UCR PSYC 149 Final Exam

How do Acts of Kindness Increase Happiness?

Acts of kindness often relieves guilt, distress or discomfort over other difficulties and suffering.

It encourages a sense of awareness for your own good fortune.

Ways to Practice Kindness

Timing
Variety is the spice of life
Chain of kindness
Caveat

What is Empathy?

Is an other-oriented emotional response elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone else.

Includes feelings of sympathy, compassion, soft heartedness, and tenderness.

Empathy is Not?

A single discrete emotion.

Empathetic Emotions

Product of perceiving another in need and adopting their perspective.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

Claim that feeling empathetic emotion for someone in need evokes altruistic motivation to relieve that need.

Altruism

Concern and help for others that asks nothing in return.

Devotion for others without conscious regard for oneself.

Difference Between Altruism and Helping

Altruism: Refers to motivation to increase another’s welfare, as opposed to ones own. 

Helping (prosocial behavior): Simply refers to the behavior that benefits another

Evolutionary Functions of Altruism

Social behaviors have a genetic basis, such as that behaviors survive in the present because they have been selected for reproductive success in the past.

Kin Selection

The idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection. Such behaviors ultimately increase likelihood of surviving and reproducing (Evolutionary Theory).

Social Exchange Theory

Social relationships are best understood by peoples desire to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs.

5 Self Interest Motives Underlying Altruism

Feeling good about oneself
Reducing distress of another’s suffering through empathy
Boosting ones self image
Hoping to receive rewards
Hoping to improve ones reputation

5 Acts of Kindness Study

Ask people "how much have you helped in the course of 6 weeks (single say & different days)

Control Group: their rates of help decreased because they didn't have time to help others

Most Powerful: people who did all their five acts of kindness in the same day showed they were a lot happier than those who did it on different days.

Vary Your Kind Acts Study

List 15 acts you can imagine doing in the next few months

High Variety: You choose from the list whichever act you want to do

Low Variety: You choose 3 out of the list over and over again

Control: Wrote events that happened to them, didn't do kind acts

Results: Didn't matter if it was 3 or 9 acts over time, difference was in variety. 

Low Variety: They did same acts, saw it as a chore, were bored. 
High Variety: They got to choose the act of kindness they wanted they were happier.

Spend Money on Self VS Others Study

Given either 5 or 20 dollars in the morning, told to spend it either on self or someone else by 5 pm

Results: Cash amount had no effect on happiness
Target of Spending: Spent on others were happier.

Kind Acts for Others VS World VS Self Study

One day each week over 4 weeks, 4 groups
Doing 3 acts for others, world or self

Control Group: Just wrote about something about their day. 

Results: Others and for the world acts of kindness were happier because when doing something for yourself the feeling doesn't last, it’s a temporary feeling.

Kind Acts and Peer Acceptance Study

12 Acts of Kindness for 4 Weeks

Results: at the end of the study kid were asked who they wanted to be friends with and number of noms each kid got; before and after the study

Kids in the kindness group had more nominations.
Kids who did more acts of kinds became more popular and made more friends
most acts of kinds were done at home (when you did acts at home when you go to school you are seen as more optimistic and better liked which draws kids to you).

Kindness is Contagious Study

Office workers

Givers: they choose people every week and do acts of kindness for them (them: receivers)

Asked givers to help receivers but they did more of what they asked

Receivers: didn't know they were in the study and did more acts of kindness 

Observers: Started helping everyone else, they were inspired to be kind by others

"Elevation Effect" - You get inspired to do good to others if you see people doing good to others around you.

4 Ways to Practice Forgiveness

Appreciate Being Forgiven
Imagine Forgiveness 
Write a Letter of Forgiveness
Practice Empathy

The Forgiving Personality and It Correlates

Agreeableness: (show altruism, empathy, care and generosity) Have higher levels of moral responsibility and share resources to people who have been rude inconsiderate to them

Emo Stability: Lower vulnerability to negative emo experience

Religiousness and Spirituality: These people tend to have high value for forgiveness

Definition and Measurement of Forgiveness

Definition: Series of prosocial motivation changes that occur after a person has incurred a transgression you have a positive feelings towards the transgression and are motivated to help him or her.

