Module 34 Health and Happiness - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Module 34

Health and HappinessSlide2

34-1:

IN WHAT TWO WAYS DO PEOPLE TRY TO ALLEVIATE STRESS?

Coping: Reducing stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methodsProblem-focused coping: Attempting to reduce stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.Emotion-focused coping: Attempting to reduce stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction.

Health and Happiness

Coping With StressSlide3

34-2:

HOW DOES A PERCEIVED LACK OF CONTROL AFFECT HEALTH?

In humans and other animals, uncontrollable threats trigger the strongest stress responses

:

Animal studiesLaudenslager and Reite (1984) rat studiesSeligman and colleagues (1967) dog studiesLearned helplessness: The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.Human studiesRodin (1986) nursing home resident studyO’Neill (1993) work site environment studiesIncreasing control noticeably improves health and morale.

Health

and Happiness: Coping

With Stress

Personal ControlSlide4

Generalized helpless behavior

Perceived lack of control

Uncontrollable bad events

Learned HelplessnessSlide5

Coping With Stress

Personal Control

Why does perceived loss of control predict health problems?Losing control produces an outpouring of stress hormones. When rats cannot control shock or when humans or other primates feel unable to control their environment, the result is rising stress hormones blood pressure levels increase immune responses drop.

By

boosting feelings of control, people often lead happier and healthier lives.Slide6

Coping With Stress

Personal Control

Internal Versus External Locus of ControlIf experiencing a loss of control can be stressful and unhealthy, do people who generally perceive they have control of their lives enjoy better health?Those who have an external locus of control believe that chance or outside forces control their fate

.

Those who have an internal locus of control believe they control their own destiny. Studies show that people who believe in their freedom learn better, perform better at work, behave more helpfully, and have a stronger desire to punish rule breakers (Clark et al., 2014; Job et al., 2010; Stillman et al., 2010).Slide7

34-3:

HOW CAN OUR SELF-CONTROL BE DEPLETED, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BUILD THIS STRENGTH?

Depleting and Strengthening Self-ControlSelf-control: Ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewardsExercising willpower temporarily depletes the mental energy needed for self-control on other tasks. But the long-term effect of exercising self-control is strengthened self-control, much as hard physical workouts leave you temporarily tired but stronger in the long term.Self-control requires attention and energy, but it predicts good adjustment, better grades, and social success.

Coping With Stress

Personal ControlSlide8

34-4:

HOW DOES AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK AFFECT HEALTH AND LONGEVITY?

PessimistsExpect things to go badly; blame themselves , others or situations beyond their controlOptimistsExpect to have control, work well under stress, and enjoy good healthEnjoy better moods, stronger immune systems, quicker recovery times, longer lives, and better well-being and success overall

Optimism runs in

families; one genetic marker is a gene that enhances the social-bonding hormone oxytocinEven the most pessimistic of us can learn to become more optimistic; in one such study pessimists reported lower levels of depressionCoping With StressExplanatory Style: Optimism Versus PessimismSlide9

34-5:

HOW DOES SOCIAL SUPPORT PROMOTE GOOD HEALTH?

Social support itself creates health benefits:It calms us and reduces blood pressure and stress hormones.It fights illness by fostering stronger immune functioning.Close relationships give us an opportunity for “open heart therapy,” a chance to confide painful feelings.

Coping With Stress

Social SupportSlide10

Having

a sense of control, developing more optimistic thinking, and building social support can help us

experience less stress and thus improve our health. But sometimes we cannot alleviate stress and simply need to manage our stress.Aerobic exercise, relaxation, meditation, and active spiritual engagement may help us gather inner strength and lessen stress effects.Based on what we have learned so far, can you guess why that might be ?

Health

and HappinessReducing StressSlide11

34-6: HOW EFFECTIVE IS AEROBIC EXERCISE AS A WAY TO MANAGE STRESS AND IMPROVE WELL-BEING?

Aerobic exercise:

Sustained activity that increases heart and lung fitness; may also reduce depression and anxietyIncreases the quality and quantity of life (two additional years, on average )Boost in quality of life seen in increased energy, better mood, and stronger relationships

Health

and Happiness Reducing StressAerobic ExerciseSlide12

Mildly depressed

college women

who participated in an aerobic exercise program showed markedly reduced depression

, compared

with those who did relaxation exercises or received no treatment. (From McCann & Holmes, 1984.)Aerobic Exercise and DepressionSlide13

34-7:

IN WHAT WAYS MIGHT RELAXATION AND MEDITATION INFLUENCE STRESS AND HEALTH?

