midterm pos psych

how personalities develop

- genes (babies are born with distinct temperaments) - continuity in personality from childhood to adulthood - dramatic change is possible, as personal experiences often reinforce or change our characteristics - maturation and development of self-concept

the flourishing scale

- i lead a purposeful and meaningful life - my social relationships are supportive and rewarding - i am engaged and interested in my daily activities - i actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others - i am competent and capable in the activities that are important to me - i am a good person and live a good life - i am optimistic about my future - people respect me

limitations to the broaden and build mdoel

- much of the research on the building aspect of the model relies on correlational techniques - principles are more general, more work needed to articulate different consequences for different emotions - some positive states seem to contradict the general trend of broadening by instead narrowing attention and behaviour

positive relations with other people

- trusting, intimate, caring relationships with others - depth to the relationship - being there for them, them being there for you - being able to confide in each other

cantril's ten-step ladder

0-4: suffering 5-6: struggling 7-10: thriving

affect

emotion-like phenomenon that refers to experience that differs in pleasantness

courage

emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of adversity

humanity

interpersonal strengths that involve the tend and befriend model. protection of offspring, seeking social groups for protection

fostering relatedness

involvement: interest shown, time spent, and energy invested by others. increases feelings of relatedness and connectedness and is autonomy-supportive

emotions can be distinguished from moods by

length of time, intensity

environmental mastery

refers to feeling effective in interacting with one's environment, seek to control the outcome and experience mastery

the 8 steps to happiness (sonja)

1. count your blessings 2. practice acts of kindness 3. savor life's joys 4. thank a mentor 5. learn to forgive 6. invest time and energy in friends and family 7. take care of your body 8. develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships

high subjective well-being

1. high life satisfaction 2. experiencing many pleasant emotions 3. experiencing few unpleasant emotions

sonja lyubomirsky's estimates of what determines happiness

1. set point 2. intentional activity 3. circumstances

diener and seligman's study to identify the happiest people

222 students, extensive battery of tests to measure subjective well-being, top 10% were identified as the happiest people. most striking difference was found in social behaviour and quality of personal relationships

big five

OCEAN, moderately heritable, highly stable over time

PERMA

P - Positive Emotion E - Engagement R - Relationships M - Meaning A - Accomplishments

research-based approaches to describing pos psych

empirical approach to describing what pos psych is, findings show minor variation across sources, most frequently associated topics were happiness and positive features, less common were relationships, sense of meaning, personality and resiliency

neutrality

equally ranked negative and positive objects are perceived and paid attention to differently. when put together, neutral objects are used as comparisons for good vs bad. ex. the coffee inside the cup is good

eudaimonia and broader views of well-being

eudaimonia indicated by people's sense of purpose, meaning, authenticity, and personal growth. translates as flourishing and emphasizes the idea of living over simply feeling good

indifference

evaluations may be neither good nor bad

environment and personality

extent to which observed individual differences can be traced to individual environmental differences

best predictors (big five) for happiness

extraversion and neuroticism

aristotle

first to describe eudaimonia as a virtuous life

genetics and personality

genes help make each person unique; they shape characteristics and affect the ways the social world responds

honesty-humility

genuineness and trustworthiness, sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, modest. VS arrogant, egotism

duration neglect

giving relative unimportance to the length of an emotional experience, whether pleasurable or unpleasant, in judging and remembering the overall experience

character: strengths model

guided by eudaimonia, but using morally valued characteristics. criteria for strengths include: universally valued, contribute to fulfilment, not diminishing others.

married people tend to be

happier than those who never marry or get divorced. however, this also has to do with how they are prior to marriage... happier people have happier marriages

children do not seem to have a major influence on

happiness

what is the most dominant emotion?

happiness

health is positively associated with

happiness (stronger link for subjective ratings of health, compared to objective)

eudaimonia

happiness as personal fufillment

hedonia

happiness as pleasure

positive as a set of topics

happiness, love, gratitude, achievement. forgiveness over revenge, resilience rather than defeat, cooperation rather than competition, etc.

individuals in poorer countries report

having more meaning in life than those in rich countries

broaden-and-build model of positive emotions

helps fill gaps in understanding the purpose of positive emotions. premise: positive emotions widen the scope of our thoughts and behaviours contrasts with specific action tendencies for negative emotions which narrow the scope of responses.

conscientiousness

how dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, and persistent one is

openness to experience

how intellectual, imaginative, curious, and broad-minded one is

amusement

humour. occurs in response to the unexpected, mild incongruities that are not threatening. associated with playfulness. promotes flexibility, social bonding and mild risk-taking

the third level of personality: uniqueness

idiosyncratic characteristics or quirks, the unique combo of an individual's many middle-level units (traits, attitudes, behaviours), life stories and personal projects

broadening effects are

immediate

HEXACO model

incorporates a sixth dimension, honesty/humility, to capture the moral dimensions of personality

the middle level of personality: differences

individual differences, focus on traits, can see dimensions of differences in personality that apply across many people. additionally, it includes dimensions of difference, such as gender, values, attitudes, attachment styles and interests.

