chapter 12 psychology

in what ways is happiness related to how people spend their money?

There is a higher level of happiness when people spend money on an experience rather than on objects. People are happier when spending on others, not themselves.

what is the adaption-level phenomenon? how does this relate to the tendency for people to misjudge the effect of major events on their long-term happiness?

We adjust to new circumstances. And. How much impact event has on happiness depends on what we're used to. What we consider neutral depends on what we've recently experienced. Book: our tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. Major events don't have as great an impact on long-term happiness as we think they well we eventually adjust to our new situation

what factors are not much related to happiness?

age, gender, attractiveness

what is transferred excitation/the spillover effect?

arousal from one situation intensifies emotion associated with subsequent situation

what part of the nervous system is responsible for physiological changes with emotion?

autonomic nervous system sympathetic NS- arousing parasympathetic NS- calming

what is secondary/self-conscious emotions?

deal with a deeper level of emotional thinking; they are not as clearly interpreted, not consistent, they develop between 1 and a half to 2 and a half years, children must be self aware - empathy, jealousy, embarrassment, pride, shame, guilt age, self-awareness and the mirror and rouge test

catharsis

emotional release; in psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

is every emotion associated with a unique pattern of physiological changes?

heart rate, temperature, skin conductance, pulse, breathing rate, muscle tension patterns of activation not entirely specific, there are only certain emotions that make certain changes to the body

how is self control like a muscle?

it must be exercised or it will deplete, you have to work hard at it suggests that there is a relationship between performance and arousal. Increased arousal can help improve performance, but only up to a certain point. At the point when arousal becomes excessive, performance diminishes.

brain mechanisms of emotion

limbic system (amygdala)

what is meant by relative deprivation?

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares themselves

what is the behavioral feedback phenomena?

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions

what is the facial feedback?

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

characteristics of emotion

thoughts, feelings, behavior, physiological arousal, purposes

are there genetic influences on happiness?

yes, personality characteristics

does venting provide catharsis?

yes, there is an influence of expressing anger on feelings of anger. acting out or viewing aggression can help purge angry feelings

what is the mirror-and-rouge test?

A test to see if children are self-aware and can identify themselves

what are some ways that stress and ethnicity go together?

-higher rate of stress related illnesses among minorities -stressors associated with minority status

what are some ways that stress negatively impacts behavior?

-increased rate of physical and psychological disorder after major stress -Increase domestic violence after disaster.

what are some mediators of stress? (6)

1. Cognitive appraisal/interpretation: how stressful event is depends to some extent on how we view the event (seeing negative event as a disaster rather than a challenge) 2. Sense of control: having a sense of control over one's environment decreases stress 3. Social support: having friends, family that provide social support helps us deal with stress. 4. Exercise: aerobic exercise helps people cope with stress. 5. Relaxation techniques decrease stress . 6.Spirituality or affiliation with the religious community seems to help people cope with stress Meditation. Positive emotion.

Cannon-Bard theory

Emotionally arousing event causes nonspecific physiological arousal and emotional arousal, but neither causes the other, they go in separate brain paths. Book: The theory that an emotional-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion. Event → nonspecific physiological and behavioral changes + emotion (neither one causes the other) Different from lang: emotion plus physiological response occur simultaneously, JL says one causes the other, order of events.

Schacter and Singer's Two Factor Theory

Event → nonspecific physiological and behavioral changes →cognitive interpretation of situation & changes → emotion Event leads to nonspecific physiological changes alerting brain that somethings going on, let's figure out what causes arousal and produce emotions. Event leads to nonspecific emotional arousal leading to cognitive interpretation of situation and arousal leading to an emotional response. Book: to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal. Spillover effect/transferred excitation: arousal from one situation intensifies emotion associated with another situation. (Crowding increases arousal.)

James-Lang theory

Event → specific physiological and behavioral changes → emotion When an emotionally arousing event occurs, we have a specific pattern of physiological and behavioral changes, we have an emotion CAUSED BY the changes. Book: The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli. Event leads to specific physiological arousal pattern leading to an emotion. The emotion is based on a physiological change. Each emotion has its own pattern. Phenomenon: facial/behavioral feedback. Changing facial expression causes changing emotion. Support: Facial/Behavioral feedback phenomenon1. 1. pen in teeth vs lips 2. gazing and attraction

how are social comparisons related to happiness?

Happiness depends on who we compare ourselves to. If we compare ourselves with those who have less we are happier and more satisfied. If we compare ourselves with those who have more, we are sadder.

what is the relationship between money and happiness?

Money does buy happiness but only up to a certain degree and then you experience diminishing returns. Spending on an experience results in greater happiness than spending on objects. Spending on others also results in greater happiness than spending on yourself.

what is meant by diminishing returns?

Once you have enough money for comfort and security, the more and more money you have, the less and less happy you will be.

what is the relationship between perceived control and stress?

Stress is a negative emotional experience that occurs when demand or perceived to be greater than the ability to respond. Book: The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, that we appraised as threatening or challenging.

what is a polygraph? what does it measure? what are problems associated with it? how accurate is it? how is it most likely to err?

measures autonomic activity (blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate). Problems: not valid because just physiological arousal is detected, it can't distinguish between lying, fear, anxiety, etc. There is no pattern specifically to measure lying. People can learn to control their autonomic response. It is also wrong approximately one third of the time. It is more likely to label innocent as guilty than guilty as innocent.

stress

negative emotional experience that occurs when demands are perceived to be greater than ability to respond

what is adaption-level phenomenon?

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience adjust to new circumstances, until it becomes the norm

what factors are predictors of happiness?

personality traits, close relationships, sleep and exercise, and religious faith

what types of people are more vulnerable to the effects of stress?

pessimistic, depressed, type A people

what are the primary emotions and how do they differ?

primary emotions - innate/unlearned and mainly deal with emotions (occur in the first 6 months of life and are expressed cross culturally) -surprise, interest/excitement, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust unlearned, age, culture

what is one of the major problems with the James-Lange theory?

relies on a poly graph that has nonspecific validity, individual variation, and error rate (excluded or restricted in court)

health psychology

study of how psychological factors affect physical health and response to illness