Positive Psychology II – The Sequel

Peter Gowers

IT Supervisor, and amateur positive

psychology student

Positive Psychology recap

“Scientific Study of optimal human functioning that aims to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive” Martin Seligman, founder of PP

Reaction to Normal Psychology Positive Psychology looks to help people nurture talent

and improve normal lives A very large collection of loosely coupled positive

constructs. Data Driven – large Studies Happiness - Paradox of rising Expectations

Martin Seligman

Economic growth and happiness. American's average buying power has almost tripled since the 1950s, while reported happiness has remained almost unchanged. (Happiness data from National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey; income data from Historical Statistics of the United States and Economic Indicators.)

Source: Scholarpedia.org

Today - 2 Very different approaches to Happiness

Savouring - Awareness of pleasure and of the deliberate conscious attention to the experience of pleasure.

Flow – When does time stop for you? Doing something you never want to end?

First a Challenge A leading Positive Psychologist 101 books on Amazon. One of Bill Clintons favourite authors Professor at the University of Chicago One very obvious question

Just how do you pronounce Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi?

The easy answer is to call him Mike the flow guy

'cheek-sent-me-high'

Some Quotes by Mike

“For too Long psychology had been focused almost exclusively on the shadows of human existence”

“A joyful life is an individual creation that can’t be copied from a recipe”

“People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow Do you ever feel one of the following:

– “In the zone”, “on the ball”, “in the groove”– “In the moment”– A difficult task becomes effortless– Time seems to pass very quickly– You faced a big challenge but actually enjoyed the

task

Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity, that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the shear sake of doing it.

Where does the idea of flow come from?

Concept developed after investigating artists, athletes, musicians, chess players and surgeons for what they enjoyed and valued– What are you alive for?

Data– Interviews and Questionnaires– Experience sampling method

Pagers for a week Randomly, what are you thinking, doing and feeling? Hundreds of thousands of people across the world

People who had more flow reported being happier Strong documented correlation to performance

enhancement and motivation Thought to build Psychological Capital/Growth

Characteristics of Flow inducing situations

1. Chance of Completing the task2. Ability to Concentrate3. Clear Goals4. Feedback provided immediately5. Effortless – intrinsically motivating6. Sense of Control over actions7. Concern for self disappears8. Hours pass in minutes

It’s not that you need all of them to be in flow, but one or more is present in the observed states

High Challenge and High Skill

TV

Driving

Eating

New task

FavouriteActivity

Chores

Learning

Hassles

Work

?

Work

“It does not seem to be true that work necessarily needs to be unpleasant. It may always have to be hard, or at least harder than doing nothing at all. But there is ample evidence that work can be enjoyable, and that indeed, it is often the most enjoyable part of life.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Paradox of Work and Leisure

Work reports 54% flow vs Leisure at 18% People describe some of their most positive

experiences doing their job People report low moods during Leisure

time And Yet:

– They say they would prefer not to be working and want more leisure time

– Maybe we need to improve our leisure and think more about our perception of work

“Wherever the goal is to increase the quality of life, flow

can point the way.”

Increasing the chance of Flow

–Use Signature Strengths–Select Tasks for Intrinsic Motivation–Develop Skills in a challenging activity–Create Flow experiences

–Watch less TV

Savouring

“Savouring is the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and enhance the positive experiences in one’s life.”

(Bryant, 2007)

A state when we’re aware of pleasure with conscious attention to experience, almost the opposite of flow.

How do we cope? Faced with a negative event we can cope by:

– Active problem solving– Social Support– Cognitive Reappraisal– Formal Help Seeking– Prayer– Wishful thinking– Escape/Avoidance

But how do we cope with a positive event?– The process, not the outcome– Normal coping will not maximise the benefit– Coping is about moderating the quality of negative

experiences, Savouring is about moderating the quality of positive experiences

Balloon Ride

(Bertrand Piccard’s diary entry written on the final evening of his record breaking trip around the world in a hot air balloon, 1999, p. 44).

SavouringAn example of savouring

“During the last night, I savour once more the intimate relationship we have established with our planet. Shivering in the pilot’s seat, I have the feeling I have left the capsule to fly under the stars that have swallowed our balloon. I feel so privileged that I want to enjoy every second of this air world. During our three weeks of flight, protected by our high-tech cocoon, we have flown over millions of people suffering on this earth… why are we so lucky?... very shortly after daybreak, [our balloon] will land in the Egyptian sand, Brian and I will be lifted away from the desert by helicopter, and we will immediately need to find words to satisfy the public’s curiosity. But right now, muffled in my down jacket, I let the cold bite of the night remind me that I have not yet landed, that I am still living one of the most beautiful moments of my life. The only way I can make this instant last will be to share it with others…”

(Bertrand Piccard’s diary entry written on the final evening of his record breaking trip around the world in a hot air balloon, 1999, p. 44).

Ways of Savouring

Sharing with Others Memory Building Self Congratulation Sensory Perceptual

Sharpening Comparing

Absorption Behavioural

Expression Temporal

Awareness Counting Blessings Kill Joy Thinking

Just some wordsEmotions such as Happiness, Joy, Elation, Delight, Satisfaction, Meaning, Fulfilment, Rapture, Pleasure, Gratitude and Bliss

4 types of Savouring

Exercise - Holiday Did you have a holiday in the last year? Last Month? What made it more enjoyable? Did anyone have a holiday today? The Daily vacation Exercise

– Every day, plan and participate in something you find enjoyable for 20 minutes

– Before starting the vacation set aside worries– During the vacation, notice and explicitly acknowledge

pleasure. Label things, build a memory– At the end of each day, reflect, plan tomorrow and

anticipate– At the end of the week, recall all 7.

Savouring Three temporal forms of savouring:

– Anticipation– Being in the moment– Reminiscing

Why savouring?– Research has demonstrated that individuals

who habitually savour have greater life satisfaction, are more optimistic and less depressed than individuals who do not habitually savour.

Increase Savouring

Social Support Writing Downward Hedonic Contrast Humour Spirituality and Religion Awareness of the fleetingness of existence.

And Finally

Prolong the Experience Intensify the Experience Shift Gears to Savouring

And don’t forget your flow

Any Questions?

(Difficult ones very much welcome)

Thank You!

References Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience - Paperback (11 Aug

2006) by Fred B. Bryant and Joseph Veroff Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (P.S.) by Mihaly

Csikszentmihalyi (Paperback - 1 Jul 2008) Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life

(MasterMinds) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Paperback - 16 Mar 1998) A Primer in Positive Psychology by Christopher Peterson (Paperback -

17 Aug 2006) Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths

(Paperback) by Alan Carr Routledge; 1 edition (4 Dec 2003) ISBN-13: 978-1583919910

Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realise Your Potential for Lasting Fulfilment (Paperback) by Martin E.P. Seligman Nicholas Brealey Publishing (6 Mar 2003) ISBN-13: 978-1857883299

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html http://positivepsychology.org.uk/