Week 3

Question 1

What are Top-Down predictors of well-being?

Answer 1

What goes on inside a person (evaluations/interpretations of events/life)

• we bring tendencies to the table of well-being as we interpret life events

Question 2

What is the 1st Top-Down predictor of well-being?

Answer 2

Optimism

Question 3

What is optimism?

Answer 3

anticipating a bright future (the 1st top-down predictor)

Question 4

What are the 3 ways that optimism views setbacks?

Answer 4

1- setbacks as temporary, changeable, and local (does not become helpless and looks at setbacks as just 1 instance that will not last forever)
2- bad events as unstable, not fatalistic
3 - could setbacks be “opportunity” (Ex = think of me leaving S.I. and being able to do summer courses)

Question 5

What does research indicate about optimism?

Answer 5

-it is generally associated with good outcomes
-decreases distress with different circumstances (ex= new university)
-more satisfying relationships, less postpartum depression, better at sticking to exercise plans and, more successful at school, work, and sports
-there is a strong relationship between optimism & health (ex=pessimism & cardiovascular risk, and colds & flues)

Question 6

What are 2 things that optimistic people tend to do regarding setbacks?

Answer 6

-bounce back more quickly from setbacks
-don’t globalize setbacks as much (ex=don’t carry work setbacks into being setbacks at home)

Question 7

Can optimism be learned?

Answer 7

Yes! It can be cultivated and learned.

Question 8

What is learned optimism?

Answer 8

-learned optimism is not positive thinking in defiance of the facts (facts matter)
-careful and reasoned consideration of the facts (facts matter)

Question 9

How do optimism and pessimism function?

Answer 9

-they function as different tools for different jobs

• using negative emotions advantageously is good and important (ex = anger etc.)

Question 10

What are the 2 types of pessimism?

Answer 10

Depressive pessimism & Defensive Pessimism

Question 11

What are the characteristics of depressive pessimism and does it contribute to well-being?

Answer 11

-internal, global, and stable attributions

-does not contribute to well-being

Question 12

What are the 3 pathways of depressive pessimism?

Answer 12

1 - internal (all about me)
2 - global (about everything)
3 - stable (always will be like this)

Question 13

What is defensive pessimism?

Answer 13

a cognitive strategy to manage disappointment - very creative

Question 14

How does defensive pessimism work?

Answer 14

-low expectations to help deal with anxiety
-anticipated disappointment = less stressful than actual disappointment

AND

Take active steps to avoid and prepare backup plans (they worry about many ways that a plan can go wrong)
(Ex=think about me with my grad audit)

Question 15

What are some ups and downs to defensive pessimism?

Answer 15

-superior athletic & academic performance & lower cross-cultural drop-out rates
-BUT it’s not as much fun as being an optimist

Question 16

Should defensive pessimism be discouraged?

Answer 16

-trying to force a pessimist into optimism backfires
-there is more than 1 way to live well/flourish

Question 17

What kind of optimist do we want?

Answer 17

A healthy optimist
-not unrealistic optimism in defiance of the facts

Question 18

What are do we want for pessimists?

Answer 18

-move towards higher ground but on the same side of the fence (use more helpful pessimism)

Question 19

What are bottoms-up predictors of well-being?

Answer 19

=the summing up of all the factors of life (create a summary score per say)

Question 20

What are examples of bottoms-up predictors of well-being and do all of them have the same influence on well-being?

Answer 20

-money, wealth, gender, age, race, education, politics, height, marital status, and leisure

-some of these do not have a strong influence on well-being but others do (e.g., poverty)
-lots of these are factors to judge the self on & for social comparison

Question 21

What is the 2nd Top-Down predictor of well-being?

Answer 21

Social Comparison

Question 22

What is social comparison, how does it work, & how do happy people use it?

Answer 22

(the 2nd top-down predictor of well-being)

-sum up all the bottoms-up factors that stand out in mind
-happy people use social comparison WISELY

Question 23

What are the 3 ways that people use social comparisons wisely?

Answer 23

1 - select various types of comparisons to their advantage
i) upward social comparisons
ii)lateral social comparisons
iii)downward social comparisons
2 - happy people use social comparisons infrequently BUT when they do, they do it well
3 - happy people expect a “good enough” life - not “the best life”
(Satisfiers VS maximizers for decision making)

Question 24

What are the 3 types of social comparisons?

Answer 24

1 - Upward social comparisons (to those we think are doing better than us BUT use to motivate self to do better/be better not to look down on the self)

2 - Lateral social comparisons (to those we think are in the same situation as us - “I’m not alone” & “I’m normal” - can be helpful)

3 - Downward social comparisons (to people less fortunate than us - being grateful for all given and response of humility)

Question 25

What are the two types of decision makers?

Answer 25

Satisfiers & Maximizers

Question 26

What are 3 happiness myths?

Answer 26

1 - that happiness can be caught & captured
2 - that happiness is automatic (not something that is earned and continually worked on)
3 - you either have it or you don’t (we can move amidst our genetic programming but it takes intentional work)

Question 27

What is hedonic adaptation?

Answer 27

The idea that we become use to, or habituated and adapt to a level of stimulus relatively quickly (this is pretty well documented)

Question 28

What are the two types of hedonic adaptation?

Answer 28

1 - Positive adaptation (ability of human race to adapt positively to negative circumstances) - there is always the creeping back to the setpoint - element of distance and “time is a healer”

2 - Negative adaptation (even in the highest of highs, there is that “creep back” to the setpoint)

Question 29

What are 2 examples of hedonic adaptation?

Answer 29

lottery winners & 2 years of marriage

Question 30

What are the 2 reasons why Hedonic Adaptation Occurs?

Answer 30

1 - Rising Aspirations (ex= Lori’s gassing up her new car - new normal) - looking at everything around you differently

2- Because it is natural - (ex=getting used to a gross smell until you leave the room OR Lori’s example of a lady’s shampoo)

Question 31

What are 2 suggestions for hedonic adaptation?

Answer 31

1 - slow things down regarding positive events (ex= journaling about it, talking about it, planning to think about it again)

2 - speed up hedonic adaptation regarding negative events (process them but don’t ruminate - don’t replay them over and over) & find a way to not make the negative event global (what parts of life don’t need to become colored?)
a. Eg don’t make it global
b. Find an acceptance – radical acceptance
c. Write about it, talk to a trusted empathetic individual – gives it a beginning and an end

Question 32

What is an example of radical acceptance?

Answer 32

If you loose a spouse, it is about living well-being amidst it (not about getting over it)