from birth, babies differ in

intensity of gaze and crying, amount of sleep, irritability

four possibilities for what positive means in pos psych

intentions, ideology, "appreciative stance on human nature", universally agreed upon positive topics

positive as an appreciative stance

less rigid, collect info objectively and look at it from a positive perspective

in certain respects, every person is:

like all other people, like some other people, like no other person

ryff's approach to well-being

loosely based on the concept of eudaimonia, includes 6 aspects: (1) self acceptance (2) positive relations with other people (3) autonomy (4) environmental mastery (5) purpose in life (6) personal growth

although income has an overall positive correlation with happiness, it is stronger at what level of income?

lower levels

dimensional perspective

many subtle variables

ambivalence

mixed feelings or emotions, evaluations of things may be good and bad.

wealthy countries with higher religiosity report

more meaning than wealthy countries with lower religiosity

where does happiness come from?

most people state that they are above the midpoint on happiness scales. the best predictors of happiness are personality traits

action tendencies

motivations to act in a particular way when experiencing an emotion

women report higher levels of

negative affect and experience higher rates of depression, but also report higher levels of positive emotions compared to men

the role of negative emotions

negative emotions are essential to normal functioning. immediate demands tend to make negative emotions feel stronger and more urgent than positive ones.

critiques of strengths model

not statistical, some suggest fewer broad virtues fit better. the jangle fallacy

pop-culture's self help and popular psychology

not tested or supported by science

personal growth

openness and sense of continuing development, positive changes over one's lifetime

features that also strongly correlate with happiness

optimism and self-esteem

subjective experience

our personal phenomenological feelings that are commonly the component of emotion that psychologists are most interested in. self-report methods are often used to assess this

extraversion

outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive, tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others

build

over time, these activities build more lasting skills and resources. their adaptive values are: - play leads to improve physical fitness and athletic skill - social connection leads to friendship that leads to support in the future

nuances of expressions

people can recognize facial expressions from those in other cultures (but people in the same culture can recognize them more easily and accurately)

memory and reports of experience

people construct mental averages for distant or long periods of time rather than recalling specific moments or dates. current experiences can differ systematically from recollections later.

appraisals

perception of circumstances and events relevant to their well-being and concerns. automatic, rapid, unconscious. can also be more deliberate, such as a series of thoughts leading to a feeling

emotions involve

physiological arousal, expressive behaviours, conscious experience, motivations, subjective feelings

physiology of emotions

physiological responses that change the body to meet the needs of the situation at hand. explained by evolutionary psych

pos psych compared to humanistic psych

pos psych is argued as a "re-brand" of humanistic psych. philosophy, RQs and methods differ. humanistic focuses more on individual uniqueness, whereas pos focuses more on general trends

broaden

positive emotions foster variety in thoughts and behaviours. these adaptive activities helped our ancestors to survive and reproduce

what expressions are more nuanced?

positive expressions are more nuanced and difficult to recognize than negative ones (both across and within cultures)

signature strengths

positive traits that a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises

negative emotions are more ______, but positive emotions are more ______.

potent, pervasive

positive as good intentions means

psychologists who want to make others' lives more positive, looks at characteristics of 'happy' people and the ways we can improve mood

state-trait distinction

refers to average tendencies over time, states are temporary and sensitive to context, traits are evident in the average of a person's states

competence

refers to feeling effective in interacting with one's environment, seeking to control the outcome and experience mastery

autonomy

refers to feeling that one's behaviour is freely chosen, the extent to which you feel free to choose your own behaviours/follow their interests, the universal urge to be causal agents of one's own life and act in harmony with one's integrated self

relatedness

refers to the desire to be connected to others, is the universal want to interact, be connected to, and experience caring for others

among people who would otherwise be unhappy due to their circumstances, what seems to help?

religion

positive as an ideological perspective

rigid stance that humans are good by nature. problematic stance as there needs to be more science behind it

transcendence

self-actualization - attempting to connect to the bigger picture. appreciation, gratitude, hope, humor, religion

contentment

serenity, relaxation. a low arousal, pleasant emotion that signals comfort, safety and ease. can facilitate reflection on what led to such good circumstances, a sense of appreciation, or savouring the moment

duchenne vs. non-duchenne smiles

show the subtleties involved in detecting genuine emotional expressions

building effects are

slower, they take time

love

social connection, sharing. involves vulnerability, commitment and sense of self-expansion.

emotional traits are

stable individual difference in emotional experiences over time

awe

stems from novelty, but where the gap between expectations and new info is vast. makes people pause and reconsider assumptions. can create new ideas about our place in the world and in relation to others

strengths model vs big 5 model

strengths are trait-like, dimensional and hierarchical. both are stable over time but vary day to day. strengths are VALUED aspects of personality.

what does personality do?

