Unit 5-Positive Psychology: Positive Emotions & Traits, Enhancing Well-being: 663-681

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of promoting strengths and virtues that foster well-being, resilience, and positive emotions, and that help individuals and communities to thrive.

subjective well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life.

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

relative deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves.

broaden-and-build theory

proposes that positive emotions broaden our awareness, which over time helps us build novel and meaningful skills and resilience that improve well-being.

character strengths and virtues

a classification system to identify positive traits; organized into categories of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

resilience

the personal strength that helps people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma.

aerobic excersize

sustained excersize that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety.

mindfulness meditation

a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgemental and accepting manner.

gratitude

an appreciative emotion people often experience when they benefit from other’s actions or recognize their own good fortune.