Psych 2303 - Positive Psych Exam 1
theory that states that when we feel positive emotions, we are more likely to broaden our thinking about people and actions.
broaden and build theory
hypothesis of broaden and build that states that, when inducing a positive emotion after the induction of a negative emotion, this will undue some of the problematic responses associated with the negative emotion (faster return to baseline physiological functioning).
undoing hypothesis
a potential route to happiness that states that winning at whatever matters most generates happiness; could be winning against others or winning against yourself.
victory
what percent of happiness is attributed to set-point (heritability)?
50%
what are some of the resources that may be garnered during the 'build' of experiencing positive emotions?
-cognitive resources (learning) -social resources (relationships) -physical resources (fighting & foraging skills) -psychological resources (other positive emotions) -neural resources (neural growth)
what are the characteristics of pleasure?
-experiential quality (how good) and quantity (how much) -multi-dimensional (you can have positive and negative valence at the same time, i.e., graduation being bitter-sweet) -can result from addition or subtraction of stimuli -can be experienced as recollection or anticipation
what are some things that happiness is related to?
-good interpersonal relationships -cognitive flexibility and creativity -job performance -resilience and health
what are the four potential routes to happiness?
-hedonism -eudaimonia -engagement -victory
what is associated with positive affectivity, besides extroversion?
-marital status -job satisfaction -spirituality
why do we have emotions?
-may help integrate information -may be important to survival
why might positive affectivity be more likely to be observed in extroverts?
-more socially active -more friends -more acquaintances -involved in social organizations
what are some reasons that positive emotions are overlooked?
-not linked to specific action tendency -harder to identify survival value of positive emotions -no differences in physiological mechanisms for positive emotions -facial expressions associated with positive emotions don't vary
what are some of the downsides of positive psychology?
-pop psychology bandwagon -tyranny of positivity (the idea that we always have to be happy)
why might emotions be important to survival?
-similarities in expression of emotional reactions between humans and animals to communicate to others in group -incorporates environmental information in reactions
why might pleasure be evolutionary?
-to stimulate reward-seeking behavior -play in animals and humans -mating, eating, and child-rearing
what are the dimensions of affect?
-valence -arousal
in 2015, what percent of college freshman said it was 'very important' to be 'well off financially'? In 1967?
81.8% ; 42%
what were the top 10 happiest countries in the world in 2018?
1. Finland 2. Norway 3. Denmark 4. Iceland 5. Switzerland 6. Netherlands 7. Canada 8. New Zealand 9. Sweden 10. Austria
what are the top 10 happiest states of 2017?
1. Hawaii 2. Alaska 3. South Dakota 4. Maine 5. Colorado 6. Vermont 7. Arizona 8. Montana 9. Minnesota 10. Texas
what are the top 10 least happy states of 2017?
1. West Virginia 2. Kentucky 3. Oklahoma 4. Indiana 5. Arkansas 6. Ohio 7. Alabama 8. Louisiana 9. Rhode Island 10.
what percent of happiness is attributed to volitional activity?
40%
in 2015, what percent of college freshman said it was 'very important' or 'essential' to develop a meaningful philosophy of life? 1967?
44.4% ; 86%
traditional theory of happiness that involves getting what you want; i.e., synthesized happiness.
desire theory
noted similarities in expression of emotional reaction between humans and animals.
Darwin
proposed the Broaden and Build theory.
Fredrickson
who suggested the pleasure principle in 1936?
Freud
said that everything we do, we do it for pleasure; we have a deep need to experience pleasure; everything we do, we do for pleasure.
Freud's pleasure principle
who suggested that the ability to experience positive emotions was separate from negative emotions, that stable individual difference are based in genetics, and that stability is linked to extroversion?
Paul Meehl
who coined the term, 'positive psychology'?
Seligman
when did psychologists become very focused on assessment/psychopathology, and moved towards a disease model of psychology?
