Positive Psychology

JAN. 10, 2013

Happiness Exercise #1: Gratitude

If one thing could change in your life that would make you happier, what would it be?
The amount of time I spent with God

PURSUING HAPPINESS: The Architecture of Sustainable Change by Lyubomirsky et al. (2005)
Why happiness?
Happiness is good for you
Happy tend to live longer, be more charitable, have a better immune system
Happy individuals end to be more flourishable inwardly and outwardly
It is what we’re made for
Can we increase happiness?
But...the big question
Self-help literature claims to increase happiness
But there is no empirical evidence that says it works
Three sources of scientific pessimism (3 sources from science that indicate that we can’t do anything about our happiness)
Genetically determined set point
We have a characteristic level of happiness
People tend to return to their base line
Personality traits
Some people are more prone to negative affects
Related to that is how much guilt we experience
Stability in self-confidence
Hedonic treadmill
Quickly adapt to change
Things that might devastate us eventually return and same with things that make us happy
The correlation between wealth and happiness is very small
Summary
Trying to become happier may be as futile as trying to become taller
Four sources of scientific optimism
Happiness interventions
Motivational and attitudinal factors
i.e. pursuing intrinsic life goals
i.e. an optimistic perspective on life
People who avoid social comparisons tend to be happier
People who have a sense of efficacy is associated with happiness
Older people are happier than younger people
Suggested that greater happiness can be achieved over time
Indirect influence of genes
Even genes can influence happiness
No gene can express itself without an environment suggesting that we have some control
Lyubomirsky’s goal
To acknowledge the limits but also identify the things that might actual increase happiness
Definition of Happiness
Three main components that make up happiness
Frequent positive affect
Basically asks people how happy they are
High life satisfaction
How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10?
Infrequent negative affect
“Happiness” or “Subjective Well Being (SWB)”
“A subjectivist definition”
Self report
Defense
“Happiness is primarily a subjective phenomenon to which the final judge should be whoever lives inside it’s skin.”
Subjective wellbeing is related to objective outcomes
People who report themselves as happier tend to smile more
They have certain physiological outcomes as well
Criticism
“What does it mean to flourish” video on discovery

“Chronic Happiness Level”
A persons characteristic level of happiness
What Determines Chronic Happiness?



Her investigation focusses on intentional activities
The idea is that if we want to increase happiness, we should focus on what we have control over
Intentional Activities
People can choose them
Require effort
You have to try to do these things. They are not just going to happen to you.
Vs. circumstances
Circumstances happen to you, but activities happen when people act on them
Three main types
Behavioural
The way you act (i.e. being kind)
Cognitive
The way we think about an issue
Volitional
Striving for important goals
Particularly self congruent goals
Evidence exists for all of these having some role
Hedonic adaptation weaker
It appears to have less of an affect on our activities
If practicing gratitude, there will be much less hedonic activity
Activity based evidence can actually stick with you
Why?
Activities are episodic in translation
Time to adapt to them
We can attend to the timing of our activities
Can vary the way that you implement activities
Change can actually be innately pleasant and stimulating
Activities can counteract adaptation to circumstances

JAN 15, 2013

First 50 minutes were spent taking different happiness tests on Penn State Portal.

Gratitude exercise discussion

Happiness Exercise #2: Optimism
P. 101 and 103
Write about your best possible self:
4 different days write about your best possible self
Now, 1 year from now, as a teacher, as a parent
Narrate it
10 years from now:
What do you deeply want top happen

JAN. 17, 2013

Naugle Ch. 1
We’re made for Shalom
We’re built for flourishing
P. 17 - 6 aspects to flourish
Martin Seligman’s (author of Authentic Happiness) PERMA Model of Wellbeing
Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, Achievement
A Christian understanding of Happiness is holistic

THE “POSITIVE SELF”

Took survey
A little background of the creation of this course

Self-Esteem
Approaches to measuring self-esteem
Multidimensional measures
Measures domain specific manifestations of self-esteem there is a scale that measures competence, lovability, likable, person power, self control, moral self approval, body appearance, body functioning, defensive self-esteem
..............
Self-concept Measures
Development of self-esteem
Parents who accept their child’s strengths and understand their child’s weaknesses and set high, but attainable goals rase children with good self-esteem
Higher economic status families tend to have children with high self-esteem
The self-esteem craze
Self-esteem has been getting some negative attention in response to the self-esteem craze of the 70’s and 80’s
Questions about self-esteem
The relationship between self-esteem and school performance
They are correlated with each other, they are associated with each other
Correlation does not imply causation
School performance does seem to have a causal effect on self-esteem, but not the other way around
The relationship between self-esteem and harmful behaviour
Turns out that there is not protection there
Researchers suggest that you might be more prone to taking risks
Could be indirect link between higher self-esteem and prejudice
Two benefits of self-esteem
More likely to take initiative
To advance their well-being or carrier
People with higher self-esteem are happier

Self-Esteem and Happiness
Diener and Diener (1995)
13000 college students from all over the world
Found that the biggest predictor of happiness was high self-esteem
Correlation was r = .47, r2 = .22
Other high-quality studies
High self-esteem may pay off
An artifact of response bias?
Would expect people with higher self-esteem would claim to be happy
If we felt good about ourselves, it would assumably enhance our happiness
Back to subjectivist definition of happiness
Begrudging acceptance
It is possible to prove that people are less or more attractive, likable, etc. than they think they are, but nothing to prove happiness
Cannot be mistaken about your own level of happiness
Can we be mistaken about our own happiness?

