PSYC 80.19i Notes (4) PDF

SNS triggers the release of cortisol and adrenaline ○ These hormones give us energy to run...

SNS triggers the release of cortisol and adrenaline ○ These hormones give us energy to run from MODULE 1: Introduction to the Science of Happiness perceived threats or defend ourselves from Social connections is a key to happiness; Happiness can be a it. Negativity: Our brains are much more active when sense of safety we're viewing negative news compared to positive or Why Study Happiness? neutral news. Happiness is something nice to have every now and then < happiness ○ We are more attuned to negative events but is essential to existence. we also remember negative events more Argument 1: We need happiness now more than ever vividly. This is the reason why our negative ○ Collective trauma from the pandemic interactions tend to stick with us more than ○ 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide our positive interactions. Young People ○ Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic ○ We need to learn ways to stay sane in this insane world Nervous System ○ Learning scientifically proven strategies that not only keep SNS: Sympathizes with energy you sane but actually make you happy will be an invaluable PNS: Homeostatic State; Returns you back to your tool that you can continue to use to your advantage normal state. throughout your life. ○ Don’t blame the Amygdala, we need it to survive! Argument 2: We’re not wired for happiness In an experiment where researchers destroyed the ○ Cognitive biases that lead us to make poor decisions, existing amygdala of mice, they observed that when you put in our brain these mice beside a cat, the mice did not show any ○ “Wired” → neurons (brain cells) fear response nor did they try to run away. Without Communicate with each other. their amygdala, these mice became very brave but We have 86 billion neurons in your brain and each sorta stupid and soon to be eaten mice. neuron has an average of 7,000 synaptic connections ○ Hippocampus - long-term memory with other neurons which means you have more than Close with the Amygdala → why bad memories tend 100 trillion synaptic connections in your brain. It is to be very vivid and persistent. through these synaptic connections that neurons ○ Prefrontal Cortex - wizard brain send and receive messages to each other allowing conscious choice, deliberation, and intelligent you to function normally in your daily life. decision making. ○ Brains are wired for survival, fear, and negativity Your prefrontal cortex is actually connected to your Survival: Inherited the brains of our caveman amygdala. ancestors along with certain cognitive and behavioral Argument 3: Our brains are wired for pleasure predispositions. Caveman wiring is the default setting ○ In-built reward system releases dopamine of our brains. Creates feelings of pleasure Fear: Amygdala (Lizard Brain; Greek: Almond) The brain doesn't discriminate against pleasurable Detect, respond to, and remember fearful objects activities that may harm us. and situations. Dopamine provides the pathway to addiction Beside the hippocampus ○ Addiction, Tolerance, and Dependence Amygdala detects threat → SNS is activated Addiction: Person continues engaging in activities or SNS is part of the Autonomic Nervous System that using substances and cannot stop despite its channels energy to different parts of our body so negative impact in their life. Not only a personal we can engage in a fight or flight response; freeze discipline/strength of will, but also a complex is the third response. biological disease.  ○ Constant engagement → Changes in the Can We Really Become Happier? structure, chemistry, and synaptic Subjective Well-being connections in our brain. Life circumstances, set point, and intentional activities Tolerance: Need more and more of that activity or Life-circumstantial factors may account for less than 10% of the substance to experience the same level of variance in happiness. pleasure. 1. Life-Circumstantial Variables (demographic and circumstantial Dependence + Withdrawal: Even when one stops, factors) we experience very unpleasant withdrawal Are wealthier people happier? → Yes, but not as much as symptoms that makes it really difficult to quit. you’d think’ ○ The dopamine system can also be easily hijacked by external Correlation between income and SWB =.17 sources to make us addicted to certain products so that we Citizens of richer countries are happier than citizens of poorer become loyal customers. countries ○ While brains are wired to survive rather than thrive, it can be As countries become wealthier, their citizens’ happiness does rewired. not increase. Neuroplasticity: ability of the brain to form new Conclusion: Money is necessary but not a sufficient synaptic connections. New experiences → new determinant of happiness connections 2. Chronological Age More intentional and consistent practice = more Older people are happier than younger peers successful rewirement of the brain Well-being increase (peaked at 65, did not start declining until Benefits of Happiness 75) ○ Happiness leads to Success 3. Education ○ Happiness = greater prosocial behavior. Occupational Status and Income associated with greater More volunteer work and community service, behave education more altruistically, and give more generously. Social Status and Class have a small effect on SWB Happy people are helpful people. Happiness is a gift 4. Marriage that keeps on giving. Women who are married are happier than unmarried people ○ Fredrickson's Broaden and Build Model Religious people are somewhat happier Positive emotions lead to a broadened and expansive way of thinking. (Widens the scope of our Genetics attention, makes us more creative and more open to 50% of variance can be explained by genetics new ideas) Single most determinant of SWB It is also self-expansive allowing us to perceive more People arrive in this world with a predisposition to cheerfulness, similarity, overlap, and interconnection between optimism, and joy, whereas others are born with a predilection toward ourselves and others. fearfulness, pessimism, and depression. In this state of mind, we are more likely to be [Research] Twins separated at birth collaborative to seek out others. ○ Heritability estimates of SWB =.40-.70 As such, positive emotions lead to a broadening ○ If you had been cloned at the time of your birth, with the mind which helps us build our resources which then clone being raised in a different part of the world, your SWB sets us up for success. could be predicted by the clone or twin’s SWB SWB cannot be changed ○ Return to the same baseline level ○ SWB can increase over a period of decades than remaining stable  Optimism can be attributed to psychotherapy or release of dopamine Moral excellence, duty, and other interventions ○ thrilling happiness; virtue. Marriage increases the SWB of some individuals excitement; If too Still deep sense of happiness much = anxious and despite unpleasant challenges Intentional Activities overwhelmed and difficult sacrifices What people do; Activities with which