Science of Living Well Midterm

oxytocin

-"cuddle hormone" -oxytocin associated with social bonding, trust, and emotional support within couples, and is released during breastfeeding -recent research suggests effects of oxytocin on social behaviors are highly dependent on context --> increases in-group favoritism, costly contributions to group welfare (including lying), and conformity, trust, and cooperation for the in-group -oxytocin's effect on trust is reduced when other person is perceived as untrustworthy, is unknown, or is a member of an out-group that conflicts with in-group -when out-group and in-group have similar values, oxytocin doesn't seem to have in-group bias

unpredictability and trust

-2014 paper "Being there: a brief visit to a neighborhood induces social attitudes of that neighborhood" -Daniel Nettle et al. surveyed two large neighborhoods in British city: one affluent and the other one economically depressed with high levels of crime -Residents of latter neighborhood had lower level of social trust (not personal trust) and higher levels of paranoia than the other -student volunteers had to then deliver questionnaires -in just under 45 mins, the ones in the deprived neighborhood experienced large increases in paranoia and plummeting levels of social trust -conclusion: differences in social attitudes between individuals and between populations may be more context dependent than previously thought

positive psychology

-90s -Martin Seligman -Nurture what's good within you -Qualitative -Emphasizes discovering and promoting strengths and virtues

positive emotions

-Alice Isen found that when experiencing mild positive emotions, we are more likely to help other people, be flexible in our thinking, come up with solutions to our problems, be more likely to see problem-solving options and find cues for good decision making, and be more willing to exhibit self-control -Isen's experiment in which a person who found a coin was more likely to help another person carry a load of books or help them pick up another's dropped papers --> finding a coin and the associated positive emotion made people behave more altruistically -experiment in which physicians either received a small bag or candy or not: found that the doctors who received the candy displayed superior reasoning and decision making relative to the physicians who did not receive the candy; did not jump to conclusions and were cautious even though they arrived at diagnosis sooner than the doctors without the candy -happier people show greater willingness to take greater financial risks for high returns; might be because high levels of happiness and psychological resilience may allow someone to feel more comfortable taking risks in general -taking opportunities as they come can provide more benefits in long term -even when crises occur, individual with psychological resilience may be better able to handle this type of circumstance

broaden-and-build model of positive emotion

-Barbara Frederickson's review: points out that "action tendencies" generally have been associated with physical reactions to negative emotions whereas human reactions to positive emotions often more cognitive than physical -she proposed discarding idea of "specific action tendency" (suggests restricted range of behavioral options) in favor of "momentary thought action repertoires" (broad range of behavioral options) -experiencing joy expands realm of what a person feels like doing at the time -positive emotions broaden an individual's thought-action repertoire -following an emotion-eliciting film clip participants were asked to list everything they would like to do at the moment --> those participants who experienced joy or contentment listed significantly more desired possibilities than those in the neutral or negative conditions -those who experienced negative emotions tended to shut down thinking about subsequent possible activities -joy appears to open us up to new thoughts and behaviors and increase likelihood of behaving positively toward other people, along with aiding in developing more positive relationships -through the effects of broadening processes, positive emotions can help build resources -researchers found that initial levels of positive emotions predicted overall increases in problem solving --> changes in coping predicted further increase in positive emotions -as such, positive emotions such as joy may help generate resources, maintain a sense of vital energy, and create even more resources

cultivating hope

-Beth Hatt (educational psychologist) -need not choose between book smarts and street smarts -marginalized youth who are treated as failures in school develop alternative strategies to succeed - their way of refiguring smartness -we must broaden definitions of what is a good student, knowledge, and success beyond test scores and grades -Colin Seale: ThinkLaw --> inquiry-based instructional strategies to close critical thinking gap and reaching all students; today's disruptors could be tomorrow's innovators

adaptation-based approach to resilience

-Bruce Ellis et al -role of stress in regulating development of adaptively relevant skills and abilities -leveraging these strengths could help stress-adapted individuals achieve their full potential and lead more satisfying and productive lives -future: hope to use an assessment batter that captures the hidden talents of stress-adapted young people which can be used to inform efforts and programs conducive to their success in education, employment, and civic life -this approach affords a more positive view of youth from diverse backgrounds that avoids stigma and communicates a distinctive strength-based message to the public, people affected by diversity, and policy makers

6. learn to trust your self-actualizing tendency

-Carl Rogers believed self-actualizing tendency could be explained by organismic valuing process -OVP developed to help organism move toward growth and away from stimuli that moves against growth through feedback -Carl Rogers' fully functioning person: relevant experiences integrated into coherent self-concept -fully functioning person exhibits: 1) openness to experience 2) existential living 3) trust in one's organismic experiences leading to 4) freedom and 5) enhanced creativity -Kennon Sheldon found that when given autonomy, people do tend to favor the growth choice over time -status goals (help oneself) vs. growth goals (help others) -but not everyone is free to choose their most valued directions eg marginalized groups

neural correlates of the "good life"

-Carol Ryff reviewed classical theories of positive mental health and developed six main criteria for the psychological well-being scale 1) self-acceptance 2) personal growth 3) positive relations with other people 4) autonomy 5) purpose in life 6) environmental mastery -well-being scale positively and significantly correlated with gray matter volume of the insular cortex -insular volume negatively correlated with depression -insula linked to self-awareness, control of bodily states, and modulation of decision making based on information about bodily states -insular cortex may facilitate eudaimonia by integrating internal states with external circumstances, and helping to manage these emotions

reversible effect of poverty

-Costello et al. experiments - researchers to assess changes in psychopathology over 8 year period among representative sample of children living in poverty (1/4 American Indian) -halfway through the study, a casino opened on the Indian reservation and they all received royalties -the effects of moving out of poverty: those who received royalties experienced reduction in psychiatric symptoms so marked that by the fourth year, the symptom levels were the same in children who moved out of poverty as in children who were never poor

distinguishing positive and negative emotions

-David Watson and Lee Anna Clark developed and validated the Expanded Form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X) -scale measures content and "negative" (general distress) and "positive" (joviality, self-assurance, attentiveness) valence

is there a downside to feeling too happy?