Does the “Positive Self” Include the “New Self”?
Three passages of Scripture
Romans 6:6
Ephesians 4:22, 24
Colossians 3:9, 10
According to Paul (in one of the about passages), what does old self and new self mean and does it relate to the positive self?
Old self died with Him and full of sinful nature
New self created to be like God in true righteousness
The new self is basically the positive self
What does Paul mean by the “old self”
Our sinful nature
Enslavement to sin
Not flourishing
Could be happy on a short term, but not long term bases
Pushing God out of your life or ignoring Him
What does Paul mean by the “new self”
Who we are when the work of Christ has manifested itself
How God sees us
Image bearers of Christ
Do you think that this notion of “new self” has implications for how Christians should think of well-being?
Renewal
Implications for happiness and well-being

JAN 22, 2013

DO AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS TESTS

Exercise #3: Shake Off Rumination's and Social Comparisons
p. 119-122
When is it that you find yourself ruminating?

GRATITUDE

The Power of Gratitude
“Gratitude Night” at University of Pennsylvania (MAPP Program)
Had all the students in the class invite someone and read a letter of appreciation on that night
The typical experience after hearing the letters is crying
1000 Gifts
Ann Voskamp began a gratitude journal
It changed her life
People tell pretty profound stories about gratitude

The Measurement of Gratitude
GQ-6
The best documented gratitude test

Evidence for the Benefits of Gratitude
Personality traits
Well-being
Social Relationships
Physical health

Personality Traits
Higher gratitude is linked to Big Five
It is linked to all five of them
Among the 30 facets of the Big Five
People who are grateful are less angry and hostile, less depressed, less emotionally vulnerable, and tend to experience more possible emotion

Well-Being
Psychopathology
People who are more grateful have a lower risk of suffering from phobias, lower risk for addiction to alcohol and smoking, lower risk of bulimia
Gratitude is an essential component of post-traumatic growth
Emotional functioning
“Eudemonic” well-being
Eudemodism is a different way of thinking of happiness
Think about happiness in a way that you think of creation and meaning of life
Life lived to the fullest
Humanistic understanding of Well-being
Well-being has to do with a strong sense of identity
People with higher levels of gratitude have a higher level of well-being in a humanistic sense

Relationships
People who are higher in gratitude tend to be more forgiving and lower in narcissism
Perceive themselves as having support and being love and cared for
More conflict resolutions
Seems to strengthen and promote relationships and enhance the satisfaction in relationships

Health
Little research
Stress
Link between stress and health
Seems that if gratitude can diminish stress, then it can increase health
Sleep
Research finds that writing down gratitudes improved sleep
It has to do with pre-sleep cognition
If we are thinking negatively, our sleep will be bad

Other Issues (In the literature review)
Raised “incremental validity”
Does gratitude have a unique contribution to well-being?
Raised question of causality
Evidence for the causal efficacy of gratitude
Longitudinal studies

Gratitude Interventions
Three different gratitude interventions in positive psychology
1. Gratitude lists
Count your blessings each day
2. Grateful contemplation
Simple 5 minute intervention
Find that there is a boost in mood
Write about what you are happy about
3. Behavioural expressions
Pick a person that you are grateful for, write a letter, meet with them and give them the letter
Shortcomings in research
Need to be cautiously optimistic about these activities

Mechanisms
How do we explain the link between gratitude and well-being?
Reminder: Theoretical Activity in Psychological Science
Two specific hypotheses
Schematic hypothesis
Determine things as high value, high cost, and high ......
Coping hypothesis
Two general hypotheses
Positive affect
Broaden-and-build hypothesis

Why Gratitude?
Tinbergen. PSY 121
Evolutionary understanding
Reciprocal altruism
The reason we have capacity for gratitude is because back in the day it was out only way of surviving
Broaden and build hypothesis
We have negative emotions because they narrow our focus so that we can deal with the problem at hand
Is this a testable theory?
“Lack of agreement”
Imago Dei?
Duties and delights
Gods commands are for our own good

JAN. 24, 2013

OPTIMISM

Seligman’s Approach
“Explanatory style” for positive and negative life events
How do you explain them?
Two key ideas
Permanence (vs. temporariness)
Pervasiveness (vs. specificity)

THE PERMANENCE DIMENSION - BAD EVENTS

Permanent (Pessimistic)
“I’m all washed up”
“Diets never work”
“You always nag”
“The boss is a bastard”

Temporary (Optimistic)
“Maybe this just wasn’t the right diet for me.”

THE PERMANENCE DIMENSION - GOOD EVENTS

Temporary (Pessimism)
“My lucky day.”
“I try hard.”
“My rival got tired.”

Permanent (Optimistic)
“I’m always lucky.”
“I’m talented.”
“My rival is no good.”

PERVASIVENESS - BAD EVENTS

Universal (Pessimism)
“All teachers are unfair”
“I’m repulsive.”

Specific (Optimistic)

PERVASIVENESS - GOOD EVENTS

Specific (Pessimism)
“I’m smart at math.”

Universal (Optimism)
“I’m smart.”

Your Score
Briefly discuss results sheet

Building Optimism and Hope
Take the “ABCDE” approach
What was the Adversity?
What’s the Believe that arises?
What are the Consequences of that belief?
Dispute the belief - Is it accurate or true?
Once disputed, gives you Energization
Example from Authentic Happiness, pp. 93-94

Two ways of measuring optimism
Direct vs. Indirect Approach
Direct - asking people whether their outcomes will be good or bad
Indirect - assessed indirectly by looking at the way we interpret the past
Today’s leading researchers prefer the optimistic approach
LOT-R
Indicate the extent of your agreement with each item, on a 5 point scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” (0) to “strongly agree” (4).
In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. 2
It’s easy for me to relax. 4 x
If something can go wrong for me, it will. 1 = 3
I’m always optimistic about my future. 3
I enjoy my friends a lot. 4 x
It’s important for me to keep busy. 2 x
I hardly ever expect things to go my way. 1 = 3
I don’t get upset too easily. 3 x
I rarely count on good things happening to me. 1 = 3
I expect more good things to happen to me than bad. 2

TOTAL: 16
18 or higher i rather optimistic
11 or 12 is not
Below 10 is pessimistic

Straightforward definition
“Optimists are people who expect good things to happen.”