people fill up their days, with ○ Dopamine Serotonin greater or lesser degrees of success and enjoyment. Pathways = Linked ○ Regulates our mood ○ Best potential to elevate people into the upper end of to Motivation and ○ Fulfilled and content happiness range and keep them there Learning ○ Low mood = Depression Achieve and maintain a state in which one has many positive Endorphins = Pain killers in the SSRIs experiences over time, so these experiences can: body ○ High mood = Bipolar w/ ○ (i) fit one’s personality, dispositions, and needs; (ii) vary in their Chasing one pleasure after the manic symptoms content so that the effects of hedonic adaptation are other will lead to an empty life minimized; and (iii) vary in their timing, again to minimize the effects of hedonic adaptation. Sustainable Happiness: focuses on the forms and qualities of Scientific Definitions of Happiness intentional activity that people engage in. Sonja Lyubomirsky: Happiness is an enduring state of mind ○ Increased SWB = appropriate and intentionally tailor lives consisting not only of feelings of joy, contentment, and other positive Set point emotions, but also of a sense that one's life is meaningful and valued. ○ Set range in which an individual can vary. Martin Seligman: Happy life has 3 components: regular experience of ○ Each person may have a characteristic range/attractor space pleasantness (pleasant life), frequent engagement in satisfying in which he/she might be found at a given time. activities (engaged life), and experience of a sense of connectedness ○ Although some people may never reach a state of delirious to a greater whole (meaningful life). joy, they can still attain (or not attain) their own highest Ed Diener: Happiness (or subjective well-being) is a person's happiness potentials. cognitive and affective evaluations of his/her life as a whole which Note: A person’s life circumstances do affect his happiness, but these includes high levels of positive emotions, low levels of negative effects tend to be short lived and small because of hedonic emotions, and high life satisfaction. adaptation to static features of his life. Measuring Happiness Motivation The SHS is a 4-item scale of global subjective According to Sheldon and Lyubomirsky: If people do not want to happiness. Two items ask respondents to become happier, do not believe it is possible, or are not willing to characterize themselves using both absolute invest the energy, then their SWB is unlikely to change. Subjective ratings and ratings relative to peers, whereas the Happiness Scale other two items offer brief descriptions of happy Defining and Measuring Happiness and unhappy individuals and ask respondents the Hedonia (Externally Driven) Eudaimonia (Internally Found) extent to which each characterization describes them. Pleasure and less pain Comes from a full or flourishing Subjective state of feeling life. Ed Diener good that one can get from Result of the pursuit and SLS was developed to assess satisfaction with engaging in activities that we attainment of a life of purpose, Satisfaction with Life people's lives as a whole. The scale does not enjoy meaning, challenge, and Scale assess satisfaction with specific life domains, such Hedonia is a result of the personal growth as health or finances, but allows subjects to  integrate and weigh these domains in whatever Happiness Index of a population. way they choose. It is a 5-item scale designed to It was first instituted by the government of Bhutan in measure global cognitive judgments of one’s life 2008 as an initiative towards a more holistic satisfaction. Participants indicate how much they approach towards notions of progress and giving agree or disagree with each of the 5 items using a equal importance to non-economic aspects of 7-point scale that ranges from 7 strongly agree to 1 wellbeing. strongly disagree. World Happiness Report The AHI measures Seligman's 3 components of Life evaluations reported by individuals from the Gallup World Poll happiness: pleasure, meaning, and engagement. It provide the basis for the annual happiness rankings. consists of 24 sets of five statements from which Authentic Happiness the person has to choose the statement that best Using the Cantril Ladder, participants evaluate their lives based on six Inventory describes his/her feelings in the past week. It has variables including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life been argued that it is sensitive to detect subtle expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption. changes in happiness and differentiates happiness The Cantril Ladder asks respondents to think of a ladder, with the best at very high levels. possible life for them being a 10 and the worst possible life being a 0. They are then asked to rate their own current lives on that 0 to 10 PERMA Profiler The PERMA Profiler is a general measure, scale. The rankings are from nationally representative samples over developed for adults, which measures flourishing in three years. terms of 5 domains: positive emotion, engagement, Finland → happiest country in the world since 2018 relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, Philippines → 53/143 following Dr. Seligman's well-being theory. ○ Mean average score: 6.05 Participants respond to 23 items on a 10-point Likert ○ Happier than COVID-19 scale. All questions are scored on an 11-point scale ranging from 0 “never”, “terrible”, and “not at all”, to Other Lecture Notes 10 “always”, “excellent”, and “completely” Happiness → Subjective + Affective (Positive Emotions) + Cognitive depending on the question. Individual scores for (Life Satisfaction) each component are calculated as well as a total Adult Brain → 3 pounds score for overall well-being. ○ Convulsions ○ Increases in Size Oxford Happiness The OHI is a 29-item, self-report instrument, which ○ Connections that neurons make Inventory was devised as a broad measure of personal Limbic System happiness. The instrument consists of items with an ○ Cerebellum (Involuntary Movements) ordinal and polytomous scoring scale numbered ○ Brainstem (Life saving functions) from 0 to 3, so that the total scores range from 0 to ○ Amygdala (Fear) 87, with higher scores showing greater happiness. ○ Hippocampus (Memory) A more compact instrument, the Oxford Happiness Negative things are retained the most Questionnaire (OHQ) has been devised which ○ Happy things don’t have a threat → less retention consists of a similar number of similarly worded, Easier to hijack the dopamine system of our brain single items that respondents may answer on a Neuroplasticity is more effective when we’re younger uniform six-point Likert scale. Cab drivers have a larger and more active hippocampus than Taxi drivers Gross National Measures the collective happiness and well-being ○ Cab drivers have to memorize more routes  Intentional activities and exercises contribute to the volume of our ○ A study by Chapell et al. (2005) found that in a large sample brain of undergraduate and graduate students, low test anxiety Learning a new language and instrument students tend to have a GPA of B+ while