Positive psychology

Question 1

Define positive psych

Answer 1

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life worth living
- Peterson, 2008

Question 2

Who introduced positive psych

Answer 2

Martin Seligman officially introduced positive psych as a subfield when he chose it as a theme of the American Psychological Association conference in 1998

Question 3

Definition of positive psych by seligman

Answer 3

The scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on many levels that include biological, personal, relational, insititutional, cultural and global dimensions of life

Question 4

Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory

Answer 4

According to barbara fredrickson’s broaden and build theory of positive emotions, we can think of positive emotions as being a way to be open to positive things in life
When we are happy or experience positive emotions, we tend to think more positive thoughts. This is reflected in our behaviour as well. These behaviours help strengthen our psychological resources which improve our wellbeing.
This is the way we can try to control our emotions by trying to experience greater number of positive emtions, which enable us to lead a more fulfilling life.

Question 5

Define happiness

Answer 5

Happiness is a positive emotional state that is subjective for each person

Question 6

Theories of happiness

Answer 6

1. Need/Goal Satisfaction Theories
   We are happy because we have reached our goals
   For eg: you are hungry and someone gives you food
2. Process/activity theories
   Engaging in particular activities generates happiness
   For eg: singers enjoy singing
3. Genetic/personality theories
   Genes and personality characteristics are involved in the experience of happiness

Question 7

Determinants of happiness

Answer 7

1. Strong and intimate social relationships
2. Optimism
3. Self esteem
4. Achieving challenging goals
5. Perceiving meaning in life
6. Perspective of looking at the world as an opportunity rather than a threat

Question 8

Strong and intimate social relationships

Determinants of happiness pt 1

Answer 8

Robust and intimate social relationships within and outside the family help an individual to build better support systems to rely on during difficult times. It also produces greater positive contacts adding to overall happiness

Question 9

optimism

Determinants of happiness pt 2

Answer 9

When an individual is hopeful about the future, they will experience more positive emotions thereby reducing the negative emotions like anxiety and stress

Question 10

Self esteem

Determinants of happiness pt 3

Answer 10

Having a positive evaluation of one’s own self is positive self esteem. This enhances the person’s confidence level and their abilty to approach challenges more constructively. This leads to greater incidences of being successful, which adds to the happiness level

Question 11

Achieving challenging goals

Determinants of happiness pt 4

Answer 11

When a person adjusts the goals to meet his capacity, it becomes a challenging goal. Achieving it leads to happiness. However if the goal is beyond the capacity of the individual, it leads to frustration and stress. Similarly if it’s too easy, it leads to boredom. Thus the trick to maintaining happiness is to find and achieve goals that are not too easy or too difficult

Question 12

Perceiving meaning in life

Determinants of happiness pt 5

Answer 12

Research shiws that an individual who does not see meaning in life tend sto have more negative emotion slike sadness, boredom, frustration, etc.
Therefore, it is the responsibilty of each individual to create a unique meaning of life and have a purpose in his own life to ensure happiness

Question 13

Perspective of looking at the world as an opportunity

Determinants of happiness pt 6

Answer 13

Each individual can look at the problems in life as opportunities to develop their abilities or as setbacks meant to cause damange.
Achieving challenging goals leads to happiness. This shows that our perspective of looking at the world matters for our happiness

Question 14

Define opitimism

Answer 14

Optimism is a mental attitude that includes feelings of hopelessness and a belief that the future will be positive, favourable and desirable and that negative events are temporary setbacks to be overcome

Question 15

Who gave theory of optimism

Answer 15

The theory was given by martin seligman in his book learned optimism and he is considered the father of optimism

Question 16

Define empathy

Answer 16

Empathy is the capacity to understand and feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is the capacity to place oneself in another’s position

Question 17

Components of empathy

Answer 17

Simon Baron- Cohen (2004) believes that empathy consists of three components:
(1) Cognitive empathy : It means knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. It is sometimes called
perspective-taking. cognitive empathy responds to a problem with brainpower.
(2) Emotional reactivity: It means directly feeling the emotions that another person is feeling. It’s a deep-seated, gut reaction that
often feels like a visceral human response. Connecting with another human in this way is intimate and can form a strong bond
(3) Social skills : With this kind of empathy we not only understand a person’s predicament and feel with them, but are spontaneously moved to help, if needed i.e. how easily individuals engage with others. It involves the other two components too as feeling the emotion becomes the driving force behind the action and understanding gives it the right direction. It involves using your emotional intelligence to correctly respond to the situation without either becoming overwhelmed by sadness or trying to fix
things with logical or irrational motives