Positive Psychology Week 4

Emotions/Affect

Complex psychological and physiological responses to events or situations that that are important to us → characteristic patterns of physiological arousal, thought and behaviour

• mainly focus on negative emotions (research)

• expressed in facial movements, posture, gesture, touch and choice

Broaden-And-Build Theory

Positive emotions can lead to longer term benefit

• 3/1 positive to negative ratio can help people truly flourish

• broaden emotions broaden thought, action repertoire

• Narrow thoughts action repertoire, like the fight or flight response

Basic Emotion

Expression universally recognisable

• produced automatically

• pure, can be deconstructed

Complex Emotion

Expression varies and can be hard to recognise

• requires cognitive processing

• made up of multiple emotions

Basic Human Emotions

• 6 basic human emotion (Ekman, 2003); Jot, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise

• 10 basic human emotions (Izard, 1977); joy, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, contempt, distrss, interest, guilt and shame

Moods

Free-flowing, objectiveless and long-lasting, occupying background consciousness

Emotions Vs Mood

Emotions

• definitie cause

• aware of them at time of occurrence

• higher intensity

• short-lived

Moods

• No salient cause

• unfocused

• low-intensity

• enduring

Circumplex Model of Emotions

2 Dimensions of emotions

• arousal (activation)

• valence (negative/positive)

Negative Emotion

• majority of research attention

• Most prominent cause and effect of pathology

Positive Emotion

• Less research attention

• May play critical role in recovering from adversiy and developing compensatory strengths

Top 10 Positive Emotions

• joy

• gratitude

• serenity

• Inspiration

• Hope

• Love

• Awe

• Amusement

• Interest

• Sense of pride

Joy

• readiness to engage in enjoyment

• In children, joy is associated with urge to: play, explore, investigate and create

Positive Emotions In Adults

• increased awareness of potential options

• changes how people process information

• can enhance an attention bias for positive information

Positive Emotions in Joy are Associated with:

• interacting with others

• seeking out new experiences

• taking up creative challenges

• helping others in need

Boraden-and-Build-Theory Process

• Positive Emotions: joy, love, contentment, interest, happiness

• Broaden: expands inventory of thoughts and action → open-mindedness

• Build: Develops physical, mental and social resources

• Transform: Advances in personal growth/wellbeing and creates more positive emotions

Benefits of Positive Emotions

1. positive emotions broaden out though-action repertoire

2. positive emotions undo negative emotions

3. positive emotions enhance resilience

4. positive emotions build psychological repertoire

5. positive emotions trigger upward developmental spiral

The Undoing Hypothesis

Positive emotions may undo the negative affect of negative emotions and stress

• Positive emotions help the body and mind regain a sense of balance, flexibility, and equilibrium after experiencing negative emotions

• Studies report positive emotions can reduce the length of stress reactions

Emotions and Culture → Western (Individualist)

• positive self-regard and autonomy are overriding needs

• Indicators: positive mood, personal achievement

• High arousal (active) emotions

Emotions and Culture → Eastern (collectivist)

• Social harmony is an overriding need

• Indicators: smooth personal relationships, self-transcendence

• Low arousal (passive) emotions

Happy People Tend To Be

• more productive

• More creative

• better leaders

• better negotiators

• more likely to marry

• more likely to have fulfilling marriages

• less likely to divorce

Happy People Are More Likely To

• have more friends and social support

• have stronger immune systems

• be physically healthier

• live longer

• be more helpful and philanthropic

• show more resilience to stress and trauma

Hedonic Wellbeing

• pursuit of pleasure

• avoidance of pain/displeasure

• feeling good

Eudaimonic Wellbeing

• living a meaningful and purposeful life

• self-realisation

• functioning well

Subjective Wellbeing

• adheres to hedonic view of wellbeing

• subjective wellbeing is relatively stable over time

Types Of Wellbeing

• Subjective well being

• Psychological well being

• Social well being

Subjective Well Being

• satisfaction with life + Surplus of positive emotions

Psychological Wellbeing

• feeling good + functioning well

• self acceptance, positive/relationships, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy

Social Well Being

• fit between self + society

• Social coherence, social actualisation, social acceptance, social contribution

Who is Happy

• almost everyone

• average ascore on happiness was 6.75 out of 10

• most countire sscore as neutral or above

Who is Not Happy

• those who recently lost partners

• new to therapy

• hospitalized alcoholics

• new inmates and students under political repression

Life Satisfaction

satisfied when there is little or no discrepancy between the present and what is thought o be ideal/deserved situations

Dissatisfaction

substantial discrepancy between present conditions and the ideal standard - can result from comparing self to others

Zero-Point

happiness is cyclically and happy and unhappy periods follow each other, and any attempt to increase happiness will soon be nullified by a consequent unhappy period

Adaptation Theory

although happiness reacts to negative and positive life events, it returns to baseline shortly afterwards - hedonic treadmill