Positive Thinking Flashcards
What is optimism?
generalized expectation that things will go well in the future
- optimsim often promotes confidence and persistent pursuit of goals
What are the benefits of optimism?
- predicts better mental and physical health symptoms
- physiological mechanisms: less chronic stress ptotects against long term health risks like inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and immune dysfunction.
- fewer probelmatic behvaiours
- studies show better adjustment to college life
What is Expectancy-value theory?
Believes motivation is determined by two-key factors
1) the value of the goal
2) expectancy of success
People are most motivated when they believe they can suceed and see the goal as meaningful or beneficial.
how is expectancy-theory related to optimism?
optimism boosts the expectancy of success
How is optimism related to explanatory style?
explanatory style is how a person explains the causes of events and it develops over time based on experiences.
Optimists tend to see setbacks as unstable and external as well as specific.
Pessimists tend to see setbacks as stable and internal, as well as global.
what is cognitive restructuring?
reframing beliefs about events or situations because they are what cause negative emotional consequences.
What is self-efficacy? How doe sit differ from optimism?
The belief that we can bring about specific desired outcomes, versus optimism which is more general
Why is self-efficacy important?
it shapes goal pursuit and determines activity choices
- when we feel capable we seek out challenges, avoidance reinforces self-doubt, promotes effort and persistence
Where does self efficacy come from?
personal behaviour history (have we done something successfully before)
vicarious experience
verbal persuasion and encouragement, interpretation of physiological state
What is stress appraisal theory?
Appraisals of an event and our role in it shape our environment. There are two types of appraisals:
1) primary (initial perception of situation)
2) Secondary (a person’s perception of his or her ability with the demands of a situation)
Stress appraisals are the result of balancing the two
Percieved stress is high when the primary appraisal of a situation’s demands exceed the secondary appraisal of your ability to meet those demands
What is challenge versus threat reactivity?
challenge: a cardiovascular pattern of respinse where the heart pumps more blood, vessels dilate
threat: a cardiovascular pattern or response whereby the heart pumps out more blood but the vessels constrict
How does self-efficacy relate to stress appraisals?
Individuals high in Self-efficacy are more likely to make challenge appraisals
What are the two types of expectancies?
Efficacy expectation: Can I do something?
Outcome expectation: Will it actually work?
What is learned helplessness?
state of passive resignation to an aversive situation that one has come to believe is outside of one’s control
Summarize Seligman’s research on learned helplessness with dogs. What
did he do, and what did he find?
Had a floor that was half electrified, half neutral with a hurdle in between the two halves. There was control group with no shocks, escape group with a lever that could stop it, and a no escape group. Dogs in the no- escape group often did not even attempt to escape
How does learned helplessness occur in humans?
when repeated failure leads people to believe they have no control over their situation
- undermines motivation leading people to stop trying, even when success is possible.
repeated failure –> attribution to personal flaws –> loss of motivation
How can we break the cycle of learned helplessness?
build small successes to restore self-efficacy, recognize that past failure does not mean future failure, focus on controllable actions rather than global unchangeable beliefs
What is the connection between controllability attributions and depression?
Controllability attributions are a strong predictor of depression
- depression can be thought of as a state of despair and a surrender of hope
Others argue that depression underestimate controllability of events (‘depressive realism’)
What is hope?
More than just positive thinking or optimism
COmbones motivation and strategy to reach a goal
- agency: the belief that I can do something
- pathways thinking: belief that I can find a way to make it happen
What are some potential drawbacks to optimism?
safeguards well-being in a frightening world BUT also can lead us to underestimate risks, costs, and setbacks despite past experience (planning fallacy: tend to be unrealistic when thinking about the future, ex. we think we have more free time than we do)
What is construal level theory?
The idea that we tend to think about psychologically distant events in more abstract terms and psychologically proximal events in more concrete terms.
- distant events focus on desirability information
- proximate events focus on feasibility information
What are three ways we think about goals, according to Oettigen?
Indulging: fantasizing about success
Dwelling: only focusing on negative aspects of the current reality and ruminating on obstacles
Mental contrasting: imagining achieving a goal, identifying obstacles in the way, the deciding whether to engage with the goal.
- balances optimism with realism
Why are indulging and dwelling generally demotivating?
Indulging leads to less effort put in based on over-optimsim
Dwelling leads to less preparation due to stress
What is the WOOP method?
Wish: choose an important achievable goal
Outcome: imagine how achieving a goal would positively impact your life
Obstacle: identify internal barriers that might derail your progress
Plan: develop concrete if, then plan to overcome obstacle
Why is mental contrasting beneficial?
Mental contrasting helps align effort with reality
- success seems likely –> boosts motivation and effort and the same goes for the opposite
Mental contrasting helps processing and moving past regret
- helps avoid counterfactual thinking instead lets people become more active and productive in the present
