PSY 180: Lecture 3, Positive Feelings and Experiences

PSY 180: Lecture 3, Positive feelings and experiences

Positive Psychology and Emotions More complex than a ______An emotion implies that they may ______to a purpose (root is motion) ______emotions Probably selected for evolutionarily Fear accompanies the avoidance of danger Fight or flight Have an ______reaction that accompanies them Anger leads to fighting Sadness leads to crying

Positive emotions The ______isn’t there- not nearly as quick as negative reactions are Barbara Fredrickson believes that these emotions provide safety in the present so that we can better prepare ourselves for the future Positive emotions allow for a focus on broader concepts and not necessarily the here and now ______theory

Fredrickson and Branigan (2005) Showed college students films to produce either: ______, contentment, ______, anxiety Students that saw ______or ______were more likely to see global patterns not the local ones

Other benefits of positive emotions Positive emotions even ______negative ones College students given a task that raised anxiety Told to write a speech and would be ______and evaluated Before though, they were shown film clips to induce certain emotions Those that saw the positive emotions had more rapid recovery of their ______than those that saw a sad or neutral film

Some things left unanswered by the Broaden and Build theory Do different positive emotions work better or worse for broaden and build? What about emotions that are pleasurable but work against broaden and build (like lust, pride)? What about individual differences of personality? Some of us can easily become happy and others aren’t quite as easily altered How do the studies account for this?

Feelings Moods vs emotions Moods are more ______are more state-like A happy person Deals with their mood I feel happy Deals with emotions

Are we all setup to experience the same amount of positive feelings vs negative feelings? It appears not We may have a ______The ability to experience positive feelings Possibly rooted in ______Possibly linked to extraversion Now called positive affectivity

More about positive feelings The ______You rapidly adapt to good things after a short period of time- then you need more Those that have less are typically just as happy as those that have more Major events, wealth, raises, attractiveness, health – NONE of these really have a large effect on happiness over time- all of these lead to more resources

PANAS ______and ______Affect Schedule Present people with positive moods and negative moods Inspired vs ashamed Ask them to rate how it describes themselves Possibly right now, over the past few days, or in general Positive words are ______together and the negative words are averaged together Get a score of positive ______and a score of negative affectivity

Affectivity Seems to be ______across weeks, months, years and decades “grumpy old men may well have been testy young men, petulant youth, whiny toddlers and difficult babies” Seems to also be stable across ______too Levels of variability are also stable Some people fluctuate a lot Others rarely fluctuate

Positive vs Negative: The differences People with positive affectivity are: More likely to be extraverted, socially active, have more friends, more acquaintances, more involved in organizations More likely to be ______(happily married too), like their jobs More likely to be ______or ______Possibly has a genetic component Heritability index of around ______

Positive feelings and experiences in the present Pleasure Discussed last lecture ______Lose self-consciousness Enjoying great conversation, rock climbing, reading a good book, dancing, making a slam dunk

Gratifications Typically don’t have a ______that accompanies it the way pleasures do It is more about the total absorption, the suspension of consciousness, and the flow Emotions are completely absent ______gratification Key to many theories of success

Eudaimonia Living the ______Distinct from pleasures Accompany gratifications Named after the goddess of happiness

Positive experiences Are not just stumbled upon Conditions that must be ______People that can control their inner experiences will be able to control the quality of them

Flow The state in which people are so involved in an activity that ______seems to matter It is done for the sake of doing it No ______biases or ______biases Flow is described the same everywhere Csikszentmihalyi and Consciousness Can have psychic ______(aka negentropy) If disordered, disturbed, painful, or threatened, problems persist The opposite of this is optimal experience ______

Flow occurs when… ______Overcoming the challenge in flow leads the person to feel more capable and skilled ______Everything works together to achieve the goal It makes the present enjoyable and builds the skills to succeed in the future

Enjoyment Goes beyond pleasure When someone has not only met a need but gone beyond and achieves something unexpected ______a great meal is immediately pleasurable To get that to be enjoyable one must pay close attention to the ______that are created Learning is enjoyable for young children that are constantly wondering ______things happen Learning becomes a chore for most people as they age

