Test #1 Flashcards
What did psychology focus on prior to WWII
- curing mental illness
- making the lives of all people more productive and fulfilling
- identifying and nurturing high talent
What the field of psychology neglected after WWII
Making the lives of all people better and nurturing genius
The economic events that occurred after WWII that changed the direction of psychology
- the veterans administration was founded
- the national institute of mental health
Veterans administration
people learned they could make a living off of treating mental illness
The national institute of mental health
academic found out that they could get grants for their research - if about pathology
How positive psych fits in with prevention and psychotherapy
- may have the direct effect of preventing many of the major emotional disorders
- making the lives of clients physically healthier
- making normal people stronger and more productive
- making high human potential
Strengths that are built into therapy
- courage, optimism, honesty, interpersonal skill, in sight
The reasons Dr. Seligman believes psychology is good
- some of the disorders are now treatable
- a science of mental illness
Some of the consequences of the disease model that were not good according to Dr. Seligman
- became victimologists (can’t change) and pathologizers (making human experience mental illness)
- forgot about improving normal lives
The 3 happy lives
- the pleasant life
- the good life (life of engagement
- the meaningful life
The pleasant life
Having as many pleasures as possible
- learning the skills to amplify them
BUT- heritable, habituates (keep doing the same thing, happiness level drops) - least satisfaction with life
The good life (the life of engagement)
pleasure vs. flow (being engaged)
- recraft work, love, play
The meaningful life
knowing your signature strength
- use in the service something greater than you
- positive institutions
Seligaman’s 11th reason for optimism
technology to increase happiness
Flow
Fully absorbing experience
- complete concentration
- actions and awareness are merged
- losing awareness are merged
- transformation of time
DANGERS
- when flow activity becomes a necessity
- losing a larger perspective
Relationship between skill and challenge in terms of flow
balance between challenge and skill that are required for flow, both have to be stretched
Universal definition of happiness
no universal agreement
Theories of happiness
- hedonism theory
- desire theory
- objective list theory
Hedonism Theory
maximize feeling of pleasure and minimize pain
Problem= love and pain- two sides of the same coin
Desire Theory
Happiness is a matter of getting what you want
- Fulfillment of getting your desires contribute to happiness regarding of amount of happiness or pain
Objective list theory
Happiness is not a feeling
- achieves certain things from a list worthwhile pursuits
Predictors of happiness
- mindfulness or meditation
- character strengths
- coaching
- hope
- age
- married
The benefits happy people typically have
- larger social rewards
- superior work outcomes
- larger social rewards
- superior work outcomes
Larger social rewards
- higher odds of marriage and lower odds of divorce
- more friends
- stronger social support
Superior work outcomes
- greater creativity
- increases productivity
- higher quantity of work
Larger social rewards
- higher odds or marriage and lower odds of divorce
- more friends
- stronger social support
Superior work outcomes
- greater creativity
- increased productivity
3 sources of scientific pessimism
- genetically determined set point for happiness
- personality traits
3.hedonic treadmill
Genetically determined set point for happiness
people return back their setpoint
Personality traits
consistent across situations and across lifespan
Hedonic treadmill
gains of happiness are temporary because humans adapt so quickly to change
4 present sources of optimism
- some researchers have had success in using intervention to increase happiness
- many different motivational and attitudinal factors have been linked to well being that are presumably amenable to some vlitional contorl
- genes are not destiny
3 primary factors that affect happiness- integrated model of happiness
- happiness set point
- life circumstances
- intentional activity
Role of effect in implementing happiness
want to chose something that works for you, start the activity and maintain the activty
Broaden and build theory of positive emotions
positive emotions expand thought and behaviors, our broadened array of thoughts and actions helps us build resources over time
- when we experience positive emotions then everything is better, our minds are broadened and that makes us have more resources
Affective forecasting
people routinely mispredict how much pleasure or displeasure future events will bring positive or negative
Impact bias
people overestimate the intensity and duration of their emotional reactions to future events
Causes of impact bias
- focalism
- ignoring sense making
Focalism
the tendency to overestimate how much we will think about the event in the future and to underestimate the extent to which other events will influence our thoughts and feelings
Ignoring sense making
failing to recognise how readily they will make sense of novel or unexpected events once they happen
Four processes people go through when poorly understood and expected events happen
- pay alot of attention to the event
- react emotionally to the event
- attempt to make sense of the event
- adapt to the event emotionally
Savorting strategies
strategies to prolong and increase positive emotions
- behavior display
- be present
- capitalizing
- positive mental time travel
Behavioral display- savoring
experessing positive emotions via nonverbals
Be present- savoring
bringing attention directly to the pleasant present experience
Capitalizing- savoring
communication and celevrating the event with others
Positive mental time travel- savoring
vividly remembering or anticipating positive events
Dampening strategies
reduce positive emotions
- suppress positive emotions
- distraction
- fault finding
- negative mental time travel
Distraction- dampening
engaging in thought and activities unrelated to the current positive event
Fault Finding- dampening
paying attention to the negative elements of otherwise positive situations or focusing on what could be even better
Negative mental time travel- dampening
negative reminiscence such as reflecting on the causes of a positive event with an emphasis on external attribution
Dialectic
the dynamic tension of opposition between two interacting forces or elements
- how 2 opposites while being opposed are intimately connected and dependents on the other for their very existence
Emergence of positive psych
synthesis model
- thesis
- antithesis
- synthesis
Thesis
psychology usual focuses on the negative
Antithesis
Positive Psych embracing the positive
- the first wave of PP
- PP focused just on positive emotions and thoughts and negative phenomena were thought to be undesirable
Synthesis
focusing on the positive and negative (embracing the dark side)
appraisals
out initial appraisal of our state of mind, idea, or a situation may be incomplete or inaccurate
- contextualization
- temporal contextualization
- spatial contextualization
Contextualization
situating this appraisal in a broader context
(passage of time and subsequent events)
temporal contextualization
meaning of a current event being altered by perspective at other points in time
(Posttraumatic growth- thought life was going to be horrible but later made like long friends bc of it)
Spatial contextualization
considering the event from a different persepctive in the current moment
(going out of state for college- I will miss them but I am also happy for them)
Positive can be negative
positive emotions can be damaging to our wellbeing in certain circumstances
- optimism
- self esteem
- forgiveness
- altruism
- happiness
Pessimism
connection between pessimism and proactive coping (strategic, anticipatory fault finding and problem solving)
Sadness
need to be careful about viewing states likes sadness as inappropiate
1. risk of patholgizing
2. allinates suffering
3. people feel bad about feeling bad
Optimism
dangers
- under appreciation at risk
- maladaptive risk taking (gambling)
Foregiveness
dangers
- if a person tolerates a destrutive situation rather than change
- people who make external attributions for their partners abuse or are more forgiving of such transgression are at greater risk for ongoing abuse