Measurement: Tendency to Forgive scale (TTF)

3 Processes thaat Influence Forgiveness

Empathy: Compassion and Sympathy
Generous Attributions: Giving transgressors benefits of the doubt
Rumination: Dwelling on transgressions

3 Motivations After Transgressions

Avoidance - Motivation as a result of being hurt
Revenge - As a result of righteous anger
Benevolence - As a result of positive feelings

3 Benefits of Forgiveness

Preservation of Relationships 
Modulation of Hostility
Happiness
Physical Health

Three Instances When Forgiveness is NOT Beneficial

Believe you won't stay together and you don't treasure preserving the relationship.

He/She is likely to repeat the transgression and hurt you again.

Forgiveness and Health Study

Identify real life offenders, do imaginary exercise
Forgiveness: Empathize with offender and forgive
Unforgiveness: Rehearse the hurt and nurse the grudge

RESULTS:

When imagining forgiveness participants: Felt less aroused, less angry, less sad, positive and in control, and showed less furrowed brows (EMG)

BEING UNFORGIVING IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Forgiveness and Relationship Study

201 College students who had experienced interpersonal transgression within past week
Measured 5x over 9 wks
Forgiveness: Revenge, benevolence, and avoidance
Relationship: Closeness and commitment

RESULTS: Less avoidance and revenge e and more benevolence showed increase with time in closeness and commitment to those who hurt them.

Evidence of opposite causal path on avoidance only those who reported more closeness and commitment showed decreases in avoidance over time.

8 Ways Gratitude Boosts Happiness

Grateful Thinking Promotes Savoring of Positive Life Experience
Experience Gray Bolsters Self-Worth and Esteem
Gratitude Helps Cope w/ Stress and Trauma
Experience of Gratitude Tends to Inhibit Invidious Comp
Experience of Gratitude Encourages Moral Behavior 
Gratitude Can Help Social Bonds, and Straighten Existing
Gratitude is Incompatible with Negative Emotions
Helps Hedonic Adaptation

Ways to Practice Gratitude

Gratitude Journal
Paths to Gratitude
Keep the Strategy Fresh
Express Gratitude Directly to Another

Summarize 10 Hypothesis Benefits about Benefits of Gratitude

Gratitude facilitates coping with stress and reduces toxic emotions resulting from self and social comparisons.

Definition and Measurement of Gratitude

Definition: As an emotion - a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life. As a trait - disposition to feel and express consistently the emotion of thankfulness across situations and across time to do so appropriately.

Measurement: Gratitude Quotient (GQ-6)

Benefits of Gratitude

Savor pos experience
Stops comparing ourselves 
Bolsters self esteem
Cope w stress and trauma
Neutralizes neg emotions
Increases humility and leads to behave morally
Solidifies friendship and feel more connected 
Prevents us from taking others for granted

Count Your Blessings Study

Participants were instructed to count their blessings for 6 weeks

Once a week (Sunday nights)
3x a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)

Control: List what you’ve done over 7 days
Results: once a week increased in gratitude and happiness.

Optimism and Gratitude Study

Wrote for 15 min for 8 weeks

Expressing optimism: Future-Self
Expressing gratitude: Gray Letters
Control: List what you've done over 7 days

Results: Non-motivated decreased happiness

Gratitude and Optimism Across Cultures

Participants wrote for 10 minutes per week for 6 weeks

Conditions: Express optimism, express gratitude, and control

Results: Optimism and gray increased well being increased gratitude for Asian-Americans.

