Week 6 Flashcards
What does self-compassion do?
Makes people more in tune with their regrets & can do something about it
What are a big deal?
Daily, ongoing hassles
What are some benefits/impacts of volunteering?
-increases longevity (even more than exercise!)
-sense of time changes
-greater impacts if prosocial values align with the person’s identity
-tipping point - perception & autonomy - freely chosen, degree of choice
What are 4 facts about mindfulness?
1 - as the brain changes, the mind changes (stress - cortisol - eats away at the hippocampus - like an acid bath)
2 - As the mind changes, the brain changes (what flows through the mind sculpts the brain - Ex=meditation)
3 - can use the mind to change the brain to change the mind for the better (self-directed neuroplasticity - use of controlled attention)
4 - take in the good (suck the positives into the brain like a vacuum cleaner kept on - keep the spotlight of attention on the positives)
What is the definition of mindfulness?
a way of relating to all experience - positive, negative, and neutral - in an open, receptive way. It involves the FREEDOM from grasping and from wanting anything to be different. It simply knows and accepts what is here, now - without trying to get more of what we want (pleasure, security) or pushing away what we don’t want (e.g., anger, fear, shame).
What is the science behind mindfulness like?
-it has often suffered from very poor research
-many don’t agree on an operational definition
-different types of meditation
-call for truth in mindfulness advertising
What are 8 things that are fairly settled for the time being about mindfulness?
1 - Meditation almost certainly sharpens attention
(Reduces mind wandering up to 5 yrs after training - trait-like attributes are possible & more problem-solving)
2 - long-term, consistent meditation seems to increase resiliency to stress (doesn’t necessarily reduce reactions to threats but helps people bounce back better - decreases amygdala activity)
3 - Appears to increase compassion & make our compassion more effective (decreases amygdala activity; long-term meditators ruminate less and are not so focused on themselves - increases well-being)
4 - Seems to improve mental health BUT not necessarily more than other steps people can take (meditation is not for everyone
5 - Seems to have positive impact on relationships (could just be a byproduct of what already talked about)
6 - Seems to reduce several types of bias (psychological bias, behavioral bias, & the sunken cost)
7 - Has an impact on physical health BUT its modest & not sure what factors it is really due to (e.g., impulse control)
8 - Meditation might not be good for everybody all the time (sitting quietly with self can be very distressing at times)
What are the 3 types of bias?
1 - psychological bias (prejudice)
2 - behavioral bias (discrimination)
3 - The Sunken Cost (tendency to stay invested in loosing proposition)
How much mindfulness is enough?
Really don’t know…try different types, durations, and frequencies.
What are 3 criticisms of mindfulness?`
1 - Lack of control groups (doing SOMETHING is huge)
2 - connection between mindfulness training and Buddhism (can it be uprooted? - mindfulness for its own sake is no longer a core teaching - focuses on the individual)
3 - Christian positive psychologists struggle to separate Buddhism from the activity
What did Matt Killingsworth research with over 15,000 people?
Mind-wandering
How often are people thinking about something other than what they are doing?
47% of the time
How does mind-wandering impact happiness?
substantially reduces happiness no matter what you are doing
- even if the mind-wandering is neutral, people are less happy
Is mind-wandering a cause or a consequence of unhappiness?
It is a cause
what is the goal with mind-wandering?
Not to completely stop it (impossible) but reducing it and the degree of looking at the past/dreaming of the future is helpful.
