Unit 3 RCC/LCCs

According to Steger (2024)’s paper on regenerative positive psychology, which pillar of traditional (“as usual”) positive psychology, introduced at the field’s onset, has received the least empirical attention?

positive environments

positive institutions

positive traits

positive experiences

positive institutions

The daily life of Hirayama, the main character in the Wim Wender film Perfect Days, is very routinized. One of his lunchtime habits is to take analog photos of trees. Which concept from PSYC 575 does this habit best represent and why?

The undo effect, because taking the photos helps him to recover from his job stress.

Harmonious passion, because the photos bring him steady enjoyment.

The character strength of zest, because this habit channels his high energy and excitement.

Obsessive passion, because taking the photos controls his life.

Harmonious passion, because the photos bring him steady enjoyment.

Steger (2024)’s paper on reorienting wellbeing science to meet pressing world realities presents three pillars to serve as goalposts for a new regenerative positive psychology. Which of the following is NOT one of these pillars?

Design sustainable wellbeing interventions.

Generate knowledge of positive human caretaking.

Build a science of wellbeing systems.

Expand definitions of wellbeing.

Design sustainable wellbeing interventions.

At the end of the Wim Wender film Perfect Days, the main character, Hirayama, plays shadow tag with a man he just met who discloses that he is dying of cancer. Which concept from PSYC 575 does Hirayama's behavioral choice best represent and why?

Meaning in life, because the man Hirayama just met is dying.

The undo effect, because playfulness helps both men overcome negative emotions.

Decentering, because playfulness is incompatible with fixation.

Harmonious passion, because Hirayama devotes considerable time to shadow tag.

The undo effect, because playfulness helps both men overcome negative emotions.

According to the reading by Oishi & Westgate (2022), which of the following personality traits is most associated with living a psychologically rich life?

Agreeableness

Openness

Conscientiousness

Neuroticism

Openness

According to the definition of intellectual humility presented in lecture, which of the following is the CORE COMPONENT of that definition?

Willingness to listen to people who hold opposing views.

Valuing other people’s opinions.

Willingness to cooperate with people who hold opposing views.

Recognizing the limits of one’s own knowledge.

Recognizing the limits of one’s own knowledge.

Fredrickson (2016) defines love-the-emotion as a micro-moment of positivity resonance, during which three elements emerge between individuals at the same time. Which is NOT one of these elements?

mutual care

biobehavioral synchrony

relationship commitment

shared positive emotion

relationship commitment

A longitudinal study of married couples was used to develop an objective, dyad-level measure of positivity resonance. According to evidence presented in lecture, which of the following was NOT predicted by objectively assessed positivity resonance?

higher marital satisfaction

healthier trajectories of chronic illness symptoms over 13 years

lower divorce rates

longevity over 30 years

lower divorce rates

According to the 2024 article by West and her coauthors on improving social connection with weak ties and strangers, which two variables below are independently associated with young adults’ better mental health and social well-being?

frequency of strong-tie interactions & positivity resonance with strong ties

positivity resonance with weak ties & positivity resonance with strong ties

frequency of weak-tie interactions & positivity resonance with weak ties

frequency of weak-tie interactions & frequency of strong-tie interactions

positivity resonance with weak ties & positivity resonance with strong ties

Demitri generally enjoys meeting new people but lately has been relying on his friends and has refrained from seeking new connections. He recently lost his job and is experiencing a lot of stress, making it difficult to find and invest in new people. According to TA Zoe Hansen’s lecture on weak ties, which concept below offers an explanation of Demitri’s situation?

fear of conversational enjoyment

interdependence theory

conflict of interest

optimal foraging theory

optimal foraging theory

According to Nelson et al. (2016), doing nice things for others (versus for yourself) increases positive emotions relative to the control condition. Which of the following is proposed as an explanation for this pattern of findings?

Self-focused behavior increases negative emotions, whereas prosocial behavior does not.

Self-focused behavior promotes the importance of the self in a broader context, whereas prosocial behavior does not.

Prosocial behavior often involves opportunities to improve one's relationships with others, whereas self-focused behavior is often solitary.

Prosocial behavior occurs less frequently than self-focused behavior.

Prosocial behavior often involves opportunities to improve one's relationships with others, whereas self-focused behavior is often solitary.

Although altruistic responding comes at a cost to the self, it is theorized to have evolved over millennia through natural selection from the neural and behavioral systems for:

passive offspring care.

cost-benefit analyses.

compassion.

retrieving offspring in distress.

retrieving offspring in distress.

The reading by Curry et al. (2018) entitled “Happy to Help?” mentioned several theories about the causes of human kindness. Which of the following is NOT one of the mentioned theories?

Kin altruism: People will be kind to their families.

Conditional altruism: People will be kind to others when time and resources permit.

Mutualism: People will be kind to members of their community.

Competitive altruism: People will be kind to others when it enhances their own status.

Conditional altruism: People will be kind to others when time and resources permit.

According to evidence presented in lecture, which of the following individual characteristics distinguishes extraordinary altruists (e.g., kidney donors) from other people?

higher subjective well-being

greater value placed on distant others’ welfare

greater spiritual transcendence

past experiences with extreme adversity

greater value placed on distant others’ welfare

How is Algoe’s (2012) Find-Remind-and-Bind Theory of gratitude distinct from prior theorizing on gratitude?

It focuses on repayment in exchange-based relationships.

It describes how gratitude serves relational goals.

It accounts for cultural variation in gratitude expressions.

It identifies gratitude as a response to kind and altruistic acts.

It describes how gratitude serves relational goals.

A randomized experiment presented in lecture compared five different gratitude activities to an active control condition (Regan, Walsh & Lyubomirsky, 2023). Among activities that used the format of a gratitude list, which type of list produced greater well-being benefits relative to the control condition?

an unconstrained list of people and things

a list of things you’re grateful for

a list of synonyms for the word "gratitude"

a list of people you’re grateful to

an unconstrained list of people and things

According to the reading entitled Three Good Tools (Adair, Kennedy & Sexton, 2020), the 3 interventions tested led to improvements across a range of metrics. On which metric did participants show the greatest improvement?

Optimism

negative measures of well-being (e.g., depression)

positive measures of well-being (e.g., subjective happiness)

emotional recovery

negative measures of well-being (e.g., depression)

According to studies presented in lecture, how does gratitude expressed in an East Asian Confucious Culture differ from gratitude expressed in the United States?

Less emphasis on self-improvement and more on bodily contact, relative to the U.S.

More emphasis on self-improvement and less on bodily contact, relative to the U.S.

Less emphasis on relationship closeness and more on control, relative to the U.S.

More emphasis on relationship closeness and less on control, relative to the U.S.

More emphasis on self-improvement and less on bodily contact, relative to the U.S.