Practicing Gratitude and Kindness in the U.S VS South Korea

Seoul national university & UCR
Wrote gratitude letters each week
3 acts of kindness each week

Results: gratitude increased in the U.S and so did kindness
South Korea decreased in gratitude and increased in kindness

Recalling Three Good Things that Went Well

Toyota employees (in Tokyo) asked to report 3 good things that happened that week (for 6 weeks).
Wore a movement detection device at work.
Those asked to report 3 good things that has happened to them (it can be something big or small) have an increase in their behavioral rhythm (they moved more).
Being more grateful made the employees more motivated to do well at work, thus made them feel better?

What do people do when they forgive (i.e., what psychological processes do they show)?

Empathy for Transgressor
Generous Attributions and Appraisals 
Rumination About Transgressor (less)

What is Forgiveness Not?

NOT pardoning, condoning, or condoning.

Applying Positive Interventions to Depressed Individuals

Would depressed individuals benefit MORE from happiness interventions? 
Because they have more room to improve and are presumably more motivated to do so or would they benefit LESS?
Because their cognitive and behavioral deficits prevent them from taking full advantage of the strategies or even leading them to backfire.

Positive psychology regards that both the good and bad about life as genuine whereas humanists often assume people are inherently _____
a) Good
b) Selfish
c) Philantropic
d) Bad

a) Good

Which is not a pillar of positive psychology?
a) Positive experiences
b) Positive traits
c) Positive objective circumstances
d) Positive institutions

c) Positive objective circumstances

What are the three parts of the happiness pie?
a) Intentional activity, genetics, intelligence
b) Intentional activity, life circumstances, genetics
c) Intentional activity, life circumstances, optimistic orientation
d) Intentional activity, life circumstances, signature strengths

b) Intentional activity, life circumstances, genetics

True or false: The association between happiness and well-being is stronger for richer people?

False

Which processes distinguishing happy and unhappy people has Dr. Lyubomirsky studied in her work?
a) Construal
b) Social comparison
c) Decision making
d) All of the above

d) All of the above

In the puppet study, unhappy people felt ____ when they performed poorly (but a peer performed even worse) than when they performed well (but a peer performed better).
a) Better
b) Worse

a) Better

One of the reasons married people are relatively happier is:
a) They are fulfilling traditional roles
b) They form more relationships with others
c) It allows them to live independently from their parents
d) None of these

b) They form more relationships with others

Women in the Yearbook Study who had ____ in their yearbook photos were more likely to get married by age 27.
a) Attractive faces
b) Duchenne smiles
c) Disingenuous expressions
d) Kind faces

b) Duchenne Smiles

Which is NOT one of the four advantages of positive activities for sustainable happiness
a) Variety
b) Habit
c) Surprise
d) Attention
e) Timing

b) Habit

What is broadened in Frederickson's Broaden and Build theory?
a) Self-insight
b) Attention/awareness
c) Social connection
d) Self-esteem

b) Attention/awareness

What is an autotelic activity?
a) An activity that is appropriately challenging
b) An activity which society rewards
c) An activity which is rewarding in and of itself
d) An activity which requires repeated practice

c) An activity which is rewarding in and of itself

According to the 4-channel model of flow low skill and low challenges induce:
a) Apathy
b) Flow
c) Boredom
d) Anxiety

a) Apathy

Which is not a culturally bound virtue/strength in the US?
a) Meekness
b) Happiness
c) Self-esteem
d) Redemption

a) Meekness

Big vs. little optimism depends on:
a) The size/specificity of your expectations
b) The size of your goal
c) The size/duration of your goal
d) All of the above

a) The size/specificity of your expectations

When is optimism "bad"?
a) When the situation can't be improved
b) When you are too optimistic for the situation
c) When you wait around for good things to happen
d) All of these

d) All of these

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways we can respond to our partners:
a) Active-constructive
b) Active-destructive
c) Passive-constructive
d) Passive-active

d) Passive-Active

Why is social support linked to good health?
a) It buffers against stress 
b) It increases access to healthcare
c) It increases self-esteem
d) It buffers against other negative relationships

