Positive Psycholgoy

Chapter 5Positive Thinking : 

Chapter 5Positive Thinking Lynn Soots

In general, are people happy? : 

In general, are people happy? Yes. 75% - 80% of people worldwide say they’re happy. Set Point for happiness May be genetic Within 1 year of a very positive or very negative event, happiness returns to previous levels.

Cognitive Psychology : 

Cognitive Psychology How we acquire, retain, transform and use knowledge. Choice of action, reaction, fight of flight Look at context Pollyanna Principle Dispositional Optimism

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What is optimism?

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Roger Bannister

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Building Optimism Beliefs shape reality How it works Optimizing optimism Raising our beliefs Staying grounded Sometimes it helps to be grounded

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We are what we think.All that we are arises with our thoughts.With our thoughts, we make our world. The Buddha

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Pygmalion

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Pygmalion

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Pygmalion in the classroom (Robert Rosenthal) In the workplace Jamieson (1987) “Treat a man as a he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he shall become as he can and should be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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The Power of the Situation

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The (Positive) Power of the Situation men above 75 week in “1959” resort mental and biological age decreases Langer (1989) testing eyesight Improves with role

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Positive Priming Bargh (1999) Dijksterhuis & Van Knippensberg (1998) Creating a positive environment pictures (people, places, etc) pleasant objects (memorabilia, flowers, etc) quotes

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Setting the bar “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve” Napoleon Hill “Whether you think you can or can’t—you are right.” Henry Ford

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Know why we stop short “Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them. Have great dreams and dare to live them. Have tremendous expectations and believe in them.” Norman Vincent Peale

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Beliefs as Self-fulfilling Prophecies BeliefsExpectations Performance Motivation Consistency Interpretation Objective Subjective

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“I failed my way to success” Thomas Edison

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Personal. People experiencing events may see themselves as the cause; that is, they have internalized the cause for the event. Example: "I always forget to make that turn" (internal) as opposed to "That turn can sure sneak up on you" (external). This involves how one explains where the cause of an event arises. Permanent. People may see the situation as unchangeable, e.g., "I always lose my keys" or "I never forget a face". This involves how one explains the extent of the cause. Pervasive. People may see the situation as affecting all aspects of life, e.g., "I can't do anything right" or "Everything I touch seems to turn to gold". This involves how one explains the extent of the effects. Optimism and Pessimism (Seligman) Mental/physical health immune system resilience happiness longevity It can be learned! Explanatory style Success

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Optimizing Optimism What about unrealistic beliefs? Positive thinking is not enough “False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment, anger and hopelessness.” Abraham Maslow Rewarding children

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The “Secret” of Success Optimism, passion, hard work. “There is no substitute for hard work.” Thomas Edison “I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the luckier I get.” Thomas Jefferson

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On Becoming An Optimist Just do it! (action) Imagine that… (visualization) Cognitive therapy (rational thinking)

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Imagining Success The mind as simulator (Kosslyn, 1994) Focus on journey and destination Involve different senses Evoke emotions

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Cognitive Therapy Thoughts drive emotion Restoring rationality Highly effective An acquired skill

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The Ten Cognitive Distortions (David Burns) 1. All-or-nothing thinking 2. Over-generalization 3. Mental filter 4. Disqualifying the positive 5. Jumping to conclusions Mind reading Fortune telling 6. Magnifying or minimizing 7. Emotional reasoning 8. ‘Should’ or ‘must’ statements 9. Labeling 10. Personalization and blame

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Extremely Happy People (Diener and Seligman, 2002) Everyone experiences negative emotions Different cognitive interpretations (pessimists vs. optimists) Self-fulfilling prophecies Spiraling down or up

Chapter 6Character Strengths : 

Lynn Soots Chapter 6Character Strengths Lynn Soots

Why Study Character Strengths? : 

Why Study Character Strengths? Character serves a key role in the field of Positive Psychology.  Positive Psychology is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive. Positive Psychology has three main branches - positive emotions, positive character, and positive institutions.  Dr. Martin E. Seligman has proposed adding the study of positive social relationships and achievement.

Why Character : 

Why Character It is reported that the most popular undergraduate course at Harvard University is taught by Tal Ben-Shahar on happiness.  Why would this be such a popular course at a prestigious college populated by high achievers?  The answer could be that our culture has over-emphasized achievement to the detriment of self-understanding.  Without self-understanding to guide decisions about how to channel one's talent, how to find fulfillment, and how to choose and develop relationships, people may be floundering in a sea of hollow victories, or worse yet, directionless wandering. Understanding our own virtue strengths can ground us in who we are

Strengths and virtues : 

Strengths and virtues According to Peterson, character strengths are more like dimensions of character than absolute categories. “People have more-or-less all the strengths and not simply a set of discrete strengths versus weaknesses,” he says. Strengths are shown through thoughts, feelings and actions which can be developed and increased. Strengths are like muscles, the capability to use any of them is there, some get used more frequently and naturally, others need intention and exercise to build up.

Exercising Strengths : 

Exercising Strengths One way to build up a particular strength is to look for opportunities to use it. For instance, build curiosity by figuring out your own strengths. You can use your instincts to get a sense of your signature strengths, look at the list of strengths and notice which jump out at you. Ask yourself, “Does this strength feel natural to me?” “Does using this strength invigorate me?”

What about Talents? : 

What about Talents? According to Martin Seligman, who wrote Authentic Happiness, your unique strengths are related to your values and how you view the world, relate to others, and make decisions. Here your strengths have nothing to do with your talents. Good musical pitch is a talent. Your "character" strengths are virtues which include things like integrity and kindness. To live authentically, it's important to find ways to make your work match your strengths. Seligman believes there are 3 ways you can look at your work. Job - something you do to get a paycheck, so you can pay the bills Career - the focus is on advancement and prestige, as well as making money Calling - here, you use your strengths on behalf of a cause that's larger than you, and you value work for its own sake more than making money