high test anxiety The longer you’ve been doing something = the longer it is to rewire students tend to have a GPA of B. ○ Applies to bad and good habits ○ So while grades may not have that big an impact on your You can only use your prefrontal or limbic system only happiness (or unhappiness), being so grade conscious to the Broaden and Build Theory point of anxiety will negatively impact your academic ○ If you’re in a bad mood (fixation), but if you’re in a good mood performance. (look at the bigger picture) Quinn and Duckworth (2007) ○ Looking at the bigger picture → More Innovative → One ○ Investing more effort on your well-being can actually improve believes that they have more similarities with people, making your academic performance them more collaborative → self-expansive → resources (social ○ Children higher in subjective well-being at the beginning of connections) → success the sixth grade year went on to earn significantly higher final Circumstances, intentional activities, and set point grades, even when controlling for IQ ○ Circumstances → 10% Reciprocal Relationship between well-being and academic We can change this performance ○ Intentional Activities → 40% ○ Being happy helps us get good grades which makes us feel Self-concordant (you chose this) good and this enables us to keep getting better grades Practice, timing, and variety Good Job ○ Set Point → 50% Gilbert et al. (1998) research We can’t change this ○ Students predicted that they will experience a significant drop Some have a larger set point for happiness. Problem: in happiness if they didn't get the job. But when they Kahit mataas SP, some don’t maximize it measured the students' actual emotions after they were rejected, the researchers found that there was a negligible drop in happiness MODULE 2: Miswanting and the Wrong Path to Happiness Tenure is the real goal in the academic world ○ Once you have tenure, you cannot get fired (except for very Miswanting extreme circumstances) which gives you job security for life Act of being mistaken about what and how much you will like ○ Those who got accepted gave a rating of 5.24. They were something in the future. pretty accurate in predicting how happy they would be. Good Grades Those who were rejected, gave a rating of 4.71, which meant Levine et al (2012) research they were not as devastated as they thought they would be ○ Actual feelings were more or less the same whether they got even if they lost a significant opportunity in their career the grades they expected (M=6.45), or lower (M=6.36), or ○ Impact bias is more severe for negative events higher (M=6.55). We tend to overestimate how disappointed we will Affective Forecasting be when we don’t get what we want ○ Forecast or prediction about the emotional impact of a future More Money event Euripides → Money is the wise man’s religion Impact Bias 21st Century ○ We tend to overestimate the impact of future events on our ○ We are more money-centric as ever emotions Realities of non-nepo babies Test Anxiety is linked to poorer academic performance ○ Our best chance to get more money is to work really hard in school in order to get the best grades for a chance to get a lucrative job that will earn us a lot of money.  Compensation Income Satiation ○ #1 factor when considering a job opportunity ○ There is a positive relationship between income and Income and Happiness happiness but it is a weak relationship. ○ Correlation is a statistical technique that examines the degree Happiness does increase with income but to a to which two things are related. certain point only ○ To test the degree to which income and happiness are ○ Kahneman and Deaton (2010) related to each other, a researcher would have to collect two Emotional well-being rises with low income but tends kinds of information (variables) from each individual: a to stagnate (taper off) after income exceeds $75,000 measure of their income and a measure of their happiness of annual income per individual. level. ○ In the Philippines, the price of happiness is set at $35,304 or ○ The data will then be analyzed using a formula for a bit more than P2M correlations (usually Pearson's r) which will produce a number These numbers move because of our human called the correlation coefficient which quantifies the strength tendency to want more and more. of the relationship between the two variables. ○ Sonya Lyubomirsky Correlation coefficient (r) can range between -1 to +1. When she asked people who were earning $30,000 Absolute Number: Strength of the what salary would make them happy, they said relationship $50,000. She also asked people who were earning Sign (+/-): Direction of the relationship $100,000 the same question. These people are Positive r values indicate a positive already earning twice the ideal income of the correlation, where the values of both $30,000 earners and yet they said that to be happy variables tend to increase (or decrease) they needed to earn at least $250,000. together. While negative r values indicate a Once we have more, we keep moving the goalpost! negative correlation, where the values of one Awesome Stuff variable tend to increase when the values of In the 1940s, the average life satisfaction of Americans was 7.5 out of the other variable decrease. 10. Compare this to their average life satisfaction in the 2020s which ○ Diener and Suh (1988) is even slightly lower at 7.2. 1st Sample: World Values Survey; 2nd Sample: While having more awesome stuff will not necessarily make us College Students happier, wanting more stuff will actually make us unhappy. Result: Correlation between income and Nickerson et al (2003) happiness ranges between.10-.13 (positive ○ Materialism but weak correlation) Placing high importance on the acquisition and Wealthier vs Poorer Nations: Correlation is stronger possession of income, wealth, and material goods, is for poorer nations compared to wealthier nations a strong predictor of unhappiness. Income has greater impact on happiness if ○ Materialists did not just have lower life satisfaction compared you’re from a poor nation to the non-materialists but they also had more mental health Income increases happiness for individuals in disorders. poor nations because more income means Materialism may distract people from investing in the greater access to basic needs like food, more meaningful and joyful aspects of life. shelter, clothing, education, and healthcare. Additionally, materialists may also hold unrealistically In other words, money has the most impact high expectations of what material things can do for on our happiness when it is a means to them. having our basic needs met. Perfect Body True Love Jackson et al. (2014) Marriage does have a significant positive effect on life satisfaction ○ Individuals who successfully lost weight reported the most Stutzer & Fey, 2006 depressed moods, compared to those whose weight were ○ The effect of being married on happiness is equal to people stable and those who gained weight. receiving 2.5 times more of their income Being more satisfied with your body is protective against weight gain ○ Honeymoon Effect Van de