Positive Psychology Exam 1
Discuss interventions to enhance intrinsic motivation.
- Build the "seed" of interest --Incorporate activites with novelty/relevance to boost curiosity --Incorporate activites with aesthetic value - Build competence, autonomy, & relatedness --Competence (is it something you feel you can do well?): Autonomy (do you feel you have freedom to determine your own behavior?): Relatedness (do you feel there are people around you who care about you?) --Build skills; incorporate mentoring;avoid demeaning evaluations; present optimal challenges --Provide choices; allow individual goal-setting; avoid deadlines/time pressure/commands; approach vs. avoidance goals --Facilitate supportive personal relationships; develop a "safe" environment; avoid threats
What are the proposed evolutionary functions of negative emotion? Explain.
- Fear: Healthy avoidance of danger. - Disgust: Avoidance of unhealthy/dangerous situations. - Anger: Motivates us to take action/ someone is trespassing against us. - Sadness: Promotes social bonds and attachment/loss may be happening. --Since these are all potential threats to survival, their purpose is to keep you out of trouble or inhibit behavior that could lead to pain or punishment. --Negative emotions have an evolutionary basis, (link to survival), this suggests that human nature has a predisposition toward negative emotion.
Discuss the history of the field of positive psychology. Who first used the phrase "positive psychology"?
- Humanistic Psychologist, Maslow, first used the term "Positive Psychology." -- Humanistic psychologists tended to emphasize theory more than empirical research and application of research findings: Mostly theoretical; less empirical/ applied focus. --- Always studied what is healthy, adaptive and creative. - Science of Psychology had been far more successful studying human shortcomings & problems, but knew little about the positive side of human nature. -- WWII and helping veterans deal with PTSD; emphasize healing what's wrong.
When discussing education, be sure to explain research by Lepper et. al and the overjustification effect.
- Lepper (expected reward, unexpected reward, control) - Overjustification Effect: If children feel controlled in an activity (e.g., offering incentives to coerce them to read), they will assume the activity is not inherently worthwhile (otherwise, why would they have to be bribed to do it?).
What role did Martin Seligman play in promoting positive psychology (Seligman was very strong in advocating for sound science as a backbone of the initiative)?
- Reintroduced the term "Positive Psychology" in 1998, while serving as President of APA. - Challenged members of APA to develop new research on human strengths/well-being. - Organized scholars working on positive topics. - Emphasized the importance of scientific elements.
How might signature strengths be related to well-being?
- Seligman sees the healthy exercise and development of strengths and virtues as a key to the good life - a life in which one uses one's "signature strengths every day in the main realms of your life to bring abundant gratification and authentic happiness." --The good life is a place of happiness, good relationships and work, and from this point, Seligman encourages people to go further to seek a meaningful life in the continual quest for happiness - The good life: using your signature strengths to obtain abundant gratification (through activities we like doing) in the main realms of your life. - The meaningful life: using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.
Describe top-down and bottom-up theories of subjective well-being.
- TD: Well-being is related to a general tendency to evaluate and interpret experiences in a positive way - BU: Well-being is a summation of a person's positive experiences and you then add them up.
What are the implications/consequences of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?
- There can be positive and negative consequences of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Examples: High self esteem/low self esteem Knowing oneself/losing oneself Positive thinking/negative thinking
What are the 3 criteria for strengths (as presented in Seligman- strengths have these qualities)?
- Traits that people exhibit across situations & time - Pertain to morality (e.g., often taught by parents/social institutions), so valued in their own right. - Learnable & voluntary.
Explain how the psychological needs competence, autonomy and relatedness are linked to intrinsic motivation.
-Competence related to intrinsic motivation is something you feel you can do well -Autonomy is when you have the freedom to determine your own behavior -Relatedness is when you feel there are people around who care about you.
Describe different potential sources of motivation.
-Obtain rewards/avoid punishment - Gain approval from others (e.g. seeking conditional positive regard) - Reach desired outcomes - Derive satisfaction merely in doing the activity
Consider traditional and contemporary perspectives on emotion. Traditionally, has positive or negative emotion received more research attention? Why might this be? Give examples.