-Diener and Seligman studied "very happy" undergraduates (those scoring the upper 10% of happiness) -the very happy people were highly social, and had stronger romantic and other social relationships -they were more extraverted, agreeable, and emotionally stable -they did not exercise more, or experience more objectively defined good events -although experiencing more positive emotions, they did not report many ecstatic emotions, and they said they occasionally felt negative emotions as well, suggesting very happy people do have a functioning emotion system that can react appropriately to life events -those who scored a 10 were worse off than those who scored and 8 or 9 -those who scored less than 10 were more successful than the super happy people in several areas including income, educational achievement, and political participation -researchers concluded that a 7 or 8 in happiness may be enough for daily wellbeing -when happy people make decisions, they are prone to more stereotypical thinking, rely on shortcuts too often, and are less likely to check for errors -too hastily form opinions of others -being in a positive mood makes us more selfish

6 basic emotions

-Ekman & Friesen, 1971 -happy, sad, fear, anger, surprise, disgust -6-10 basic emotions -research concurs that enjoyment/happiness/joy is a basic emotion -basic emotions can be combined to create more subtle variations of emotional experience -Eg Robert Plutchick showed awe is a combination of surprise and fear -wholly eliminating negative emotions from life would lead to losing variety, though substantial research has considered them separately

the positivity ratio

-Frederickson and Losada hypothesized that positive emotions might be associated with optimal mental health or flourishing; found a mean ratio of 2.9013 positive to negative emotions predict human flourishing

undoing potential of positive emotions

-Frederickson et al found that as participants in the joy and contentment conditions were able able to undo the negative emotions more quickly than the people in the other conditions, suggesting the potential effects of negative emotions can be offset by positive emotions such as joy and contentment

expressive writing

-James Pennebaker conducted several studies on the use of writing as a method of ealing with trauma and difficulties, focusing on the effect of emotional expression on health and well-being -conclusion: confiding in others or sharing one's experiences can be therapeutic and the nonverbal expression of emotions through art or music can also be helpful -found that the simple act of writing down one's thoughts about a traumatic event could be therapeutic

4. look out for lop-sided development

-Jung's principle of enenatiodromia- presence of extreme will produce opposite extreme for balance -Karen Horney - tyrannical shoulds -Karen Horney- acceptance, as Jung says, not enough, need effort + self-analysis; capacity for lifelong growth -she studied sociocultural factors in psychological development -she sought to understand the genesis and driving forces of whole personality -she proposed the existence of "neurotic trends" - attitudes toward life that provide a feeling of safety and security during times of confusion but ultimately stunt growth -parental factors impact neurotic trends -examples: compliance, aggressive, detached -2 characteristics: 1) pursued indiscriminately 2) thwarting leads to panic/anxiety -2 methods of artificial harmony: 1) repression/overcompensation with opposite 2) avoid conflict to arise in first place -George Valliant compares the mind's defenses to the immune system: illusions protect us from pain

are optimists really realists?

-Lisa Aspinwall argues optimists are actually "true realistis" -optimists more willing than pessimists to receive negative feedback about their performance, absorb bad news about their health, and raise difficult issues in their personal relationships -Sandra Schneider also argues for realistic optimism - optimistic thinking that does not distort reality -honest optimism is an honest recognition that there may be opportunities for positive growth or learning experiences in even the most difficult

happiness set point

-Lykken and Telegen proposed the measure of a happiness "set point" -heritability studies indicate most people return to a baseline level of happiness-or a set point-after temporary highs and lows in emotionality -even if intense feelings keep people off their set points for periods of time, eventually everyone returns to an average r baseline level of well-being set by genetics -positive set points --> tend to be cheerful -negative set points --> pessimism and anxiety

possibility development

-Michael Nakkula: emerging field that focuses on helping adolescents imagine possibilities for a better world and a better place for themselves and others -targets various aspects of agency eg attitude toward learning, engagement, etc... so that students feel as if they are making choices that have a real impact on their desired future

8. harness the power of your dark side

-Rollo May highlighted the power of the "daimonic" -we are a bundle of both good and evil -she believed heathy integration of evil essential for growth - do not avoid, rather directly confront it -George Valliant believed we can transform our defenses from thunderstorms to rainbows

self-efficacy

-a belief in one's capacity to produce desired effects and outcomes by one's own actions -related to higher well-being throughout the lifespan -separate measures exist for academic, social, and health self-efficacy -specific measures better predict positive outcomes than more global measures

education

-a college degree can increase the odds of being happy by about 73% -once an individual attains a middle-class income level, further education does not impact happiness in any significant way

culture

-a group's norms and values or a group's worldview -components of culture: deeply significant in self concept and self construal

positive expectancies

-a key element in optimism is "positive expectancies" -expectations of positive outcomes in the future not only enhance mood but also foster better coping strategies concerning stress -when faced with stress, optimists are more likely to use"problem-focused" coping strategies, realistic acceptance of their situation, humor, and positive reframing

emotion-focused coping

-according to Lazarus and Folkman, emotion-focused coping is directed at regulating emotional responses to problems -goal is to grapple with emotional reactions to a stressor -in Stanton's conception, an approach-oriented, emotion-focused coping is a movement towards the emotion involved with a stressor rather than away from them -on way of embracing the emotional components of stress is through emotional processing, which consists of acknowledging feelings; taking time to discover one's true feelings about an event, and simply allowing feelings to be present -the power of emotions traditionally was described as the beast within -when Stanton considered the adaptive potential of emotion-focused coping, she found that there was a problem in how emotions were dined and measured in some of the research -wide disparity was apparent in the items used to measure emotion-focused coping -found that scales assessing emotion-focused coping contained items in which the respondent had to engage in self-deprectation or admit to experiencing distress or psychopathology whenever he or she acknowledged experiencing intense emotion -many answers were correlated to each other -when questions that framed emotional regulation in such a confounding manner were removed from research protocols, the frequently cited relationship between greater emotions focused coping and poorer life outcomes was deemed involved -spent a decade working to clarify what emotion-focused coping means -stated that coping through emotional approach might be said to carry adaptive potential -emotional approach: active movement toward, rather than away from, a stressful encounter

even more complications!

