positive psych exam 4 (final)

transcendence

psychologically moving beyond ordinary status of awareness

human capacity of thought and experience

self-transcendence

people’s abilities to surmount their own egocentric concerns

(move beyond a state of themselves to something larger)

2 domains of transcendence

1. meaning and purpose in life

2. religion and spirituality

when you do meaningful things…

a meaningful life comes after

(you don’t need a meaningful life first to do meaningful things)

meaning

subjective sense that the world is orderly, predictable, and has patterns

a cognitive experience

purpose

aspirations and objectives that guide our lives in a particular direction

a motivational experience

significance

subjective appraisal of degree to which our lives matter

an evaluative experience

when does developing meaning in life begin?

in adolescence as one starts to question their identity

younger adults tend to gain meaning through…

pursuit of future goals

older adults tend to gain meaning by…

reflecting on past accomplishments

steger, et al (2009) study on meaning throughout the lifespan

online study with 8,756 participants in 4 developmental age categories

1. emerging adulthood (18-24)

2. young adulthood (25-44)

3. middle age (45-64)

4. older adulthood (65+)

gave meaning in life questionaire (MLQ), which measured search for and presence of meaning

findings:

• presence of meaning scores were lower among younger participants and higher among participants in later life stages

• search for meaning scores were higher among younger participants and lower among older participants

• classic interaction

victor frankl’s views on meaning

“one should not search for an abstract meaning of life”

searching for meaning is not a path to well-being

instead, meaning in life should emerge as a side effect of active engaging with valued goals and activities in everyday life

(engagement first, meaning comes after- similar to behavioral activation where action comes first, positive emotions comes after)

steger et all (2009) + frankl’s views

results of the study support the claim

greater search scores on the MLQ were correlated with lower psychological well-being

greater presence scores on the MLQ were correlated with higher well being

we should aim to finding meaning in the present moment

religion

fixed system of ideas, beliefs, or ideological commitments

spirituality

personal, subjective and transcendent experience

a bit more flexible/individual

why do we group religion + spirituality together in research

to remove bias of either one being good or bad

many people experience both simultaneously

measures often overlap

intrinsic religious orientation

sincerely believing in one’s religion and living life accordingly

“ends religiousity”

extrinsic religious orientation

religion as a means to other ends- using it to pursue goals like status, social connection, or personal success

“means religiosity”

quest religious orientation

treating religion as a search for answers rather than a set of already answered questions

culture + transcendence

ability to transcend and connect with something larger than oneself exists across all cultures

between group variation: thailand more likely to identify with Buddhism; italy more likely to be Catholic

within-group variation: in us, several groups consider themselves as Christian

religion & well-being: cultural restrictions hayward and elliot (2014)

world values survey with 317,109 participants from 88 nations

results:

• religiosity was positively correlated with self-report happiness and physical health

• but, in cohesively religious groups-high restriction of personal and religious freedom linked to lower levels of happiness (ex: China represses many religions)

nuanced/critical view of positive psych

positive emotional experiences, well-being and resilience contribute to personal inner peace, but may also have negative consequences for other individuals, communities, and nations

goal of positive peace psychology

to foster well-being and resilience at the “global community” level

to promote peace in the wider world starting by kindness, prosocial behavior, etc at a smaller level

what is peace psychology?

a subdiscipline that seeks to understand psychology and social factors that contribute to conflict and violence, promoting peaceful relationships and societies

what is peace?

the absence or minimization of violence and the presence of harmonious relationships

what does a peaceful society value

harmony, happiness, freedom, love, well-being, life satisfaction

negative peace

absence of harm to humans by the intentional use of force

positive peace

absence of harm to humans by unjust structures, promoting political, social, and economic structures that enable us to flourish and fulfill our potential

“the dark side of happiness”

personal happiness may lead to self-centered, low empathy views that underestimate danger or risks for the self/other people

one person/group’s flourishing might harm other people/put others down