the positive approach Flashcards
what are the 3 assumptions for the positive approach
Assumptions-
1. Free will- humans can use free will to live a good fulfilled life and work towards the meaningful life
- authenticity of goodness- feelings of goodness and happiness are just as important as feeings of anxiousness and stress, psychologists should focus on these just as much.
- focus on the good life- to achieve the good life we should nuture our signature strengths. 3 elements to the good life. Positive to others, positive in ourselves and life qualities that we need to regulate our behaviour
what is MBSR
MBSR- mindullness based on stress relief. This helps people cope with stress in every day life. Reibal et al examined 136 patients in an 8 week programme and found improved vitality and less body pain. Physical symptons went down by 38% and psychological by 38%.
what are the 3 lives that seligmen distunguishes that we can strive for
THE 3 DESIRABLE LIVES THAT SELIGMEN DISTINGUISHES
- Pleasant life- happiness from pursuing positive emotions
- The good life- happiness from pursuing activities that engage us
- The meaningful life- happiness from a deep self of fulfilment
what is therapy for the positive approach and the aim of this type of therapy
mindfulness- The aim of mindfulness is to allow people to be in control of their own mind by paying attention to their thoughts and emotions. It aims to enhance a persons positive minset and become happier individuals
Group mindfulness (giannou and martizious) said that 170 ppts were trying to lose weight and the group who did it together were more willing to take part in social activities.
what are the 3 components to mindfulness
3 COMPONENTS OF MINDFULNESS
- Gaining control of thoughts
- Meditation and breathing
- Informal practices of mindfulness
- CBT can combine with mindfulness to help patient change how they think
what are the social implications to mindfullness
Social implication of mindfulness: once taught can self administrate, cheap and easy to use, fits within other every day life
what are the ethical implications to mindfulness
Ethics of mindfulness:
• Doesn’t require bringing up past trauma
• Improves state of mind
• Cognitive therapy blames ppts for how they are thinking
• Can boost optimism
• Emphasize of positive traits
what is the study for the positive approach and what they aim to do
Myers and deiner- study to look at happiness
They used meta analysis to observe peoples happiness. Self report methods that they used:
1. Interviews and questions (how satisfied are you with your life right now?)
2. Correlations
3. Observarions
what is meta anaysis
Meta analysis: method of research that involves combining and analysing the result of many individual studies about a specific topic. It allows researchers to get a better look at overall trends.
what did myers and deiner find with their study
Findings: they found that happiness of all ages was equal howver this depended on other factors in your life going on at that age in your life, they also found that although in most coutries happiness was equal within genders women were more prone to depression, finally people who were rich did not report to be any happier than poor people however poor people said theyd be more happy if they had more money.
1970- high school money influenced happiness 39% said yes
Went back in 1993- 75% said yes
Swb= subjective well being
what are the strengths and weaknesses to myers and deiners study
Self report methods advantages
They are practical and quicker and can reach a vast amount of people
Produce quantative data, easier to analyse and compare
Disadvantages
No way of testing whether answers are accurate or not subjective
Socially desirable answers. Ppts may lie about happiness
what did myers and deiner conclude
Conclusion: myers and deiner concluded that there were 3 elements to happiness.
- Adaptation- if an indicdual can adapt positive into negative circumstance than it can determine their SWB
- Cultural world view- people are predisposed to view life events based on their culture and this can effect their SWB
- Values and goals- people with SWB have goals In life.
what is the positive contempory debate and fors and againsts for it
The positive debate- is it relevant in todays society
for-
education- Martin Seligman one of the leading proponents of the positive psychology movement proposed that a curriculum with positive psychology in it will enforce the promotion of skills and strengths that are valued by parents. It also improves students well being as they’re educated about it
Work- Csikszentmihalyi research has shown that work can be the major source of our happiness. His ‘flow’ theory posits that our experiences will be most positive when both challenges and skills are high especially when we try and increase our flow by giving ourselves motivating challenges
Leisure and activity- Csikszentimihaliyi and LeFevre 1989 advocate that people increase their experience of flow and the quality of their lives by being more conscious and more active in their use of leisure time they will be more satisfied and content with life.
Health- Thurston’s research followed more than 6,000 men and women aged 25 to 74 for 20 years. They found that those participants with high levels of emotional balance had a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. This tells us that it is important to know how positive psychology can benefit our health
against
Education- Seligman et al 2009 have also admitted that further research needs to be conducted in order to ensure that such programmes are ‘effective with students from a variety of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. The evidence is also short term
Work- Work may make you happy but the other aspect of work, having more money, does not appear to the relevant to happiness. Diener et al 1993. We have also known the theory “chose a job you love and youll never have to work a day in your life” is an old concept and does not necisarily have any relevance.
Leisure and activity- lack of dedicated leisure time or because of the financial costs that they incur.
Health- it is difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship between happiness and health. Are people healthy because they are happy or happy because they are healthy?
Giving people with life threatening diseases false hope that they can recover by being mentally well (coyne and tennen)