-act of gazing at relatively small amounts of money while engaged in unrelated tasks results in people enjoying these tasks less; capacity to enjoy life's little pleasures is undermined -viewing money also causes people to be more solitary and less willing to help others or donate funds to social causes -act of gazing at luxury goods leads to increased self-interest -when people worked towards goals involving wealth, fame, or beauty, their well-being decreased

1. balance basic needs

-all needs can be grouped into two categories that much be integrated for wholeness -d-realm vs. b-realm of existence -these two categories are d-needs and b-needs -d-needs are motivated by a lack of satisfaction --> we distort reality to fit our expectations using defense mechanisms -defensive wisdom vs. growth wisdom -growth wisdom: see reality more clearly, what choices will lead to greater integration and wholeness?

emotions are like a GPS

-anger: bravery, need to stick up for someone -fear: alert to possible danger -frustration; making inadequate progress on goals -guilt: moral compass

Out of The Margins: Inclusion and Psychological Well-Being Grounded By Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusive Policy

-applied psychology is interdisciplinary

emotional processing

-attempts to understand emotions

humanistic psychology

-big in 50s and 60s -pioner: Abraham Maslow -Carl Rogers -Shift from focus on negative emotions to positive -Questions of what it means to be a fully experiencing human and how that illuminates the vital life -Subjective -Emphasizes positive potential of human beings

climate

-climate does have an impact on moods -Hawaii is consistently rated among the three happiest states

serotonin

-contributes to feelings of happiness -helps regulate mood, appetite, and sleep -low serotonin levels can cause one to increase worry, anxiety, and fight or flight response

money/wealth/income

-countries with higher life satisfaction ratings tend to be countries with higher average incomes and GNPs -however, the impact of national wealth on happiness and life satisfaction seems to be greatest when nations are less wealthy -once a nation gains a moderate level of prosperity, then further increases have less impact on well-being -correlation between national wealth and subjective wellbeing is partly due to the fact that virtually every social indicator measured in these studies is related to the prosperity of wealth of nations: eg better schools, healthcare, etc.....

harness your anxiety

-create a culture where anxiety is a strength -encourage listening to problems -reward quieter forms of detecting and defusing problems -recognize the beauty of early threat detection

money/income/wealth

-cross cultural studies are quite consistent in finding a significant relationship between income and subjective well-being in various countries -a recent longitudinal analysis spanning 33 years in the US found that being in the lower quarter of income distribution reduced the odds of being happy by about 26% while being in the upper quarter increased odds by about 13% -being poor decreased odds more than being wealthier increased odds -overall, living in a wealthier country and having more money within it tends to increase happiness

scale: health and wellbeing yields better outcomes for all

-curb cuts in Berkeley 1972 --> everybody benefits

discrimination: neglected stressor

-data reveals that level of discrimination are relatively high in America (69% of Americans have experienced some form of discrimination) -discrimination as life events: major experiences

deep structure of culture

-defined as the conscious and unconscious assumptions that a culture makes about the world and the source of insight by which they base life -social organizations, such as family, state, and religion, form the core of deep structure

mattering

-depends on inclusion and access -no mattering without wellness -no mattering without fairness

the need for safety

-despite the world and health have dramatically improved, many people still find themselves living in an unpredictable, chaotic world -Ruth Whippman: tip of Maslow's pyramid at expense of the base -the need for safety is the base upon which all others are fulfilled -in the absence of that base, people become overly dependent on the protection, love, affection, and self esteem of others, compromising growth, development, and meaning in life

conclusion

-early childhood trauma can have a lasting impact on our brain and behavior, but we have the capacity turn these adversities into opportunities for growth

emotion-focused coping research on cardiac stress

-emotion-focused coping may be a key component related to medical issues such as cardiac stress -in a study examining different types of coping as predictors of disease severity of acute coronary syndrome, patients who used emotion-focused coping had less severity overall -researchers hypothesize that emotion-focused coping may moderate certain physiological responses to a stressful event such as that the heart has reduced reactivity to stress -great implications for creating psychological interventions in those who show symptoms of diseases related to stress reactions

biology of emotion-focused coping

-emotional approach vs. avoidance supported by existence of two neurobiological systems that govern approach (i.e. appetitive) and avoidance behavior -the behavioral activation system regulates our appetitive motivation, which helps us realize emotional or behavioral rewards, whereas the behavioral inhibition system functions to help us avoid negative events and punishment -Stanton et al identified two related but distinct processes involved in approach-oriented emotion-focused coping: emotional processing and emotional expression

collectivism

-emphasize socially engaged emotions or those that impact communal relationships, such as humility and indebtedness -East Asian countries tend to be more collectivist than Western ones

strongest personality predictors of wellbeing

-enthusiasm/social vitality -compassion -industriousness/grit -lack of withdrawal (worrying, rumination, self-consciousness) -intellectual curiosity and creative openness

equality vs. equity

-equity means promoting just and fair inclusion throughout society and creating conditions in which everyone can participate, prosper, and reach his/her/their full potential

happiness vs. meaning

-essence of happiness consists of having needs and wants satisfied -in contrast, meaningfulness points to more distinctively human activities, such as expressing oneself and thinking integratively about the past, present, and future

guilt

-feeling guilty can motivate you to improve your behavior -guilt motivates us to be more socially sensitive and caring citizens -inmates prone to guilt about past wrongs suffered more for what they had done and were more motivated to confess, apologize, and fix the problems they caused, they were also less likely to be arrested again for criminal acts -adults prone to feeling guilty were less likely to drive drunk, steal, use illegal drugs, or assault another person -guilt is a building block of character

changes in brain due to abuse and neglect

-first in sensory systems and pathways that act as brain's first filters of information from outside world -exposure to parental verbal abuse alters auditory cortex and language pathways -observing domestic violence alters connections between visual-related areas of brain and areas associated with fear and intense emotions -sexual abuse affects areas of brain that represent genitalia and recognition of faces -exposure to emotional abuse alters brain regions associated with self-awareness and self-evaluation

food insecurity

-food uncertainty begets cluster of behaviors that are not from preexisting personality differences -experiment with hungry drivers -these behaviors are a form of adaptation, alternate strategies to procure food at expense of other goals --> failure leading to depression and lethargy -behaviors reverse after refeeding

takeaways

-for happiness to emerge, good to keep a higher ratio of positive to negative emotions -however, we shouldn't abandon our dark side -in not avoiding negative emotions, we gain emotional agility -anger, guilt, anxiety and other negative emotions can be helpful -concrete strategies like slowing down time can help transform negative emotions into useful tools -don't label emotions as absolutely good or bad, but think of the situation and the goals