-Traditional work on emotion, has focused mostly on negative emotions. - Negative emotions can be harmful, but also have valuable/evolutionary benefits. --Anger may have evolved for reasons such as survival (important to humans and animals) ---Negative Can be our first line of defense against external threats.
What sorts of topics are studied by positive psychologists?
1) Positive subjective states-- Emotions /feelings(e.g., happiness, joy, love, contentment, vitality, energy).- Thoughts (e.g., optimism & hope) 2) Positive individual traits-- Strengths & virtues (e.g., courage, love/kindness, leadership) 3) Positive institutions--' Work, education, family, community, athletics.
Identify and describe the three dimensions of positive psychology presented in class and in the Compton chapter.
1. Positive Subjective States: Emotions/ feelings (e.g., happiness, joy, love, contentment, vitality, energy)Thoughts (e.g., optimism & hope) 2. Positive Individual Traits: Strengths and virtues (e.g., courage, love/kindness, leadership) 3. Positive Institutions: Work, education, family, community, athletics.
What are the 6 core virtues (as presented in Seligman)?
1. Wisdom: Intellectual strengths that help you gain and use information. 2. Courage: Strengths of will that help you accomplish goals in the face of fear and internal or external obstacles. 3. Humanity: Interpersonal strengths that help you befriend others and tend to your relationships. 4. Justice: Social or civic strengths that help bolster a healthy community. 5. Temperance: Protective traits that help you avoid excess and stay on track in the face of temptations. 6. Transcendence: Strengths of meaning that connect you with the larger world and provide meaning.
Identify and describe the important themes/assumptions of positive psychology presented in class and in the Compton chapter.
1st Theme: The "Good Life"- well-being and satisfaction (not linked to wealth). - Elements of the "Good Life": -- Positive social relationships ---Number of friends ---Romantic partner ---Amount of social activity. -Important Elements of the "Good Life": --Meaningful leisure/work experiences ---Engagement ---Intrinsic Motivation ---Draws on strengths---Spirituality/Religiousness. Authentic Happiness- as lasting happiness rather than momentary happiness. It's about long-term well-being, satisfaction, and contentment. Comes from investing ourselves in meaningful ways. - Can't buy happiness. - Being able to love and form meaningful relationships. - Social activity helps the well-being. The assumptions made about human nature are different from what has been the traditional view. Positive psychologists begin with the assumption that human nature is inherently good. Traditional views: - Humans driven by primitive instincts (aggression; simple pleasure) - Emphasis on self-interest (survival of the fittest) Contemporary view: - Social relationships & contexts are important - Strengths & virtues are important - People can adapt, "bounce-back", thrive & flourish.
Describe research findings that provide evidence that positive emotions enhance coping and have an "undoing" effect on negative emotions.
A study in Fredrickson's article proves that positive emotions undue the effect on negative emotions through induced reactions of heart rates
Are people happy world-wide? What exceptions have been found? Summarize findings presented by Myers (2000).
According to "The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People", Myers concluded that those living in countries that have political freedom are more satisfied with life and have more positive emotions. This is partly due to the wealth in these countries, they tend to be more satisfied with their life and to be happier people. Age, gender, and wealth give a little clue to someones happiness. Even better clues come from knowing peoples traits and the quality of their work and leisure experiences, knowing whether they enjoy a supportive network of close relationships, and knowing whether the person has a faith that encompases social support, purpose, and hope. Countries societys emphasises on physical and materical well-being and psychology's historic preoccupation and negative emotions - which is why a decent amount of people are "happy" but a large majority of the world "unhappy".
Discuss evidence regarding the reliability (e.g., test-retest and internal consistency) of happiness and life satisfaction tests.
According to test-retest, happiness and life scores are relatively stable over time. Internal consistency states that responses to different items of a given measure tend to be consistent.
Explain adaptation processes and discuss why they may be an important aspect of human nature. Also consider their importance to happiness. Describe the hedonic treadmill and give examples.
Adaptation process: After time you don't notice the situation anymore and get used to it. Adjust to environment, then notice changes in stimuli Hedonic Treadmill: individuals rapidly & inevitably adapt to good things by taking them for granted "the new normal"
Distinguish bodily and higher pleasures (as defined by Seligman) and give examples of each.