Optimism and SWB (subjective well-being)
Intuitive link
If optimistic, expect good things to happen
If expect bad outcomes, have negative feelings
Link between optimism and distress
Found that greater levels of optimism meant less likely to be depressed
Being treated for breast cancer - less distress among optimists
Attempted pregnancy through invetro - pessimistic people tend to be more distressed after failure
Care giver - if optimist, less susceptible to depression
First semester of university - less distress at the end of the semester and predicts greater level of friendships
Optimists tend to engage in problem focussed coping, engage in positive framing
Optimists tend to accept the reality of the situation whereas pessimists do the opposite
Contexts
People who go through coronary artery bypass surgery tend to be optimistic about the future
Seek out specific info that will help them improve their health in the future
Optimists are more likely to use things like humor and acceptance to cope
Pessimists disengage if something goes wrong
i.e Give up
In some ways optimists are more realistic

Well Being and Health
Promoting well-being
Pessimism and health-defeating behaviours
Optimists are more likely to improve in addiction situations whereas pessimists tend to give up and relapse
Optimism and physical well-being
Carotid intima thickness, Atherosclerosis
When measure people of this thickness, optimists had no increased thickness whereas pessimists did
Re-hospitalization
Less likely if optimistic
Biopsy
Optimists were faster healing than pessimists
Influenza vaccine
Optimists has a better response 2 weeks later than pessimists
One study says that optimistic people live longer

Questions
Is optimism always better?
Little evidence that shows that optimism is bad for you
Raise cultural issues
All these studies were done in one culture
Can pessimist become optimists?
Can Gospel/Scripture do better? Can it make a little change in your optimism score?
Are their any scripture verses that encourage optimism?
How do we come to believe this?
How do we become more optimistic?
Think about Christ
Lords Supper
In church
Prayer
Scripture
Worship
I God pro-optimism?
Yes

JAN. 29, 2013

Happiness Activity #3
Avoiding over thinking and social comparison
How did it go?
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema
Found that the reason women are more prone to depression is because they are more prone to rumination
Not really “positive psychology”
The opposite
Getting to the heart of social comparisons
What’s going on when we say things like, “‘why did I get so few lines in the community play?,’ or ‘I’ll never get a promotion if Howard doesn’t give me more responsibilities...’” (p. 119) etc.
These type of thoughts may reveal a deeper type of spiritual issue
Instead of distracting or a similar technique, suppose we said, “I really would like a bigger role in the community play. But why is it so important to me. Am I trying to prove myself again? Have I forgotten that I already am accepted and loved and forgiven by the Father because of Jesus?”
So is the issue really “over thinking” or improper thinking/disbelief?
Back to the “positive self.”

Happiness Activity #4
Practicing Acts of Kindness
P. 132-136
Timing (or strategic planning?) is everything
Variety is important
Plan and think it through
Cautions
P. 136
Do them freely and autonomously, do not force it (especially on an unwilling person)
Groups: go and do something kind to someone right now. You have 10 minutes.
Went to Refresh and cleaned all the tables and counters
Pick one day and do 1 big thing or 3 to 5 little things

Preparing for the Midterm
Feb. 14 - 2 weeks away
Half lecture, half Lyubomirsky
I’ll post a few sample questions, but - since there is very little reading - anything goes. Know the book!!!
Pay attention to descriptions of studies in particular
Probably multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank
No Naugle on midterm

CHARACTER STRENGTHS AND THE VIA (VIRTUES)

Source
Optimal Functioning: A Positive Psychology Handbook by Jessica D. Colman, MAPP
All about a strengths perspective
Positive psychology aims to help people build on their strengths/what is right with you
Assumption that everyone is strong somewhere
Benefits and basic strategy
A neglected topic
The development of the “taxonomy of character.”
Backbone of positive psychology
VIA - Values in Action
Read widely religious and philosophical books - Wanted to get a sense of what are the main virtues that everyone agrees on
Wisdom and knowledge, courage, love and humanity, justice, temperance, spirituality and transcendence are the sic virtues
Character strengths are different way you can manifest a virtue
Criteria in order to become a character strength
Everyone recognizes it as a strength
Needs to be distinguishable from other strengths
Needs to make a contribution to the good life

The 24 Character Strengths
Strengths of Wisdom and Knowledge (A virtue)
Creativity
Curiosity
Open-Mindedness
Love of Learning
Perspective
Strengths of Courage (A virtue)
Bravery
persistence
Integrity
Vitality
Strengths of Humanity (A virtue)
Love
Kindness
Social Intelligence
Strengths of Justice
Citizenship
Fairness
Leadership
Strengths of Temperance
Forgiveness and mercy
Humility and modesty
Prudence
Self-Regulation
Strengths of Transcendence
Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
Gratitude
Hope
Humour
Spirituality

The Signature Strengths Exercise
Purpose:
To identify and use your signature strengths
Hallmarks of Signature Strengths
A sense of ownership and authenticity
Look at your five highest strengths and ask...
Do I feel a sense of ownership and authenticity when using?
Do I have a feeling of excitement when I use it?
Is there a rapid learning curve when this strength is practice?
Is there a sense of yearning to find new ways to use this strength?
When used, do I find invigoration rather than exhaustion?
The exercise
“[Sometime this semester] I want you to create a designated time in your schedule when you will exercise one or more of your signature strengths in a new way either at work or at home or in leisure - just make sure that you create a clearly defined opportunity to use it.”
Examples
Write a column in the local newspaper
Self-control
Work out a gym
Appreciation for beauty and excellence
Take a longer route home
The exercise, continued
Write about before it’s like before you actually do it, what you are doing and how you felt afterwards
Empirically validated