Stanton's student study

-found undergrad. students who were dealing with a parent's psychological or physical illness coped better with their stressor if they were assigned to sessions that matched their emotional approach tendencies -that is to say, people who previously reported preference for expressing emotions when under duress did better when attending sessions that allowed them to vent emotions rather than receive facts -on the other hand, participants who did not report a preference for expressing emotions when dealing with stress did better when placed in the information condition rather than the emotion-focused coping condition -conclusion: emotional preferences related to coping may interact with environmental contingencies to determine psychological outcomes

self-esteem

-four components of self-esteem 1. feeling that you are accepted by others 2. being the recipient of positive evaluations from others 3. believing that you compare favorably to other people or to your ideal self 4. believing that you can initiate effective action in the world -self esteem is strongly correlated with subjective well-being, although the strength of the correlation is higher in more individualistic cultures

dimensions of science of living well

-fulfillment of basic human needs -enhancement of positive subjective states -actualization of strengths and virtues -cultivation of meaningful relationships -importance of growth-fostering institutions

one size does not fit all

-gene expression varies from person to person -environmental circumstances don't affect individuals in the same way -may be due to early experiences, temperamental variability, genetic predisposition, or some combination of these factors

unequal countries outcomes

-health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries -child wellbeing is lower in more unequal countries -mental illness more common in unequal countries -depression more common in more in unequal states -US college students become more narcissistic as income inequality increases -school bullying is much more common in countries with bigger income differences -people in more unequal countries trust each other less -participation in local groups and voluntary organizations is lower in more unequal societies

historical trauma: transgenerational influences

-historical trauma is the trauma inflicted upon a group of people who share an ethnic, national, or religious identity -includes both the legacy of numerous traumatic events, the community experiences over generations, and the psychological and social responses to such events

hope

-hope involves the will to get there (agency), and different ways to get there (pathways)

psychological entropy

-human as "prediction machine" -all biological organisms-including humans-survive insofar as they are able to effectively manage internal entropy -in a state of psychological entropy, we experience uncomfortable emotions such as anxiety and stress -stress systems in body are activated and set off hormones such as cortisol that circulate and activate certain brain regions and genes that control inflammation and longevity -some entropy natural -neuroticism, marked by a pattern of negative affect, find uncertainty particularly aversive and would prefer negativity offer uncertainty -fears of failure, rejection, losing control, losing emotional connection, and losing reputation -fears, discrimination, violence, neglect, or abuse can adversely impact health -when safety needs are thwarted, people react to restore balance, or homeostasis --> lose trust and regard people with suspicion

Carol Ryff on Identity

-identity as one that is fluid and progressive -salience of environmental mastery - identity juxtaposed against environment -emphasizes that values and ideals are static --> well-being is always in need of fine-tuning and is highly situational --> braids together Maslow, Rogers, and Erikson

concluding remarks on emotion-focused coping

-important to understand how emotional approach works to our benefit -if we turned our attention away from unpleasant feelings, we'd learn every little about how these feelings influence us and our friends -this approach may foster a better understanding of our experiences and direct our attention to central concerns -over time, we may develop the tendency to face our stressors directly and repeatedly and thereby habituate to certain predictable negative experiences -understanding our emotional experience can help us select optimal relationships and environments, particularly when we consider the norms of our own cultural context

emotional intelligence

-in 1960, Mowrer addressed prevailing thoughts about emotions undermining intelligence by suggesting emotion was, in fact, a high order of intelligence -Peter Salovey and John Mayer agreed and theorized that adapting to life circumstances required cognitive abilities and emotional skills that guide our behavior -about managing emotions, understanding emotions, facilitating thought, and perceiving emotions -each of these four dimensions can be assessed with two sets of tasks in a measure called Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test -tasks involve identifying emotions expressed in photographs of faces and feelings suggested by artistic designs and landscapes -practicing some or all of the 16 skills associated with positive interpersonal functioning

social belonging/stereotype threat

-in identity-integrated situations, people have to balance doing the task at hand while appraising threat and protect themselves from the risk of being negatively judged and treated differently -often causes decline in performance

implications of different self construals

-independent: separate from social context, stable, internal, about being unique, direct communication, self esteem as function of ability to express self -interdependent: connected with social context, flexible, external, about belonging, indirect communication, self esteem depending on ability to adapt

individualism

-individual achievement, autonomy, freedom of expression -stronger relationship between higher subjective wellbeing and high self esteem in individualistic cultures than in their collectivist counterparts -in the US, it is more important to see oneself as acting autonomously by being consistent across various situations and in accord with one's self -in South Korea, however, self-consistency across situations is not a strong predictor of well-being and high self consistency regardless of social situation is even a negative predictor of ratings of likability by friends and family --> well-being is associated with flexibility and adaptability depending on the social context instead

subjective well-being

-individuals' perceptions of their overall happiness and life satisfaction -higher satisfaction with life -more positive emotions in daily life -lower levels of anxiety

who controls the narrative?

-inequality contributes to how young people perceive themselves, their place in the world, and the possibilities for their future -a healthy adolescent brain is plastic and resilient and thus receptive to both individual and societal level influences and interventions that promote positive adaptation -at the same time, harmful or unhealthy influences on the brain and body can shift the trajectory for the worse

Dopamine

-influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion -responsible for reward-seeking and pleasure-seeking -may make us pursue something, but isn't necessarily responsible for pleasure itself

sense of control

-internal locus of control: person tends to attribute outcomes to self-directed efforts -external locus of control: belief that outcomes in one's life are due to factors outside of one's immediate control internal locus of control is associated with a variety of positive outcomes -high internal locus of control is part of a sense of personal control -external locus of control for American college students has risen significantly risen since the 1960s -today's college students "increasingly believe their lives are controlled by outside forces rather than their own efforts"

managing emotions

-involves numerous mood regulation skills -balancing act: too much regulation and a person becomes repressed, too little and life becomes overwhelming -people who become good at regulating their moods are able to share these skills with others -measurement by presenting a series of scenarios eliciting the most adaptive ways to regulate ones own feelings as well as feelings that arise in social situations and in other people

more accurate view of inequality

-it brings out features of evolved psychology to do with dominance and subordination, superiority and inferiority -- affects how we treat others and ourselves -inequality increases status competition and status insecurity -increases anxiety and intensifies worries about how we are seen and judged

the most essential positive emotions (Shiota, Keltner, John)

-joy -contentment -pride -love -compassion -amusement -awe -related to different aspects of personality, eg extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, and neuroticism

positive emotions and playfulness

-joy induces playfulness -play builds: enduring social and intellectual resources by encouraging attachment, higher levels of creativity, and greater brain development -adults who are more playful: have less perceived stress, are found to cope better with various stressors in their lives, and have greater life satisfaction

escape the shame trap

-keep goal in mind and stay clear of a personal attack

can rose colored glasses be a good thing for happiness?