Bodily pleasures - immediate delights that come through the senses and require little or no interpretation. Higher Pleasures - similar to bodily pleasures but are more complex in what triggers them; partly cognitive -Examples for bodily might be eating a delicious food which for me might mean chocolate or taking a hot shower when you've been soaked in cold rain or maybe getting a backrub or enjoying sensual pleasure. -Examples of Higher going shopping might give you a sense of enthusiasm and watching a funny movie might provide you with amusement.
What does Seligman mean when he discusses "signature strengths"?
Character strengths that are most essential to who we are. - humanity, temperance and persistence.
How is the field of humanistic psychology similar and different from positive psychology?
Differences: - Humanistic Psychologists have always studied what is healthy, adaptive, and creative. -- Mostly theoretical, less empirical/ applied focus. Primary Interest in optimal functioning. - Positive Psychologists focus on human strengths/ well-being. Similarities: - Maslow and other humanistic psychologists have always studied the positive. - Always been research on positive aspects of human experience, but numbers are unbalanced.
Explain how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are relevant to the fields of health and education. Give specific examples to illustrate these applications.
Education - Overjustification effect --Rewards & threats can both undermine intrinsic motivation --In education, we don't want to emphasize external rewards for behaviors such as reading because that could diminish the inherent value that children place on the act of reading. Thus, they could experience the overjustification effect, as you mention. Health - When it comes to health, compliance is a big issue. People often don't take their medicine or do other prescribed behaviors such as exercise. If patients can feel more intrinsic motivation to engage in these behaviors, they are more likely to comply. For example, a dr. could remind a patient that by taking their meds and exercising they will live longer to have time with their grandchildren. That could raise their intrinsic motivation to comply with the prescribed behaviors.
Consider whether adaptation is inevitable and equivalent for all events and people.
Extent of adaption varies across event/circumstances
Discuss the link between dispositional affectivity and the personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism. Why might these variables be linked?
Extraversion: associated with positive affectivity Ex: (I start conversations, I am the life of the party, I feel comfortable around people) Neuroticism: associated with negative affectivity Ex: (I am easily disturbed, I get stressed out easily, I often feel blue)
Discuss the role of positive psychology in prevention of mental illness as well as treatment of it.
Focuses on helping us get more of what we do want/ Promoting Strength.
Does seeking the "best" experiences, purchases, etc. lead to the greatests happiness?
Getting a raise in salary or escaping to a tropical paradise will not produce permanent changes in happiness
Discuss findings explaining how differences in maximizing/satisficing relate to happiness, optimism, self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, perfectionism and regret.
Happiness, self esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction decreased and depression, perfectionism, and regret increased in maximizers. Maximizers are less satisfied than satisficers with consumer decisions and are more likely to compare themselves to others.
Give examples of persons high in positive affectivity, low in positive affectivity, high in negative affectivity and low in negative affectivity.
High in Positive Affectivity: A person high in positive affectivity might be cheerful, upbeat and energetic Low in Positive Affectivity: A person low in positive affectivity might be sluggish and glum. High in Negative Affectivity: A person high in negative affectivity might be highly anxious. Low in Negative Affectivity: A person low in negative affectivity might be serene and calm.
How do most people score on tests that assess subjective well-being?
High, most people report that they are happy and satisfied with life
How is affective forecasting related to anxiety and dread about future events? Be sure to discuss the idea of "immune neglect".
Immune neglect is the lack of awareness of the system of cognitive mechanisms that alleviate the experience of negative emotion in response to unpleasant events.
Describe impact bias and explain how "focalism" is one cause of faulty affective forecasting. Do people tend to overestimate or underestimate the impact of negative life events? Do people tend to overestimate or underestimate their own resiliency to negative events?
Impact Bias is the tendency to overestimate the enduring impact that future events will have on our emotional reactions. Focalism is when we fail to anticipate the extent to which unrelated events will influence our thoughts and emotions -focus on the event itself, we forget that another event could occur at the same time
Describe what can be done to enhance momentary pleasure. Be sure to discuss the importance of spacing, novelty and surprise.