JAN. 31, 2013

Naugle Ch. 3
Raises crucial questions
Seven deadly sins as false promises to happiness
Some already explored, such as materialism
Opposite of these as topics for positive psychology
Why only look at the positive
What about your 5 lowest scores on the VIA?
JE’s symmetry of character
Re-thinking -10 to 0?
Psychology was always used to make us less depressed, anxious, etc.
Looking in the wrong places for Meaning
Meaning depends upon what we love
Myth of Sisyphus
A god who was charged to a life of rolling a bolder up a hill and every time he hit the top, the bolder would roll back down the other side
What if we gave Sisyphus a drug that made him happy with this life
Sisyphus fulfilled, but is this a life of meaning because he’s happy? NO
Explaining why we need to mix things up in happiness interventions
Positive Psychology can help Naugle be more consistent with himself
Common grace routes to happiness

HAPPINESS LEADS TO KINDNESS

3 things to talk about:
Happiness itself can lead to kindness
Kindness can lead to happiness
Altruism

Article: Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect
Individuals scoring high on happiness or trait positive affect (PA) report:
A greater interest in helping people
A tendency to act in a prosocial or cooperative manner (i.e. sharing with or helping others)
More frequent intentions to perform specific altruistic acts
Have greater intentions to act in a courteous way
Spending a greater amount of their time in helping behaviours
Cross-sectional studies of transient mood lend support
Among high school students:

Among university aged students:
Those who reporter intensely positive experiences were more likely to contribute to society to help others
Among preschoolers:
Have better moods and show empathy towards other
Show more comfort to their peers
Among adults
At work, is related to a desire to contribute to beyond call of duty
In sum: “happy people are inclined to be kind and charitable people.”

Not very much literature or studies on how kindness links to happiness
The main study that seems to be sited again and again is the one that Lyubomirsky mentions in the book
Pursuing sustained happiness through random acts of kindness and counting one’s blessings: Tests of two six week interventions
Found on page 127
Results

THE QUESTION OF ALTRUISM

Think about it
Strategy to increase your happiness
Daniel Batson
Says as long your intent wasn’t to make yourself happy, then it counts as altruism
When is an act of kindness altruistic?
An altruistic act of kindness has at its ultimate goal a desire to increase someone else's welfare
When is it egoistic?
When the ultimate goal is to increase your welfare
Empathetic Emotion
Having an other oriented emotional response that is related to the perceived welfare of someone else
In order to show that true altruism is possible is to create experimental situations
Putting the empathy-altruism hypothesis to the test
If you see someone suffering on the street, is it possible to reduce your sad feeling to run and leave it behind?
Does Scripture teach that seeking the good of the self is evil? NO
The inclusive/expanded self --
If you take another person into yourself so that their goodness becomes a part of yourself....

FEB. 5, 2013

Nurturing Social Relationships Activity:
Capitalizing on good fortune:
Whenever you hear good news, give that person a hug

RELATIONSHIPS

Relationships, Health, and Psychological Well-Being
Large body of literature
Mortality
Review of 81 studies
SWB
The Need to Belong
On the negative side...
Losing a partner
Negative source can lead to muscle pain

Appetitive and Aversive Processes in Relationships
Focus on the negative
Appetitive vs. Aversive processes
Appetitive
Moving toward certain rewarding or desired outcomes
Focussing on potentially rewarding stimuli
Aversive
Moving away from punishing or aversive outcomes
Avoiding punishing stimuli
Two separate biological systems: BAS vs. BIS
Each system seems to have separate biological accesses

Aversive Processes in Relationships
Gottman’s research
Absence of negatives

Appetitive Processes in Relationships
4 Domains
Positive emotions and relationships
A new focus on positive emotions
Individual differences
Interpersonal consequences
Positive emotions as social
Social Support and Capitalization
Social support
Capitalization
Intimacy and Responsiveness
Beyond the need to belong
Self-disclosure
Responsiveness
Shared Novel Experiences
Self-expansion
Fun and exciting activities
Experimental evidence

Future Directions
Biology and interpersonal relationships
Positive emotions and health
Other relationships

FEB. 7, 2013

Acts of Kindness Discussion
Very interesting responses
Need to do something different
Prepared for lack of enthusiasm
Holy Spirit-led
Planning and “sins of omission”
“Sins of omission”
When we are not activity pursuing obedience
Dealing with the egoistic dilemma
Pursuing happiness - does it cheapen the act of kindness?
Positive psychology is about what you need to do to be happier
Don’t want to be doing acts of kindness to benefit yourself
If there is no joy in the giving, the act of kindness is corrupted

Naugle on Gospel
Restoration of shalom, blessedness (happiness)
Positive self again
Propitiation, Redemption, Reconciliation, Justification
Indicative (what’s true of you) and Imperative (what you need to do)
In a way you can say is that the whole Christian life is living out of the indicative, but move towards the imperative
PP as
A gospel
Evangelistic
A “sure and certain way to happiness”
Religion in disguise
A Christless gospel
Religion in disguise
About “achieving” rather than believing?
Leaves us looking for something more
Repentance as positive
Yes because it is turning about from out sin and misery

RESILIENCE

Source

Definition
Resilience has to do with patterns of positive adaptation during or following significant adversity of risk
Two major judgments
Making a judgment of what kind of behaviour we would expect to see if a traumatic experience occurred
What sort of events would count as adaptive
Therefore...two sets of criteria

Identify conditions which are actual real threats to positive adaptation and development
“Considerable debate and controversy.”

