Module 35 Notes: Health and Happiness

Module 35: Health and Happiness

Coping with Stress (Block 35.1)

• Stressors are unavoidable.
• Persistent stress is correlated with heart disease and depression (Kivimaki et al. 2002, Marmoth et al. 1997).
• Ways to alleviate stress:
  • Increasing control:
    • Examples:
      • Allowing prisoners to move chairs and control room lights and TV.
      • Having workers participate in decision-making.
      • Allowing people to personalize their workspace.
    • Studies show improvements in health (Humphrey et al. 2007, Eme et al. 2012, Rubak et al. 1986).
  • Economic status:
    • Wealthy parents tend to have healthy, advantaged children (Sadelieva et al. 2016).
    • Higher economic status correlates with reduced risk of low birth weight, infant mortality, smoking, and violence.
  • Social Hierarchy and Control:
    • Primates at the bottom of the social pecking order are more likely to get sick when exposed to viruses (Cohen et al. 1997).
    • When control over environment is lacking (shock in rats, uncontrollable environment for humans/primates):
      • Stress hormone levels rise
      • Blood pressure increases
      • Immune responses drop (Sapolsky 2005, 1986)
  • Feelings of Control and Stress:
    • Nurses with little control over their environment had higher cortisol levels and blood pressure (Fox et al. 1993).
    • Crowding in high-density environments (neighborhoods, prisons, dorms) diminishes feelings of control, leading to elevated stress hormones and blood pressure.
  • Free Will and Job Satisfaction:
    • Belief in free will correlates with greater job satisfaction (Feldman et al. 2018).
    • Belief in free will fuels self-control.
• Reflection:
  • How much control do you have over your life?
  • What changes can you make to increase your sense of control?

Building Self-Control (Block 35.3)

• Importance of Self-Control:
  • Self-control is the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for longer-term rewards.
  • Self-control predicts good health, higher income, and better school performance (Buck et al. 2016, Keller et al. 2016, Moffitt et al. 2011).
  • Self-control surpasses intelligence test scores in predicting future academic and life success (2005, 2017, Colton et al. 2015, Wim et al. 2016).
• Strengthening Self-Control:
  • Strengthening self-control is key to coping effectively with stress.
  • Requires attention and energy.
  • Like strengthening a muscle, breaking bad habits requires hard work.
  • Frequent practice in overcoming unwanted urges improves self-management of anger and dishonesty (Von Ester et al. 2018, Chuck et al. 2015).
  • Delaying gratification now can lead to bigger future rewards.
  • Perseverance builds inner strength to tackle future challenges.
• Reflection:
  • How much self-control do you have?
  • Why is it worth working to increase?
• Strategies for Improvement:
  • Watch videos on self-control (Baynian Komsinski 2012, Hernandez et al. 2015).

Optimism (Block 35.4)

• Benefits of Optimism:
  • Optimistic students report less fatigue and fewer coughs, aches, and pains during stressful periods (Zaslavsky et al. 2015).
  • Optimists enjoy better moods and stronger immune systems during stressful times.
  • Optimistic women tend to feel more life satisfaction as death approaches.
• Sources of Optimism:
  • Optimism runs in families, suggesting a genetic component (Bates 2015, Mosing et al. 2009, 2017).
  • Positive expectations often motivate eventual success.

Social Support (Block 35.5)

• How Social Support Promotes Good Health:
  • Laughter among friends is beneficial.
  • Humor (not sarcasm) may ease pain and strengthen immune activity (2009, Al. 2018).
  • Socially isolated people have a 30% greater death rate (Holt-Lunstad et al. 2010, 2015, 2017).
  • Supportive marriages lead to less weight gain and longer life (Jen et al. 2018, Vanderwheel 2017, 2015, Smith and Boncombe 2017).
  • Social support improves sleep and reduces blood pressure (2019).
  • Volunteers exposed to COVID virus showed this effect (Cohen 2004, Cohen et al. 1997).
  • People with close social ties are less likely to catch a cold.
  • Frequent puns correlate with fewer cold symptoms (Cohen et al. 2015).
  • Pets can provide health benefits, especially for those who live alone (Rice et al. 2017, Siegel 1990).
  • Close relationships offer opportunities for open-heart therapy (Fraterially 2006).
  • Confiding painful feelings calms us over time (Liberman et al. 2007, Pennebaker and Nohuron 1984).
  • Confiding is good for the body and soul.
  • Social ties can influence progress toward goals (Burton and King 2008, Calle 2015).

Reducing Stress

• Having a sense of control, developing optimistic thinking, and building social support can reduce stress and improve health.
• Upbeat people tend to have health-promoting social ties (Stinson et al. 2008).
• Managing Stress:
  • Aerobic exercise
  • Relaxation
  • Meditation
  • Active spiritual engagement

Aerobic Exercise (Block 35.6)

• Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercise:
  • Aerobic exercise (sustained oxygen-consuming exertion) is highly beneficial.
  • Exercise adds about seven hours of life for every exercise hour (Lee et al. 2017, et al 2018, Sardin Krum 2017).
  • Boosts quality of life with more energy, better mood, and stronger relationships(Ford 2002, Manson 2002).
  • People who exercise suffer about half as many heart attacks (Evenson et al. 2016, Visage and Fletcher 2009).
  • Fitness predicts longevity (Lee et al. 2011, Model et al. 2018).
  • Exercise fosters neurogenesis (Hans Berger et al. 2007, Reynolds 2009, Ben Prague 2009).
  • Exercise causes the brain to produce molecules that stimulate new, stress-resistant neurons.
  • Only one in four people in the US take advantage of it (Mendez 2010).