strongly influences ones expectations, self-perceptions, values, and attitudes, predicts human reactions to other people, problems, and stress

people who view religion as an important part of their life or community do report higher levels of

subjective well-being

the hedonic treadmill

tendency for our moods to adapt to external circumstances, the idea that people return to a baseline level of happiness is referred to as the hedonic treadmill,

nozick's experience machine

the hypothetical machine could plug your brain into a machine and create any experience you desire. experiences generated would be indistinguishable from reality. most people would DECLINE which implies that people value authenticity over pleasure

trait approach

the names for the consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, or actions that distinguish people. traits are best considered on a spectrum

joy

the pleasant feeling we get when something good happens to us *particularly* when unexpected or exceed expectations. invigorating, increases arousal and activity

consistency

the stability in a person's behaviour over time and across situations

your own criteria for life satisfaction

the subjective nature of subjective well-being suggests that we listen to how people determine their own satisfaction, rather than researchers assuming which domains are most important for them

attitudes

the sum of all the evaluations we have times all of the beliefs we have of/about something

positivity offset

the tendency of most individuals to experience a mildly positive mood at zero input (when nothing in particular is going on). people usually feel good even without pleasant events, which promotes creativity, exploration & sociability. contributes to healthy functioning

choices

the things that people consistently choose can be viewed as positive. the choice tells us what is positive.

personality

the underlying persistence of commonalities and consistencies and how it is represented is dependent on different kinds of situations and at different times

theory of social penetration

theory predicts that relationships become more intimate as the self-disclosure grows in breadth and depth

schemas

versions of ourselves (school you vs work you vs family you)

the link between income and happiness is stronger when

we define happiness as life satisfaction; the relationship is weaker when we consider emotional experience

book terms to define positive psych

well-being, achievement, harmony

gratitude

when you receive good fortune and attribute the cause to another person. the sense of appreciation is often expressed as a desire to pay it forward.

VIA classification of character strengths

wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence

important implications of subjective well-being

(1) the happiest people have 3 components; if we focus on only one indicator, we may be missing part of the complete picture (2) it can be useful to study the components of subjective well-being as separate entities

what is happiness

a more long-term characteristic than a transient state

jangle fallacy

belief that because measures are called by different names they are measuring different constructs

what makes someone extraverted?

big 5, may result from a stronger sensitivity to rewards in the environment

temperament

born with it and related to big 5, an individual's typical mode of response including activity level, emotional intensity and attention span, related to genes and neurons

values

choices often made from norms and laws

how do we assess positivity?

choices, values, subjective experiences

justice

civic strengths that underlie healthy community life. fairness, leadership, teamwork

purpose in life

clear goals, sense of meaning, important projects, sense that things are worthwhile

wisdom

cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge. tendency towards thinking in ways with multiple perspectives and recognize uncertainty.

agreeableness

compassionate, cooperative, trustworthiness, helpful, well-tempered

the three fundamental psychological needs

competence, relatedness, autonomy

pride

confidence that comes from accomplishing socially valued goals. builds status and can lead to approaching new challenges and taking new risks.

interest

curiosity, enthusiasm. experienced when people encounter novel situations or information that seems manageable. promotes exploration. prolonged absorption leads to flow

emotions are easily recognized but are hard to

define

affective experiences

defined out of emotion but do not always meet the strict criteria set aside to have a clear definition of emotion

neuroticism

degree of emotional instability or stability, the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions

self-determination theory

describes the conditions that foster motivation and well-being

distinctiveness

differences between people reacting to the same situation

basic emotions

discrete, basic emotions in distinct categories. fixed physiological/behavioural responses. distinct physiology, expressions, experiences, causes. are brief and have automatic consequences.

subjective experiences

doing things because it feels good TO YOU. if it feels good, it is positive. what is good to you may not be good to others

small positive association between happiness and

education (link is stronger among those who are poorer)

circumplex model of affect

emotions placed between quadrants labeled activation, pleasant, deactivation, and unpleasent

how can we study emotions?

EEG: electricity recorded by a series of electrodes placed on the scalp

satisfaction with life scale

[rate on 7-point scale (1 strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree)] - in most ways my life is close to ideal - the conditions of my life are excellent - i am satisfied with my life - so far i have got the important things i want in life - if i could live my life over, i would change almost nothing

self-acceptance

a positive view of the past and present self that acknowledges good and bad aspects

positive and negative affect schedule

a self-report measure of affect with 10 items measuring positive affect and 10 for negative

money does less to foster moments of joy, but can generate

a sense of satisfaction

savouring

a tool to manage positive experiences in ways that can enhance them

facial action coding system (FACS)

a widely used method for measuring all observable muscular movements that are possible in the human face

emotional intensity decreases with

age

basic level: universal similarity

all humans share capacities and needs shaped by our evolutionary history

life satisfaction

an individual's judgement that things have gone well and that conditions are good. can be sub-divided into various domains like work satisfaction, body satisfaction, etc.

components of emotion

appraisals, physiological responses, expressions, subjective experience, action tendencies

authentic vs. hubristic pride

authentic pride is the more socially desirable, achievement-oriented facet, associated with accomplishment and confidence. hubristic pride is the more narcissistic facet, associated with arrogance and conceit

temperance

avoiding excess, forgiveness, modesty, prudence, self-regulation

negativity bias

bad is more attention-grabbing than good. humans pay more attention to and give more weight to negative than positive experiences

expressions

behavioural component of emotions. can be seen in the face, posture, tone of voice & touch. they communicate feelings but can be regulated.