Positive Psychology Exam 2

Affect

A person's instinctive response to a stimulus; characterized by a sense of arousal.

Emotion

A feeling or state resulting from the appraisal of an external object as salient to our own well-being.

Constant Quality of Emotion

An emotion has a specific, "sharpened" quality as it always has an object.

What is an Emotional Approach?

The active movement towards versus away from a stressful encounter.

Effective Ways to Manage Emotions

Physical exercise, social interaction, and cognitive self-management.

Eudaimonia

A human flourishing that is a result of living a virtuous life.

Subjective Well-Being

A combination of positive affect and general life satisfaction; often used as a synonym for happiness in psychology literature.

Need/Goal Satisfaction Theories

We are happy because we have reached our goals.

Process/Activity Theories

People are happiest when they are engaged in interesting activities that match their level of skill.

Genetic/Personalities Theories

Tend to see happiness as stable.

When Experiencing Positive Emotions, we are More Likely to:

Help others, be flexible in our thinking, come up with solutions to our problems, and exhibit self-control.

Pennebaker Paradigm

Systematic written disclosure of emotional upheaval, often across several timed sessions.

What is Self-Efficacy?

People's beliefs in their abilities to produce desired effects by their own actions.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs are Closely Related to...

Psychological adjustment, physical health, and behavioral change strategies used in psychotherapy.

Optimism

One's expectancy that good things rather than bad things will happen

Scheier & Carver (1985)

Optimism is a stable trait in some people and is independent of self-efficacy.

Pessimism

Expect bad/negative outcomes.

What is Emotion-Focused Coping?

An attempt to regulate emotions surrounding stressful encounters.

Emotional Responses to Reduce Stress

Emotion expression, blaming others, and self-blame.

Hope

The perception that one's goals can be achieved.

Pathway

Perceived ability to generate routes connecting the present and the future.

Agency

The motivational component in hope.

Crucial Childhood Antecedents of Hope

Goal-directed thinking and strong attachment.

Crucial Factor in Imparting Hope in Children

Strong attachment to caregivers.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

The ability to perceive, appraise, and express emotion accurately and adaptively.

Broaden and Build Model (Fredrickson, 2000)

Positive emotions expand what an individual feels like doing at any given time and it broadens an individual's thought-action repertoire.

Performance Experience

Our own attempts to control our environment.

Vicarious Experiences

Our observations of the behavior of others and the consequences of those behaviors.

Imagined Experiences

Imagining ourselves behaving effectively in hypothetical situations.

Verbal Persuasion

What others say to us about what they believe we can or cannot do.

Physiological and Emotional States

We learn to associate failure with aversive physiological arousal and success with pleasant emotions.

Snyder

Hope theory.

Bandura

Self-efficacy.

Seligman

Learned optimism.

Affect is considered…

The most basic element of feeling and often involves evaluation of a stimulant as good or bad.