Psy385 Notes Midterm
Summary of :
Ch3,Ch5,Ch6
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Chapter3:Happines and Subjective Well -Being
Definition of SWB: satisfaction with life + high positive affect + low
negative affect.
Definition of Happiness: is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from
contentment to intense joy.
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There are three types of happiness
Life satisfaction.
Positive feelings.
Low negative feelings.
o Example of life satisfaction:
- I think I will pass the exam.
- I think my life is great.
▪ Causes of life satisfaction:
- A good income.
- Achieving one’s goals.
➢ Example of Positive feelings:
-Enjoying life.
-loving others.
➢ Causes of Positive feelings:
-Supportive friends.
- Interesting works.
➢ Examples of Low negative feelings:
-Few chronic worries .
-Rarely sad or angry ( bad mood).
➢ Causes of low negative feelings:
-A positive outlook.
-One’s goals are in harmonic.
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Subjective Wellbeing:
To experience both pleasure and pain, than a world that provides only pleasure
and positive stimulation.
Who is Happy?
According to the results from thousands of datasets, people are actually happy .
How we Increase the Wellbeing :
a)
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c)
d)
Connect : talk and listen be there feel connected.
Be active: do what you can enjoy what you do move your mood.
Take notice: Rembert the simple things that give you joy.
Keep learning: Embrace new experience see opportunities surprise
yourself .
e) Give: Your time your words your presence.
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➢ What is the Five Elements of Wellbeing:
-Career
-Social
-Financial
-Physical
-Community
➢ Income and SWB:
• Individuals who live in countries with high GDP on average score higher
on wellbeing measures than those living in countries with low GDP.
• Income is linked to the satisfaction of basic biological needs
➢ Food
➢ Shelter
• Wealthier nations appear to have more human rights results:
➢ Lower crime
➢ More equality,
➢ More literacy
➢ Increased longevity and better health.
• Several disadvantages to having and maintaining higher levels of
income such as :
➢ -Spending more time at work
➢ Having less time for leisure and social relationships.
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Relationships and SWB:
•Social relationships
•Happiness is contagious
•Marriage and happiness
•Having children (advantages and disadvantages)
➢ Work/Employment and SWB:
Job orientation
Career orientation
Calling orientation
Work
➢ Definition of Work : is a place where we tend to spend over a third of
our day, we must ensure that we create a place where we want to be,
where we like to be and where we feel engaged.
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Health and SWB
•The effects of SWB on our physical condition into three health categories:
-The likelihood a person will contract a specific illness
-How long a person lives after contracting a life-threatening illness and
-How long a person’s lifespan is
Religion and SWB
People who report themselves as being spiritual or religious tend to report
slightly higher levels of wellbeing.
In order for a religion to enhance wellbeing that the elements needed are:
o Comforting beliefs.
o Social support.
o Connecting to something permanent and important.
o Growing up religiously.
o Experience of rituals.
➢ Theories of SWB
❖ Genetics
Dynamic equilibrium theory states that personality determines baseline
levels of emotional responses; events may affect us in the short term.
Research has started to show that the environment can have an
influence on gene expression and behaviour, especially in the mother–
infant relationship during key developmental phases.
thereby influencing ‘brain development behaviour as well as risk and
resilience to health and disease.’
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Adaptation Theory:
Researchers have suggested that humans tend to have a natural happiness
‘set point’.
➢ An individual’s number of positive events directly affects the
number of experienced positive emotions.
➢ The only life experiences that have been found to have longer
lasting negative impact on our happiness is the death of a spouse
and long-term unemployment.
Discrepancy Theory
➢ Individuals compare their "actual" self to internalized standards or the
"ideal/ought self".
➢ Inconsistencies between "actual", "ideal" and "ought" are associated with
emotional discomforts.
➢ Self-discrepancy is the gap between two of these self-representations
that leads to negative emotions.
Definition
Mindset: Your mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the
world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given
situation.
There are three basic components to a positive attitude and happy mindset
that we need to engage:
Attention,
Interpretation and
Memory (AIM approach)
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Chapter5: Optimism
❖ Definition of Optimism:
➢ Optimists have broader expectancy that outcomes are likely to be more
positive.
Related to goals Important elements:
➢ Expectancy (behaviour as a result of desire to obtain goals).
➢ Confidence (achieving goal).
➢ Attribution style: internal vs. external, stable vs. unstable, global vs.
local.
Benefits of optimism
▪ Active coping with stress: planning, social support seeking.
▪ Pessimism: avoidance, denial.
▪ Optimism protects mothers from after birth depression.
▪ Health: better health habits, hope is stronger, strong believe in controlling
own health, no ignoring negative consequences.
▪ Mental health: protects form depression.
Optimism & Health
❖ Positive mood.
❖ Immune system is stronger.
❖ Living longer.
❖ Discovering healthy warnings earlier.
❖ Optimism and Locus of Control.
Three main strategies to maintain control:
Changing to the goals that are reachable in the current situation.
Creating new avenues for control.
Accepting current circumstances.
o Strong internal LOC (personal responsibility for my life) – more
focused with positive consequences.
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Locus of Control
▪ Internal or external?
▪ Can we change it?
✓ Defensive pessimism
➢ Ability to think and plan for the worst-case scenario of a situation.
➢ Like to be prepared and cover all angles.
➢ More anxious & deliver poorer performance in they are “not allowed” to
engage in pessimistic rehearsal.
➢ Increase in self-esteem and satisfaction over time, better academic
performance, form more supportive friendship networks.
Positive Realism vs. Unrealistic Optimism:
Unrealistic optimism:
perceiving risk as lower than average
“I will not have a cancer”
Tends to be an optimistic bias in risk perception
Maybe unhealthy
✓ Its beneficial to hold a positive outlook in life yet this needs to
be balanced: motivation & prevention.
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Self-Confidence
➢ The most remarkable of these three is self-confidence. Self-confidence
contains some narcissistic rhetoric and means that the individual elevates
himself more than others.
➢ Self-confidence means reassuring other individuals, making plans and
being confident about their own future.
➢ Self-confidence is important in maintaining goals.
Self-Esteem
✓ It is the sum of the feelings and thoughts of individuals towards
themselves as an object.
✓ It is a feature that is effective in dealing with the fundamental challenges
of life and being happy.
✓ Individuals are affected by their acceptance or rejection by other
individuals.
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Self-Efficacy
▪ It is the belief of individuals that they will achieve their goals and desired
results.
▪ It is the power to do it, it provides resources to make individuals
personally successful to make them happy to motivate.
▪ It is their belief that individuals can do it under certain conditions.
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Implications of Self-efficacy
High level of self-efficacy – high quality of functioning
Self-efficacy is critical to the success of healthy behaviour changes
Diet, exercise, smoking cessation
Immune system, endorphins
Self-efficacy & goal-setting, self-regulation
Choices of goal-directed activities
Expenditure of effort
Persistence in face of challenges and obstacles
Impacts our choices
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Self-esteem (Rosenberg)
-Self-esteem usually mixed with other concepts
Types of self-esteem:
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Global and specific
Trait and state
Contingent and true
Explicit and implicit
Self-esteem or self-control as moderators of a good life?
-High level of self-esteem = high level of intelligence and happiness.
-Low self-esteem results in depression, smoking, aggression.
Definition Hope
Hope: is determination to achieve goals and believing that many pathways can
be generated.
-Occurs in situation of doubt
CBT: breaking complex goals into smaller by facilitating efficacy thoughts and
breaking down complex goals).
-High scores in hope correlate with self-esteem, positive emotions, effective
coping, academic achievement and physical health.
-Explanatory style: internal vs. external, stable vs. unstable, global vs. local.
-More research is needed.
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Chapter 6: Resilience
Difference between Stress and Trauma:
• Long term stress is harmful for our mind-body health
• Low level of stress can sometimes be good
• It can make us stronger for future difficulties
Trauma is unexpected/ Out of the ordinary
➢ When individuals are faced with trauma:
Succumbing to the stressor (also referred to PTSD).
Resilience and or recovery.
Post-traumatic growth.
Definition of Resilience: The flexibility in response to changing situational
demands, and the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences.
Components of Resilience:
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Reframing
Example: See problems from different perspectives.
Positive Emotions Example: Try to experience more (Hope, Joy, etc.).
Physical Activity Example: Walking, gym, Pilates , etc.
Social Support Example: Friends, family, community.
Strengths
Example: Tasks or actions you can do well.
Optimism
Example: Hopefulness and confidence about the future.
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Resilience and the Body
You feel clearheaded and focused .
You able to recall information .
You feel rested.
Heart beats slower.
Blood pressure lowers.
Digestion improves.
❖ Definition of Coping: is conscious or unconscious strategies used to
reduce unpleasant emotions.
➢ Two main strategies:
• Emotion-focused.
• Problem-focused.
❖ Post-traumatic Growth (PTG)
• Definition of Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a theory that explains
this kind of transformation following trauma.
o It was developed by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, and Lawrence
Calhoun, in the mid-1990s, and holds that people who endure
psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth
afterward.
▪ The four factors of( PTG)
1) Brutally honest optimism.
2) Perception of control over events.
3) Coping style.
4) Strong sense of self .
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➢ Five domain of (PTG)
✓ Personal strength .
✓ Closer relationship.
✓ Greater appreciation for life .
✓ New possibilities .
✓ Spiritual Development .
An Example of PTG: Determination of resilience factors in individuals who
tested COVID-19 positive
➢ When tragedy strikes, there are three main psychological responses to
trauma.
➢ Resilience is important for protective and reactive functions. PTG is a
real phenomenon, which has real physical and psychological benefits.
How to age ‘healthily’
➢ Not being a heavy smoker or stopping smoking young (by about the age
of 45)
➢ Mature adaptive defences
➢ Absence of alcohol abuse (moderate drinking is perfectly fine)
➢ Healthy weight
➢ Stable marriage
➢ Exercise (burning more than 500 kilocalories per week)
➢ Years of education (the more, the better)
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