Further Definitions
Positive adaptation: two aspects of behaviour
The presence of positive behaviour
The absence of undesirable behaviour
Good developmental outcomes
Still, resilience involves more
Some threat of what constitutes a threat

Threats
Established risk factors to this kind of flourishing
Premature berth
Divorce
Mall-treatment
Exposure to violence (domestic, neighbourhood, etc.)
Parental problems
Poverty
Homelessness
War
Natural disasters
Single-parent households
Large family sizes
Cumulative risk
Can calculate cumulative risk score by adding up risk factor points as they experience them
A resilient person
Do well despite the presence of risk means you are resilient
Still... “issues abound”

Assessing Promotive and Protective Factors
Promotive factors things that predict better outcome, good adaptation, but general factors across all levels of risk
Promotive factors lead to positive outcomes
Protective factors
Play a special role when adversity of risk and is high

Resilience: Main Effects and Interactions (chart on document on Discovery)
Main effects: one factor is influencing another factor
Pure Asset
Produces positive effects when it is there, but not have any effect when it is absent
i.e. Talent
Asset/risk
Degree of...
i.e. Level of intellectual skills
Pure Risk
Produces negative effects when it is there, but does not have any effect when it is absent
i.e. Death of a parent
Moderating effects: an interaction
The influence that x has on y has an effect on another thing
Protective/Vulnerability factor
Vulnerability factors: Moderators that make an outcome worse
Protective factors: Those things that moderate but make the outcome better
Risk
....
Risk activated protective factor
....
Protective Factors
In the child
An easy temperament in infancy
An adaptable personality
A sense of own self-efficacy
Positive self perception
Has talents that are valued by the society
Generally liked etc. In the family and close relationships
Quality of parenting and socio-economic advantages
Positive attachment relationships
Close relationships with supportive adults
Authoritative parenting
High on warm, ..., and expectations
Low discord between parents
Relatively organized home environment
Education of the parents
Involvement in child's education
Involved in romantic relationships with well-adjusted partners
In community and relationships with organizations
Tied to pro-social organizations
Public health etc.... Strategies for Promoting Resilience
Risk-focused strategies
Reduce stressors
Involved with preventing low berth rate
Preventing homelessness
Reducing neighbourhood crime
Avoiding multiple foster care placement
Asset-focused strategies
Providing the basic needs of live
Clubs/Recreation centers
Providing education for teachers and parents (what it means to be a good teacher or parent)
Healthy nutrition
Supporting healthy family formation
Building self-efficacy
Encouraging friendships
Supporting traditions (i.e. religious traditions)
Side note
A lot of these things are the government getting involved in parenting

PTSD and PTG
Seligman’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program
Use Global Assessment Tool
Measured in terms of their fitness in many areas
Character strengths and virtues
Emotional fitness
Social fitness
Family fitness
Spiritual fitness
Assess people and then offer online courses to soldiers to help them grow in each of these areas
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) DSM-IV criteria
Someone needs to have been exposed to a traumatic event and then re-experience it (remembering)
Persistent symptoms of increased arousal or anxiety for more than a month
Impairs function
Seligman notes that 20% of American soldiers have this diagnoses
Bell-shaped distribution
PTG
It’s possible for people to return to normal levels of function, but to return a higher level of function
Self-fulfilling downward spiral
$3000 per month - soldiers receive this when they are sick
De-emphasizes reason to get better

PTG Module
CSF again
Evidence for the link between trauma and growth
How do they prepare soldiers
Teach them the ABCDE approach
Taught to fight catastrophic thoughts
Encourage soldiers to keep gratitude journals
Have them engage in the signature strength exercise
Foster in building strong relationships
As a result, there is high satisfaction in the army

FEB. 12, 2013

No report due the tuesday after break.

Midterm
Half Lyubomirsky’s book and half lecture
Study guide on Discovery
For Lyubomirsky Study Guide (p. 14-168)
Our group is responsible for pages 49-61
Person activity fit diagnostic
Write down subtitles
Emphasize the studies

FEB 26, 2013

Forgiveness activity

FLOW

Defining Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Cheeks sent me high” ~ Martin Seligman
Definition
Forget about everything but the experience itself
When does it occur?
Examples:
Tennis
The key feature
Key psychological faculty
Tension
Attention
Functioning at “fullest capacity”
Who experiences it?
Athletes
Artists
Merely everyone

Historical Background of Flow
Csikszentmihslyi says experiences are difficult to explain
Convoluted explanations
Behaviourists first noticed it
Using rats
Even when the rats weren’t motivated by hunger, they still explored the maze
The key
Need to understand that flow activities can’t be reduced to simpler basic needs
A contradiction in C’s thought?
His research begin with a study called autotelic activities
Things that people do without expectations or rewards

Method
A phenomenological approach
Interviews
Experience Sampling Method

Experience Sampling Method
On a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much)
How important was this activity or topic to you and your goals?
Was it interesting?
Was it challenging?
Did you enjoy what you were doing?
How hard were you concentrating?
Were you using a high level of skill?
How much were you learning?

