Positive Psyc Notes PDF

Positive Psyc Notes Chp:1-2 Chapter 1: Introduction to Positive Psychology Positive vs Humanistic psych differences: Humanistic Psychology: Studies overall life experiences and individual mean-makin...

Positive Psyc Notes Chp:1-2 Chapter 1: Introduction to Positive Psychology Positive vs Humanistic psych differences: Humanistic Psychology: Studies overall life experiences and individual mean-making. Positive Psychology: Morally and scientifically focus on studying positive strengths and traits that contribute to a fulfilling life. PERMA MODEL Martin Seligman’s: A scientific theory of the 5 elements that contribute to human well-being and flourishing. ​ P-Positive ​ E-Engagement ​ R-Relationship/Connection ​ M-Meaningful/Purpose ​ A-Achievement/Accomplishment Hedonic: (Short-term pleasure) The idea that happiness comes from pleasure-sex, drugs, addiction, splurging. Eudaimonic: (Long-term pleasure) The idea that happiness is long-lasting and comes from more meaning/purpose. Keyes and Lopez’s Classification of mental Health: 1.​ Flourishing: High well-being and low mental illness. A person who has meaning for relationships, optimistic, low mental illness, succeeding in setting and achieving goals.  2.​ Struggling: High well-being and high mental illness. Struggling but you are aware of support systems surrounding you so it makes it “okay”. 3.​ Floundering: Low well-being, High mental illness. Somebody who is negative all the time, not optimistic, getting by. Very depressed because their mental illness AND their well-being is declined making them possibly extremely depressed. 4.​ Languishing: Low well-being, Low mental illness. Someone who is disconnected from issues going on in their life, understanding of what is down in their life but accepting and maybe ignoring it. Positive Psychology is NOT pop psychology and is not meant to be sold for profit. Ex; like self help books etc. Chapter 2: Emotion, Motivation, and the Nature of Well-being Study of positive emotions: ALICE ISEN: -People are more likely to experience mild positive emotions when they help others and problem-solve. WHY? - Increased flexibility in thinking. People are able to think more “divergent”, and more creative in ways. They are able to understand and connect ideas in new ways. The Basic Emotions: EKMAN 1.​ Sadness: Lump in throat, breathing changes 2.​ Fear: Heartbeat increases, weak in the knees 3.​ Anger: Heartbeat increases, feeling hot 4.​ Disgust: Stomach sensations, Goosebumps 5.​ Surprise: Heartbeat increases, feeling hot 6.​ Happiness: Feeling warm, heartbeat increases 7.​ Contempt —------- Positive and negative emotions are independent RUSSEL and FEDLMAN BARRETT-”Core affect” Core affect: Compromising our unique blend of pleasant/unpleasant and activated/deactivated dimensions that we carry unconsciously. (Combination of biological, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural influences.) Dimensions of affect: Barriers to awareness: Three main barriers: 1.​ Emotions invalidated/discounted by others 2.​ Confusing thoughts with emotions 3.​ Intangible/tough to define- struggle to express and pinpoint why we feel the way we do. ​ Negative thoughts will “hijack” our emotional thoughts and can push these thoughts back multiple times (avoidance) rather than confronting and learning how to cope with these negative emotions. The Biology of emotions: The happy brain Left prefrontal cortex( LPFC )- associated with happiness -greater ability to recover from negative emotions. -More likely to suppress negative emotions -Research in buddhist mediators; increase activity in prefrontal cortex. Reward system in brain: Rewards and pleasure (hormone release: dopamine) The Biology of emotions: Neurotransmitters The body’s natural ‘opiate system’- ENDORPHINS The effects of the hormone oxytocin- bonding hormone-ex; released during sex, love, breastfeeding between mother and baby. ‘Bliss molecule’: Anandamide-binds to the cannabinoid receptors in the brain. The Biology of emotions: Neuroplasticity Our brains are malleable and change through experience Growth of brain areas; Gray matter increases in size upon learning music and meditation. -We can take advantage of the fact that our brain allows us to reform, restart, re-wire ourselves. The biology of emotions: The genetics of emotions Believed that your genetic and environmental factors influence your emotions Genetic influence - 30-50% -40% positive emotionality -55% negative emotionality -48% overall