In addition to spacing and variety, surprise can also help keep pleasures from habituating. You could team up with roommates, friends or family to surprise each other with small pleasures.
Provide examples of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from everyday life.
Intrinsic Examples: -writing music for personal pleasure -working out for personal achievement -getting nails done to look good for oneself. Extrinsic Examples: -going to church to appease parents being paid to do a job -going on a morning job to keep up with siblings.
Define intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation and then compare and contrast them.
Intrinsic motivation is the primary source of motivation that is an internal source and extrinsic motivation is an external source of motivation. Intrinsic: -enjoyable/satisfying -experiences a sense of freedom to do what is interesting, personally important or energizing Extrinsic: -may or may not enjoy activity-may feel a sense of being "controlled"
What is required for intrinsic motivation to occur?
Intrinsic motivation requires at least a seed of interest.
Describe research findings that support the argument that positive affect broadens thinking.
Isen Johnson and colleagues conduct a study that required participants to watch films that induced specific emotions of joy and anger. After the film the participants were asked to imagine being in situations of similar emotions. Results found that participants were able to identify more positive emotions than negative, thus proving that positive emotions broaden their thinking abilities.
Explain the importance of distinguishing between internal and external sources of motivation.
It is imperative to know which motivation is guiding you and to have an idea of if you're doing an action for personal satisfaction or to please others
Be sure to discuss research findings that examine the link between wealth/income and well-being and consider why the link is rather weak
It will not bring them happiness. It's interesting because people who earn less than 30K believe 50K will make them happy. However, when making 50K, people report wanting 100K. It continues to go up from there. The stakes keep getting higher and higher. Our expectations keep rising and we want more and more
Describe research findings that support the idea of a Happiness Set-point.
Levels of emotion eventually rebound after many major life events, usually within 3 months (Diener & Lucas) Study by Brickman Compared ratings of everyday happiness for (1) Recent winners of the Illinois state lottery (50,000-1 million), (2) Recent victims of catastrophic accidents who had become paraplegic (3) Control group Rate the amount of pleasure you get from everyday activities (chatting with a friend, watching tv, eating breakfast, laughing at a joke) Lottery winner 3.33/5; accident victims 3.48/5; control group 3.30/5
Distinguish between maximizers and satisficers and explain how typical behaviors for these types differ.
Maximizers are people who want the very best. Satisficers are people who want good enough
Are positive and negative affectivity polar opposites? Can you be high in both or low in both? Explain.
Moderate negative correlation. But they are NOT polar opposites
How can people cultivate more flow in their lives?
More flow will be experienced to the extent that your activity involves a "just right" match between your skills & challenges.
Are self-reports of happiness reliable over time?
Most people would agree that happiness is an internal state, but whether it's best to think of it as a single emotion, a collection of emotions, or a quality that certain people are disposed to is not obvious.
Define motivation and explain how it may be viewed as a continuum.
Motivation is the psychological impetus for action that gives purpose and direction to behavior. It may be viewed as a continuum by involving different degrees of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. For example: obtain rewards/avoiding punishment, reach desired outcome, gaining approval from others.
Does happiness & life satisfaction vary based on age, sex or race? Explain
No it doesn't, Furthermore, males and females report similar levels of happiness, as do people of different races and ethnicities.
Discuss the relationship between positive and negative emotion. Are they polar opposites? Explain. How does negative affect correlate with each of the 3 dimensions of positive emotion?
No, positive and negative emotion are not polar opposites. For example, a freshman could feel happy to start college but also nervous or fearful at the same time. Negative affect correlates with joviality by being cheerful and guilty at the same time. Confident and angry at the same time. Alert and fearful at the same time.
Describe different measures of positive and negative affectivity (e.g., the Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire).
PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale)Indicate the extent to which you feel each emotion most of the time Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire
According to research findings, who is happier, those who prioritize time or those who prioritize money? Why?
People who prioritize in time. Seeking out more engaging experiences will lead to a sense of accomplishment and greater fulfillment. The idea is that lasting happiness is associated with activities that require an investment of effort to bring about gratification
Define and explain what is meant by "affective forecasting".
