Positive Psychology

• Positive psychology may borrow some ideas commonly associated with “POP” psychology and apply the scientific method to them
• Seligman’s three-part definition of happiness

  1. the pleasant life
  2. the good / engaged life
  3. the meaningful life
• Seligman coined the acronym PERMA to describe 5 key building blocks of well-being. What are they?


  Positive emotion

  Engagement

  Relationships

  Meaning

  Accomplishments
• What are some disadvantages

  of the PERMA model?

  While it helps you identify building blocks go improving well-being it

  • doesn’t tell you how to do it
  • doesn’t offer an objective way to measure your progress
• The philosophers Epicurus and Aristotle had different views on what underlies true happiness and subjective well-being. Describe them they? 


  • epicureansim - focused on pleasure (hedonistic)
  • eudaimonia - focused on self-realisation and maximising one‘s potential
• What did Nun study find?

  the experience of positive emotion was positively related to longevity, quality of life, and health
• What helped researchers and practitioners identify, understand, and treat mental illness using scientifically valued practices

  The Disease Model
• Health Psychology is to the effects of stress as Positive Psychology the effects of positive emotions
• What are the two dimensions of emotional well-being?

  1. positive affect
  2. life satisfaction
• What is psychological well-being? 


  the degree to which individuals are able to connect with others and the relationship they have with themselves (so patterns of interaction with the self and others)
• What are the 6 dimensions of psychological well-being?

  1. self-acceptance
  2. positive relatedness to others
  3. personal growth
  4. sense of purpose or meaning in life
  5. mastery and competence over environment
  6. autonomy
• What are the 5 dimensions of social well-being?

  1. social coherence (the society or community makes sense or is experiences as congruent with the individual)
  2. social actualisation (capacity for growth within social space)
  3. high level of acceptance of diversity in the societal space
  4. social integration (belonging)
  5. social contribution
• According to Keyes, good mental health is a combination of good emotional well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being
• Genetics explain what percentage of happiness? 


  50%
• Intentional activities explain what percentage of happiness? 


  40%
• The view of happiness as being driven mainly by experiences of pleasure is regarded as:


  Hedonic
• Aristotle described the expression of the true self as a key pathways to happiness. He referred to this as the:


  Eudaimonic view of happiness
• What is the unidimensional perspective on emotions? 


  positive and negative emotions are at opposite ends of a single dimension
• What is the bidimensional view on emotions? 


  positive and negative emotions occur on different dimensions with different causes and effects
• Which view of emotions suggests that the presence of positive emotion indicated the absence of negative emotion

  Unidimensional view
• Which view of emotions suggests that it is possible to experience a positive and a negative emotion at the same time?

  bidimensional view
• What are the 3 psychological needed for happiness according to Self-determination theory? 


  1. autonomy
  2. competence
  3. relatedness
• Experience sampling methods (ESM) are a superior way to measure SWB as they are less prone to the distortions that can happen when relying on memories of past events. An example of an ESM is keeping a timer that goes off once an hour, at which point you write down how you’re feeling
• What are the 2 core components of goals?

  1. cognitive component
  2. emotional / motivational component
• What does the goal matching hypothesis discuss? 


  the association between person-goal fit, how that influences progression towards the goal and the implications this then has for well-being
• How are goals arranged in a two-tier structure?

  1. higher order goals (more abstract) - they control or give meaning to lower order goals
  2. lower order goals (more specific)
• What is the difference between a value and a goal?

  values are enduring general guidelines or principles for living that highlight what is most meaningful of important to us and do not have a discrete end point unlike goals
• achieving self-concordant goals leads to need-satisfying experiences that contribute to overall well-being and reinforce the value of pursuing goals aligned with one’s authentic self (person-goal fit)
• What is the relationship between our self-concept and our goals? 


  self-concept is defined by our goals across time, in that what we do filters into the information about who we are. on the other hand, our self-concept can also determine what goals we go after
• What are the 2 approaches for orienting our goals?

  1. approach orientation (moving toward a desirable outcome)
  2. avoidance orientation (avoiding a negative outcome)
• Sheldon eat al. identified what 10 universal needs?

  1. self-esteem
  2. competence
  3. security
  4. money / luxury
  5. relatedness
  6. autonomy
  7. popularity / influence
  8. pleasure / stimulation
  9. physical thriving
  10. self-actualisation / meaning
• Schwartz et al. developed what 10 universal values?

  1. power
  2. achievement
  3. hedonism
  4. stimulation
  5. self-direction
  6. universalism
  7. benevolence (helpfulness, honesty, sincerity, loyalty)
  8. tradition
  9. conformity
  10. safety
• What is prudence? 


  the application of care about one’s choices, avoiding action that may be regretted
• What is temperance? 


  moderation / self-control
• What are virtues? 


  beneficial characteristics valued by moral philosophers, religious thinkers, and society, contributing to an individual’s well-being - they act as general guides or principles for living
• What are character strengths? 


  psychological processes and mechanisms that allow virtues to be reflected in our behaviour
• What is balance theory? 


  It explains how people we believe to embody the virtue of wisdom engage in a process of problem solving whereby they are able to balance the interests of the self, those of important others, and those of the broader community
• what are the 6 groupings of attributes by Sternbeg that characterise someone wise?

  1. reasoning ability
  2. sagacity (deep understanding of human Nature, fair and attentive, self-aware)
  3. learning from ideas and the environment
  4. judgement (sensible with a view of the long-term)
  5. expeditious use of information (learns and retains information from experiences)
  6. perspicacity (intuitive, perceptive, discerning)
• What was Peterson and Seligman’s main aim with the VIA project? 


  to establish a comprehensive classification system for human strengths that parallels the system for mental illness and dysfunction presented in the DSM-5
• When can the use of our top strengths be counterproductive? 


  • wearing away resources
  • may not be context appropriate