Optimal experience (components of flow) Occurs with tasks that have a chance of being ______Occurs with tasks that require ______The possibility of control over the situation/task is very important Occurs with tasks that have clear goals and provide immediate feedback Occurs when one acts with deep effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life Occurs when people can exercise a ______over their actions Occurs when concern for the self disappears (although afterwards the sense of self and understanding of the self is greater) Occurs when the sense of the duration of time is altered Occurs when there is a balance between abilities and challenge Not overwhelming but not ______

What do we know about flow? Some people have ______of flow Others ______Families that provide challenging activities and support for their kids experience more flow Early schooling experiences targeting identifying interests and skills may lead to more flow

Conditions that affect flow Internal: Autotelic behaviors Doing them is the ______External: Can be found with game playing Some cultures are designed around this

4 types of “games” Agon Have ______as their main feature; sports Good when intrinsic goals are attached, such as improving one’s skills Bad when extrinsic goals such as beating the opponent are there Alea Have ______as their main component; dice and gambling Provides the illusion of the ability to control

4 types of “games” Vertigo Directly alters ______by scrambling it; riding a rollercoaster or merry go round Losing control is key; drugs provide another means for this Mimicry Alternative ______are created; dance, acting Makes us feel we are more than we are; more powerful taking over someone else’s role

Ideally The skill level ______the challenges presented The skills will increase Hopefully the challenges increase as well If skills increase, and challenges don’t, ______happens If challenges increase, and skills don’t ______happens

Cultures can lead to flow Designed to reduce randomness of experiences Apply norms, build goals and beliefs that allow one to challenge existence Just like games Have ______that allow action without doubts and distractions Main difference between games and cultures is one of scale Argues that cultures that promote flow are more successful at motivating their members Not necessarily “good” or “bad” though Nazis were able to motivate their citizens into performing the holocaust

Neurobiology and flow Those students reporting more ______motivation were more able to control Necker cube reversals Those with less motivation could not control it They needed more environmental information to get the cube to reverse Also found that those involved in flow have ______than those not in flow Maybe able to tune other info out and focus solely on what one is doing?

Family influences on autotelic personalities Parents should raise the child with ______- clear expectations ______- focused on what they are doing now, not in the future Choice- children have a variety of possibilities ______- can be involved in what they chose without being judged by the parent Challenge- parents provide increasingly complex opportunities for the child

If you have more flow as a youth You are more likely to achieve with creative domains later in life Possibly linked to ______Weak source here though- unpublished dissertation

Physical acts to make flow Set an overall goal Could include subgoals too Measure ______Concentrate on what one is doing ______to complete the task appropriately Keep raising the challenges if boredom arises Found that activities involving less material good had happier people than those activities that required electricity and more complex items

Creating Flow ______and the ______can provide flow quite easily, as control over consciousness is at their core Training oneself to see as an artist sees with that level of detail and concentration can lead to flow ______can be listened to and create flow Focusing on various levels within the music Analyzing lyrics Analyzing versions of songs with previous recordings from the same band or from a previous version of the song (cover song) ______enter flow when analyzing the taste combinations within a meal

Having a love of learning Becoming a ______or ______can lead to flow Focusing on something Learning about all aspects, past and present Involves categorizing and thinking creatively about something

Finding flow at work ______in Chinese literature losing a sense of self while working Just like ______Having small goals with proper feedback

The paradox of working Most people report some of their most positive experiences while working Report that they would rather not be working though Found that they are in flow ______of the time at work Leisure time is associated with low moods (apathy reported 52% of the time vs 16% at work) Report that they would rather have more leisure time Found that they are in flow ______of the time in leisure activities The ______up someone is in the company, the more flow they experience

Interesting problem developmentally Claims that the main issue for ______is that teenagers are not provided with adequate challenges anymore They are essentially young adults but are not treated as such Thus ______sets in and no flow occurs ______and sporting activities can fill the void and provide challenges

Making an autotelic self ______Become immersed in the activity Pay attention to what is happening Learn to enjoy ______experiences

Leading a life with flow (Sorokin) Finding a meaningful existence Cultures go through cycles where this is more or less likely Sensate People view challenges and work to make their lives easier Life is more about concrete items ______Ideational People view challenges as a way to get inner clarity and conviction Life is more about seeking realizing spiritual order/potential Can go overboard: ______, ______Idealistic Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes The ______

Vita activa or vita contemplativa A life of ______can lead to flow Goals Doing things to accomplish these ______A life of ______can lead to flow ______about the past Reflecting to make sure actions align with goals