Relaxation and Meditation (Block 35.7)

• Influence of Relaxation and Meditation on Stress and Health:
  • Counteract stress responses through altered thinking and lifestyle.
  • Biofeedback (reporting, amplifying, and feeding back information about physiological responses) showed limited long-term success (Miller 1984).
  • Relaxation can speed healing (surgery patients experienced less stress with relaxation techniques).
  • College students interacting with therapy dogs felt less stress ten hours later (Or Griffin et al. 2018).
  • Meditation reduces suffering and improves awareness, insight, and compassion.
  • Mindfulness meditation boosts happiness and lessens anxiety and depression(Adams et al. 2018, Goyal et al. 2014, Rosenberg et al. 2015, Sedolmaier et al. 2012).
  • Mindfulness is a practice with a long history.
• Benefits of Meditation:
  • Improved sleep
  • Healthfulness
  • Immune system functioning (Donald et al. 2018, Rush et al. 2019, Violbe et al. 2019)
  • Increased telomere length (At all 2014, 2011, Kilpatrick et al. 2011)
  • Activates brain regions associated with reflective awareness (Davidson et al. 2003, Wei et al. 2010).
  • Mindfulness training reduces brain response to unpleasant images (Farb et al. 2010, Brown et al. 2013).

Faith, Communities, and Health (Block 35.8)

• Religiosity and Longevity:
  • Research indicates a correlation between religious involvement and longer life (At all 2002, Straubridge).
• Possible Explanations:
  • Religion promotes self-control (Diwal et al. 2014, McCullough and Willoughby 2009).
  • Religious people tend to smoke and drink less, and have healthier lifestyles (Islam and Johnson 2003, Kane and Van Vilen 2009).
  • Positive emotions, even after controlling for social support, unhealthy behaviors, gender, and preexisting health problems (Ironson et al. 2002, Kanegan Larsen 1998, Luchendorf et al. 2004).
  • Religiously engaged people tend to live longer.
• Moods and Generosity:
  • Good moods correlate with generosity (Bonacan Meyer 2016).
• Moods Matter:
  • Gloomy mood: life seems depressing and meaningless, skeptical thinking.
  • Bright mood: thinking becomes more playful and creative (Boss et al. 2008).
  • Happiness leads to prosocial behaviours.

Positive Psychology (Block 35.9)

• Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon:
  • Boosting experience has made people more likely to give money, pick up someone's dropped papers, volunteer time, and do other good deeds (Salovey 1990).
• Humanistic Psychology and Positive Psychology:
  • Humanistic psychologists were interested in advancing human fulfillment.
  • Positive psychology: using scientific methods to study human flourishing.
• Three Pillars of Positive Psychology (Seligman 2005):
  1. Positive Well-being: Satisfaction with the past, happiness with the present, and optimism about the future.
  2. Positive Traits: Exploring and enhancing creativity, courage, compassion, integrity, self-control, leadership, wisdom, and spirituality.
     • Happiness is a byproduct of a pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life.
  3. Positive Groups, Communities, and Cultures: Fostering a positive social ecology with healthy families, communal neighborhoods, effective schools, socially responsible media, and civil dialogue.
• Focus of Positive Psychology:
  • Study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions.
  • Differs from psychology’s traditional interest in alleviating negative states.
• Impact:
  • Gained strength with supporters in many countries due to significant funding (ICA 2017, Seligman 2016).

The Short Life of Emotional Ups and Downs (Block 35.10)

• Happiness Levels:
  • Some days of the week are happier than others (02/2011, Helen Wilhelm Wang 2015, Yong and Lim 2014, For you, 2).
  • Emotions tend to balance out over the long run, even within a day (Kramer 2010).
  • Stressful events trigger bad moods, but the gloom usually lifts by the next day (Affleck et al. 1994, Bolger et al. 1989, Stone and Nail 1984, Happiness, Boysenwood 2011, Paul et al. 1999).
• Resiliency:
  • Overestimate the duration of emotions and underestimate resiliency (Daniel Kamin 2005).
• Money and Happiness:
  • Rising economic tide has not produced increased happiness or decreased depression since the 1950s.
• Adaptation:
  • We adapt to circumstances over time.
• Relative Deprivation:
  • Life satisfaction suffers when people with low incomes compare themselves to those with higher incomes (Mathieu et al. 2020).
  • Happiness depends less on actual financial success than on financial comparisons to peers (Ten et al. 2020).
• Components of Happiness:
  • Pleasant life
  • Engagement in life
  • Meaningful life (belonging to and serving something larger than oneself).

What Predicts Our Happiness Levels? (Block 35.11)

• Happy People's Characteristics:
  • Happy people share many characteristics (Table 35.1 Diner et al. 2003, Fulmer et al. 2010, 2009).
  • Happiness seems not much related to other factors.
• Nature and Nurture:
  • Happiness fluctuates around a happiness set point based on genes, outlook, and recent experiences.
• Change in Satisfaction:
  • Satisfaction with life can change (Lucas and Donovan 2007).
  • Happiness rises and falls, and can be influenced by factors under our control (Lius and Lyle Lemursky 2014, Ness 2010).
• Enhancing Happiness Nationally:
  • Happy societies are prosperous, trustful, free, and enjoy close relationships (Helen Will et al. 2013, Oishi and Chinook 2010, Bus).
  • Happiness research can refocus national priorities.