Intemperance 7. Greed

William James

1842-1910 American philosopher and psychologist who founded psychology in the United states and established the psychological school called functionalism. Interested in the psychology of religion

Hedonic Treadmill

A theory proposing that people stay at about the same level of happiness regardless of what happens to them. People will always want more. To avoid this, find ways to speed up adaptation to negative events and slow down adaptation to positive events

Epicureanism

Asserts that happiness is best achieved by withdrawing from the world of politics to cultivate a quiet existence of simple pleasures. Many people today can be considered modern epicureans.

Bottom-Up Theory

Assess your life and create a summary statement of overall satisfaction (external factors such as relationships, job, etc)

Hedonism

Focuses on pleasure as the basic component of the good life. It, however, has been seen as self-defeating and unworkable by most societies. Good life for them is happiness, contentment, satisfaction, and joy

Attributions

Judgements we make about the causes of behavior

Autonomous Motivation

Operates when we are compelled to engage in some activity for its own sake, regardless of any external reward (Intrinsic). The more a person's behavior is autonomously motivated, the greater the impact on well-being.

Culture of Appreciation

Couples express a sincere appreciation for their spouses (part of Gottman therapy)

Flourishing

Describes high levels of well-being (then, it's struggling, then floundering, then languishing(the lowest categorization of well-being))

Aristotle

Disagreed with Socrates and Plato; believed that happiness ideally valued poise, harmony, and the avoidance of emotional extremes. His goal was to find the golden mean that existed between the extremes of life: a state of balance, harmony, and equilibrium

Controlled Motivation

Driven by external rewards or guilt; not congruent with a person's core values (extrinsic)

Emotions vs. Moods

Emotions: focused feelings that can appear or disappear rapidly in response to events in the environment Moods: Generally pervasive and maintain general tone despite undergoing minor changes over time. Positive moods help us to adapt better and provide us with opportunities to learn and grow

Contruals

Freely chosen interpretations of reality

Nonzero-sum Goals

Goals associated with greater life satisfaction: commitments to family/friends, social or political involvement, and altruism (opposite is zero-sum goals)

Strivings

Groupings of smaller goals that can help to facilitate larger, more abstract goals 1. Entrinsic Strivings: done for the sake of someone else or for extrinsic rewards 2. Introjected Strivings: Done because if you didn't, you'd feel guilty 3. Identified Strivings: Pursuing a goal someone else says is important 4. Intrinsic Strivings: Freely chosen and engaged

Divine Command Theory

Happiness is found by living in accord with the commands or rules set down by a Supreme Being

Self-Concordance

High congruence between one's personality and goals

Virtue Theory

Holds the cultivation and development of certain virtues lead a person toward the greatest well-being and therefore toward the good life

Character

How we conduct ourselves as members of a society

Positive Psychology

It's aim is to build human strength and to nurture genius. It also aims to increase research on psychological well-being and areas of human strength. It investigates the potential for doing what is right that people have access to and that, with a little help, they can actualize in their lives.

Abstract vs. Concrete Goals

It's best to find a balance between the two Abstract: hard to know whether goal has been achieved, so it highly abstract goals may decrease immediate well-being Concrete: You know almost immediately if you have achieved them

Genetics and Happiness

It's far more important to the long-term quality of our early childhood environment. Up to 80% of long-term well-being is due to heredity (David Lykken and Auke Tellegen). This can, however, be argued against.

Oxytocin

Love hormone

Eudaimonia

Often translated as happiness; term Aristotle used to refer to fully realized existence; state of being fully aware, vital, alert. Generally focuses on fulfilling one's potential or developing to the fullest extent one's skills, talent, or personality

Time Affluence

Refers to a perception that one has enough time for leisure and activities that are personally meaningful (opposite is time poverty). Having time is more important than having more money (leisure)

Self-Disclosure

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others; transparent people like this are able to live more zestfully, because they don't have to spend time and energy covering up their true feelings and thoughts

The Good Life

Seligman: Using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification. 1. Connections to others 2. Positive individual traits 3. Life regulation qualities

Learned Optimism

Seligman: people can unlearn negative styles of thinking and instead learn how to interpret events with more realistic optimism

Happiness Set Point

Someone's average level of happiness; after temporary lows or highs, happiness levels always return to this set point.

Empiricism

The belief that knowledge derives from experience

Reciprocity

The degree to which each person in a relationship feels a fair balance of benefits from being together

Mechanism

The philosophical theory that all phenomena can be explained in terms of physical or biological causes

Strengths

The unique positive qualities we each have, which we bring to our encounters both with other people and with ourselves. Focus on your strengths, manage your weaknesses

4 Cardinal Virtues

Those on which all other virtues depend: 1. Justice 2. Prudence 3. Fortitude 4. Temperance

Extraversion

These people are interested in things outside themselves, such as physical and social environments

Introversion

These people are more interested in their own thoughts and feelings and less interested in social situations

Socrates and Plato

They believed that in any search for happiness or the good life involves looking beyond sensory experience towards a deeper meaning of life

Engagement Theory

Views well-being as a function of how absorbed we are in the activities of life

Hedonic Adaptation

When we adapt to a positive stimulus and no longer feel its effects

Microflow

When we are leisurely involved in a relatively simple, almost automatic activity (ex. doodling)

Active-constructive Response

a way of responding to others' news that shows you are engaged and supportive.

Neuroplasticity

the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience