Happiness psych exam 2

Six virtues that are endorsed across every major religious and cultural tradition.

• wisdom and knowledge

• Courage

• Love and humanity 

• Justice 

• Temperance 

• Spirituality and transcendence 

Each core virtue can be subdivided into specific personal or character strengths…

more measurable route to the virtues. 

Character strengths

The psychological ingredients, the process or mechanisms, that define the virtues., they are distinguishable routes to displaying one or another of the virtues.

Can be seen across different situations and over time.

Positive feelings are not dependent on

Feedback from others but instead based on your own evaluation of yourself.

high self-esteem has been found to be one of the best predictors of

personal happiness and life satisfaction.

Self esteem is more strongly associated with happiness in

western cultures 

positive self-esteem is also associated with 

Adaptive functioning in almost every area of life.

Self esteem is a consequence of following fundamental

internal practices

They require an ongoing commitment to self examination

what we do leads to..

our self esteem

there is a continuous loop between

What we do in the world and our self esteem

A practice

A disipline of acting in a certain way over and over again, consistently, it is a way of operating day by day, in big issues and small, a way of behaving that is also a way of being.

Key virtues or practices on which healthy self esteem depends on

-Living consciously

-self acceptance

- self responsibility

- self assertiveness

- living purposefully

-personal integrity

pillar one- living consciously

the practice of being present, self-aware, and intentional in your daily life, shifting from an "autopilot" mode to making deliberate choices about thoughts, emotions, and actions

self acceptance

Precondition of change or growth

self acceptance does not mean

We approve of everything about ourselves

Nathaniel Brandon

Founder of self esteem movement

Self concept 

Refers to a stable set of beliefs about ones personal qualities and attributes.

Self Esteem (APA definition)

The disposition to experience oneself as competent to cope with the basic challenges in life as well as being worth of happiness

Posiitve charcteristics

Martin seligman and christopher Peterson

3 things for identifying

• valued in almost every culture. 

• Valued in own right, not just means to other ends. 

• Are malleable, can be influenced or learned through practice, persistence, goo teaching and dedication. 

Character strengths are a

Core and foundational part of who we are. They make us eel authentic and engaged. 

Signature strengths

the character strengths that are deeply characteristic of you, these are distinguished from strengths that are less a part of you. 

Strengths of character that a person self consciously owns, celebrates and can exercise every day.

Wisdom and Knowledge (Virtue)

cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge. 

• curiosity and interest in our on-going experiences and in the world. 

• Love of learning

• Judgment/critical thinking/open mindedness 

• Ingenuity/originality/practical intelligence/ emotional intelligence

• Perspective

Courage

Emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition. Braver and more persistent will allow our integrity to increase.

• Valor and bravery- don’t back down from threats and challenges.

• Perseverance/industry/diligence- you finish what you start even un the face of obstacles.

• Integrity/genuineness/honesty- speaking the truth, present self in genuine, sincere way.

Humanity and love

Interpersonal strengths that involve tending to and befriending others. This helps us build and maintain positive relationships

• Kindness and generosity- doing good deeds for others, helping them, caring for them.

• Loving and allowing oneself to be loved- valuing close relationships and being close to others.

Justice

Civic strengths that underline healthy community life.

• Citizenship/duty/teamwork/loyalty- working well was a member of a group and being loyal to it. 

• Fairness and equity- treating all people the same, not letting personal feelings get in the way, fair chances 

• Leadership- encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done, organize activities. 

Temperance 

Strengths that protect us against excess. Prevents us from being arrogant and selfish, help manage personal habits. 

• Self control- being disciplines, appropriate and moderate expression of your desires, needs and impulses. 

• Prudence/discretion/caution- not taking undue risks, being careful about choices, not saying things you might later regret. 

• Humility/modest- letting ones accomplishments speak for themselves, not seeking the spotlight, not regarding oneself as more special than one is. 

Transcendence

Emotional strengths that reach outside and beyond you to connect you to something larger and more permanent. connects us to the world in a meaningful way.

• Appreciation of beauty and excellence- variety of ways (nature, art, life)

• Gratitude- being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen and taking time to express them.

• Hope/optimism/future-mindedness- expecting the best future and working to achieve it.

• Spirituality/sense of purpose/ faith/ religiousness- having coherent beliefs about higher purpose, knowing where one fits in the larger scheme.

• forgiveness and mercy- forgive those who have done wrong and give a second chance.

• Playfulness and humor- liking to laugh and tease, bring smiles, joking

• Zest/passion/enthusiasm- being a spirited person, approach life with excitement and energy, live as an adventure.

A virtuous person…

Displays all or at least most of the six virtues.

Authentic happiness comes from

identifying and cultivating your most fundamental strengths and using them everyday in work, love and play. 

Study of character strengths

influenced scholarly work across numerous subdomains of positive psychology. 

• Positive work and organizational psychology 

• Positive health and wellness

• Posiitve clincial psychology

• Positive educational psychology.

Self esteem is made up of 

your view of things that define you- such as personality, accomplishments, talents, background, psychical body, relationships, experiences. 

Lower self esteem is also 

a lower view of themselves. 

Self esteem (Nathaniel Brandon definition)

The disposition to experience oneself as competent to cope with the basic challenges of life as well as being worthy of happiness

Self efficacy

Sense of basic confidence in our ability to deal with lifes challenges ( this leads to a sense of control over ones life)

Self respect

Confidence in our right to be successful and happy, sense of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert our needs and wants, achieve our values, and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

Self esteem is an intimate expereince that

resides within you

very difficult to measure

Self esteem is what you think and feel about yourself, not what someone else thinks or feels. 

It does not mean you love everything about yourself or think you are perfect. 

Self esteem is a self reinforcing characteristic that

we can preserve when faced with difficult challenges, we succeed more often than we fail, we form more nourishing relationships and we expect more.

Dependent self esteem

Need others feedback to feel worthy, constantly affected by what they think others think of them, primarily motivated by what others think. not very advanced stage.

Independent self esteem

Not contingent on others, our sense of worthiness is based on our own standards.

Unconditional self esteem 

Not based on any evaluations, feel good enough about self that you’re not concerned about evaluations by others or self, don’t compare, self actualized, ideal state. 

High self esteem is not egotistical

true 

People who are arrogant, boastful, narcissistic people primarily focus on….

Themselves, consider themselves more important or worthwhile than others and often don’t think about how their actions impact those around them. 

Narcissistics 

Have a lack of self-esteem ad greatly depend on approval from others. 

Self esteem is shaped by internal and external factors 

true 

Internal factors include.

Ideas, beliefs, practices or behaviors.

External factors include

Messages from our environment, our experiences, parents, teachers, significant others, organizations and cultures. 

Many people look for self esteem in every direction except within, so they fail their search- said by brandon. 

true 

internal self esteem has to do with

What i think of myself.

Level of self esteem is

Not forever set and can be changed, building it up takes a lot of work and you need to give yourself grace.

Significant component of self esteem involves

thought patterns, what you focus on, and optimism rather than simply on objective facts or events.

To live consciously

To seek to be aware of everything that bears on our actions, purposes, values, and goals, to the best of our abilities, whatever that ability nay be, and to behave in accordance with that which we see and know.

Living consciously implies- pillar one

Respect for reality and living responsibly towards it. Live mindfully. 

Examples 

• Mind active not passive.

• Seeking and correcting mistakes.

• being in the moment.

The practice of self acceptance- pillar 2

To be respectful and compassionate toward yourself, even at those times when you do not admire or enjoy some of your feelings or decisions. - give yourself permission to be human.

positive emotion about the past 

satisfaction, contentment, fulfillment, pride and serenity. 

Positive emotion about the present

Joy, ecstasy, zest, pleasure

Positive emotion about the future

Optimism, hope, faith, and trust

Two things that can undermine serenity, contentment and satisfaction with your past 

1) insufficient appreciation and savoring of the good events in your past. 

2) overemphasis on the bad one. 

Gratitude

An emotional response to a gift, it is the appreciation felt after one has been the beneficiary of an altruistic act. 

An affirmation of goodness

poeple can learn to wake up to the good around them and notice the gifts they have recieved.

recognizing that the source of this goodness rests outside of oneself.

We receive these gifts from other poepl and sometimes from a higher power, fate the natural world.

key of how you feel about the past

an interoperation or memory or thought governs what emotion we experience when thinking about something from the past. 

gratitude involves

Life orientation towards the positive in the world.

Abraham Maslow studies of self-actualization

the abilities to experience and express gratitude are tow key signs of emotional health.

emotional benefits of gratitude

• contributes to mental health 

• lowers tress levels, increases resistance to stress. 

• recover more quickly from traumatic experiences. 

• diminishes depression. 

• increases sense of personal worth.

• Grater life satisfaction 

• greater optimism 

• grateful people tend to be happy people. 

gratitude makes us happier by

forcing us to abandon a belief that the world is devoid of goodness, love and kindness and is nothing but randomness ad cruelty. 

Social benefits of gratitude

• increases perceived social support 

• maintains and enhances social relationships

• Strengthens current social relationships and nurtures new ones. 

• increase a persons desire to spend more time with someone. 

• encourages prosocial behaviors. 

• Helps maintain romantic relationships. 

Find Remind Bind theory (sara algoe) suggests that gratitude can help

• identify good candidates for a new relationship (find)

• Appreciate existing relationships (Remind)

• Motivate people to maintain or invest in these relationships (bind) 

Brain released neurotransmitters responsible for emotions that make us feel good when.

we express gratitude as well as receive it,

how to cultivate gratitude

keep a gratitude journal

write down three things that wet well each day 

express thankfulness directly to others. 

write a list of all the things in your life you’re greateful for 

write a list of all the people in your life that you’re grateful for, then go tell them. 

Brain stem and nucleus accumbens release

dopamine

Practicing gratitude can

decrees stress hormones

you can train your brain to

Practice gratitude and focus on whats going well.

forgiveness is not

condoning or reconciling or not demanding justice

why should we forgive

• transforms bitterness into neutrality or even positively tinged memories, makes greater life satisfaction possible. 

• You cant hurt the perpetrator by not forgiving, but you can set yourself free by forgiving- forgiving is done for you not them. 

• When followed by reconciliation, forgiving can vastly improve your relations with the person forgiven. 

REACH model of forgiveness 

Recall the hurt in as objective a way you can 

Empathize- try to understand from the perpetrators point of view why this person has hurt you 

Altruistic gift of forgiveness- think of a time you did something bad to someone, felt guilty, and were forgiven by them. 

Commit yourself to forgive publicly 

Hold onto forgiveness- don’t dwell on the memories, remind yourself uou have forgiven the person. 

taking steps and revising the story of the grievance to a more objective perspective can result in

• greater life satisfaction

• better physical health

• more optimism 

• less anger and stress 

• improved relationships 

• setting yourself free

Limitations to forgiving

• forgiving vs vengefulness

• don’t forgive too quickly

• don’t forgive too often and avoid addressing the problem.

Personal Control 

The ability to change things through ones voluntary actions, and it is the opposite of helplessness. 

Control

the recognition of a casual connection between what one does and what happens as a result. 

Uncontrollability 

exists when events occur independently of our behavior. 

Attempting to control what we can control lead to…

suffering

our belief that our behavior matters and…

we have control over our future.

Sense of control

The subjective belief that our own actions will have an effect on events we 

Self determination theory

says that one of our three basic, innate human need is autonomy, the need to control the course of our lives. 

Those high in sense of control act

as if they can influence the events of their lives as opposed to feeling powerless in the face of outside forces. 

Reduce the negative impact of a stressor

being able to control an unpleasant event or believing that one can control the event, 

Sense of control is critical to

self concept and self esteem.

Sense of control is related to

• emotional well-being

• successful coping

• good physical health

• behavior changes that may promote good health.

People with a higher sense of control are…

happier

Locus of control

generalized disposition to believe that the factors that determine what happens to us either are or are not controllable by ones own efforts. 

external locus of control 

Believe that the things that happen to them are unrelated to their own behavior and beyond their control. 

Perceive themselves to be at the mercy of external forces. 

Internal locus of control

Believe events are a result of personal actions and thus can potentially be controlled.

Studies have shown that people are more likely to try to control their own fate in this locus of control

Benefits of internal locus of control

• The most successful people in work and life

• Spurs us to work harder 

• Greater emotional, motivational, behavioral, and physiological vigor. 

• activates the brains reward system. 

• greater happiness. 

Self Efficiency

Our belief that we can exercise control over events and perform the necessary actions to produce a specific outcome in a specific situation. 

Factors that shape our self efficacy beliefs

• mastery experiences 

• vicarious experiences

• verbal persuasion 

• emotional and physiological status. 

People who experience higher subjective well being are 

people who are confident to achieve what they want 

Self control

The capacity to alter and regulate predominant response tendencies resulting in the interruption or inhibition of undesirable behaviors while promoting desirable ones to support the pursuit of long term goals. 

Train self control 

Involves an “active self” that is able to prioritize long term over short term goals