PSY 707 Week 6 Lecture Notes PDF

PSY 707 Dr. A.J. Fiocco Week 6 HOUSEKEEPING Midterm after reading week  63 multiple choice  2 short answers  ~ 2hours (1h50min)  Allowed 1 3x3 sticky note (one sided, approved before test and submitted with test) My availability during reading week: Tuesday, 12-2pm, JOR922 WEEK 6 OBJ...

PSY 707 Dr. A.J. Fiocco Week 6 HOUSEKEEPING Midterm after reading week  63 multiple choice  2 short answers  ~ 2hours (1h50min)  Allowed 1 3x3 sticky note (one sided, approved before test and submitted with test) My availability during reading week: Tuesday, 12-2pm, JOR922 WEEK 6 OBJECTIVES THERE’S A POSITIVE SIDE….. ◼ What is Positive Psychology? ◼ Antecedents to Positive Psychology ◼ Positive Emotions ◼ Well-Being ◼ Happiness Set Point ◼ Flow  WHAT IS POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND WHY DO WE CARE? Image: https://blogs.svvsd.org/wellness/2019/10/14/types-of-stressors-eustress-vs-distress/ ▪Traditional Focus: ▪Focus on distress as a cause of suffering ▪Focus on preventing and alleviating human suffering ▪1 positive for 3-4 negative emotions ▪1:3 Losada Ratio for team performance vs. 1:5 Gottman Ratio for relationships ▪Missing piece = Eustress  WHAT IS POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND WHY DO WE CARE? ▪ Positive Psychology: the field of study in psychology that focuses on examining and promoting well-being and optimal human functioning ▪ Examines what people do right rather than what goes wrong ▪ 3 Pillars: Martin Seligman ▪ Positive Experiences (e.g., joy, happiness, love, hope) ▪ Positive States and Traits (e.g., gratitude, resilience, 1998 urged the APA compassion) association to focus on psychological strengths ▪ Positive Institutions (e.g., application of positive principles) rather than problems WHAT IS POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND WHY DO WE CARE? Why should we care about the study of positive psychology? ANTECEDENTS TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Ancient Hebrew and Christians ▪ Divine Command Theory: those that are happy follow the commands of a supreme being and live in accordance with divine laws and morals. ▪Today’s notion of religiosity, spirituality and meaning making Greek Philosophers ▪ Aristotle’s Virtue Theory of Happiness: Eudaimonia (“happiness possessed of true wellbeing”) is not a goal to pursue but a byproduct of living the virtuous life (e.g., courage, good temper, honour). ▪ Contrasts with hedonistic happiness = happiness achieved through pleasurable experiences and enjoyment. Buddhism ▪ Happiness is achieved when a person can perceive the true nature of reality, unmodified by the mental constructs we superimpose upon it. POSITIVE EMOTIONS  POSITIVE EMOTIONS ▪Positive affect and negative affect comprise the basic dimensions of emotional experience ▪Negative affect: withdrawal-oriented, important for survival or protection from harm (e.g., fight or flight) ▪Sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, resentment, jealousy ▪Positive affect: approach-oriented, leads person to experiences that yield pleasure ▪Joy, happiness, amusement, love  POSITIVE EMOTIONS ▪Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Model: explains the adaptive and evolutionary value of our positive emotions ▪Negative emotions tend to limit our options, positive emotions tend to broaden them ▪Negative emotions can make a person act quickly (specific action tendencies) ▪Short term survival gains ▪Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repertoires (non-specific action tendencies) which then leads to resource -building action ▪Long-term survival …Creating spaciousness …Widening our window of tolerance POSITIVE EMOTIONS ▪ Fredrickson’s Undoing hypothesis: positive emotions help us recover more quickly from detrimental effects of negative emotions. ▪E.g., laugh after being startled – relieve tension and regain equilibrium ▪Regain equilibrium and then broaden attention to resources (e.g., social support) ▪Study (Fredrickson et al., 2000): provoked anxiety in participants (speech anticipation task) and then showed a film clip (positive or neutral). The positive clip resulted in greater cardiovascular recovery relative to the neutral clip (replicated across 2 study cohorts) FREDRICKSON'S BROADEN-AND-BUILD THEORY OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS QUESTION A B Which is more similar to the stimulus above? POSITIVE EMOTIONS: RESEARCH Testing the Broaden Hypothesis (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) : ▪Participants underwent mood induction of positive, negative, or no mood induction via video clips. ▪Asked “what do you feel like doing right now? ▪Results: ▪Positive emotions resulted in listing more things they would like to do (i.e., potential actions), and the list was more varied (broad focus) ▪Negative emotion induction resulted in fewer potential actions  POSITIVE EMOTIONS: RESEARCH Testing the Broaden Hypothesis (Cohn & Fredrickson, 2009) ▪ Visual attention study: negative emotion induction correlated with attention to detail (local bias); positive emotion induction correlated with global bias (narrow vs. broader focus) Testing the Build Hypothesis (Fredrickson et al. 2008) ▪ RCT: Engaging in loving kindness meditation associated with improved resources (e.g., seeking more social support) and greater life satisfaction compared to WLC WELL-BEING  WELL-BEING There are two overlapping and sometimes competing views of happiness and well-being: subjectivist view vs prescriptive view Subjectivist