Midterm 1 4/24

Creativity Study

Positive mood boosts creative problem-solving.

SHS/Subjective Happiness Scale

4-item self-report measure used to assess an individual's overall happiness. It was developed by Sonja Lyubomirsky and Heather S. Lepper

Nun Study

Positive emotions predict longevity.

Rhinovirus Study

Happier people are less likely to get sick.

Traits Associated with Happiness

Traits include optimism, sociability, self-esteem, resilience, and purpose.

Lyubomirsky Model

Positive affect leads to success via broaden-and-build, social connections, and goal pursuit.

Three Myths of Happiness

1. Happiness must be found; 2. Changing life circumstances will help; 3. Some people just 'have it'.

Materialism

Detrimental to long-term happiness.

Beauty and Happiness

Weak correlation exists between beauty and happiness.

Depression Gene

Genetics play a role in happiness outcomes but do not fully determine them.

Veterans Study

Life satisfaction changes with context and age.

Three Ways Fit Matters

Activity should match personality, values, and strengths.

Person-Activity Fit Diagnostic

Helps identify best-fit interventions for happiness.

Five Hows

Positive emotions, optimal timing, variety, social support, commitment/goals enhance happiness.

Activity Moderators

Variety and frequency affect the effectiveness of happiness activities.

Individual Moderators

Motivation, effort, and fit are crucial for happiness activities.

Pessimism Sources

Includes genetic set point, adaptation, and weak role of circumstances.

Pie Model of Happiness

50% genetic set point, 10% circumstances, 40% intentional activity.

Intentional Activities

Include behavioral (kindness), cognitive (gratitude), and motivational (goal pursuit) activities.

Do Five Kind Acts Study

Spread out acts of kindness provide the biggest happiness boost.

iPhone Study

Positive app use improves well-being.

Four Truths of Emotions

Arise from appraisals, tied to well-being, perceived as real, and adaptive.

Definition of Emotion

Evaluative response to goal-relevant events that prompts action.

Three Systems of Emotion Measurement

1. Cognitive-Verbal: Self-report (e.g., PANAS); 2. Physiological: EMG, EEG, skin conductance, heart rate; 3. Behavioral: Facial expressions and observed behavior.

Psychophysiology

Uses electrodes to monitor electrical activity and measures subtle reactions.

FACS (Ekman)

Duchenne smile involves action units AU6 and AU12.

Disgust vs. Sadness

Different physiological signatures are observed between these emotions.

Reasons to Study Emotions

1. Understand behavior; 2. Key in relationships; 3. Central in conflict; 4. Influence health; 5. Can be regulated; 6. Show mind-body links.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of what makes life worth living, focusing on strengths and well-being.

History of Positive Psychology:

Emerged in the late 1990s with Martin Seligman; a

shift from pathology to studying strengths and well-being. Rooted in earlier humanistic

traditions but focused on scientific evidence.

Differences from Humanistic Psychology:

Positive psychology emphasizes empirical

research, while humanistic psychology focuses on philosophical concepts like

self-actualization

Are Happy People Smarter?

No direct correlation between IQ and happiness;

however, happy people may think more creatively and flexibly.

Constructs and Measures:

Gratitude, optimism, life satisfaction, subjective

happiness—measured via self-report scales (e.g., SHS, PANAS).

Three Pillars of Positive Psychology

Positive emotions, positive traits, and positive institutions.

Parenting: Overall Wellbeing

Mixed results; parents often report lower well-being.

Parenting; Beeper Study

Parents are happier in daily moments with children.

Parenting; Day Reconstruction Method:

Parents report more positive emotions when with children.

Parenting; Happier when:

Older, married, male, or if children are older.

Critique of measures

Subject to bias (social desirability, memory issues)

Well-being and Income

Correlated up to a point, but plateaus after basic needs are met.

Example of hedonic adaptation

Lottery winners return to baseline happines

Cultural differences

Collectivist vs individualist societies show differences in happiness predictors (social harmony vs self esteem)

Individual Moderators

refers to the personal characteristics and circumstances that can influence how motivation, effort, and fit can lead to happiness in activities.

Subjective Well-Being (SWB)

A combination of affective (positive and negative affect) and cognitive (life satisfaction) evaluations.

Hedonic Adaptation

The phenomenon where individuals return to a baseline level of happiness after positive or negative life events, such as winning the lottery.

Cultural Differences in Happiness

Variations in predictors of happiness between collectivist societies (focus on social harmony) and individualist societies (focus on self-esteem).

Cognitive well-being

focuses on the mental evaluation of one's life, encompassing satisfaction with various aspects like work, relationships, and overall life.

Reactive

How you respond to your environment

Construal Differences

The tendency of happy people to interpret events more positively than unhappy individuals.

Person-Environment Interactions

The ways in which an individual interacts with their environment, which can be reactive, evocative, or proactive.

Broaden-and-Build Theory

The idea that positive emotions broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions.

Pie Model of Happiness

A model suggesting that happiness is composed of 50% genetic set point, 10% circumstances, and 40% intentional activity.

Person-Activity Fit

The importance of matching activities to one's personality, values, and strengths for effective happiness interventions.

Positive affect orients us to think, feel, and act in ways that lead us to:

Develop our skills and relationships

All of the above

Build our intellectual, social, and physical resources

Get involved with active, approach goals

All of the above

What are three parts of the happiness pie?:

Intentional activity, life circumstances, genetics

Subjective well-being consists of which two components?

Cognitive and affective

What are the three ways an activity can

"fit" a person?

If the activity is natural, enjoyable, meaningful.

What did Diener and his colleagues (2002) find about college freshmen who were more cheerful relative to their peers?

They earned higher incomes

19 years later.

The life orientation test measures:

Optimism

Which of the following measures is typically used to measure affect?

The PANAS

The association between income and well-being is stronger for richer people?

False

What are some main concerns of self-report measures of happiness?

All of the above

Current mood

Social desirability

Question ordering

All of the Above

What are three kinds of person-environment interactions?

Reactive, evocative, proactive

Positive affect orients us to think, feel, and act in ways that lead us to

Get involved with active, approach goals

Develop our skills and relationships

Build our intellectual, social, and physical resources

Intentional activities can change one's happiness "set point."

False

What does the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) access?

Behavioral expressive system

According to Diener (2013), why should we track national accounts of subjective well-being?

It will allow us to track its correlates, like low corruption & Citizens value subjective well-being.

Evocative

How your environment responds to you

Proactive

How you select your environment (wanting a happier environment for example)