-life satisfaction is sometimes related to inaccurate perceptions of reality or positive illusions -Baumeister suggested there may be an optimal margin for illusions -advantages of positive illusions depend on context and on one's goals of well-being

do genes rule our emotional lives?

-long-term wellbeing is not completely determined by genetic inheritance -further, research conclusions are based on group averages compiled over several years --> contained within these group averages can be significant individual variations -also, studies based on well-being scores from relatively global assessment measures that do not specify how people uniquely define their own happiness or life satisfaction -even David Lykken, one of the major proponents of the heritability and set-point theory, pointed out that we can influence our level of well-being by creating environments more conducive to feelings of happiness and by working with our genetic makeup -more recent research does not support set-point theory -Ed Diener, researcher in subjective well-being, has criticized extreme set point theory as being overly deterministic -Frank Fujita and Diener examined longitudinal data on life satisfaction collected over 17 years in Germany -- 24% of people changed significantly between first five years and last five years in terms of well-being, though obviously their genetic makeup did not change -Bruce Headey found that goals people pursued had major impact on life satisfaction using this same data set -goals associated with greater life satisfaction consisted of commitments to family and friends, social or political involvement, and altruism --> "nonzero-sum goals" --> both benefit -zero sum goals are ones in which one person gains at the expense of others, which does not promote life satisfaction

bottom-up predictors of subjective well-being

-money/income/wealth, age, culture, education, climate --> more external, superficial

why do cultures differ in subjective well-being?

-money/wealth/income, need fulfillment, democracy and equality, and different conceptualizations of the self

emotional literacy

-more than 300 program developers intrigued by teachability of emotional intelligence -time and more empirical scrutiny will tell whether intentional skill development actually produces gains in emotional intelligence -Marc Brackett Ruler Model of Emotional Literacy -emotional interventions

culture

-most psychology studies involve WEIRD participants -western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic -world's top 10 in well-being: largely concentrated in Latin America, and some parts of Europe

7. strive for growth, not happiness

-multiple paths to well-being -becoming fully human is about living a full existence, not necessarily a happy existence

3. become aware of your inner conflicts

-multiple personalities eg romantic love and Helen Fisher explanation

2. accept your whole self, not just your best self

-no "true" self; we have multitudes -most people show authenticity bias -don't ask who am I? -rather, ask what potentialities within me do I most wish to spend my limited time cultivating?

the need for hope

-not all children can receive casino royalties -need to be able to see hope for themselves and others in their community -hope through an intelligent views of intelligent (Kaufman's idea of diff. ways of looking at intelligence)

age

-older people tend to be more satisfied with life than younger people -possibly because older people have a smaller discrepancy between their life goals and accomplishments, satisfaction with social relationships is higher and more important for older people, greater self-efficacy and optimism, higher sense of autonomy, a more realistic view of the future, a more successful resolution of developmental life stages, a greater sense of meaning, and less frequent and intense negative emotions

neurobiology of processing emotional significance

-on neurobiological level, amygdala plays a significant role in processing matters of emotional significance according to LeDoux -LeDoux suggests under stress-free life circumstances, our thinking is governed by hippocampus, but during stressful times, our thought processes and aspects of our coping are ruled by the amygdala -culture can affect neurological level to some extent -when comparing Asian individuals to European American individuals a study found that Asians seem to be "culturally trained to down-regulate emotional processing when required to suppress emotion" -researchers measured levels of emotional processing at a neurological level and found that when asked to suppress their reactions to negative pictures, Asians were able to decrease their neurological reaction to such a picture while European Americans did not seem to be able to control this in the same way

Progoff Intensive Journal Program for Self-Development

-one begins by writing down an answer to a single question -answers to this question are then addressed in various sections of the journal workbook, such as career, family, and spirituality -intent is to create an ongoing dialogue between aspects of a person's inner and outer lives -has been used in many different settings including university classes, alcohol treatment centers, prisons, and businesses

recovery for epigenetic modifications

-one cannot reverse epigenetic modifications driven by environmental experiences that have occurred in previous life periods -however, recovery from earlier experiences is possible by redirecting gene expression to compensate for what has happened, through interventions -each stage of life depends on what has come before, redirection, recovery, and resilience are possible, and windows of plasticity that make this possible are to be found across the entire life course

stability of subjective well-being

-one's average level of happiness and life satisfaction are both relatively stable -Harker and Keltner found that positive emotion in high school was significantly related to well-being 30 years later - examining the Pan American (fake) vs. Duchenne smile (real)

facilitating thought

-people who are emotionally intelligent harness emotions and work with them to improve problem solving to boost creativity -physiological feedback from emotional experience is used to prioritize the demands of our cognitive systems and to direct attention to what is most important -eg woman thinking about cutting a friend out, how she feels when thinking about it can give clues on to how to proceed as well as alternatives about to handle the friendship -for measurement, respondents asked to describe feelings using non feeling words and to indicate the feelings that might facilitate or interfere with the successful performance of various tasks

optimism

-people who are more optimistic about the future are happier and report greater life satisfaction -compared to pessimists, optimists engage in more effective coping behavior, have better physical health, and have better relationships with others -optimists have greater self-confidence and perseverance when faced with challenges

other complications regarding income

-people who choose a voluntary simplicity/environmentally friendly lifestyle often achieve a high level of subjective well-being despite their low income -as people earn more, they tend to consume more which may leads to increases in materialism, which decrease subjective well-being over time, while decreases in materialism are associated with increases in well-being -high earning households donate a smaller percentage of income to charity each year than low earning households -higher income people tend to be less likely to have egalitarian ideals and tend to show less empathy toward strangers