The Conditions of Flow
Merging of action and awareness
Our typical conscious experience is that we dedicate a lot of our energy and thinking to things that are irrelevant to what you are doing at the present moment
Flow is an atypical use of attention
The self
The me disappears during flow and the I takes over
An advantage
Certain kinds of negative experience are pushed out of conscious experience
A sense of control
Lack of anxiety about losing control
This lack of anxiety of being out of control is experienced even during risky activities
Negative experience
Question
Altered sense of time

Conditions of Flow
Rare, but available
Three conditions
A clear set of goals
Immediate feedback
Balance between perceived challenges and skills

* Diagram - Figure 4: The Way the Ratio of Challenges and Skills Usually Impacts Subjective Experience

Applications of Flow
A variety of practical uses
Two approaches
Shaping structures and environments
Helping individuals

Benefits of Flow
Persistence
Less anxiety
Performance
Self esteem
Work satisfaction
Flow as a protective factor

Feb. 28, 2013

MAR. 5, 2013

Happiness Activity: Flow
Page 184 and following

GOALS

Introduction
Goals are a key to happiness
Process vs. attainment
Important that we accomplish goals, but being engrossed in goals and pursuing them is part of the process of being happy
Everybody has goals
Actions imply goals
Motivation
Can goals be wrong?

6 Benefits of Committed Goal Pursuit
Sense of purpose and feeling of control
Self-esteem/self-efficacy
Structure and meaning
Improves time management
Coping
Having an important goal during stress, it will help you through that tough time.
Social Engagement
9 times out of 10 the goal will involve this

What Kinds of Goals Should You (or Shouldn’t You) Pursue?
Intrinsic goals

Help us grow emotionally
Help us to grow as a citizen etc. Extrinsic goals
Pursuing things because others approve of them
i.e. Making money or boosting ego or giving into peer pressure
Basic needs
When we pursue goals that are intrinsic to us, they can satisfy a variety of needs
Authentic goals
Are goals that are rooted in a persons life long deeply held interests and core values
People who pursue these goals are happier, healthier, and persistent in pursuing their goals
Approach vs. avoidance goals
An approach vantage point is positive
I want to have a healthy diet.
I want to know God more.
Avoidance goals are framed negative
I want to stop eating junk food.
I want to stop sinning in this particular area.
People don’t achieve as much when they are pursuing avoidance goals
Activity vs. circumstance goals
Circumstances contribute a relatively small portion of our happiness
Why don’t circumstances pay off?
The hedonic treadmill
We just kind of adapt to our new circumstances
Activity goals contribute to lasting happiness

Identifying Your Goals
The first step
Two goals

My Most Important Goals
Instructions: Please think about the goals that are currently important to you or have been important in your life recently. “Goals” include intentions, wishes, desires, and motive. List at least one and up to eight of your most significant and meaningful goals now.
Graduate from Redeemer
Travel the world
Become a teacher
Go over these goals one-by-one and assess it in terms of whether it is (if so a point for, if not a point against)
Intrinsic
Authentic
Approach-oriented
Harmonious
Activity-besed
Flexible/appropriate
Does it fix your personality?
If not, can it be adjusted?
Avoid these...
Extrinsic
Inauthentic
Avoidance-oriented
Conflicting
Circumstance-based
Rigid/inappropriate

Caveat
Self Determination Theory (SDT)
“Identified Motivation”
Has to do with behaviour that is not motivated, but has been internalized (not resisting it because it is important and valuable evening though it is not enjoyable)

Go Deeper...
“...contemplate and describe in writing the personal legacy that you would like to leave after you die. For example, you might imagine how you would want to be remembered by your friends or your grandchildren or great grandchildren.” Write a summary of your life, your values, and your accomplishments as you would like them known too your descendants in the format of a first-personal letter or even an obituary.” (in “The How of Happiness”)

MAR. 7, 2013

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY (Listen to the audio that you recorded to fill in notes)

Defining Spirituality
Religion vs. spirituality?
Some scholars have polarized the two
“Religion”
“Spirituality”
Definition: the search for the savior
Structure vs. direction
Structure is something is built into creation, it’s just there
“Search”
Spirituality is a 3 step process:
Discovery
Conservation - holding on
Transformation - changing your understanding of the sacred if you need to
“Sacred”
Core and outside of the core of the sacred
Core - concepts of God or the divine or transcendent reality
Outside - there are many things associated with the divine
i.e. Easter
Benefits of this approach
People believe it is broad enough to include religious behaviours and experiences, but it is also fairly open to non-religious activities
Distinctions

Spiritual Processes
Discovery
Begins for many people in childhood
Why do people have this tendency to pursue the saviour?
Is there a genetic component?
Is it due to particular life events?
Diversity
Conservation
“Holding on”
Even when it is costly, people continue on
Faith strengthened through traumatic events
There are many spiritual pathways to continuing onto or holding onto whta you believe
Spiritual institutions
Groups
Programs
Systems of belief
Transformation
Effects of disorientation and struggle
Spiritual methods
After transformation
Go back to conservation
The issue of success
Not all transformation efforts succeed

Spiritual Integration and Disintegration
Effects of spirituality
Generally
Health and well-being
Exceptions
Self-degradation
When constructive or destructive?
Problems of spiritual destinations
Small gods
God concepts
Many forms of idolatry
Problems of spiritual pathways

MAR. 12, 2013

Happiness Activity
p. 190
Savoring life’s moments

MINDFULNESS

The Science of Mindfulness:
Increasing research attention
Still...relatively neglected
Two types of studies
What mindfulness is and how to measure
The benefits of mindfulness
Downside of scientific approach
Once put under a microscope, not true mindfulness
Mindfulness is subjective
Working definitions
All mindfulness include includes:
An awareness or attention to present experience
Measuring mindfulness
Self-report questionnaires
In general these questions get at a persons curiosity and attentiveness to present moment experiences
The more curiosity and attentiveness, the more mindfulness
Good reliability
The question of validity
Someone who is more aware of their mindfulness, may now their lack og mindfulness
State vs. Trait
Trait
Can be influences over time
Can be affected by genes
State
...
Mindfulness as a trait
...
Associated with brain activity
Link between
Mindfulness as a state
Evidence that mindfulness practice can influence our subjectivity and physiological state
...
Outcomes
Health, learning, decision-making, self knowledge and regulation, incite, compassion, creativity are all associated with mindfulness

