week.7A. social relationships &wellbeing

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING

Course Overview

  • Course Name: Positive Psychology (PSYO349)
  • Institution: University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus

Course Structure

  1. First Half of Term
    • Welcome
    • Values and Goals
    • Physical Well-being
    • Mindfulness
    • Dealing with the Negative 1
    • Dealing with the Negative 2
    • Social Interactions
    • Close Relationships
    • Gratitude and Savouring
    • Happiness of Others
    • Character Strengths
    • Moving Forward
  2. Second Half of Term
    • The Social Side of Well-being

I. Do Social Relationships Relate to Happiness and Well-Being?

  • Study Reference: Diener & Seligman (2002)
    • Very happy students rate their relationships more positively than unhappy students.
    • Peers of very happy students also agree that they maintain good relationships.
    • Very happy students report spending less time alone and more quality time with family, friends, or romantic partners.

II. Social Relationships Are One of Our Basic Needs

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
  • Categories of Needs:
    1. Physiological Needs: Food, water, warmth, rest
    2. Safety Needs: Security, safety
    3. Belongingness and Love Needs: Intimate relationships, friends
    4. Esteem Needs: Prestige and feelings of accomplishment
    5. Self-actualization: Achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities
Eudaimonic Side – Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)
  • Basic Psychological Needs Theory:
    • To enhance well-being, one must meet basic needs:
      • Autonomy: The ability to make one's own choices and exert volition.
      • Competence: The sensation of being effective in reaching one's goals.
      • Relatedness: The feeling of social connection to others.
Eudaimonic Side – Psychological Well-Being (Ryff & Singer, 1996)
  • Components of Psychological Well-Being:
    1. Self-acceptance
    2. Personal growth
    3. Purpose in life
    4. Environmental mastery
    5. Autonomy
    6. Positive relations with others
Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, 1998)
  • Impact of Emotions:
    • Negative emotions narrow focus and attention on immediate concerns.
    • Positive emotions broaden perspective, leading to:
      • Increased creativity
      • Greater exploration
      • More social interactions
    • Outcome: Building of resources; learning new things, discovering novel solutions, building social capital.

III. Social Relationships Help Us Reach Goals

Research Findings - Goal Progress and Subjective Well-Being
  • Reference: Hannah J.P. Klug & Günter W. Maier (2015)
    • Linking goal progress and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-analysis
    • Significant Findings:
      • Meta-analysis of 108 studies involving 20,653 participants.
      • Average observed correlation between successful goal striving and Subjective Well-being (SWB) is $r = 0.33$.
      • Categories of Analysis:
      • Publication Status:
        • Published: $r = 0.33$
        • Unpublished: $r = 0.32$
      • Study Design:
        • Cross-sectional effect sizes: $r = 0.32$
        • Predictive effect sizes: $r = 0.35$
      • Population Type:
        • Adolescents: $r = 0.23$
        • Students: $r = 0.40$
        • Employees: $r = 0.29$
        • Patients: $r = 0.33$
        • Mixed adult population: $r = 0.31$

IV. Types of Goals Affect Social Support

Goal Types
  • Self-Image Goals:
    • Focus on self; influenced by a desire to maintain favorable self-perception.
    • Egosystem view: perceives relationships as transactional.
  • Compassionate Goals:
    • Concern for others’ well-being; aims for mutual benefit.
    • Ecosystem view: self well-being is interconnected with the welfare of others.
Study Reference - Compassionate vs. Self-Image Goals
  • Authors: Jennifer Crocker and Amy Canevello
    • Investigated the influence of different goal types on social support within communal relationships.
Experiment on Relationship Support
  • Questions to consider about a close relationship:
    (a) Does this person help during adversity?
    (b) Do they help you thrive during good times?
    (c) Do they do both?

V. Social Relationships Catalyze Social Support

Relationship Catalyst Support
  • Conceptual Overview: Close relationships provide secure bases for exploration, promote thriving in various life contexts, and clarify support functions pertinent to overcoming adversity and pursuing growth opportunities.
  • Emphasizes the importance of social relationships in improving psychological health and providing effective emotional support.
Functions of Relationship Catalyst Support
  1. Providing Safe Haven:
    • Relief from stressors, emotional support, protection, and a comfortable environment for vulnerability.
  2. Fortification:
    • Development of strengths and nurturing abilities.
  3. Reconstruction Process:
    • Motivating recovery and positive coping mechanisms.
  4. Reframing Adversity:
    • Viewing challenges as avenues for growth.

VI. Nurturing Interpersonal Relationships through Active Constructive Responding

Experiment Overview
  • To conduct an experiment:
    1. Ask someone to share good news.
    2. Respond using various styles:
    • Excited Response: Enthusiastic and encouraging.
    • Mild Interest Response: Dismissive but polite.
    • Negative Feedback Response: Critiquing their happiness.
    • Disengaged Response: Show no interest.
    1. Assess how each response affects their feelings.
Responding Types
  • Types of Responses to Good News:
    • Active-Constructive (AC): Excited and enthusiastic responses.
    • Passive-Constructive (PC): Quiet and modest acknowledgment.
    • Active-Destructive (AD): Critiquing the good news perspective.
    • Passive-Destructive (PD): Ignoring the good news altogether.

VII. Social Relationships Can Make Us Healthier

Impact on Health
  • Health Risks of Social Isolation:
    • Comparable to the risks associated with smoking, excessive alcohol, obesity, and hypertension.
  • Associations with Loneliness:
    • Disrupted sleep, chronic inflammatory responses linked to cardiovascular diseases, and increased risks of psychopathology.
  • Importance of Relationship Quality:
    • Poor quality relationships (conflictual marriages, abusive contexts) predicted increased health problems and mortality risks.
Research Findings on Mortality Risk
  • Study Details:
    • Holts-Lunstad et al. (2010): Investigated social relationships and mortality risk through a meta-analytic review involving 308,849 participants.
    • Results demonstrated a significant increase in likelihood of survival (OR = 1.50) for participants with stronger social connections, with complex measures showing an even higher risk reduction (OR = 1.91).

Summary

  • Very happy university students: Better social relationships, more time spent with others, and consensus from peers on relationship quality.
  • Social relations play a crucial role in achieving personal goals.
  • Communication and responding styles are vital for maintaining strong social ties.
  • Positive social relationships correlate with reduced mortality risks and improved overall health and well-being.