view of happiness and well-being states that happiness is defined by subjective well-being (most prevalent) General components of subjective wellbeing:  Life satisfaction (global judgment about how good one’s life is)  Satisfaction with important life domains (e.g., work, family, health)  Positive affect  Low negative affect Kesibir & Diener (2008)  WELL-BEING The prescriptive view is less prevalent and parallel’s Aristotle’s virtue theory of happiness (i.e., eudaimonia) States that certain factors must be present for a person to experience happiness and well-being Carol Ryff’s model of psychological wellbeing: Is a product of 6 dimensions:  Autonomy: ability to think independently and make decisions  Self-acceptance: balanced realistic view of self  Positive relations with others: ability to love, empathize, and connect  Environmental mastery: self efficacy in shaping experiences  Purpose in life: direction in life, set of aims that guide behavior/decisions  Personal growth: ability to learn and evolve, tapping into potential HAPPINESS SET POINT HAPPINESS SET POINT ▪Happiness set point: when we are too happy or too unhappy, our internal biological regulators try to bring happiness levels back to a genetically determined set point Assertion: We each have a happiness set point ▪Set point - fixed, stable across time, and somewhat impervious to control, similar to a thermostat that is locked into position HAPPINESS SET POINT Do We Inherit our Happiness? ▪Lykken and Tellegen (1996): ▪ Examined identical twins at age 20 and then again at age 30 ▪ Well-being scores were very stable across time ▪ Genetic variation accounted for 44% - 52% of the variance of well-being. ▪Happiness set point probably determines about 50% of our long-term stable happiness levels (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005) HAPPINESS SET POINT AND HEDONIC ADAPTATION ◼Happiness due to circumstances tend to be temporary and only account for 10% of happiness ◼Hedonic adaptation: novelty of a new stimulus (i.e., buying a new car) wears off and happiness levels return to baseline (habituation) HAPPINESS SET POINT AND HEDONIC ADAPTATION Lucas’s (2007) findings suggest that hedonic adaptation is more likely to occur for marriage, widowhood, and divorce and is least likely to occur for disability and severe disability. HAPPINESS SET POINT AND HEDONIC ADAPTATION According to Lucas (2007) happiness levels are moderately stable over time, however happiness levels do change, adaptation is not inevitable, and life events do matter. Resilience: people not only cope with a negative event, they are transformed by the experience ▪ Resilient people may show positive growth and thrive after negative life experience (i.e., post- traumatic growth) Substantial changes in set-point may arise and have been found to depend on 1) personality traits (extraversion (+), neuroticism (-), internal locus of control (+)), and 2) choice of life goals (materialism (-), family life (+), altruism (+)) (Headey, 2008)  DOES MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? The magic number: $75,000 US (Deaton & Kahnemen, 2010) ▪Distinction between emotional wellbeing vs. life evaluation ▪450,000 responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a daily survey of 1,000 US residents ▪Income and education are more closely related to positive life evaluation, but health, care giving, loneliness, and smoking are relatively stronger predictors of daily emotional wellbeing ▪Emotional well-being also rises with income, but there is no further progress beyond an annual income of ~$75,000. DOES MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? Study: 2,966 participants from Indigenous and local communities across 19 sites worldwide, revealing average life satisfaction scores of 6.8 (out of 10). Only 64% of surveyed households had any cash income, yet some communities reported happiness levels exceeding those of wealthy nations. Some locations reported similar scores to the wealthiest counties (Scandinavia) Conclusions: Income/wealth is not a universal predictor of happiness But Why? Family and social support, spirituality, and connections to nature may be important factors on which this happiness is based Galbraith et al. 2023, PNAS LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES AND HAPPINESS Which one is correct? Bottom-up theories of happiness: life’s circumstances influence happiness (i.e., the sum of our positive experiences) Top-down theories of happiness: happiness levels begin in ourselves and they effect how we view life’s circumstances THE EXPERIENCE OF FLOW https://tedideas.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/final_08_glennharvey_2020_04_10_flow-state.jpg  THE EXPERIENCE OF FLOW Flow: An experience of merging one’s consciousness with an event in the present moment. The experience of complete absorption in the present moment Conditions to enter flow: ▪Perceived challenge that stretch but to not overextend existing skills ▪Clear proximal goals and immediate feedback about progress being made Subjective state of flow: ▪Intense and focused concentration on the present moment ▪Merging of action and awareness and loss of reflective self-consciousness ▪Temporal distortion ▪The process is intrinsically rewarding OTHER TOPICS OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Additional topics within positive psychology that we will touch on in later lectures: Optimism (Personality) Mindfulness and Savoring (Contemplative practice) Meaning and Purposeful Living (Coping)