The Art
An experiential look
Remember a time...
Flow
Is mindfulness for me?
One objective people may have is who has the time for such practices?
Mindfulness is not time-consuming, but time saving (?)
No more “automatic pilot”
Brings us into the present
Can give us a choice about our thoughts
We can have less reactivity to our experiences
Mindful activity
It’s simple to be mindful, but not easy

Let’s Practice
Grape example

MAR. 14, 2013

POSITIVE BODY

Introduction
Lagging area os research
“Neck up focused discipline”
5 aspects of “positive body”
Human touch
Positive sexual behaviour
Physical activity
Nutrition
Physical pain

Interpersonal touch
Increasing awareness
First evidence: Harlow lab - baby monkey and surrogate monkeys
Today: Touch Research Institute
Represents the birth of “touch science”
Massage therapy
Reflexology
Hugging
Massage therapy
Has the most research
Many physical benefits to massage therapy
In premature infants
Helps them gain weight
Help increase body temperature
Improve sleep
In children
Can improve in terms of ADHD
Improve arthritis
Asthma reduced
Aggression reduced
Adults
Migraine symptoms diminished
Menstrual pain decreased
Blood pressure decreased
Cortisol levels decreased
Cerotonin and dopamine levels can be improved
Psychological benefits
Reduction in depression levels
A single dose can have benefits in this regard
How does it work?
Many theories
It has to do with the gate control mechanism in pain - a way of blocking pain
Parasympathetic nervous system
Associated with being more relaxed
Associated with anxiety
Increase serotonin and dopamine levels
Sleep better
Increase circulation
Interpersonal attention of interaction with massage therapist
Clinical reflexology
What is it?
Benefits
....
Mental health improved
How does it work?
People aren’t entirely sure
Hypothesis
Interaction with the therapist
Embracing and hugging
Benefits
Reduced to stress
Cortisol levels can be decreased

Human Sexual Behaviour
One of only a few species
Others are dolphins and bonobos (related to the chimpanzee)
Why do people have sex?
Engaging in it feels good physically, emotionally, and psychologically
Risks
Shame
Guilt
Disease
Sexual behaviour is common among humans
Benefits of intercourse
Physical benefits
Better physical shape
Reduced blood pressure
Better immune functioning
Reduced cancer risk
Associated with longer life span
Benefits of orgasm
Nucleus accumbens during orgasm
Oxytocin
Feeling of connection and intimacy
Psychological benefits
Joy
Relaxation
Ecstasy
Confidence
Reduced anxiety and depression
Feelings of love
Constraints
These feelings only occur if you are engaged in someone you trust
Having sex with someone you care about is associated with these feelings

Physical Activity
“A match made in heaven”
Physical activity and positive psychology
Hunter/gatherer needs?
We’re made for movement
Hunters/gatherers move around a lot
Our physical activity levels have decreased
Barriers
No pain, no gain mentality
No true
Daily recommendation in UK
30 minutes of moderate to high activity 5 days per week
Short bursts of activity are okay
Key is to get heart rate up
Don’t equate physical activity with “exercise”
Physical benefits
Reduced risk of obesity, stroke, sleep disorders, higher blood pressure, premature death, etc.
When you start does not matter
Could be after decades
Psychological benefits
Improved body image, self esteem
Less anxiety
Blumenthal et al (1999)
Depressed patients
One group 30 minutes of activity
One group had anti-depression pills
On group...
Only 9% of the activity group relapsed compared to 40-50% of the other groups
Cancer populations, HIV patients
Economic benefits
Cognitive benefits
Improved academic achievement
Prepares your mind to attend to new info
Brisk walk activity
1 - worst mood
1 - things couldn’t be better
Before: Mood - 6
After: Mood - 8

Nutrition
Hasn’t received much attention
Probably some links between nutrition and psychology
High-fat hangover
Importance of weight/BMI
Nutrition
What is a good diet?
Why are certain foods...

Physical Pain
Like PTG
Body modification

MAR. 19, 2013

Happiness Activity
p. 205 (specifically 214 on)
Committing to your goals

PUT ON A HAPPY FACE?

Take out a piece of paper and a pen/pencil
On one side of room:
Hold pen/pencil just behind front teeth, not allowing lips to touch pen/pencil
One other side:
Hold pencil between your upper lip and your nose
Now think about an event that happened yesterday...
How does this event make you feel?
-10 very bad
0 neutral
+10 very good

“Facial feedback hypothesis”
...your face, (and body and voice), send signals (feedback) to your brain, informing it that you are experiencing a particular emotion and leading you -- surprise!-- to feel it.” ~ Lyubomirsky

More on Facial Expressions
William James
Schedule it?
Patterns of affective expression in relationships?
Mobius syndrome
Disorder where people don’t have the capacity to move their facial muscles
These people have been reported to not actually experience the emotion even though they can think happy or sad thoughts

Theories of emotion

James’s theory
Our natural way of thinking about these coarser emotions is that the mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called the emotion, and that this latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily expression. My theory, on the contrary, is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feelings of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion.

James’s thought experiment
I now proceed to urge the vital point of my whole theory, which is this: If we fancy some strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we find we have nothing left behind, no ‘mind-stuff’ out of which the emotion can be constituted, and that a cold and neutral state of intellectual perceptions if all that remains

Let’s go!
Please go for a leisurely walk, making eye contact with passers by, and smiling.

