midterm pos psych
how personalities develop
- genes (babies are born with distinct temperaments) - continuity in personality from childhood to adulthood - dramatic change is possible, as personal experiences often reinforce or change our characteristics - maturation and development of self-concept
the flourishing scale
- i lead a purposeful and meaningful life - my social relationships are supportive and rewarding - i am engaged and interested in my daily activities - i actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others - i am competent and capable in the activities that are important to me - i am a good person and live a good life - i am optimistic about my future - people respect me
limitations to the broaden and build mdoel
- much of the research on the building aspect of the model relies on correlational techniques - principles are more general, more work needed to articulate different consequences for different emotions - some positive states seem to contradict the general trend of broadening by instead narrowing attention and behaviour
positive relations with other people
- trusting, intimate, caring relationships with others - depth to the relationship - being there for them, them being there for you - being able to confide in each other
cantril's ten-step ladder
0-4: suffering 5-6: struggling 7-10: thriving
affect
emotion-like phenomenon that refers to experience that differs in pleasantness
courage
emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of adversity
humanity
interpersonal strengths that involve the tend and befriend model. protection of offspring, seeking social groups for protection
fostering relatedness
involvement: interest shown, time spent, and energy invested by others. increases feelings of relatedness and connectedness and is autonomy-supportive
emotions can be distinguished from moods by
length of time, intensity
environmental mastery
refers to feeling effective in interacting with one's environment, seek to control the outcome and experience mastery
the 8 steps to happiness (sonja)
1. count your blessings 2. practice acts of kindness 3. savor life's joys 4. thank a mentor 5. learn to forgive 6. invest time and energy in friends and family 7. take care of your body 8. develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships
high subjective well-being
1. high life satisfaction 2. experiencing many pleasant emotions 3. experiencing few unpleasant emotions
sonja lyubomirsky's estimates of what determines happiness
1. set point 2. intentional activity 3. circumstances
diener and seligman's study to identify the happiest people
222 students, extensive battery of tests to measure subjective well-being, top 10% were identified as the happiest people. most striking difference was found in social behaviour and quality of personal relationships
big five
OCEAN, moderately heritable, highly stable over time
PERMA
P - Positive Emotion E - Engagement R - Relationships M - Meaning A - Accomplishments
research-based approaches to describing pos psych
empirical approach to describing what pos psych is, findings show minor variation across sources, most frequently associated topics were happiness and positive features, less common were relationships, sense of meaning, personality and resiliency
neutrality
equally ranked negative and positive objects are perceived and paid attention to differently. when put together, neutral objects are used as comparisons for good vs bad. ex. the coffee inside the cup is good
eudaimonia and broader views of well-being
eudaimonia indicated by people's sense of purpose, meaning, authenticity, and personal growth. translates as flourishing and emphasizes the idea of living over simply feeling good
indifference
evaluations may be neither good nor bad
environment and personality
extent to which observed individual differences can be traced to individual environmental differences
best predictors (big five) for happiness
extraversion and neuroticism
aristotle
first to describe eudaimonia as a virtuous life
genetics and personality
genes help make each person unique; they shape characteristics and affect the ways the social world responds
honesty-humility
genuineness and trustworthiness, sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, modest. VS arrogant, egotism
duration neglect
giving relative unimportance to the length of an emotional experience, whether pleasurable or unpleasant, in judging and remembering the overall experience
character: strengths model
guided by eudaimonia, but using morally valued characteristics. criteria for strengths include: universally valued, contribute to fulfilment, not diminishing others.
married people tend to be
happier than those who never marry or get divorced. however, this also has to do with how they are prior to marriage... happier people have happier marriages
children do not seem to have a major influence on
happiness
what is the most dominant emotion?
happiness
health is positively associated with
happiness (stronger link for subjective ratings of health, compared to objective)
eudaimonia
happiness as personal fufillment
hedonia
happiness as pleasure
positive as a set of topics
happiness, love, gratitude, achievement. forgiveness over revenge, resilience rather than defeat, cooperation rather than competition, etc.
individuals in poorer countries report
having more meaning in life than those in rich countries
broaden-and-build model of positive emotions
helps fill gaps in understanding the purpose of positive emotions. premise: positive emotions widen the scope of our thoughts and behaviours contrasts with specific action tendencies for negative emotions which narrow the scope of responses.
conscientiousness
how dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, and persistent one is
openness to experience
how intellectual, imaginative, curious, and broad-minded one is
amusement
humour. occurs in response to the unexpected, mild incongruities that are not threatening. associated with playfulness. promotes flexibility, social bonding and mild risk-taking
the third level of personality: uniqueness
idiosyncratic characteristics or quirks, the unique combo of an individual's many middle-level units (traits, attitudes, behaviours), life stories and personal projects
broadening effects are
immediate
HEXACO model
incorporates a sixth dimension, honesty/humility, to capture the moral dimensions of personality
the middle level of personality: differences
individual differences, focus on traits, can see dimensions of differences in personality that apply across many people. additionally, it includes dimensions of difference, such as gender, values, attitudes, attachment styles and interests.