berg et al. (2007) A large study of Germans surveyed for 15 years ○ Adolescent girls with higher body satisfaction tend to gain found that married people are happiest in the first less weight in the next 5 years. Perhaps a good explanation two years and then they go back to the same level of for this is that the more we love and accept our bodies as it is, happiness they had before they got married the more likely we will take better care of it. ○ Division of Roles Meltzer et al. 2013 Full Specialization = Traditional Model (Husband goes ○ Longitudinal study of US newlywed couple evaluated for 4 to work; Wife tends to the children) years Women who are focusing on one role are ○ Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage less stressed (5-15 lbs) Specialization = Both are earning for the family Surgery Women who are doing dual roles (earning + ○ Cosmetic Surgery household) are less satisfied with life 19-34; 40-54 ○ Stress from balancing home life and Adolescent teens who are becoming more conscious jobs will likely reduce their quality of about the face; Midlife in women life Younger Women: Breast Augmentation and ○ Differences in educational level between men and women → Rhinoplasty; Older Women: Buttocks applicable in midlife (being together matters) Von Soest et al. (2011) Small differences in educational levels = happier and ○ Those who underwent surgery came off much worse than more satisfied with their lives (compared to larger) before surgery. Large differences in educational levels = it’s harder to ○ They found that post-surgery, these adolescent girls were support problems because of differences in even less satisfied with their physical appearance, had higher background and experiences suicidal ideation, consumed more alcohol, and had more Zagorsky, 2005 behavioral problems. ○ Baby Boomers Why do people with the bodies and faces that they want are ○ Being married almost doubled people's wealth, increasing it unhappy? over 93%, compared to being single ○ Underneath their body dissatisfaction could be a greater Marriage increases wealth by 16% every year dissatisfaction with other aspects of their life. Peaks at 11th year ○ Fixing their outward appearance just moved the spotlight on ○ Those who are married is getting financial advantage (rather the real reasons for their unhappiness. than those who are cohabiting) Weight Loss Industry Marriage is a commitment, making you better ○ Ozempic prescriptions → used to treat people with type 2 investors diabetes; less supply to people who actually need it ○ Two people in one household = more economical Side effect: weight loss Lucas et al., 2003 Became a prescription for obese patients ○ Married are happiest in the first 1-2 years  After that, it goes back to baseline and becomes Topic + Research(er) Short Gist similar to when they go back to baseline when they were unmarried Whether you get the grade you were expecting Huntington et al., 2022 → Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction Good Grades: Levine et al or you got a grade lower/higher than expected, it ○ Women experience a boost in life satisfaction in the year doesn't impact much of your happiness leading up to the wedding then experience a decrease in happiness in the next few years after the wedding Good Grades: Chapell et al Being GC = Test Anxiety = Lowered Test ○ Men's life satisfaction does not change that much on the year Performance (HTA = B; LTW = B+) leading to the wedding but they do experience a boost in happiness in the years following the wedding Good Grades: Quinn and Reciprocal relationship between well-being and Zimmerman & Easterlin, 2006 Duckworth academic performance ○ Marriage can have long term benefits to life satisfaction ○ Year of marriage + Year following = significant boost in life Even if you get rejected, it won't impact your satisfaction, followed by drop but it doesn’t go back to the Good Job: Gilbert happiness as much (negligible drop only) baseline Tenure → 5:24 and 4.71 = not that devastated Tao, 2018 ○ Honeymoon Effect World Values and College Students:.10-.13 First 2 years, goes down but doesn’t go as low as More Money: Diener and Suh Income has more impact on poorer nations baseline because for them, income means more access to ○ If your marriage ends up with a divorce, separation, or being basic needs. widowed, you are much more worse off compared to you were single More Money: Kahneman and Emotional well-being rises with low income but Qari, 2014 Deaton tends to stagnate after income exceeds $75000 ○ Same with Tao in terms of baseline (Income Satiation) Grover et al. (2017) ○ The benefits of marriage (vs being single) is most pronounced More Money: Sonya $30,000 = $50,000; $100,000 = $250,000 in middle age. Lyubomirsky ○ A supportive marriage can help us manage the dip in life satisfaction that most people experience in mid life due to Awesome Stuff: Nickerson et Materialism = Unhappiness, lower life satisfaction, aging related diseases, greater responsibilities in caring for al and more mental health disorders children, caring for aging parents, etc [After] Depression increased whether you lose, ○ Benefits reverse in later years. In late life (86 and above), maintained, or gained weight those who remained single all their life seemed to have Perfect Body: Jackson et al Lose Weight = Depressed bc maintaining weight higher life satisfaction than those who were married. Probably requires emotional resources because the death of a spouse will really have a massive impact on the well-being and quality of life of a widow. Perfect Body: Van de Berg Higher body satisfaction = Less weight Researchers have found that those who consider their spouse as their best friend also have the largest well-being benefits. In other words, Perfect Body: Meltzer et al Marital Satisfaction = Weight Gain marital quality rather than marital status matters more (Dush & Amato, 2005) Perfect Body: Von Soest el al Post-Surgery = less satisfied, higher suicidal ideation, alcohol consumption True Love: Stutzer & Fey Happiness = 2.5x Income  Other Lecture Notes for Module 2 Honeymoon Effect More Money Division of Roles = Full Specialization and ○ 49% of adult Filipinos had bought a Lotto ticket in the past Specialization year (2010) Differences in Educational Level ○ Poorer Country = More Lotto Tickets True Love: Zagorsky (2005) Married = Financial Advantage (16% every year; ○ PH → 2nd Largest Casino Industry peaks at 11th year) Income of Filipinos ○ Minimum Wage of Filipinos = 645 pesos True Love: Lucas et al (2003) Happiest at first two years, then goes back to ○ Living wage of a Filipino Family (5 members) = 1207 pesos baseline (when unmarried) per day ○ Monthly income of a Filipino Family = 23, 400 pesos Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction Income and Life Satisfaction of countries Women's life satisfaction = increases before the marriage, decreases after a few years Men's life satisfaction = meh before marriage, True Love: Huntington et al increases and maintained after marriage (2022) Women's Psychological Distress = High before the wedding; goes down after marriage