More on facial expressions
Facial lines and personality
Study
Took depressed people who had not responded to any other intervention
Applied Botox to their frown lines
Found that they weren’t depressed anymore
Paralyzing muscles associated with frowning eliminates the possibility of feeling that emotions
The physiology of laughter
Proverbs 19:22 (?)
A new article
Exploring the Positive and Negative Impact of Facial Feedback
The Corrugator Muscles and Sadness
The Frontalis Muscles and Surprise
The Levator Labii Superioris Muscles and Disgust
Implications for botox
When people have these cosmetic procedures, they are voluntarily preventing themselves from feeling emotions
Some questions
Should we all get plastic surgery?
The question of authenticity....

MAR. 26, 2013

Happiness activity:
p. 228 practice religion
p. 235 - happiness exercise portion
What do you need to reconnect with and do it

Made study guide

MAR. 28, 2013

APR. 2, 2013

Report - find out from someone

POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

Lyubomirsky on Depression
What is Depression?
Symptoms
Depressed or sad mood most of the day
Diminished interest or pleasure
Don’t get enjoyment out of the things that you normally would
Unintended weight gain or loss
Too much or little sleep
Agitation
Feeling tired all the time
Feeling worthless or guilty
Difficulty concentrating
Indecisive
Suicidal
Destinia (sub-syndrome of depression)
Less severe, but more long lasting
Get help!
Ways to help
The well-validated, well-established treatments
Cognitive behavioural thinking
Interpersonal therapy
Marriage and family therapy
Anti-depressants
“Positive psychotherapy”

Positive Psychotherapy
Seminal article
A focus on negatives
A faulty view of “mental health”
Are there any positive therapies
PPT (positive psychotherapy): a new hypothesis
Depression can be treated by building positive emotions, character strengths, etc.
Two pilot studies

Anecdotal evidence
Seligman’s courses
Piloting positive psychology interventions
500 mental health professionals given .....
An early web study
600 internet uses
Randomly assigned....
Found 3 of those intervention turned out to seem to help
....
www.reflectivehappiness.com
Does not exist anymore

Theoretical Background
Seligman’s notion of three components of happiness
Probably best to think of happiness as three main components
The pleasant life
More positive emotion is associated with less depression and anxiety
Could be revolutionary because one way it might be possible to treat depression is instead of trying to bring down the depression score, should try to raise positive emotion score
Building positive emotional will buffer against depression
The engaged life
A life that pursues involvement, absorption in work, intimate relations, flow
The Meaningful Life
We need to “belong to and serve something that is bigger than the self”
Lack of meaning is not just a symptom of depression, but also a cause of depression
Interventions that build meaning will relieve depression
Correlations
Found that depressed students has less positive emotion, less engagement, and less meaning
Decided to try out PPT
Moving people from the empty life (lacks pleasure, engagement, and meaning) into the direction of the full life will relieve depression

Testing PPT
Two main studies
Group PPT with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms
Individual PPT with major depression

Group PPT
Mild-to-moderate symptoms
Table 1 (from the article)
Use your strengths
Write down three good things/blessings that happened
Imagine you have passed away, what would you want your obituary or biography to say
Gratitude visit
...
Savoring
The procedure
6 weeks long
2 hours per week that people would come in to discuss the previous weeks happiness intervention and then be introduced to next week exercise
Participants were randomly assigned
Two outcome measures
Depression
Life satisfaction
Timing assessments
Before therapy
After therapy
3 months after
6 months after
1 year after
Efficacy of Group PPT chart
Long-term gains are unusual

Individual PPT
Major depression diagnosis
Did individual positive psychotherapy
Three conditions
Individual PPT
A treatment as usual (TAU)
TAU plus medication
Process
Take a balance approach and talk freely about negative symptoms and positive aspects as client desired
The process can be quite difference if involved in positive psychotherapy
Therapist asks you to tell a story about you at your best
Tayyab Rashid
Therapist - Positive Psychology
Did this approach
Manualized protocol
Summarized in table 4
Custom-tailored
Efficacy of Individual PPT chart
Limitations of study
Small sample
External validity questions
Focus on depression
Positive psychotherapy should work with a whole variety of problems (?)

Stay Tuned...
Upcoming book...still in press?
Therapies being developed, like positive CBT

APR. 4, 2013

Person-Activity Fit Diagnostic (yellow sheet)
- Put in portfolio with happiness activity reflections

THE HOW OF HAPPINESS

The Five Hows of Sustainable Happiness
Short vs. long term
The purpose of the “five hows”
A reminder...
The whole purpose of happiness activities is to “....
“The secrets of their success”

The First How: Positive Emotions
Simple point
Although positive emotions are short-lived...
Human beings seem to be designed for positive emotion
Meaning in life
Title of a book
If you engage in activities that lead to regret and guilt...

The Fifth How: Habit
Simple point
Habit is necessary

The Second How: Optimal Timing and Variety
Quote
“Knowing what to do is an important step, but you also need to know precisely how to do it.”
Timing
Suggestion
“It’s essential to consider your strategies’ frequency and duration and to strive to time them in ways that deliver you the greatest satisfaction, serenity, or joy - in other words, to time then in ways that thwart adaptation.”
Can Christians benefit from this advice?
Self-experimentation
The only way you’ll know when certain activities will work for you is by trying
Variety
The dynamism of happiness activities
Doing the same acts of kindness every week, give you less benefit
Empirical evidence
Discussion question

The Third How: Social Support
Definition
It’s good to have a buddy
What do social support partners offer?
Did I find my group activities to be supportive?
Did with group

The Fourth How: Motivation, Effort, and Commitment
The four “musts”
You must resolve to undertake a program to become happier
You must learn what you need to do
You must put weekly or even daily effort into it
You must commit to the goal for a long period of time, possible the rest of your life
The first two steps
The second two steps
Empirical evidence
Do you want to become happier?
Happiness activities are like medication?
Obedience is like medication, too?