WWII
can be positive or negative; the range or intensity of display of feelings.
affect
shows that the interaction of valence and arousal produces a subjective experience; discrete affective experiences = emotions; emotions = characteristic pattern of physiological arousal, thoughts, and behaviors; emotions that are similar to each other are closer to each other.
affect circumplex
the activation of physiological systems.
arousal
describe the study on UK women and happiness.
asked women how happy they were at 50-69 years old; 39% said happy most of the time, 44% said usually happy, and 17% unhappy; found that the unhappy group had higher rates of mortality; however, when accounting for self-rated health, demographic, and lifestyle factors, this relationship went away; the relationship b/w happiness and longevity went away when controlling for self-rated health, demographics, and lifestyle factors.
the idea that positive emotions expand thinking about possible actions, opening awareness to a larger range of thoughts and actions than is typical.
broaden
the urge to carry out certain expressive/instrumental behaviors linked to a specific emotion.
behavioral action tendencies
pieces of the 'happiness equation' that focus on a person's traits.
biological set-points
the idea that positive emotions are related to survival and reproduction on a larger time scale; positive emotions --> expansive awareness --> building resources --> better equipped to handle later threats.
build
when is the undoing hypothesis most pronounced?
cardiovascular effects
describe the study done on happiness and income done on college students initially and then later in life.
college students at elite universities surveyed at age 18 and then again at age 37; found that those who expressed that making money was a primary goal at age 18 were less satisfied with their lives 20 years later; also found that those who were most cheerful at age 18 made more money at age 37 (i..e, being happier predicted making more money later); these effects were moderated by how much money your parents made; i.e., if your parents are high income, how cheerful you are and how much money you make is very strongly associated if your parents make a lot of money (the relationship between how cheerful you are at age 18 and how much money you make at age 37 is much stronger); however, if your parents make low amounts of money, your cheerfulness only matters up to a point (being the happiest doesn't have as much of an effect);
the full, genuine smile.
duchenne smile
occurs when recalling out pleasure memories in which we are bad at predicting how long we are going to feel a certain way; we don't pay attention to how long something lasts; we are better at predicting the valence of a feeling than how long we will have that feeling.
duration neglect
a potential route to happiness that states that engaging in particular life activities generates happiness; states that process is the pursuit of happiness; being present in what you're doing (can be ANYTHING).
engagement
a potential route to happiness that involves identifying one's virtues, cultivating them, and living in accord with them; finding happiness through connecting to your valued behaviors.
eudaimonia
is positive affectivity more likely to be observed in introverts or extroverts?
extroverts
theory of emotion that states that our facial expressions cause emotional responses; when we have an emotional experience, it starts as a facial expression.
facial feedback hypothesis
t/f: demographic variables tend to have an impact on happiness.
false; demographic variables tend to have no impact on happiness
what leads to resource generation, according to broaden and build theory?
feeling good --> thinking broadly --> resource generation
what is the 'happiness equation'?
happiness = set-point (positive affect/heritability) + life circumstances + volitional activity (stuff you do intentionally/of your own will)
a potential route to happiness that states that a reduction of tension or satisfaction of needs leads to happiness; involves doing things that give us pleasure in the moment.
hedonism
traditional theory of happiness that involves the summing-up of experiences to conclude how happy you are; bottom-up processing.
hedonism
what is the basic assumption of positive psychology?
human goodness and excellence are as important as disease, disorder, and distress.
what brain hemisphere has been linked to positive emotions?
left hemisphere
describe the nun study looking at positive affect and how that is related to longevity/mortality.
looked at the relationship between positive emotions and longevity in 180 nuns; chose nuns because they have very stable lives; coded with positive, negative, and neutral emotional words and sentences; very few had negative emotions; found that more positive affect at ordination was associated with longer life, specifically an average of 10.7 years longer than those who did not have positive affect!
aversiveness/avoidance
negative valence
is mental health just the absence of disease, according to positive psychologists?
no; people who have psychopathology can be successful; those who don't have psychopathology aren't necessarily successful
traditional theory of happiness that involves truly valuable things in the world; what are the objectively valued things?; overall, material goods increasing but happiness is not.
objective list theory
describe the study involving positive emotions and creativity score.
participants thought of a word that related to each of three presented words (i.e., mower, atomic, foreign); it was found that people who experienced positive affect performed better on these tests of creativity
describe the study done on inducing positive emotions and film clips.
participants watched film clips that induced different emotions or were in a control group; found that when people experienced positive emotions, people made more global configuration choices (seeing the overall big picture, thinking more broadly)
describe the study done on the undoing hypothesis.
participants were put in a highly stressful situation in which they gave a speech to increase arousal; then, participants watched various videos to induce different feelings; it was found that those who watched the joy-inducing video returned to baseline quicker than those who watched the sadness-inducing video
the idea that pleasure memories are influenced by intensity and ending of experience.