well-being Family environment: Family and environment can impact your learning and well-being. Where and how you were raised and perceive the world affects how you respond and how you obtain certain emotions. -22% positive emotionality -2% negative emotionality Zimbardo & Boyd’s model on time perspective: ​ Past negative type: Thinks about the past in a negative way ​ Past positive: Thinking about your past in a positive way ​ Present Hedonistic: focused on present pleasures ​ Present fatalistic: Feel powerless ​ Future orientated: Focused on your future ​ Transcendent future: worried about how the future will affect you after you die Cognition: How we think ; Impacts how we feel. Changing our negative style of thinking can change how we feel. For example, changing habitual negative coping mechanisms can help affect how we feel in a more positive way..leading to more positive emotions. Therefore we are able to “unlearn” negative styles/mechanisms. It is possible to change. -Mindfulness can be used as a tool (Paying attention on purpose with no judgement to your thoughts, feelings, and sensations) Virtues , Strengths, Character: Strengths and virtues are important tools to handle stress and difficult situations: Four themes: Executing, Relationship, Influencing, Strategic thinking 1.​ Executing: Achieving, Arranging , belief, consistency, discipline, focus, responsibility 2.​ Relationship: Adaptability, developer, harmony, includer, empathy 3.​ Influencing: Activator, Command, competition, significance 4.​ Strategic thinking: Analytic, context, futuristic, input, learner Motivation:​ Intrinsic motivation- autonomous-engagement in activity regardless if there is a reward or not Extrinsic motivation-controlled-Engagement in activity when there is a reward Approach: Goals motivate us to move forwards towards something Avoidance: Goals motivate us to avoid difficult tasks, danger, and fears. Hope model: Pathways: Believing one can find ways to reach a desired goal Agency: Believing one can become motivated enough to pursue the goals wanted (Predicts good grades, sports performance, physical health, and psychotherapy outcomes. ) Fredricksons Broaden and Build theory: ​ Broaden: Somebody who is experiencing positive emotions and is able to apply that experienced emotion to other future experiences. (Making a new friend, and being optimistic about making more new friends) ​ Build: Resources that you create from those emotions last longer than the actual emotions being experienced. ​ -Reworded- understanding that the feelings don't last long, but the outcome of an event (resources) lasts longer. ​ Ex; making a new friend with social anxiety, understanding the feeling of anxiety is nerving when making new friends but the outcome of having a new friend last longer than the anxiousness prior. Self-determination theory: Wellbeing is enhanced by 3 basic psychological needs 1.​ Autonomy: Independence, the need to make your own decisions for yourself 2.​ Competency: Doing good at something you love. Having skill in the things you love to do.  3.​ Relativeness: Building good relationships and drive to connect with other people. Psychological Well being scale: Ryff & Keyes 1.​ Self acceptance 2.​ Personal growth 3.​ Purpose in life 4.​ Environmental mastery 5.​ Autonomy 6.​ Positive relations with others Chapter 3: Subjective Well-being SWB (subjective well being) may be operationalized as life satisfaction, and happiness. Subjective happiness scale: Lyubomirsky & Lepper PANAS ( Positive and negative affect scale): Clark, Lee, Watson, Tellegen Using a likert scale to get people to rank themself from 1-being lowest to 5-being highest determining the enthusiasm someone has in life. Satisfaction with life scale : Diener, Emmons, Larsen. & Griffin Development of scales used to make happiness make TWO assumptions: 1.​ Happiness can be meaningfully translated to numerical values 2.