A Construal Approach to Increasing Happiness Flashcards
This chapter describes a “bottom-up” and “top down” theory of happiness. Describe each.
–Bottom up theory: The theory says that happiness is rooted in an individual’s life circumstances. Happy people are privileged and fortunate individuals who encounter relatively more positive and satisfying life events have accrued the greatest advantages in life. Happiness and advantages (Bidirectional): people have been documented to be more likely to attain success in work, social relationships and health. Not much support in literature: studies have shown that the average person’s objective circumstances are less predictive than one might expect of how happy a person is likely to be
–Top Down theory: Argues happiness is not caused by external variables (ex: objective life circumstances) Happiness comes from biological or temperamental factors– These factors direct behaviors and cognitions. Study of behavioral genetics (Lykken and Tellegen) showed that identical twins reared apart are more similar in well-being than fraternal twins reared either together or apart Suggests that Genes may have a powerful effect on happiness. Further supported by the study of personality, The chapter talks about how personality traits are consistent across situations and they discuss two aspects of well-being: Positive affect and negative affect. (People who are extraverted have high levels of Positive affect and people who are neurotic have high levels of Negative affect) The associations are so strong that whether or not particular individual is extraverted or neurotic predicts how happy the person will be in 10 years down the line– this suggests temperamental forces
Describe the “construal model of happiness,” as discussed in this chapter.
–The construal model of happiness is essentially a top-down model that incorporates some bottom-up factors
–Objective Life experiences indeed play a critical role in well-being BUT are Poor predictors of happiness because their effect on happiness depends on how they are construed, perceived or compared to others (ex: if you make 100K might be construed as satisfying if peers are making 50K but would be dissatisfying if peers are making 250K)
–Construal model says that people are happier when they interpret their life in an optimistic (“glass-is-half-full”) way(e.g., “I am an excellent candidate for the job”) and is true regardless of how “ideal” their circumstances (i.e., whether or not they are truly qualified and competitive for the job)
Describe three ways, discussed in this chapter, that people can become lastingly happier.
–Sustainable happiness model argues intentional committed practice of cognitive, behavioral and goal-based activities associated with enhanced well-being.
-motivation to engage in practicing these mind/brain techniques
–The chapter also talks about Happiness enhancing activities and how the timing, variety, and frequency of these activities are practiced and how effective they are in influencing happiness