People's predictions about their future feelings.
According to research that tests the two theories, what % of variance in well-being is accounted for by personality and what % is accounted for by situational events? Explain how the two theories suggest different paths to greater well-being.
Personality accounts for 52%, 48% is situational events
Define positive psychology and explain how this burgeoning field offers a new perspective on human behavior.
Positive Psychology: The scientific and applied approach to uncovering people's strengths and promoting their positive functioning - Positive psychology seeks a view of human functioning that is balanced. -As much emphasis on strength/virtue as has been placed on weakness/damage.
Explain how positive affectivity may be related to longevity, physical health, marital satisfaction, life satisfaction and well-being. Describe research findings that support this link.
Positive affectivity predicts fewer health complaints as well as later satisfaction with significant aspects of your life such as your job and marriage, as well as your overall sense of well-being. Seligman discusses research that examines these tendencies. One set of studies examined autobiographical sketches created by nuns. Objective raters scored these sketches to assess the amount of positive feelings conveyed. Results showed that the nuns who expressed the most positive emotion lived significantly longer. For example, 90% of the most cheerful group was still alive at age 85, while only 34% of the least cheerful group was still alive by that age
What does research say about the value of experiential purchases compared to material purchases?
Recent research has provided persuasive evidence that experiential purchases prompt greater happiness than material purchases. Spending money on a vacation, going to a concert, taking a "road trip" all would lead to more lasting happiness than buying a "thing", even though that "thing" will last and the experience won't.
Describe research findings that support the argument that positive affect builds social resources.
Research findings support the argument that positive affect builds social resources because with the broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions are vehicles for individual growth and social connection. By building people's personal and social resources, positive emotions transform people for the better, giving them better lives in the future.
Define savoring and explain how it can enhance the experience of pleasure. Discuss methods one can use to promote savoring.
Savoring - the deliberate conscious experience of pleasure (Bryan &Veroff, 2004) Promoting savoring: *Self-congratulation *Absorption *Memory building *Sharing with others
Discuss the method most commonly used to assess happiness and also life satisfaction and give an example of measures used to assess each.
Self-report. Measures are Reliability and Validity.
Are self-reports of happiness validated by external reports (e.g., by family & friends)?
Self-reported well being doesn't match up with external observation.
Explain Lykken & Tellegen's notion of a Happiness Set-point.
Smaller events we bounce back quicker. Bigger events takes longer Individuals have an average base line of happiness that is relatively stable Individuals return to base line after adjusting to temporary highs and lows
How might the social context impact motivation? Discuss activities and environments that support or inhibit intrinsic motivation.
Social context might impact motivation because it could persuade or dissuade intrinsic motivation. For example, if a person grew up in a religious home, he or she might pray often to reach a personal level of spirituality. On the contrary, a religious background could also dissuade intrinsic motivation because of being around it often when growing up.
Describe how pleasure is tied to happiness in the present.
Sometimes the speed of modern life robs us of enjoyment of the present. Rushing to do more and more and constantly planning for a future causes us to lose enjoyment of the present
Define strengths and virtues.
Strengths: built-in capacities for certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Virtues: a behavior showing high moral standards.- The characteristics associated with these virtues are labeled character "strengths." For example, one person might gain the virtue of wisdom by using the strength known as curiosity.
Describe the Broaden and Build theory of positive affect proposed by Fredrickson.
The Broaden and Build theory of positive affect suggest that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention, cognition, and action and they they build physical, intellectual, and social resources.
Describe the PANAS developed by Watson & Clark. Describe the 3 dimensions of positive emotions assessed by the PANAS, citing specific examples. Describe the negative emotions assessed by the PANAS, citing specific examples.
The PANAS is a scale that measures positive and negative effects. The 3 dimensions of positive emotions are joviality (cheerfulness, enthusiasm), assurance (confidence, daring) , and attentiveness (alertness, concentration, and determination).
How is affective forecasting related to consumer decisions?
The consumer predicts about their emotional feelings towards the product and its usage in the future.