Much research done starting in the late 1960s on biofeedback. It is now is thought to have limited effect, working best on tension headaches.More than 60 studies

have

found that relaxation procedures can help alleviate headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety, and insomnia.Relaxation traininghas been used to help Type A heart attack survivors reduce risk of future heart attacks.Mindfulness meditation: Relaxing and silently attending to your inner state, without judging it. Strengthens connections among regions in the brainActivates brain regions associated with more reflexive awarenessCalms brain activation in emotional situationsReducing StressRelaxation and MeditationSlide14

34-8:

WHAT IS THE FAITH FACTOR, AND WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE LINK BETWEEN FAITH AND HEALTH?

The faith factor: Religiously active people tend to live longer than those who are not religiously active. This is correlational, not cause-effect. Nevertheless, research indicates that religious involvement, like nonsmoking and exercise, is a predictor of health and longevity.Possible explanations may include the effect of intervening variables, such as the healthy behaviors, social support, or positive emotions often found among people who regularly attend religious services.

Reducing Stress

Faith Communities and HealthSlide15

Reducing Stress

Faith Communities and HealthSlide16

34-9: WHAT IS THE FEEL-GOOD, DO-GOOD PHENOMENON, AND WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH?

People aspire to happiness because our state of happiness or unhappiness influences all facets of life.

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon: People’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.Doing good also promotes good feeling, the do-good, feel-good phenomenon. Health

and Happiness

HappinessSlide17

Happiness

research stems from William James’ writings in the early twentieth century through to the

humanistic psychologists interest in advancing human fulfillment in the 1960s. In the twenty-first century, positive psychologists under the leadership of Martin Seligman have used scientific methods to study human flourishing.Subjective well-beingSelf-perceived happiness or satisfaction with lifeUsed along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life

Health

and HappinessHappinessPositive PsychologySlide18

Positive well-being

Positive character

Positive

groups, communities, and

cultures

Three pillars of positive psychology

Scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Positive psychology

Happiness

Positive PsychologySlide19

34-10:

HOW DO TIME, WEALTH, ADAPTATION, AND COMPARISON AFFECT OUR HAPPINESS LEVELS?

The Short Life of Emotional Ups and DownsEmotional ups and downs tend to balance out; moods typically rebound.Friday and Saturday are the most positive mood days.Early morning to midday are the most positive times of day.

Usually

, even tragedy is not permanently depressing. The surprising reality: The duration of emotions is overestimated; resiliency and adaptability are underestimated.HappinessWhat Affects Our Well-Being?Slide20

Wealth and

Well-Being

Wealth does correlate with well-being in some ways.Having resources to meet basic needs and maintain some control over life does buy happiness.Increasing wealth matters less once basic needs are met.Economic growth in affluent countries provides no apparent morale or social well-being boost.Happiness

What Affects Our Well-Being?Slide21

Happiness Is Relative:

Adaptation

and ComparisonOur emotions seem like elastic bands that pull us back from highs and lows.Happiness is relative to our own experiences (the adaptation-level phenomenon) and to others’ success (the relative deprivation principle).Feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, success and failure are judgments we make based partly on our prior experience.

Comparing ourselves with those who are better off creates envy, but counting our blessings as we compare ourselves with those worse off boosts our contentment.

HappinessWhat Affects Our Well-Being?Slide22

The

perception

that one is worse off relative

to

those with whom one compares oneself. Satisfaction may come when one feels better off than

peers.

Relative

deprivation

The

tendency

to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our

prior experience

.

Partly

influences feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, success

and failure

.

Adaptation-level phenomenon

Happiness

What Affects Our Well-Being?Slide23

34-11:

WHAT ARE SOME PREDICTORS OF HAPPINESS, AND HOW CAN WE BE HAPPIER?

Happiness levels are product of nature–nurture interaction.Twin studies: About 50 percent of happiness rating differences among people seems to be heritable—attributable to genes.Personal history: Emotions balance around

a

level defined by experience; happiness set point.Culture: There is diversity in the value groups place on various traits (for example, social acceptance and harmony in collectivist cultures and self-esteem and achievement in individualist cultures).Individual happiness level may influence national well-being.HappinessWhat Predicts Our Happiness Levels?Slide24

Happiness

What Predicts Our Happiness Levels?

Happiness Is . . . Slide25

Eleven

research-based

suggestions for improving your mood and increasing your satisfaction with life:Realize that enduring happiness may not come from financial successTake control of your timeAct happySeek work and leisure that engage your skills

Buy shared experiences rather than things

Join the “movement” movementHappinessEvidence-Based Suggestions for a Happier LifeSlide26

Research-based suggestions for improving your mood and increasing your satisfaction

with life (continued):

Give your body the sleep it wantsGive priority to close relationshipsFocus beyond selfCount your blessings and record your gratitude

Nurture your spiritual self

HappinessEvidence-Based Suggestions for a Happier Life