PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Zuzana Petrovičová Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies Fall 2012 24/09/2012 ◦Format of the course –Lectures/ seminars (active participation) – PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology ◦Format of the course –Lectures/ seminars (active participation) ◦Content –„Science of Happiness“ – little bit of biology, and whole lot of psychology ◦Requirements – PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology ◦Format of the course –Lectures/ seminars (active participation) ◦Content –„Science of Happiness“ – little bit of biology, and whole lot of psychology ◦Requirements –preparations –2 papers –1 presentation –attendance – PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology ◦Who am I? ◦ ◦Who are you? ◦ ◦What will the course be about (Block 1)? PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology —2 ways to look at happiness: — —Hedonistic approach —Eudaimonic approach PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology "Philosophers have long distinguished two basic forms of well-being: a 'hedonic' form representing an individual's pleasurable experiences, and a deeper 'eudaimonic,' form that results from striving toward meaning and a noble purpose beyond simple self-gratification," wrote Fredrickson and her colleagues. It's the difference, they explained, between enjoying a good meal and feeling connected to a larger community through a service project. While both offer a sense of satisfaction, each is experienced very differently in the body's cells. "We know from many studies that both forms of well-being are associated with improved physical and mental health, beyond the effects of reduced stress and depression," Fredrickson said. "But we have had less information on the biological bases for these relationships." Even on a molecular level, the human body is able to distinguish between a sense of well-being derived from a profound, "noble" purpose versus simple self-gratification, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports. Past work by Cole and colleagues showed a systematic shift in gene expression associated with chronic stress that, the study noted, was "characterized by increased expression of genes involved in inflammation" implicated in a wide variety of human ills, including arthritis and heart disease, and "decreased expression of genes involved in ... antiviral responses." In order to describe this shift, Cole and his fellow researchers coined the phrase "conserved transcriptional response to adversity," or CTRA. However, if all happiness is created equal, and if all forms of well-being are equally opposite to "ill-being," then the patterns of gene expression would be identical regardless of the source of the sense of well-being, the scientists hypothesized. This, it turned out, was not the case. While eudaimonic well-being was associated with a significant decrease in the stress-related CTRA gene expression profile, hedonic well-being was associated with a significant increase in the CTRA profile. Fredrickson said she found the results initially surprising since study participants themselves reported overall feelings of well-being. One possibility for the discrepancy, she suggested, is that people who experience more hedonic than eudaimonic well-being consume the emotional equivalent of empty calories. "We can make ourselves happy through simple pleasures, but those 'empty calories' don't help us broaden our awareness or build our capacity in ways that benefit us physically," she said. "At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose." •When I was a small child, I thought that success spelled happiness. I was wrong. Happiness is like a butterfly which appears and delights us for one brief moment, but soon flits away – Anna Pavlova •Finding happiness is like finding yourself. You don’t find happiness, you make happiness. Self-actualisation is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings you the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run. – David Leonhardt PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology — —Hedonistic approach – positive affect —Eudemonic approach – actualization of oneself, living well PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology In psychology- we are concerned more with Eudamonic approach: eudamonic theories: http://www.positivepsychology.org.uk/pp-theory/eudaimonia/34-the-concept-of-eudaimonic-well-being.h tml MASLOW- Hierarchy of needs RYAN n DECI - Self Determination Theory CZIKENMIHAILY- Autotelic personality (people who experience flow) SELIGMAN- authentic happiness model ...problems with the theories —Happiness – meaning, psychology, sociology, —Pleasure - neurobiology — PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology —Evolution — ◦Bigger ◦Gain new structures ◦ PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology —Evolution — ◦Bigger ◦Gain new structures ◦ ◦ ◦Frontal lobe –Prefrontal cortex ◦ PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology —What does Prefrontal cortex do??? — ◦ ◦Responsible for complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making and moderating social behavior ◦ ◦Simulate experience ◦ — PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Example of Experience simulation —Dan Gilbert ◦Which one would you prefer/ How happy are these people? : — — PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Results —What do you expect? PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Results —Actual level of happiness measured after one year: PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Impact bias —People do this kind of mistakes all the time: —Tendency to overestimate the hedonic impact of future events — ◦Ending relationship, college acceptance, job interviews,…etc. —Simulator (experience simulator) works badly… PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Brickman and Campbell (1971) Hedonic Treadmill —“even though external forces are constantly changing our lives and our life goals, happiness is a relatively constant state” —idea of relative levels of happiness —Situations may get better or worse, but we will usually report about the same levels of happiness or sadness. Humans are apt to adjust to external events on their life and, therefore, their needs will adapt as life changes. Demographic information only appears to account for a 20% variance of happiness. Although one might expect the income, attractiveness, and health conditions of the subject to affect overall well-being, studies show that their overall combined total correlation is not ultimately significant. PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Brickman and Campbell (1971) —Based on the concept of the hedonic treadmill, they suggest that there is little people can do to change their long-term levels of happiness. —Lottery Winners are no more happy than non winners and paraplegic individuals are no less happy than those who can walk. PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Synthesized vs. Natural Happiness —NH – is what we have when we do get what we wanted —SH – is what we make when we don’t get what we wanted — —E.g. …quote by Pete Best (original Beatles drummer) “I’m much more happy than I would have been with The Beatles.” PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology Synthesized vs. Natural Happiness —NH perceived as superior to SH — — —Is that right? Are we just lying to ourselves or is there more to it??? — — —To be continued … PSY268 Contemporary Issues in Psychology