​ Assume that two people who score the same have similar levels of happiness. Top Down theory: Bringing our tendencies towards positive interpretations to experiences in life. Ex: Attitudes, self-perceptions -Reworded: Being more appreciative of internal self characteristics like how you are as a person rather than external joys such as quality of work, or marriage. Bottom-up theory: Assessing quality of several areas in our life to create a statement of overall satisfaction. -Reworded: Applying more interests in external forms of happiness and qualities in life over internal forms of happiness like the self. Ex: Quality of marriage, friendships, job satisfaction, income.. Happier and more positive thinkers think and see the world in a more positive way. Constructive thinks report higher well-being and less neuroticism. Being in a more positive mood allows people to view the world and interpret events in more positive ways. Self esteem: Subjective, personal evaluation of the self-concept. Ex: Asking questions like “Do I Like myself?” Self esteem is not: ​ Narcissism ​ Self compassion ​ Self efficacy Pursuing self esteem can trigger negative behaviours. High-self esteem is associated with: -Avoiding helpful feedback -Increase in bullying and aggression towards others -Make fewer mistakes but fewer mistakes to learn from. Kristen Neff (2003): Self compassion is comprised of three facets: 1.​ Mindfulness: Being aware of thoughts and suffering without judgement 2.​ Self-kindness: Affection, gratitude, and gentleness towards one self 3.​ Common humanity: Being able to see own suffering as part of a shared experience with humanity as a whole. Sense of control and self-efficacy: Locus of control: Internal= attributes outcomes to self-directed efforts. External= attributes outcomes to factors outside of one's immediate control. Self-efficacy (Bandura): Belief that one has the capabilities to produce desired effects by their own actions. Cognition: Optimism and Hope Greater self-confidence and perseverance, presence of positive expectancies Optimism conceptualized as: -Dispositional optimism -Explanatory style Optimism is associated with: Achieving better results, and looking forward to the future in a positive way. Ex; better academic standing, athletic performance, work productivity, relationship satisfaction, effective coping, lowered vulnerability to depression, superior physical health. Learned optimism: Martin Selihman’s research Based on learned helpfulness and attribution style theories Optimists vs Pessimists: Optimists= More of a positive outlook on life, making external, variable, see failure as temporary. Pessimists= Negative outlook on life, making internal, variable, see failure as permanent effectiveness. Cognition: Meaning and self-reflection Having a sense of meaning in life is a predictor or higher subjective well-being. -greater sense of meaning of life increases well being -greater openness to experiences -self reflection: dreams, goals, creativity, growth Happier people report more satisfaction when making decisions and experience events more pleasantly even after an unpleasant event. Top-down Predictors of subjective well-being Happiness is related to having positive illusions (self, optimism, control) Difference between ideal and actual self. Lateral social comparison Three dimensions of positive Psyc: 1.​ Positive subjective states-Positive emotions: Happiness, joy, satisfaction. 2.​ Positive individual traits-Positive behavioral traits: wisdom, honesty, courage, and creative abilities. 3.​ Positive societal institutions-Societal systems, developmental healthy families, study of a healthy work environment. Creation of civic virtues. Frederickson’s : Broaden and Build Theory of positive emotions: ​ Positive emotions enhance and broaden our awareness which result in learning to create future emotional and intellectual resources. ​ Broaden: Somebody who is experiencing positive emotions and is able to apply that experienced emotion to other future experiences. (Making a new friend, and being optimistic about making more new friends) ​ Build: Resources that you create from those emotions last longer than the actual emotions being experienced. Hope theory: Pathways: ways you’re able to reach your goals Ex: Training for triathlon, you would hit the track to train and prepare yourself. Agency: motivation to do the work to achieve your goals Ex: Opening a savings account to save money in order to reach your goal of buying a new car. Self-determination theory: Wellbeing is enhanced by 3 basic psychological needs: ACR: Independance, doing good at what you love, and strong relationships. 4.​ Autonomy: Independence, the need to make your own decisions for yourself 5.​ Competency: Doing good at something you love. Having skill in the things you love to do. 6.​ Relativeness: Building good relationships and drive to connect with other people. Top Down Theory: Focuses more on long term, subjective, and more meaningful traits. Bottom-up Theory: Focuses more on external events and relationships rather than their own personal self.