from birth, babies differ in
intensity of gaze and crying, amount of sleep, irritability
four possibilities for what positive means in pos psych
intentions, ideology, "appreciative stance on human nature", universally agreed upon positive topics
positive as an appreciative stance
less rigid, collect info objectively and look at it from a positive perspective
in certain respects, every person is:
like all other people, like some other people, like no other person
ryff's approach to well-being
loosely based on the concept of eudaimonia, includes 6 aspects: (1) self acceptance (2) positive relations with other people (3) autonomy (4) environmental mastery (5) purpose in life (6) personal growth
although income has an overall positive correlation with happiness, it is stronger at what level of income?
lower levels
dimensional perspective
many subtle variables
ambivalence
mixed feelings or emotions, evaluations of things may be good and bad.
wealthy countries with higher religiosity report
more meaning than wealthy countries with lower religiosity
where does happiness come from?
most people state that they are above the midpoint on happiness scales. the best predictors of happiness are personality traits
action tendencies
motivations to act in a particular way when experiencing an emotion
women report higher levels of
negative affect and experience higher rates of depression, but also report higher levels of positive emotions compared to men
the role of negative emotions
negative emotions are essential to normal functioning. immediate demands tend to make negative emotions feel stronger and more urgent than positive ones.
critiques of strengths model
not statistical, some suggest fewer broad virtues fit better. the jangle fallacy
pop-culture's self help and popular psychology
not tested or supported by science
personal growth
openness and sense of continuing development, positive changes over one's lifetime
features that also strongly correlate with happiness
optimism and self-esteem
subjective experience
our personal phenomenological feelings that are commonly the component of emotion that psychologists are most interested in. self-report methods are often used to assess this
extraversion
outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive, tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others
build
over time, these activities build more lasting skills and resources. their adaptive values are: - play leads to improve physical fitness and athletic skill - social connection leads to friendship that leads to support in the future
nuances of expressions
people can recognize facial expressions from those in other cultures (but people in the same culture can recognize them more easily and accurately)
memory and reports of experience
people construct mental averages for distant or long periods of time rather than recalling specific moments or dates. current experiences can differ systematically from recollections later.
appraisals
perception of circumstances and events relevant to their well-being and concerns. automatic, rapid, unconscious. can also be more deliberate, such as a series of thoughts leading to a feeling
emotions involve
physiological arousal, expressive behaviours, conscious experience, motivations, subjective feelings
physiology of emotions
physiological responses that change the body to meet the needs of the situation at hand. explained by evolutionary psych
pos psych compared to humanistic psych
pos psych is argued as a "re-brand" of humanistic psych. philosophy, RQs and methods differ. humanistic focuses more on individual uniqueness, whereas pos focuses more on general trends
broaden
positive emotions foster variety in thoughts and behaviours. these adaptive activities helped our ancestors to survive and reproduce
what expressions are more nuanced?
positive expressions are more nuanced and difficult to recognize than negative ones (both across and within cultures)
signature strengths
positive traits that a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises
negative emotions are more ______, but positive emotions are more ______.
potent, pervasive
positive as good intentions means
psychologists who want to make others' lives more positive, looks at characteristics of 'happy' people and the ways we can improve mood
state-trait distinction
refers to average tendencies over time, states are temporary and sensitive to context, traits are evident in the average of a person's states
competence
refers to feeling effective in interacting with one's environment, seeking to control the outcome and experience mastery
autonomy
refers to feeling that one's behaviour is freely chosen, the extent to which you feel free to choose your own behaviours/follow their interests, the universal urge to be causal agents of one's own life and act in harmony with one's integrated self
relatedness
refers to the desire to be connected to others, is the universal want to interact, be connected to, and experience caring for others
among people who would otherwise be unhappy due to their circumstances, what seems to help?
religion
positive as an ideological perspective
rigid stance that humans are good by nature. problematic stance as there needs to be more science behind it
transcendence
self-actualization - attempting to connect to the bigger picture. appreciation, gratitude, hope, humor, religion
contentment
serenity, relaxation. a low arousal, pleasant emotion that signals comfort, safety and ease. can facilitate reflection on what led to such good circumstances, a sense of appreciation, or savouring the moment
duchenne vs. non-duchenne smiles
show the subtleties involved in detecting genuine emotional expressions
building effects are
slower, they take time
love
social connection, sharing. involves vulnerability, commitment and sense of self-expansion.
emotional traits are
stable individual difference in emotional experiences over time
awe
stems from novelty, but where the gap between expectations and new info is vast. makes people pause and reconsider assumptions. can create new ideas about our place in the world and in relation to others
strengths model vs big 5 model
strengths are trait-like, dimensional and hierarchical. both are stable over time but vary day to day. strengths are VALUED aspects of personality.
what does personality do?