Discuss "time affluence" and the idea that time saving choices increase happiness
The idea is that feeling like you don't have enough time is a predictor of stress & unhappiness
Discuss the idea that negative emotions tend to have specific action tendencies. How does this relate to the function of negative emotions? Give examples.
The idea that negative emotions tend to have specific action tendencies is because when we go into negative emotion our attention goes narrow. For example, in a scary situation, an individual would either fight or flight. They would do one of these two actions when in fear because the narrowing of attention allows quick and decisive action.
Discuss the idea that positive emotions tend to have nonspecific action tendencies. How does this relate to the function of positive emotions? Give examples.
The idea that positive emotions tend to have non specific action tendencies is because when we go into positive emotions our attention broadens. For example, in responses to love, we may explore numerous ways to express this feeling.
Describe negative affectivity and explain what it means to be high or low on this variable.
The tendency to be distressed & upset. A tendency to feel anger, irritability, fear or nervousness.
Describe positive affectivity and explain what it means to be high or low on this variable.
The tendency to experience positive emotion. A tendency to be cheerful and energetic
Discuss evidence regarding the validity of happiness and life satisfaction tests. Are there "hard diagnostic tests" to measure happiness or life satisfaction? Explain.
There are no set diagnostics for happiness because it is subjective. Someone who is always at a 10 might be at a 7 one day and report feeling alright while someone at a 4 might rate a 7 as being in a really good place.
Discuss the limiting properties of pleasures that impede their ability to provide for long-term happiness.
They fade very rapidly once the external stimulus disappears. If you see a great movie and it gives you a sense of amusement or even hilarity, that good feeling may not last too long after the movie ends. Once it's over, the good feeling dissipates
Explain the heritability estimates for dispositional affect. To what extent do genes account for positive affectivity? To what extent do genes account for negative affectivity?
Twin studies provide evidence that genes are linked to long-term emotionality Heritability estimates 40% of variability in positive affectivity among individuals is due to genetics 55% of variability in negative affectivity among individuals is due to genetics
Describe the types of research studies that examine the heritability of emotion.
Twin studies- Lykken & Tellegen 1996 Comparing identical & fraternal twins reared together or apart Identical twins (who share all their DNA) are more alike in positive emotionality and negative emotionally compared to fraternal twins (who only share some genes in common)Even when reared apart identical twins seem to be quite similar in positive and negative emotionally
How does anticipation differ for experiential purchases & material purchases?
Waiting for an experience elicits more happiness and excitement than waiting for a material good
Why is there a stronger link between happiness and experiential purchases? How does anticipation & social comparison influence this?
We are excited waiting for a vacation, a great meal or to go to a concert. On the other hand, waiting for a material good such as your new iphone to arrive is less likely to be pleasurable and more likely to involve impatience. -People are less prone to measure the value of their experiential purchases by comparing to others
Are people good at predicting whether events will be pleasant or unpleasant?
We are generally pretty good at predicting whether something is going to be pleasant or unpleasant. We are lousy, however, at predicting the intensity and duration of our future emotional reactions to this event.
Why is positive psychology needed today?
We're paying more attention on what's right with people.
Describe Csikszentmihalyi's description of the state of "flow" and its link to happiness.
When you are thoroughly involved in something that is meaningful/enjoyable. You need to connect to it emotionally and therefore it involves intrinsic motivation
Are there possible evolutionary functions of positive emotion? Explain.
Yes, there are possible evolutionary function of positive emotion because positive emotions or pleasant moments can be long term as well.
What sorts of activities are likely to create flow?
be active participation in sports, reading for pleasure, playing an engaging video game, engaging in artistic activities such as painting or playing an instrument,
What do the research findings presented in this article suggest about spending decisions that are most likely to promote happiness?
people felt less end-of-day time pressure when they purchased time-saving services, which explained their improved mood that day.
Are people usually accurate in predicting their reactions to future events?
people tend to overestimate the strength and duration of their future responses to emotional events.
How do predictors of happiness change with time, (e.g., as people age?) Explain
there are happy and unhappy people of all ages and there isn't a particular time of life/age that is generally less happy.
How do priorities differ as a function of wealth?
wealth offers the opportunity to have more free time, such as by paying more to live closer to work.