a) It buffers against stress

All of the following are self-benefits (egoistic) of "helping" except: 
a) Reducing one's empathic arousal
b) Avoiding possible social and self-punishments for not helping
c) Gaining social and self-rewards for doing what is good and right
d) Supporting the well-being of others

d) Supporting the well-being of others

Which of the following is NOT one of the 3 egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
a) Aversive-arousal reduction
b) Empathy-specific punishment
c) Aversive-empathy reduction
d) Empathy-specific reward

c) Aversive-empathy reduction

According to Batson et al. empathy occurs when you:
a) Notice someone's need
b) Care about someone's well-being
c) Both a & b
d) None of the above

c) Both a & b

Forgiving people are more likely to be:
a) Apologetic
b) Neurotic
c) Younger
d) All of the above

a) Apologetic

"A series of prosocial motivational changes that occurs after a person has incurred a transgression" defines:
a) Gratitude
b) Kindness
c) Forgiveness
d) Altruism

c) Forgiveness

True or false: The Forgiveness and Relationships study found that those who experienced less avoidance and revenge (and more benevolence) showed increases in closeness and commitment to those who hurt them over time.

False

What does the Gratitude Quotient -6 (GQ-6) measure?
a) Gratitude as an emotion
b) Gratitude as a trait
c) Gratitude for a specific action
d) Gratitude as a goal

b) Gratitude as a trait

Which is NOT one of the 5 relationship mindsets according to Dr. Lyubomirsky?
a) Multiplicity mindset
b) Sharing mindset
c) Reciprocity mindset
d) Radical curiosity mindset

c) Reciprocity Mindset

Which can contribute to person-activity misfit?
a) baseline affective state
b) personality
c) culture
d) all of these

d) All of these

What is the term for when positive activities decrease positive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors?
a) social costs
b) mediators gone sour
c) extremes of motivation
d) positive activity overdose

b) Mediators Gone Sour

True or False: Doing acts of kindness can down-regulate pro-inflammatory genes

True

Which statement is FALSE:
a) Egotism does not enhance anyone's welfare
b) Altruism enhances welfare for one or more others
c) Collectivism is concerned with the welfare of the group
d) Principle upholds justice

a) Egotism does not enhance anyone's welfare

True or False: According to kin selection, evolution selected altruism to one's relatives to enhance survival of mutually shared genes

True

According to ____ social relationships are best understood by people's desire to maximize benefits/minimize costs
a) Social exchange theory
b) Broaden and build theory
c) Evolutionary theory
d) Empathy-altruism theory

a) Social Exchange Theory

According to one study, those who spent money on others felt ____ than those who spent money on themselves
a) Less happy
b) More happy
c) No different
d) More regret

b) More happy

What are some ways Lyubomirsky (2008) suggests practicing kindness?
a) Pick one day a week to do a big act of kindness
b) Try varying the acts of kindness you do
c) Start a chain of kindness
d) All of the above

d) All of the above

True or False: According to one study, participants felt more connected when on the phone or video chatting compared to social media.

True

Which best describes the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
a) Empathetic emotions motivate altruistic behavior
b) Altruistic emotions motivate empathetic behavior
c) Empathetic emotions reduce altruistic behavior
d) altruistic emotions reduce empathetic behavior

a) Empathetic emotions motivate altruistic behavior

Which statement is FALSE: 
a) Egotism does not enhance anyone's welfare
b) Altruism enhances welfare for one or more others
c) Collectivism enhances welfare for the group
d) Principlism upholds justs

a) Egotism does not enhance anyone's welfare

In the "Kindness is Contagious" study, which group did NOT do more acts of kindness?
a) Givers
b) Observers
c) Receivers
d) Outsiders

d) Outsiders

In the "Vary Your Kind Acts" study, which group saw a drop in happiness mid-study?
a) High variety group
b) Low variety group
c) Control group
d) None of these

b) Low Variety Group

In the "Kind Acts for Others vs. World vs. Self" study, which groups improved their happiness?
a) The Others and World groups
b) The Others and Self groups
c) The World and Self groups
d) The World and Control groups

a) The Others and World groups

According to the norm of reciprocity, if you help others:
a) They will feel obligated to return the favor
b) They will feel uncomfortable
c) They will fell obligated to talk to you
d) They will be grateful

a) They will feel obligated to return the favor

True or False: Doing acts of kindness can downregulate pro-inflammatory genes.