more complications

-people who earn more than 100k/year spend more time engaging in unenjoyable activities like grocery shopping and commuting and less time engaging in passive leisure than those earning less than 20k/year -paradox of choice: eliminating consumer choice can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers -1995 survey by Shor on 100k+ earners: 27% felt as if they could not afford everything they really needed and 19% said they spent all their income on basic necessities -people who hold financial success as their core value tend to report lower global adjustment ratings and more behavior disorders

context-specific strategies tackling structural and intermediary determinants

-policies on stratification to reduce inequalities -policies to reduce exposures of historically marginalized groups -policies to reduce vulnerabilities of historically marginalized and build to transformative change -policies to reduce unequal consequences of social, economic, and health disparities

not independently predictive of well-being

-politeness -orderliness -emotional volatility

democracy and equality

-political instability in a country is related to lower levels of subjective well-being -people are also more satisfied if they can engage in the democratic process -one recent study examined surveys from 1981-2007 in 45 countries and found that "the extent to which a society allows free choice has a major impact on happiness" -higher happiness rating related to democracy, tolerance for others, sense of control, and greater ability to make economic choices -a higher sense of agency or self-efficacy is associated with well-being across all countries -seems to be related to collective levels of trust: nations in which people tend to be more distrustful of the government show lower levels of overall subjective well-being in spite of income levels -the level of justice sense of fair treatment in a society is strongly correlated with subjective well-being

study on slum in Calcutta, India

-positive levels of life satisfaction were found among those who lived in extreme poverty, although satisfaction levels were still lower than those of more prosperous groups in India -homeless street people in Calcutta reported higher life satisfaction than their counterparts in the US

cultural differences

-positive, as opposed to inverse, correlations are found between positive and negative affect in many Eastern groups, namely Asian cultures -ability to feel and think dialectically about events in one's life can be labeled a strength in Asian cultures

trauma in childhood

-predictive adaptive response theory - early childhood adversity leads to child adopting behavioral strategies for anticipated environment -fear learning and unlearning are different processes -unlearning can occur only after prefontal cortex matures and it has enough power to regulate the amygdala and other subcorticol areas associated with anticipation of reward -early life stressors create constraints on development by activating genes that cause critical development periods to come to a close -brain areas particularly sensitive: hippocampus, amygdala, anterior cirgulate cortex, corpus callosum, prefrontal cortex

need fulfillment

-recent studies have found that differences among countries in wellbeing depends on the extent to which people feel their basic needs, such as safety, shelter, and nutrition, are being met on a daily basis -amount of positive emotions had a smaller effect on income -greater happiness was more strongly associated with the fulfillment of psychological needs for learning, autonomy respect and opportunities to use one's skills -in countries with higher incomes, fulfillment of psychological needs was a better predictor of happiness than was income -researchers recommended that cross-cultural well-being be measured with two types of prosperity: economic and social-psychological -subjective well-being in all cultures is related to how well people believe they are achieving the things they value -because individuals in different cultures differ in what they value, paths to well-being likewise differ among cultures eg latino cultures tend to place a high value on interpersonal reciprocity and building strong emotional family ties while East Asian cultures tend to value social harmony over individual achievement -therefore, how people go about pursuing well-being is different in different cultures

the positivity ratio under fire

-recently discovered that the math used to attain this ratio had man flaws -Nicholas Brown, a grad. student., discovered the math mistakes and submitted a paper questioning the assertion that a critical point between flourishing and languishing can be quantified -Frederickson responded by noting the computational errors and acknowledging the absence of such a tipping point between flourishing and languishing, but she says generally having more positive emotions than negative ones is beneficial -Brown et al don't agree

differing conceptions of self

-recently researchers have shown increased interest in how Western ideas of individualism and self have influences ideas about happiness, wellbeing, and social relationships -a major difference among cultures is the dimension of individualism-collectivism, a significant factor in how people experience subjective well-being

epigenetics

-refers to the environmental influences that shape the individual, resulting in different developmental outcomes even among individuals --> body, brain, environment, genes are linked -neurons to neighborhoods: continuous and adaptive interaction between biology and environment from the moment of birth and through the early childhood years -research shows powerful and lasting effects of in-utero, preconception, and transgenerational influences on cild development -encompasses all exposures or influences that can affect well-being or increase or limit opportunity, such as supportive parenting and stress -central to the epigenetic approach is the life-course perspective: an individual's current circumstances are at least partly a consequence of events and experiences that occurred earlier in the individual's life

perceiving emotions

-requires picking up on subtle emotional cues that might be expressed in a person's face or voice -these skills can be considered a threshold competency that needs to be acquired so that the other three emotional intelligence competencies can be developed

differing conceptions of self and affect balance

-research examined cultural differences in affect balance--the degree to which pleasant emotions are experienced more than unpleasant emotions -found that a high positivity ratio was more important to subjective well-being in individualistic cultures and was associated with feeling frequent positive emotions in many social situations -however, in collectivist cultures, the important information used to make a judgment of subjective well-being involved social norms about how good or acceptable it was to feel satisfied in various social situations -in collectivist cultures, giving oneself a very high rating on happpiness might even indicate arrogance

can we assign a number to the human condition?

-research found that positive affect may be the cause of many desirable characteristics resources and successes correlated with happiness -preliminary evidence suggests success and other beneficial outcomes may be caused by presence of happiness in one's life

mediating qualities of emotion-focused coping

-researchers have found that when dealing with the stress of chronic racism, racial and ethnic minority individuals' positive appraisal of emotion-focused coping options may intervene n the relationship between self esteem, life satisfaction, and racial identity development -specifically, when individuals of racial and ethnic minority groups feel that they have ways of coping emotionally with experiences of discrimination, greater self-esteem and greater life satisfaction were more closely linked with a strong identification with their racial group -may be that when a victim of racism feels the negative effects of being associated with a group that is seen to be at a disadvantage, being able to use positive reframing helps the individual retain good feelings about himself or herself and the groups to which he or she belongs -one way of coping utilized in cases of discrimination is a strong identification with others in one's own ethnic group, which fosters psychological well-being -in other research, Peters found that in African American sample, emotion-focused coping was negatively correlated with the experience of chronic stress emotions as brought on by exposure to racism, pointing to the conclusion that use of emotion-focused styles of coping to deal with stressors related to personal racism, or as part of a racial group, may increase well-being and/or decrease stress for individuals experiencing these types of stressors in their environments

how we think impacts how we feel

-revival of ancient Greek notion that our thoughts in large part determine our emotional states -cognitive behavioral therapy's goal is to help people change negative styles of thinking as a way to change how they feel -CBT approach to emotional lives as been remarkably successful, and changing how we think about other people, our future, and ourselves is partially responsible for this success -involves dexterity at cognitive control of emotions -Martin Seligman's "learned optimism" - found that people can unlearn negative styles of thinking and instead learn how to interpret events with more realistic optimism; complex yet positive interpretation of events can help create a sense of meaning and purpose in life -thinking can also influence perspective on time -Philip Zimbardo and Ilona Boniwell studied how our ideas about time influence our happiness or satisfaction with life - found that future-oriented people can better delay gratification and work toward long-term goals than more present-oriented ones -in contrast, present-oriented people tend to live for the moment and find satisfaction in enjoying current pleasures but are less inclined to work hard toward future goals

five s's of human alert system (anxiety)

