L7,8,9 Flashcards
$90,000 ($131,000) Kahneman rule
Above this, money does not make you happy
Spend $ on others (Dunn, 2008, Science; and 2011, J of Happiness Studies)
People who spent money on others reported higher levels of happiness, regardless of their income level.
What is “Junkification of American Life”
American life is lived through a culture of quick, repetitive dopamine hits – we settle for junk because it is quick and easy
We have inability to enjoy
Serve others before we serve ourselves
“You cannot pour from an empty cup.” (Chinese proverb)
High self-interest/low in other-interest - egomaniacs
Low in self-interest/low in other-interest - slouches
Low in self-interest/high in other-interest - doormats
High in self-interest/high in other-interests - live to givers
3 things to regain control of junkification of american life. Can we retrain (‘rewire’) ourselves (or society) to enjoy …”the fine wine, or,…do we settle for the Kool-Aid?”
‘Self-binding’ bucket –> setting boundaries
‘Here and now’ bucket –> enjoy the moment
‘Higher desires’ bucket –> from lower pleasures to higher, delayed gratification
10% rule of Shawn Anchor
Awards, salary, job title…(external world), predicts only 10% of
long-term happiness. Therefore, success does not lead to
happiness; happiness leads to success”
40-second rule (described by Trzeciak, from Johns Hopkins study)
just 40 seconds of compassionate communication can significantly improve patient outcomes, reduce anxiety, and build trust.
100% rule
Attitude is the one thing you can always control
Savoring (green cape activity)
Anticipatory Savoring (Before the Experience)
In-the-Moment Savoring (During the Experience)
Reminiscent Savoring (After the Experience)
Savoring through Expression (Sharing with Others)
Benefits of Savoring
Happiness & Well-Being – By prolonging positive emotions
✔ Reduces Stress & Anxiety – Focusing on good moments
✔ Strengthens Relationships – Sharing joy with others
✔ Enhances Mindfulness – Encourages presence and appreciation for the current moment.
✔ Builds Resilience – Reminiscing on past joys provides strength during challenging times.
How to Deal with Stress
Stop Rumination
Inner workouts
Take positive actions (cold water plunge, exercise, breathing)
MPS Venn Diagram
Meaning –> Engaging in activities that provide a sense of purpose and contribution.
Pleasure –> Experiencing joy, enjoyment, and positive emotions in the moment.
Strengths –> Utilizing personal strengths and talents to achieve goals.
Job, Career, Calling and Happiness
Success / Happiness continuum
Define success: –a question for opinion, to be debated, and may
include elements of Faith, but ultimately, it is empirical
Define happiness - same
So Achor says, “be happy first….get the happiness
advantage…and success (at work) will follow.”
40% Rule Activities and benefits Sonja Lyubomirsky
Intentional activities
- Cultivate relationships
- express gratitude
- serve others
- practice optimism
- savor life’s pleasures
- excersise
- demontrate grit
- coping mechanisms
- avoid excerssive alcohiol
Benefits
- live longer (Danner et al the happy nuns lives longer)
- deep friendhips
- positive ripple effects
- better immune system
Misconceptions and miswanting
visual illusions, intuitions are often wrong, mind deceives us
Misconceptions lead to __. and 2 key words
Miswanting and 2 key
- mistaken about what and how much you will like something in the future. Ex. our believe getting a dream job will make you permanently happy, but once you get it, you adapt and start wanting more.
- hedonic adaptation: get used to new pleasures quickly
- impact bias: People misjudge the long-term emotional impact
Miswanting and stuff we think makes us happy - Annoying features of the mind
- money
- good job
- first love
- perfect body
- perfect grades
Annoying features of the mind
Miswanting – mistaken about what and how much you will like
something in the future (Dan Gilbert)
intuitions –> WRONG, accept this as truth, a fact of the mind
– We pay way more attention to negative stuff rather than positive stuff
– Negativity Bias (survival of the species)
– We believe what we see (visual illusions)
- Hedonic adaptation – we get used to stuff and we are not aware of Impact Bias
– Our minds don’t think in absolutes, but with reference points;
– Remember visual illusions;
– Same happens with social comparisons .
impact bias def
The tendency to overestimate the emotional impact of a
future event both in intensity and its duration (and be
unaware of this phenomena happening.
Impact bias is worse for negative events. always back to baseline one year later
Reference Points (2)
Current status - used as a reference point (idea of a good income based on our current income)
Social comparison - evaluating own salary compared relative to other people
Upward vs downward gazing on social media
negative impact when viewing someone we percieve as ‘better’ –> upward gazing
minimal impact when viewing someone we perceive as ‘inferior’ –> downward gazing
Focalism
The tendency to think about just one event and forget about the
other things that happen.
Psychological Immune neglect
- unawareness of of psychological immune system
- we become more risk averse
- we are more resilinet that we realize
- we can increase reslience
Thwart hedonic adaptation - overcome biases, get better at miswanting
- Invest in experiences, in others
- savor the moment with anticipation and reflection
- reset reference points, resent our expectations and set goals
