Lecture 22 Flashcards
Two types of well being
I literature, there are two
(1) Hedonistic well being
Happiness
Subjective well being
(2) Eudaimonic well being
To live in accordance with your spirit
Maybe called psychological well being
Anecdote: Neil Paricha
Many personal issues in 08/09
Started blod detailing small happinesses
Got big star
Won best blog award
Measurement of Hedonic Well-Being
Subjective well being or happiness
3 scales
High positive affect
Low negative affect
Life satisfaction
Very stable, has a fixed set point
Genetic (MZ more similar than DZ) = .5
We go up and down but swiftly return to set point
Satisfaction with life scale
1-7 scale with statements
Used all over world
Measures hedonic well-being
Normally distributed
2 traits associate strongly with it: high E and low N associate with high hedonistic well-being
Suggestions from happiness equation
10 mins writing about good things
10 mins meditation
Random act of kindness daily
Walk in nature
Sources of Hedonistic WB
Personality (High E, Low N) this is genetic
Employed/unemployed
Relationships - increase SWB, married people (especially men) show higher SWB
Life events: Negative life events r=-.2 with SWB
BUT recover within 6 months to baseline
Sources of Hedonistic WB (spinal chord injury and lottery)
40 Wheelchair bound students with 40 matched controls
9 years post wheelchair
No difference in SWB
Same with lottery winners, return to baseline
The U bend
SWB drops from 18 to 46 then rebounds slowly in a u bend
Older ppl like 70 year olds are happier than 46 year olds
Stress increases in 20s then drops
Worry increases in 30s and then drops
Sadness in 40s increases and then drops
Anger drops throughout adulthood
Measurement of Eudaimonic well being (EWB)
Could be done via purpose, meaning and self-actualization scaler
Or maturity/ego development
Self actualization scale
Acceptance
Authenticity
Purpose
Efficient perception of reality
PROBLEMS are that there are clearly right answers to this test
Correlates .7-.8 with SWB
Probably not a good way top do this
Ego Development (maturity)
Is a projective test
Stem sentence (X is…)
Like change is… My mother and I…
These are then coded by level
Impulsive Self-protective Self-Aware Conscientious - 40% of people are here Individualistic Autonomous
These create classes as to the maturity of the person
Distinguishing between the two
High positive correlations between HWB and EWB if measured in self-report
BUT
HWB and EWB have different associations with difficult life events
Women divorcing after 20 years
Divorce is easier when you are young
Women divorcing after 20 years
Measured salience and elaboration of lost possible selves
Measured HWB and EWB at 2 time points
Lost possible self is the loss of the self you thought you would have in the future with your partner.
Key finding: Salience and elaboration of lost possible selves negatively impacted HWB in the short term but promoted EWB in the long term
While happiness may require us to avoid thinking about what might have been, maturity might require an awareness of the losses and sacrifices of adulthood
Should you persue HWB or EWB
People were asked if they wanted to increase HWB and EWB
Even if they wanted too, did not increase HWB at follow up
But the people who wanted to increase EWB (living in accord with yourself) could
Personality factors that are related to well being
Extraversion
Neuroticism
Life stage status - Foreclosed has high HWB but LOW EWB
Attachment style - healthy social relationships associated with both well beings
Autonomy orientation - probably EWB (Not in lecture)
Life Narrative - Associated with EWB
Most useful change is to increase E(dominance)