True

How can forgiveness be practiced?
a) Appreciate being forgiven
b) Ruminate less
c) Imagine forgiving
d) All of these

d) All of these

What are the 3 processes that foster or inhibit forgiveness?
a) Empathy, generous attributions, rumination
b) Empathy emotion regulation, kindness
c) Generous attributions, kindness, optimism
d) Generous attribution, anger, grief

a) Empathy, generous attributions, rumination

Forgiveness is NOT:
a) Pardon
b) Excusing
c) Reconciling
d) All of these

d) All of these

____ is a result of righteous anger and is a common motivator after a transgressor
a) Avoidance
b) Revenge
c) Benevolence
d) None of these

b) Revenge

One of the benefits of forgiveness is:
a) Preservation of relationships
b) Modulation of hosility
c) Physical health
d) All of these

d) All of these

Forgiveness is not beneficial when:
a) Someone is being taken advantage of
b) Someone is in an abusive relationship
c) Both a & b
d) None of these

c) Both a & b

True or False: Tsang et al. (2006) found those who experienced less avoidance/revenge had increases in closeness to those that hurt them.

True

According to the Forgiveness & Health study (Witvliet et al., 2001):
a) Being unforgiving is likely bad for your health
b) Being too forgiving is associated with better sleep quality
c) Being unforgiving is likely a result of being unhealthy during childhood
d) Being forgiving helps people feel closer to their partners

a) Being unforgiving is likely bad for your health

"A felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life" describes:
a) Gratitude as an emotion and trait
b) Forgiveness as an emotion
c) Forgiveness as a trait

a) Gratitude as an emotion and trait

Which is NOT a benefit of gratitude?
a) Bolster self-esteem
b) Neutralize negative emotions
c) Helps us savor positive experiences
d) Helps you compare yourself to others

d) helps you compare yourself to others

Which was NOT a condition group for the Count Your Blessings Study?
a) Once a week
b) Three times a week
c) Control group
d) Two times a week

d) Two times a week

Which group saw the greatest improvements to their happiness and gratitude in the Count Your Blessings Study?
a) Once a week
b) Three times a week
c) Control group
d) Two times a week

a) Once a week

Who were the 2 groups in the Gratitude and Kindness study?
a) College students, US and South Korea
b) Elderly adults, US and South Korea
c) College students, US and Mexico
d) College students, South Korea and Mexico

a) College students, US and South Korea

Which group benefited the most from the Gratitude and Kindness study?
a) US college students
b) Control group
c) South Korean college students
d) No groups improved

a) US college students

In the Gratitude in High School Students study, students were asked to:
a) Think over the last several years of their life
b) Recall an act of kindness they are grateful for
c) Write a gratitude letter to someone
d) all of the above

d) All of the above

In the Gratitude in High School Students study, what did students improve?
a) Their efforts towards self-improvement
b) Their eating behaviors
c) Their life satisfaction
d) All of these

d) all of these

Which is NOT an example of Positive Activity Overdose?
a) Count too many blessings
b) Express gratitude too frequently
c) Repeat the same kind acts
d) Try new activities

d) Try new activities

Which is an example of the Extremes of Motivation?
a) Overvaluing happiness
b) Not valuing happiness
c) Balancing self-focus and relaxation
d) Enjoying the journey

a) Overvaluing happiness

What can contribute to Person Activity Misfit?
a) Baseline affective state
b) Personality
c) Culture
d) All of these

d) All of these