and up again (family/children) Men's Psychological Distress = Stress doesn't change as much Marriage has long-term benefits True Love: Zimmerman & Boost in life satisfaction, experiences a drop after Easterlin (2006) but not same as baseline (in contrast to Lucas) The Price of Happiness in Every Country ○ Iran puts the highest price tag on happiness ($239,700) Same with Zimmerman in terms of not going back ○ Sierra Leone lowest ($8,658) to baseline True Love: Tao (2018) If your marriage ends up with a divorce, separation, or being widowed, you are much more worse off compared to you were single Married = more satisfied; middle-age; benefits True Love: Grover et al (2017) reverse in later years (late life → 86 onwards); spouse as best friend  ○ 1 negative event = 4 positive events MODULE 3: Annoying Features of the Mind Confirmation Bias ○ tendency to search, interpret, and recall information in a way Intuitions that aligns with our pre-existing values, opinions, or beliefs. Our tendency to miswant is a product of certain annoying features of ○ leads us to ignore or minimize information that threatens what our minds. Because of our prehistoric ancestors, our minds are we believe. predisposed to think in certain ways that are sometimes no longer ○ most apparent when you use google to search for adaptive in the modern world. information. Search engine algorithms are designed to give you what you want — so, when you phrase questions in a Annoying Feature #1: Our strongest intuitions are usually false one-sided way, you'll likely find information that confirms your Your mind distorts the information you see pre-existing belief. ○ Our brains are wired with cognitive biases ○ Falsifying evidence helps you to become more confident if Cognitive Bias there’s no evidence/answer that negates your answer ○ Systematic error in thinking that occurs when people process So why is it that once we have made up our minds, it's very hard to and interpret information in their surroundings, influencing change them? their decisions and judgments. ○ Brain imaging studies show that when we're reviewing ○ Psychologists believe that cognitive biases serve an adaptive information that confirms our initial beliefs, the part of our purpose: They allow us to reach decisions quickly. If we had brain that is responsible for reason (dorsolateral prefrontal to think about every possible option when making a decision, cortex) becomes inactive. it would take a lot of time to make even the simplest choice. When we review information that goes along with History on Cognitive Bias what we believe, we don't think critically anymore, we ○ first introduced by researchers Amos Tversky and Daniel simply assume that that information is true Kahneman in 1972 ○ The part of the brain that was more active was the part of the ○ Since then, researchers have described a number of different brain that processes emotion (orbitofrontal cortex) which types of biases that affect decision-making in a wide range of then triggers our brain to release a rush of dopamine that areas including social behavior, cognition, behavioral makes us feel good for thinking we are right. economics, education, management, healthcare, business, Overconfidence Bias and finance. ○ Overestimate, overplace, and overprecise about one’s ○ Some of these biases are related to memory. performance The way you remember an event may be biased for GI Joe Fallacy a number of reasons and that, in turn, can lead to ○ NB + CB + OB biased thinking and decision-making ○ Misguided notion that knowing about a bias is enough to ○ Other cognitive biases might be related to problems with overcome it attention. Cognitive Distortion vs Cognitive Bias Since attention is a limited resource, people have to ○ Cognitive Distortion = How you feel about yourself (emotions) be selective about what they pay attention to in the ○ Cognitive Bias = Systematic thinking lead to bad choices world around them. Cognitive Distortions Heuristics Beck’s Theory ○ Mental shortcuts that the mind takes because it needs to ○ Beck's cognitive theory considers the subjective symptoms process a lot of information such as a negative view of self, world, and future defining ○ This also allows us to act quickly, but can also lead to features of depression. distorted thinking Core Beliefs → Immediate Beliefs → Automatic Thoughts Negativity Bias ○ Register and dwell more on negative events  ○ Childhood: “I am not deserving of love” → “I don’t deserve it Bronze medalists = use a lower reference point when people show love” → “I don’t like to be in a Silver medalists = use a higher reference point relationship/receive anything” Reference Points keep on moving All-or-Nothing ○ We compare what we have with what others have. ○ Dichotomous extremes Social Comparisons ○ I am failure or I am perfect ○ Act of evaluating ourselves relative to other people. In Selective Abstraction general, we tend to compare ourselves with those who have ○ Focus on a detail, taken out of context, and ignore others more than us (upward social comparison) rather than those ○ Mental Filtering who have less (downward social comparison) ○ If you don’t like yourself, you’ll see the negative things about ○ Social Comparisons are not all bad. For one thing, it helps us yourself get a sense of our performance and helps us assess whether ○ Magnification and Maximization we're doing better or worse than others. Magnify the bad, Minimize the good ○ But it turns out that we care a lot about where we stand relative to other people more than our absolute level of Annoying Feature #2: Our minds don’t think in absolutes performance. Direction of Social Comparison Our minds tend to think in relative terms rather than in absolutes. Our minds ○ Upward are always comparing us to some reference point and most of the time, this Compare ourselves with those we believe are better happens on an unconscious level. However, the mind is not very discerning than us about which reference point it uses, even if the reference point is completely Self-Improvement irrelevant or unrealistic. ○ Downward Compare ourselves to others who are worse off than Sometimes, the reference point is ourselves, when we compare our actual us performance to an ideal or potential performance. Top performing athletes Self-Enhancement tend to do this as they constantly push themselves to keep doing better. Van Praat & Frijters, 1999 ○ For every $1 increase in your income, your desired income Silver Medal Syndrome goes up by $1.40 ○ Medvec et al. (1995) analyzed the emotional reactions of The moment we move up to the next salary grade, winners from the 1992 Summer Olympics we look around and see who has more than we do. ○ Hedgcock et al., 2021 We start wanting to have as much as they do but Digital facial expression analysis on the photographs when we move to that position, we see someone of Olympic winners found the same thing: bronze else who has more. medalists were more likely to smile at the podium Clark (2003) than silver medalists, while (as expected) gold ○ Well-being and Unemployment medalists displayed the happiest facial expression ○ The relationship depends on the unemployment rate in the Counterfactual Thinking area where a person lives. ○ tendency of a person to think about the alternative outcome ○ If you are unemployed in an area where not that many people that could have happened during that particular event. are unemployed, that's going to impact you really badly. ○ Bronze Medalist: Not placing at all; thus, felt very happy for ○ If you're unemployed in an area where lots of other people placing third. are also unemployed, you're going to be fine, even if that ○ Silver Medalist: Gold Medal → felt disappointed for missing the means the overall job rate around you is really bad. top place Clark and Oswald (1996) ○ In a nutshell: Their reactions about winning are influenced by ○ Job Satisfaction and Income the reference points they are using.  ○ Job satisfaction goes down as comparative income goes up Longer FB Users Thought that more people were If people feel that their coworkers are earning more happier and less that life is fair than they do, they are less happy with their job regardless of how much they are actually earning. More time spent on FB + More fake Agreed that others were happier ○ Neighbor as another reference point FB friends and others had better lives Keeping up with the Joneses Keeping up with the Kardashians Less believed that others were family flaunting their wealth and fame More true friends on FB happier and more believed that life Kuhn et al., 2011 is fair ○ Netherlands You also win a brand new car when you win the More going out with friends More disagreed that life is fair and lottery. others were happier ○ When someone from a neighborhood wins a new car from the lottery, it makes their next door neighbor twice more likely to buy a new car Steers et al., 2014 O'Guinn & Shrum, 1997 ○ The correlation between Facebook use and depression is ○ More TV watching = Higher estimates of other people's r=.32 wealth, lower estimates of their own wealth When Harvard students were given a choice between (Option 1) a TV = makes people feel that they can afford so much salary that gives them $50K while others earn $25K and (Option 2) a more than they can salary of $100K while others get $240K, more students choose Schor, 1999 Option 1. They would rather get less as long as others have much less than they do. ○ 1 hr watching = $4 per week Burleigh and Meeghan (2013) ○ Watching TV makes them feel poor, and to convince themselves that they are not poor they buy more stuff, even ○ Do you want the entire class to get a.567% bonus on the final stuff that they cannot afford. grade? If your final grade is near the higher range of a letter grade, this bonus could tip you over to the next letter grade. ○ 44% of American credit card holders are in debt. But if your grade is not at the tipping point, you are not likely Magazine to benefit from this bonus. Chances are, half of the class will ○ feature the most attractive models and celebrities get a higher letter grade and the other half will not, and there ○ When we are aware that the pictures we see are most likely is no way for you to know which half you are in. But rest edited, our brains still unconsciously use them as reference assured that no one will have a lower grade. If you want the points against ourselves class to have the bonus, just tick this box Kenrick et al., 1993 Result: 41% said that they did not want it; There were ○ Women's moods significantly decrease after looking at more students at the top of the class who refused the pictures of beautiful models bonus option ○ Men's ratings of their wives' attractiveness dropped after the Social comparisons are part of our prehistoric programming. men viewed pictures of centerfold models ○ We do it all the time and mostly unconsciously. It is meant to Vogel et al., 2014 be adaptive, to help us keep our competitive edge by ○ Social Media = Unrealistic Reference Points motivating us to keep up with someone who is doing better ○ More Social Media Usage = Lower Self-Esteem + More than us. Depressed ○ When social comparisons are relentless and unrealistic, it can ○ The correlation between Facebook use and self-esteem is be a source of constant dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and r=-.20 social discord. Other Lecture Notes Neal et al., 2011 Kenrick et al., 1993 ○ Participants who only occasionally ate popcorn liked the stale ○ Before looking at models: 2.36 popcorn less and ate less of it ○ After looking at models: 2.07 ○ Participants who habitually ate popcorn liked the stale Facebook Use and Correlation Self-Esteem popcorn less but ate just as much as if they had been given ○ R = -.20 fresh popcorn (only apparent in cinema context) Facebook Use and Depressive Symptoms Maza et al., 2023 ○ R =.32 ○ Long-term effects of social media among teens Mostly upward comparison ○ Amygdala: emotional reactiveness Visual Adaptation ○ Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: judgment, reasoning, rewards ○ Brief and temporary change in sensitivity or perception when ○ Ventral striatum: hyperactive social anticipation exposed to a new stimulus, and by the lingering aftereffects when the stimulus is removed Annoying Feature #3: Our minds are built to get used to stuff Automaticity: quality of behavior that can be carried out rapidly and without effort/explicit intention (automatic process) Our minds are built to get used to stuff because of a phenomenon ○ Can be manipulated called Hedonic Adaptation Under Automaticity Hedonic Adaptation Stereotype activation ○ process of becoming accustomed to both positive and ○ Being primed to act in a certain way negative events ○ Baugh: participants primed with the elderly-related material ○ Whatever circumstances is making us very upset at the walked more slowly down the hallway after the experiment moment, whether it's bad grades, job loss, an illness, or even Hostile behavior (Baugh) the death of a loved one, most of us will eventually get used ○ Participants who had been primed w/ hostile-related stimuli to it and learn to cope with it. subsequently gave longer shocks to a learner than control ○ Similarly, whatever is making us extremely happy right now, it participants will eventually lose its shine. Consumer behavior (Damen et al.) Income is highly prone to hedonic adaptation ○ People buy more wine of a certain country when that ○ Lyubormirsky, 2008 country’s stereotypical music is in the background $30,000 → $50,000 to be happier Adults $100,000 → $250,000 to be happier ○ When the ads are about snacking, people eat more ○ Van Praat & Fristers, 1999 ○ When the ads are about nutrition, people eat less Good income goes up w/ current income Habits: response dispositions that are activated automatically by For every $1 increase in income, requires goes up to context cues that co-occurred with responses during past $1.40 performance ○ Di Tella et al., 2010 ○ Once habits form, the memory trace is slow to change, Income vs Happiness Levels of People requiring repeated experiences across multiple occasions to While income crept up over time, happiness levels alter old habit memories and develop new