-scare, startle, share, scout, squat

closing thoughts

-science of well-being must take time to recognize and build upon inherent assets and honor the dignity of all people, be culturally embedded, and balance qualitative and quantitative methodologies

culture and self

-self influenced by social factors and pervasive ideas, institutions and products, and daily situations/practices

top-down predictors of subjective well-being

-self-esteem, self-efficacy, optimism, positive expectancies, sense of control, hope --> more internal, personality-based

PERMA

-seligman -positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, and accomplishments

environmental mastery

-sense of mastery and competence, an ability to choose situations and environments conducive to meeting goals

guilt vs. shame

-shame is focused on the entire self, is about feeling bad about who we are, is an extreme feeling, and is about blaming others -guilt is focused on the victim and the harmful act, is about feeling bad about what we did, feels moderate, and is about taking personal responsibility

intersectionality

-simultaneously belonging to numerous categories; may have been marginalized

context of diversity and diversity of context: sociocultural framework

-social circumstances and experiences at multiple levels of a society affect our perspective, outcome, opportunity, etc... -policies at all levels have direct impact --> measure of mattering at scale -example: youth policy ecosystem - many factors at play

democracy and social equality

-social equality--the extent to which people share n the economic and social advantages--is also linked to happiness -Hagerty found evidence that the higher the income inequality in a country, the lower its subjective well-being -Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett present compelling evidence that a more equitable distribution of wealth and services leads to a nation that is happier, healthier, has less crime, higher academic achievement, and fewer teen births -their evidence suggests inequality makes societies dysfunctional for all members of a society--even those who are rich benefit from greater social equality

the genetics of emotion

-some people are cheerful and easygoing whereas others are prone to anxiety and worry according to Lykken and Tellegen -about 50% of variability of emotions due to emotions seen in twins -very low in shared family environment or learning

can money increase subjective well-being

-spending money on experiential purchases is more associated with personal happiness than spending on material purchases -priming people to think about having more time for social connections tended to increase happiness, but priming them to think about money did not -successfully completing psychotherapy is at least 32x more cost-effective in raising happiness than gaining more income -increasing the frequency of sexual intercourse from once a month to once a week increased happiness as much as $50,000 raise in salary -spending money on opportunities for personal growth can also increase subjective well-being -spending money on time saving activities can increase subjective well-being

allostatic load implications

-stress response and development of allostatic load influences by experiences, genetics, and behaviors -usually involve the interaction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis -when HPA is overtaxed by stress via racial discrimination, the release of adrenaline and Cortisol can be harmful.

Don't think too much!

-study by Lyubormisky, Sousa, and Dickerhoof suggests how process emotional material is very important -found that the act of writing about difficult events produced better emotional and physical health, and that relating negative experiences could also be beneficial -however, merely thinking about traumatic experiences did little to help people work through their emotions -found an effect with significant implications for positive psychology interventions: people who systematically analyzed and processed positive experiences (the how and why) showed reduced levels of well-being and physical health -analyzing negative experiences can help process them, but analyzing positive experiences takes the fun away from them

sublimity vs. beauty

-sublime and beautiful experiences engage separate and distinct brain systems -sublime can be fear, horror, awe, pleasure-pain, etc... -caudate (body) and mOFC associated with beauty -caudate (head) with sublimity

difference between meaning and happiness

-the "parenthood paradox" - in retrospect, parents usually report that they are very lad they had children, but parents living with children usually score very low on happiness indicators -revolutionaries may feel unhappy about their miserable living conditions, but the passionate fight for a cherished cause may infuse their lives with meaning

grounding

-the belief in the dignity of all people

the neuroscience of happiness

-the left prefrontal cortex is more activated when we are happy -this area of the brain has been associated with greater ability to recover from negative emotions as well as enhanced ability to suppress negative emotions -in a study of long-term Buddhist meditators, found that people can train themselves to increase activation in this area of the brain

juxtaposition of theoretical frameworks, balance and context

-the self is constantly changing: our identity is in constantly in flux and the priority identity varies based range of contextual factors

takeaways on culture and life satisfaction

-the social context of our lives has a major impact on we perceive ourselves, our relationships, and our responsibilities -broad social contexts impact how we view the nature of the self and what gals we pursue in order to achieve greater happiness, satisfaction, or wellbeing in life -indices of wellbeing reveal something about how well a country provides for its citizens' needs -some researchers have even proposed that governments create national wellbeing indices that can be used to assess how well a country is progressing toward greater wellbeing -this would be a companion to GDP, which is simply a matter of economic factors

