PSYCH 3700 Eam 2 Chapter 13

Emotion includes three components

1. Associated with distinct subjective feelings, or affects

2. Accompanied by bodily changes, mostly in the nervous system

3. Accompanied by distinct action tendencies, or increase in probabilities of certain behaviors

action tendencies

tendencies to do certain thinking/increases probabilities of certain behaviors

• i.e., if you’re sad you are less likely to be active

People differ in emotional reactions, even to the same event, so emotions are useful in making ____ among individuals

distinctions

Emotional states

• transitory (it will change)

• depend more on the situation than on a specific person

emotional traits

• likelihoods/i.e., some are more likely to cry in public

• pattern of emotional reactions that a person consistently experiences across a variety of life situations

pleasant emotions

happiness and life satisfaction

Researchers have defined happiness in two complementary ways

cognitive and affective

cognitive

judgement that life is satisfying, life has meaning, what makes you feel satisfied

affective

predominance of positive emotions to negative emotions, why do some people have more positive emotions

are happy people in denial, they are unhappy and just don’t know it?

people who have a positive view of themselves are happier

conformation bias

looking for data to confirm one's beliefs

self-serving bias

people attribute success to internal factors (skills), and failures to external factors (bad luck, others)

illusory glow

general feeling things will go well/get better

illusion of control

belief we have more control than we do

illusory superiority

over estimation of our abilities

optimism bias

belief that one is less likely to experience a negative outcome

risks

• decrease effort

• risky decisions (financial planning)

• planning fallacy

compared to unhappy people, happy people are ___ abusive and hostile, report ___ diseases, and ___ helpful, creative, energetic, forgiving, and trusting

less, fewer, more

self-reports of happiness are

valid and trustworthy

no ___ and ___ differences in overall happiness, global well-being

sex and age

_____ ____ membership is unrelated to subjective well-being

ethnic group

national differences in subjective well-being

• People in poorer countries are less happy

• people in countries that provide citizens with fewer civil and political rights are less happy

• differences in the economic development of nations may be a key source of differences in the happiness of countries

Wealthier countries have ____ levels of like satisfaction than poorer countries, but national wealth is confounded with many variables that influence well being, such as ______

higher, health care services and education

researchers address these problem by looking are the relationship between ____ and ____ within countries

income, happiness

What contributes more to happiness than gender, ethnicity, age and income combined?

high extraversion and low neuroticism

hight extraversion and low neuroticism together account for about what percent of happiness

10 - 15

Costa and McRae

hypothesized that the personality variables of extra version and neuroticism influence happiness

research found these 2 personality traits accounted for ___ the amount of variation in happiness as ounf with demographic variables

3X

indirect model of relationship between personality and well-being

personality causes a person to create a certain lifestyle, and the lifestyle causes an emotional reaction

Direct model of relationship between personality and well-being

personality causes emotional reactions

best predictor of responsiveness to positive mood induction is

extraversion

Best predictor of responsiveness to negative mood induction is

neuroticism

it is easy to put a ___ into a good mood and a high- ___ person into a bad mood

extravert, neuroticism

suggests personality had a ___ ___ on emotions

direct effect

person high on ___ is moody, touchy, irritable, anxious, unstable, pessimistic, and complaning

neuroticism

Eysenck’s biological theory

neuroticism is due to the tendency of the limbic system in the brain to become easily activated

Eysenck;s arguments in favor of a biological basis for neuroticism

• Neuroticism is highly stable over time

• Neuroticism is a major dimension of personality

• Neuroticism shows high levels of heritability

Rumination

playing back over events

individuals high in ___ are likely to recall more instances of illness and bodily complaints

neuroticism

neuroticism is related to

diminished immune functioning during stress

Matthew’s attentional theory states

that high-neuroticism people pay more attention to threats and unpleasant information in their environment

diathesis-stress model

stressful life event can trigger depression among those with preexisting vulnerability, or diathesis

Beck’s cognitive theory

• A certain cognitive style as a preexisting condition can make people vulnerable to depression

• vulnerability lies in a particular cognitive schema

• depressive cognitive schema influences the cognitive triad

cognitive schema

a way of looking at the world

cognitive triad

information about the self, the world, and the future

emotional content

refers to the”what” of a person’s emotional life

emotional style

refers to the “how” of that emotional life

high affect intensity

• experience emotions strongly and are emotionally reactive and variable

• display greater mood variability or more frequent fluctuations in emotional life over time

low affect intensity

experience emotions only mildly and with only gradual fluctuations and minor reactions

affect intensity was assessed using a

daily experiential sampling technique

Affect Intensity Measure (AIM)

A questionnaire measure that allows a quick assessment of a person’s emotional style in terms of intensity

Affect intensity relates to

personality dimensions of high acticity level, sociability, and arousability

extraverts are more likely to

hate this emotional style