ones did not change that much Harris et al., 2009 ○ Brickman et al., 1978 ○ Children who saw the food advertisements ate 45% more Happiness of lottery winners vs non-winners goldfish crackers Individuals who won between $50K to $1M had the Wood et al., 2009 same level of happiness as nonwinners a year later ○ About 45% of our behavior is repeated almost daily and Lottery Winners: 4.00/6 vs Did not win the usually in the same context lottery: 3.83/6  Compared to non-winners, lottery winners took ○ We fixate on that single bad thing that might happen and significantly less pleasure from talking to a friend, forget about the other possible good (and bad) events watching television, eating breakfast, hearing a funny ○ Our emotions at a single time is influenced not just by one joke, getting a compliment, reading magazines, and event but by the interaction of many different events and buying clothes after winning the lottery. circumstances. Marital Bliss and Hedonic Adaptation Impact Bias is much worse in Negative Events ○ Honeymoon Effect ○ Whether people are predicting their reactions to grades, Women’s happiness peaks as they anticipate the receiving tenure, dorm assignments, or the results of HIV wedding but begins to decline within the first 3 years tests, the discrepancy between their actual and predicted of marriage mood scores are bigger for negative outcomes compared to Four years into the marriage, their happiness levels positive outcomes. are still higher than they were before they got ○ Tendency to exaggerate worst case scenarios married but not as high as when they were newly ○ Our tendency to overestimate the impact of negative events married is part of our prehistoric wiring. For the most parts, hedonic adaptation is adaptive. ○ Negative events have a greater impact on our survival and so ○ It helps keep us in homeostasis (balance). our brains have wired itself to respond more strongly to them. ○ Our minds spend a lot of energy trying to regulate our bodily [Impact Bias] Positive HIV Test (Sieff et al., 1999) functions when we are in an extreme mood, whether positive Predicted distress for + vs – HIV Test Results or negative Your mind is always trying to conserve energy so that Predicted Actual it can deal with more complex tasks. Extreme moods are also mentally distracting which Negative Result 47.4 59.1 can sidetrack us from other important tasks. Positive Result 94.7 77.6 Annoying Feature #4: We don't realize our minds are built to get used to The data shows that testing positive to HIV is not as devastating as we think. This is stuff. not to say that it was not distressing because the distress scores of the participants were still high. The participants who received a positive HIV result were distressed but for the most parts, they didn't feel like it was the end of the world. We discount the fact that we are programmed to get used to things. [Impact Bias] Living Situation (Dunn et al., 2003) ○ This default function in our mind makes us overestimate how ○ Predicted vs Not Nice Dorms = It was so bad! good positive events will be and how bad negative events [Impact Bias] Breaking-Up (Eastwick et al., 2008) will be. ○ Overtime, it will get better. Affective Forecasts [Impact Bias] Failing a Driver’s License (Ayton et al., 2007) ○ how inaccurate we are in predicting how a future event will ○ Previous repeated experience of failing a driver's exam did affect our emotions. not make the participants' predictions of the emotional impact Impact Bias of failing the next exam more accurate. ○ cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate the impact of ○ The driving students already experienced that failing the test future events. was not as bad as they thought but they continued to Focalism overestimate how badly they would feel the next time they ○ At the time when people are anticipating how they will feel if fail. an event happened, people focus too much on that single Immune Neglect future event + forget others that might happen ○ Our lack of awareness for our tendency to adapt and cope ○ Fail to account that there are sure to be other events that will with negative events. also occupy their thoughts and influence their emotions  ○ We actually have a psychological immune system that kicks ○ Half of the participants were given fresh popcorn while the into gear to help us survive very difficult situations. other half were given 7-day old stale popcorn ○ We become risk-averse when thinking of worse-cast ○ Results: scenarios Participants who only occasionally ate popcorn liked ○ Even when it gets really bad, you’re more likely to adapt and the stale popcorn much less than the fresh popcorn survive and ate significantly less of it. ○ Take risks that are meaningful to you. Don’t make decisions Participants who habitually ate popcorn at the movies based on fear. reported that while they also liked the stale popcorn ○ Imagine the Worst Case Scenario less than the fresh one, they still ate just as much of it Will I still regret it? as if it was fresh. If it’s worth it despite the risks and outcome, push When we do anything repeatedly over time our brain rewires itself to through it. maintain that habit. ○ Do anything enough times and it will change your brain Annoying Feature #5: Our minds like to take shortcuts. Maza et al (2023) ○ Social Media Use and Adolescents Kahneman Book: Thinking Fast and Slow Over the course of three years, researchers looked at ○ 2 modes of thinking: System 1 and System 2 the brain activity of teens who habitually checked ○ System 1: fast, instinctive, and emotional social media vs those who didn’t Unimportant day to day decisions There were changes in the areas of the brain We use this 95% of the time, letting our instincts, associated with rewards and punishments intuitions, or automatic thoughts decide what we'll ○ Amygdala (fear) = preferentially affected eat, what we'll wear, or which route to take to go ○ Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ( judgment, reasoning, places. rewards) = also impacted Pros: Allows us to conserve mental energy that we ○ Ventral Striatum (processing of positive and negative can devote on more important things emotions) = lower sensitivity to social anticipation Cons: Prone to Unconscious biases and errors ○ Social media is rewiring young people's brain to be ○ System 2: slower, more deliberate, and more logical emotionally reactive and to be hyper-motivated by social More important life decisions rewards such as views and likes. Automaticity It is no surprise that it can be so hard to quit our ○ Quality of a behavior or mental process that can be carried social media habit. out rapidly and without effort or explicit intention. ○ Instead of deliberating each response, our brains try to learn Annoying Feature of the Mind #6: Our emotions lead us astray the best and most convenient response to a situation so that Emotions tend to activate System 1 thinking which is prone to biases the next time the same or similar situation is present, it can and errors just react to it. ○ Our ability to make sound judgment is compromised when ○ Our brains are wired