strongly influences ones expectations, self-perceptions, values, and attitudes, predicts human reactions to other people, problems, and stress
people who view religion as an important part of their life or community do report higher levels of
subjective well-being
the hedonic treadmill
tendency for our moods to adapt to external circumstances, the idea that people return to a baseline level of happiness is referred to as the hedonic treadmill,
nozick's experience machine
the hypothetical machine could plug your brain into a machine and create any experience you desire. experiences generated would be indistinguishable from reality. most people would DECLINE which implies that people value authenticity over pleasure
trait approach
the names for the consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, or actions that distinguish people. traits are best considered on a spectrum
joy
the pleasant feeling we get when something good happens to us *particularly* when unexpected or exceed expectations. invigorating, increases arousal and activity
consistency
the stability in a person's behaviour over time and across situations
your own criteria for life satisfaction
the subjective nature of subjective well-being suggests that we listen to how people determine their own satisfaction, rather than researchers assuming which domains are most important for them
attitudes
the sum of all the evaluations we have times all of the beliefs we have of/about something
positivity offset
the tendency of most individuals to experience a mildly positive mood at zero input (when nothing in particular is going on). people usually feel good even without pleasant events, which promotes creativity, exploration & sociability. contributes to healthy functioning
choices
the things that people consistently choose can be viewed as positive. the choice tells us what is positive.
personality
the underlying persistence of commonalities and consistencies and how it is represented is dependent on different kinds of situations and at different times
theory of social penetration
theory predicts that relationships become more intimate as the self-disclosure grows in breadth and depth
schemas
versions of ourselves (school you vs work you vs family you)
the link between income and happiness is stronger when
we define happiness as life satisfaction; the relationship is weaker when we consider emotional experience
book terms to define positive psych
well-being, achievement, harmony
gratitude
when you receive good fortune and attribute the cause to another person. the sense of appreciation is often expressed as a desire to pay it forward.
VIA classification of character strengths
wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence
important implications of subjective well-being
(1) the happiest people have 3 components; if we focus on only one indicator, we may be missing part of the complete picture (2) it can be useful to study the components of subjective well-being as separate entities
what is happiness
a more long-term characteristic than a transient state
jangle fallacy
belief that because measures are called by different names they are measuring different constructs
what makes someone extraverted?
big 5, may result from a stronger sensitivity to rewards in the environment
temperament
born with it and related to big 5, an individual's typical mode of response including activity level, emotional intensity and attention span, related to genes and neurons
values
choices often made from norms and laws
how do we assess positivity?
choices, values, subjective experiences
justice
civic strengths that underlie healthy community life. fairness, leadership, teamwork
purpose in life
clear goals, sense of meaning, important projects, sense that things are worthwhile
wisdom
cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge. tendency towards thinking in ways with multiple perspectives and recognize uncertainty.
agreeableness
compassionate, cooperative, trustworthiness, helpful, well-tempered
the three fundamental psychological needs
competence, relatedness, autonomy
pride
confidence that comes from accomplishing socially valued goals. builds status and can lead to approaching new challenges and taking new risks.
interest
curiosity, enthusiasm. experienced when people encounter novel situations or information that seems manageable. promotes exploration. prolonged absorption leads to flow
emotions are easily recognized but are hard to
define
affective experiences
defined out of emotion but do not always meet the strict criteria set aside to have a clear definition of emotion
neuroticism
degree of emotional instability or stability, the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions
self-determination theory
describes the conditions that foster motivation and well-being
distinctiveness
differences between people reacting to the same situation
basic emotions
discrete, basic emotions in distinct categories. fixed physiological/behavioural responses. distinct physiology, expressions, experiences, causes. are brief and have automatic consequences.
subjective experiences
doing things because it feels good TO YOU. if it feels good, it is positive. what is good to you may not be good to others
small positive association between happiness and
education (link is stronger among those who are poorer)
circumplex model of affect
emotions placed between quadrants labeled activation, pleasant, deactivation, and unpleasent
how can we study emotions?
EEG: electricity recorded by a series of electrodes placed on the scalp
satisfaction with life scale
[rate on 7-point scale (1 strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree)] - in most ways my life is close to ideal - the conditions of my life are excellent - i am satisfied with my life - so far i have got the important things i want in life - if i could live my life over, i would change almost nothing
self-acceptance
a positive view of the past and present self that acknowledges good and bad aspects
positive and negative affect schedule
a self-report measure of affect with 10 items measuring positive affect and 10 for negative
money does less to foster moments of joy, but can generate
a sense of satisfaction
savouring
a tool to manage positive experiences in ways that can enhance them
facial action coding system (FACS)
a widely used method for measuring all observable muscular movements that are possible in the human face
emotional intensity decreases with
age
basic level: universal similarity
all humans share capacities and needs shaped by our evolutionary history
life satisfaction
an individual's judgement that things have gone well and that conditions are good. can be sub-divided into various domains like work satisfaction, body satisfaction, etc.
components of emotion
appraisals, physiological responses, expressions, subjective experience, action tendencies
authentic vs. hubristic pride
authentic pride is the more socially desirable, achievement-oriented facet, associated with accomplishment and confidence. hubristic pride is the more narcissistic facet, associated with arrogance and conceit
temperance
avoiding excess, forgiveness, modesty, prudence, self-regulation
negativity bias
bad is more attention-grabbing than good. humans pay more attention to and give more weight to negative than positive experiences
expressions
behavioural component of emotions. can be seen in the face, posture, tone of voice & touch. they communicate feelings but can be regulated.