peak-end
describe the study done on candy and case conceptualizations in physicians.
physicians were either given a bag of candy or not, then everyone is given the same case conceptualization test; it was found that the doctors who had the bag of candy came up with better case conceptualizations for the candy; asked more questions, more integrative, more cognitive flexibility, etc.
often 'raw' and associated with sensations generated by the skin; can have more content pleasures often associated with more 'distant' sensory organs.
pleasure
the most fleeting of positive affect; short bursts; interacting with the senses in some way.
pleasure
the demand that an instinctive need be satisfied regardless of consequences.
pleasure princinple
attractiveness/appetitiveness
positive valence
the idea that people are looking for the ratio of positive:negative emotional experiences; looking for the optimal number to balance those things out so that you are functioning the best you can;
positivity ratio
the idea that, following positive mood induction, participants tend to generate more things they would like to do than people who were not induced to feel positive emotions.
resource generation
describe the study on peak-end and arm submersion in cold water.
study on peak-end in which you put your forearm in a tank of very cold water; how long can you leave your arm in the cold water? Participants are told to keep their arm in the water for 60 seconds, then can take their arm out OR keep their arm in 60 seconds, then keep their arm in 30 seconds longer but at 1 degree warmer temperature; found that the 60 second participants thought it was more painful, because they did not have a peak; the 60+30 group's average pain was lower because they had time in a warmer temperature, whereas the other group is steadily awful.
theory of emotion that states that our emotions serve as bodily markers that help us to make decision in our lives about what is good or bad for us; i.e., 'trust your gut'.
somatic marker hypothesis
what countries are more happy than we would expect based on affluence?
south american countries
explain the broaden and build theory.
theory that suggests that positive emotions broaden one's awareness and encourage novel thoughts and actions; over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources.
according to broaden and build theory, what might the feeling of interest urge us to?
to explore and learn
according to broaden and build theory, what might the feeling of joy urge us to?
to play and be creative
according to broaden and build theory, what might the feeling of serenity urge us to?
to savor and integrate
t/f: Asian countries are less happy than we would expect based on affluence.
true
t/f: a better understanding of well-being is applicable to all.
true
t/f: according to the undoing hypothesis, the induction of a positive emotion after induction of a negative emotion is associated with a faster return to baseline physiological functioning.
true
t/f: both extroverts AND introverts are most happy when engaged in extroverted activity.
true
t/f: most people are above the happiness midpoint.
true
t/f: most people put happiness at the top of the list when asked what they want most in life.
true
t/f: most people report that money would definitely enhance quality of life
true
t/f: most people report that money would definitely enhance quality of life.
true
t/f: negative emotions have particular physiological effects.
true
t/f: negative emotions narrow our attention.
true
t/f: pleasure may have some evolutionary bases.
true
t/f: positive affectivity is independent of negative affectivity.
true
t/f: positive psychology (and psychology in general) exists on a spectrum.
true
t/f: social variables tend to have moderate impacts on happiness.
true
t/f: some personality variables have strong impacts on happiness.
true
t/f: there are multiple set-points.
true
t/f: we average the most intense moment and the last moment to recall pleasure memories.
true
t/f: you WANT variance in your DV.
true
t/f: you can have more content pleasures often associated with more 'distant' sensory organs.
true
t/f: rich nations are happier than poor nations.
true; however, within nations, income is not associated with happiness past the most basic needs being met
t/f: joy predicts playfulness.
true; joy promotes social bonds, creativity, and brain development
t/f: positive affectivity is stable across time and situations.
true; variability of positive affectivity is also consistent
t/f: pleasure is often relational.
true; we often utilize social signaling to make sure it is safe and okay.
describe the study done on the protective physiological effects of positive emotions.
undergraduates were surveyed on 6 emotional experiences for 3 weeks; then exposed everyone to the same dose of a virus (a cold); found that positive emotions predicted whether or not you got the cold wherein those who experienced more positive emotions were less likely to develop a cold; found that negative emotions did not predict whether or not you got sick; negative emotions, however, predicted how bad you thought it was if you got sick; people with more negative emotions reported feeling worse based upon what you would expect from physiological markers
describe the Mill's College Yearbook Study.
yearbook pictures from 1958 and 1960 were taken and coded for how genuine the smiles were; found that duchenne level (how genuine the smiles were) predicted marital status and happiness in marriages; attractiveness DID NOT predict a satisfying relationship