to learn habits, or response dispositions we’re emotional that are activated automatically by context cues that ○ Strong emotions seem to have an effect on our purchasing co-occurred with responses during past performance. behavior Most of our behaviors are habitual Clyde et al., 2008 ○ Human beings are creatures of habit. Once we learn a habit, ○ People who viewed a sad video clip tend to pay more for it tends to stick. things than people who viewed a neutral clip. Neal et al., 2011 Adam et al., 2007 ○ Review Movie Trailers while eating popcorn ○ We tend to reach for food high in salt, sugar, and fat when we're in a bad mood  ○ Our preference for fat, salty, and sweet food is something that [Q3 Questions that were emphasized] we inherited from our caveman ancestors. Income and Happiness (r =.10) + FB and Happiness (r = -.20) In prehistoric times, our ancestors would spend a lot ○ Double the strength of energy hunting for food and defending FB and Depression [r =.30] themselves. For every $1 increase in your income, your desired income goes up by After achieving these tasks, their brains will trigger $1.40 them to replenish their energy resources with food 1 hr watching = $4 per week rich in fat, salt, and sugar. When they eat these foods, the brain releases a lot of dopamine which makes these kinds of food particularly pleasurable to eat. ○ Modern Times Food is abundant and convenient Over-indulging can lead to health issues (obesity and diabetes) Negative emotions like stress are linked to bad habits that negatively impact our health, like alcohol and nicotine consumption. ○ Both alcohol and nicotine contain chemicals that result in the release of a lot of dopamine in the brain leading to their very pleasurable but highly addictive effects. ○ Being stressed out reduces our mental capacity to engage in healthier but often more effortful ways of coping and so we rely more on what's easy. ○ But if we keep practicing these healthy habits that will help us manage stress and sustain our happiness, over time they will become less effortful, and eventually they will become our new habits. [Bella’s Notes] Logical reasoning (Jung et al.) ○ Negative emotions = worse than positive ○ Neutral emotions = outperformed both positive and negative emotions Purchasing behavior (Cyder et al.) ○ Sad = setting/spending higher price Diet (Adam et al; Stewart-Knox) ○ Bad mood = craving sugar and salt ○ Stress = higher sugar, fat, salt Stress also leads to more smoking and drinking (Azagba et al.) ○ Job stress increases smoking among light smokers ○ Among alcohol drinkers, job stress increases alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers  ○ Making comparisons MODULE 4: Intentional Strategies to Overcome Bias ○ Focusing on the future ○ Considering ourselves undeserving Overcoming Cognitive Biases Types of Savoring 1. Recognize (1) Present-focused savoring a. Become aware of these biases (a) can be done through daily savoring exercises, adopting a b. Learn about the different kind of cognitive biases so that we positive focus while walking outside, and mindful can recognize when they are present in our thinking. photography. c. G.I. Joe Fallacy (b) For mindful photography = 15 minutes i. G.I. Joe = Included messages for kids like don’t talk (2) Past-focused savoring to strangers/look both ways before crossing (a) Thinking about a positive event = 8 minutes ii. According to the study conducted by Santos, this (b) Positive Reminiscing (Memorabilia) = 8 minutes isn’t really the case. (c) Basking in Achievement = 10 minutes to write your personal d. Knowing is the first step to combatting our biases achievement e. After knowing, we need to follow through by actively (3) Future-Oriented savoring questioning and changing our biased thinking (a) Positive Imagination (Quoidbach et al., 2009) f. It's better to assume that we are always biased, one way or (i) Visualize 4 positive events likely to happen tomorrow another. And so we need to identify what the bias is. (ii) What am I looking forward to or hoping for? 2. Consider (iii) Hope for it, don’t expect it. a. Consider that you may not really understand what you How does savoring thwart hedonic adaptation? understand or you do not have all the information you need ○ By attending to more details of the experience, we extend the to make a good decision. peak of our positive experience and delay the inevitable dip b. Examine the depth of your knowledge on the issue of hedonic adaptation. We also have more details to recall 3. Research which will enrich our positive reminiscing of the experience. a. Put your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to good use by actively Quote: Don’t think about how it might not happen again. Be grateful it searching for information that may refute your initial beliefs. happened. b. Falsification = finding evidence that will refute the hypothesis 4. HALT Negative Visualization a. Pay attention to your internal environment Imagining how much worse your life would be if you didn’t have what b. Remember to HALT: If you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, you have. then don’t make critical decisions! Mentally subtract a positive event (“Imagine it didn’t happen”) c. Purchase things if you’re feeling neutral When we remind ourselves how much worse life would be without d. 21 days = If after 21 days and you’re still goods, then buy! If this person or these experiences, we are able to re-experience all the not, don’t. positive things they bring to our life. Marital Satisfaction and Negative Visualization (Koo et al., 2008) Thwarting Hedonic Adaptation ○ Couples who wrote about situations that may have prevented Savoring them from meeting each other reported greater subjective Act of attending to, appreciating, and enhancing positive experiences. well-being (“How it might not have been”) than couples who Activities that enhance savoring (Jose et al., 2012) simply wrote about how they met their partners (“How it ○ Sharing w/ others happened”) ○ Counting blessings = considering ourselves lucky for being Students, Adults, and Negative Visualization (Hatori et al., 2019; given the opportunity to experience a wonderful moment Johannsen, 2018) ○ Sensory-perceptual sharpening = turning into our five senses Activities that hurt savoring (Jose et al., 2012)  ○ When these individuals spent time mentally subtracting good Gratitude and Work (Grant & Gino, 2010) events in their life, positive emotions increased while ○ Fundraiser (fundraiser people increased their number of calls negative emotions decreased. by 50% after receiving gratitude) /(experienced increase in ○ Older People = Same effect responses by 50% after calls expressing gratitude) How to stay thank you meaningfully Make This Day Your Last ○ Say it personally Thinking about the possibility of losing something helps us appreciate ○ Acknowledge what they did and savor it more. ○ Explain how their actions helped you Graduating Students (Kurtz, 2008) ○ Say it publicly (but use discretion) ○ Reminded that graduating soon: higher well-being ○ Pay it forward ○ Reminded that graduating far: lower well-being