Martin Tiecher study

-these brain adaptations do not necessarily imply psychopathology -found that individuals who underwent persistent abuse and neglect didn't require any diagnosis of psychopathy and many were highly resilient individuals who recruited other psychological and environmental resources (eg perseverance, social support, community resources, etc.) in order to be resilient in the face of stress

cultural differences

-these links have not been found in some cross-cultural studies -differences have been found between Indian and German Samples and Eastern (Thai) vs. Western (US) samples

anxiety

-too little anxiety suggests environment is boring lacking in stimulation -too much anxiety suggests a situation is overwhelming -anxiety can lead to heightened perception and amplified hearing -the situation matters: in danger zones, anxiety prevails over positivity along with situations in which danger is a possibility -anxious people quickly discover solutions and can share problems and solutions when team is around

anger

-tool that helps us respond to upsetting situations -can increase optimism, creativity, and effective performance -opitimism: mild anger leads to bigger risks, dealing with threats, and helps prepare for action in general -creativity: those with high need to understand rules of a situations and prefer a sense of control performed better if they received angry feedback -less grounded, rebellious people had their creativity hampered -expressing anger can lead to more successful negotiations and a fast track for mobilizing people into agents of change -power in prompting collective action against unfair, inappropriate threats -in order to work with anger: recognize the difference between events you can change and those you can't, let people know that you are feeling anger it and it may influence discussion, use appropriate tone without demeaning the other person, slow the situation down, pausing for a moment, taking deep breaths, think like a chess player, make sure anger doesn't escalate, keep yourself in check

residential segregation

-two Americas -income varies widely across racial and ethnic groups in the United States -racial wealth inequality is rampant in the US

stable vs. unstable self-esteem

-two types of self-esteem: secure and fragile -high self-esteem that is fragile is unstable and has been associated with elevated hostility -insecure self-esteem can also lead to unrealistic optimism

understanding emotions

-understanding complex emotions, relationships among emotions, and relationships between emotions and behavioral consequences -people with these skills understand jealousy and envy are destructive in their own right and that they fuel maladaptive interpersonal behavior that probably results in a proliferation of negative emotions -gives the skill of being able to read people -assessed with questions concerning the manner in which emotions evolve and how some feelings and produced by blends of emotions

can we experience negative affect and positive affect at the same time?

-unpleasant and pleasant affect are independent and have different correlates -low correlations with joviality, attentiveness, and self-assurance -implications: efforts to increase positive emotions will not automatically result in decreased negative emotions, nor will decreased negative emotions necessarily result in increased positive emotions -relevant to positive psychology interventions

opiates

-variety of neurotransmitters have been found to act like the brain's natural opiate system -these encephalins or endorphins appear to increase pleasure and decrease the experience of pain -increased levels of endorphins are partially involved in the "runner's high" that can accompany physical exercise

stronger reactions to the dark side

-we have a stronger reaction to negative life events than positive ones -we'd pay more to avoid a negative feeling than experience a positive one, except love triumphs all -but negative emotions can be integrated positively

identity

-who am I? -what is my value?

Stanton's breast cancer study

-with emotion-focused coping defined and measured more clearly, they studied the impact of emotion-focused coping on women's adjustment to breast cancer -over a 3-month period, women who used emotion-focused coping perceived their health status as better, had lower psychological distress, and had fewer medical appointments for cancer-related pain and ailments compared to those who didn't

cultural differences in emotion-focused coping

-work on emotion-focused coping highlights adaptive potential of emotional expression and processing when coping with infertility, cancer, and chronic pain -each day we are challenged by minor stresses and real problems that stir up emotions that we can approach or avoid -many people within a Western context seem to benefit, at least in the short run, from expressing their emotions in a meaningful way -emotional processing seems to become more adaptive as people learn more about what they feel and why they need it -not always the case--many Asian cultures encourage suppression of emotions to preserve harmony in the group -research finds suppression common in Chinese individuals and not necessarily associated with the same negative correlates found in Western studies -there are some circumstances, such as within close personal relationships, where emotional expression is considered by Asians to be appropriate and healthy -contemporary Asian individuals may use a mixture of emotion suppression and expression -cultural complexity bc there may be situations in which Asians wish to emote but suppress and suppress when they wish to emote, leading to stress -different coping strategies may be used in these cultural groups to combat this stress

social determinants of health and well-being

-world health organization defines health as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

stereotype threat model (Steele 1997)

1. ability diagnostic situation + stereotype 2. self-threat 3. distraction, self-consciousness, evaluation apprehension, loss of motivation 4. interference with performance

core principles of wholeness (Kaufman, 2020)

1. balance basic needs 2. accept your whole self, not just your best self 3. become aware of your inner conflicts 4. look out for lopsided development 5. create the best version of yourself 6. learn to trust your self-actualizing tendency 7. strive for growth, not happiness 8. harness the power of your dark side

the three meanings of meaning

1. coherence - environment makes sense and has predictability 2. purpose - motivation to realize future-oriented and valued life goals 3. mattering/significance/"existential meaning" - extent that you feel your existence is important and valuable

11 dimensions of wellbeing

1. high positive emotions 2. low negative emotions 3. life satisfaction 4. authenticity 5. environmental mastery 6. personal growth 7. positive relations 8. self-acceptance 9. purpose and meaning 10. engagement with life 11. accomplishment

Kaufman's hierarchy of needs

1. security: safety, self esteem, and connection 2. growth: purpose, love, and exploration 3. transcendance

happiest man in America

Mr. Alvin Wong

Carol Ryff model of eudamonia

The Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being is a theory developed by Carol Ryff which determines six factors which contribute to an individual's psychological well-being, contentment, and happiness.[1] Psychological well-being consists of positive relationships with others, personal mastery, autonomy, a feeling of purpose and meaning in life, and personal growth and development.[2] Psychological well-being is attained by achieving a state of balance affected by both challenging and rewarding life events. -as one gets older, personal growth and purpose in life take big hits

personal growth

capacity to grow and develop potentials, growing self-knowledge and effectiveness in personal change over time, openness to experiences

positive relations with others

close, warm and intimate relationships with others, a concern for the welfare of others, empathy and affection for other people

the three meanings of meaning

coherence, purpose, significance/mattering/existential meaning

corpus callosum

connects left and right hemispheres

happy chemicals

dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin

anterior cirgulate cortex

error detection, impulse control, and allocation of mental resources

emotional expression

free and intentional displays of feeling

hippocampus

involved in formation and retrieval of memories and imaginings

prefrontal cortex

long-term decision making, evaluating situations, emotional self-regulation

5. create the best version of yourself

personality change is possible

self-acceptance

positive self-evaluation, ability to acknowledge multiple aspects of self, ability to accept both positive and negative qualities in a balanced picture of one's abilities

purpose in life

sense of purpose and meaning in life, sense of direction and goals in life

prejudice

the affective component; feelings we have about particular groups

discrimination

the behavioral component; different actions taken toward members of specified social groups

stereotypes

the cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like

allostatic load

the cumulative physical burden imposed by chronic stress in adults

implicit bias

thoughts and feelings we are unaware of mistaken about their nature, preferences, or aversions to without our conscious knowledge

amygdala

vigilance and detection of emotional significance