Positive Traits and Well-Being Trait = enduring, stable, internal characteristic of person that...

Positive Traits and Well-Being

Trait = enduring, stable, internal characteristic of person that influence how act, perceive, and feel about world.

Like colored lens in camera….everything we see.

Individual differences in traits account for as much as 50% of differences in levels of happiness & well-being.

One reason circumstances, money, life events don’t matter much (Ch. 5-6).

How we interpret life - subjective side - more important.

What Makes a Trait Positive in Positive Psychology?

1. Make us happy - increase SWB.

2. Make us psychologically healthy - eudaimonic well-being.

3. Make us physically healthy.

4. Considered virtuous/good/moral whether happy or not (Ch 10).

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Biological Foundation of HappinessPaul Meehl… “some people just born three drinks ahead”

-Emotional life, attitude towards self & life - childhood to adulthood (Lab effect).

What We Inherit - overlapping concepts1. Positive and negative affectivity - characteristic experience of

positive and negative emotions.Strong genetic component - positive & negative independent.Individual differences in characteristic emotional experience:

Many positive & negative - many negative & few positive.Many positive & few negative - little of each.

Measures of + & - highly predictive of long-term happiness.

2. Temperament - Kagan - 20% infants reactive or non-reactiveReactive - shy introverts.Non-reactive - party animals.


3. Big Five Personality Traits

1. Extraversion vs. introversion - strong connection to SWB

2. Neuroticism vs. emotional stability - strong to SWB

3. Agreeableness vs. antagonism - less connection

4. Conscientiousnes vs. undirectedness - less

5. Openness to experience vs. non-openness - somewhat



4. Basic Biological Tendencies Towards Approach & Avoidance

May underlie biology of happiness (animal models).Behavioral Activation System (BAS) - reward - incentives + emotions.Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) - threat/punishment - emotions.Approach Orientation = positive attitude towards self & world and more positive emotional experiences.Opposite for avoidance orientation.

Two built-in systems control approach and avoidance behaviors.People may vary in the relative strength or ease of activation of two systems….may be basis for affectivity, temperament & personality.Measures of approach-avoidance orientation predictive of outcomes in lots of life domains.

Genetics and Change“Trying to be happier is like trying to be taller.”

Arguments Against Inability to Change Genetic Set-point:1. Even if set point is set pretty high - majority happy or very

happy.2. May have multiple set points for different domains of life that

offer compensation … relationships, work, family. Can move in different directions…good day at work, bad at home…

3. Can change set point up or down based on powerful events.Widowers who don’t recover.Happy marriage - long-term increase.7-year longitudinal study - 17% long-term increase in set point.Choosing right life activities, goals, etc. - overcome genetics.Find what makes you happy and pursue it.


Family Origins of Positive Attitude Toward Self & World

If you wanted to raise child to have low opinion of themselves and a negative-suspicious view of other people and world we live in, what would you do?

Family Origins of Self-Esteem - Coopersmith

Acceptance - attentive, positive, warmth, concern, love.

Respect - for children’s abilities, opinions, individuality.

Limits - structure child’s world with rules and expectations of appropriate behavior. Clear basis for evaluating child’s

actions.

Freedom - permit freedom with structure - individuality & choice.



Higgins - Family Dynamics and Parenting

Relative strength of ideal and ought self that guide/regulate behavior and used as standards for self-evaluation.

Strong Ideal Self - positive attitude & many approach goals.

Strong Ought Self - negative attitude & many avoidance goals.

Happiness Built on Positive Attitude Towards Self, Life, and Future

Self-esteem, self-efficacy, optimism are more specific components of positive attitude.

Positive attitude - related to:- more frequent positive emotional experiences- more effective functioning- perseverance in the face of challenge- better health- better relationships

Important point - most people have generally positive attitude most of the time. - Troubles with self-esteem rare.- Majority at least mildly optimistic.


Differences between Extremes

Lyubormirsky - Happy and unhappy people live in separate worlds.

Differences between upper 25% and lower 25% on Subjective Happiness Scale

Overall Difference:

Happy people happy with what they get and have in life.

Unhappy - focus on what they don’t have, didn’t get, and envy people who have more.



1. Social Comparisons & Happiness•Happy – less sensitive to social comparisons with others. More selective and use others mostly to protect self-esteem and well-being.

•Unhappy – always comparing to others - happiness is “out there.”•Feel good or bad depending on how others do.

•Happy – less affected if peers do better or worse.•Unhappy – deflated rather than delighted in success of peers and relieved (feel good) when peers fail.

Happy vs. Unhappy

2. Post-decision Rationalization• Make choices of desirable things…college applied to.• Sometimes got or did not get first choice.• Happy – satisfied with all options if didn’t get first choice & devalued

colleges that rejected them.• Unhappy – what got was mediocre, but other options even worse.

3. Event Construal• Happy people: interpret and remember experiences and positive and

negative daily events as more positive than do unhappy.• Find humor in negative & selectively remember positive.• Unhappy - interpret, remember, etc., in way that reinforces

unhappiness - finding what’s wrong.


Happy vs. Unhappy

4. Self-Reflection• Happy people do not dwell or self-reflect on themselves as

much as unhappy people.• Unhappy people dwell on negative & ambiguous events.

Ruminate on what might have, could have, should have, etc….can’t let go.

Vast majority of people have “healthy illusions.”Longstanding social psychology findings:People generally:1.Tendency towards self-enhancement/self-esteem.2. Positive view of future - optimism.3. Self-serving bias in attributions - optimistic explanatory style.4. Belief in self-control.


Self-esteemSelf-esteem is evaluative component of self.

How self judges self - sense of personal worth, value in own eyes.

Related but not identical to how viewed by others.

Simple measure - feel worthy, positive attitude versus not proud of myself, wish had more self-respect, etc. - overly sensitive to external feedback.

Both trait & state - baseline & circumstantial fluctuations.

Stable level - ages 6 to 83.


Self-esteem and Well-Being

- Highly correlated with happiness across many

cultures.

- Related to confidence, initiative, perseverance in

face of challenge, & resisting influence from others.

- Happiness begins with happiness with self.



Two major theories:

1. Self-affirmation - money in bankCoping resource when life ge’s rough - criticism, failure, etc.Absorbing blows to self-esteem with less emotional damage.

2. Sociometer Theory - SE and social relationshipsHelps fulfill biological need for connections to others.Evolution - need others - SE internal index for monitoring our

standing with others and making changes when might be rejected or excluded from important groups.

Sociometer Theory

1. Makes sense humans would have built into them a way to monitor relationships important to survival - like hunger, fear.

2. When feel best & feel worst about self?

3. SE is a “gas gauge” or meter that monitors extent of inclusion & exclusion from most important relationships.

4. Causes us to do right thing to maintain or repair relationships.

Research support:

SE highly sensitive to acceptance, approval, & rejection.

Social anxiety high negative correlation with SE.

Traits associated with high SE are same that make us likeable to others - attractive, competent, morality, outgoing, etc.


Self-Esteem - Issues, Controversies, and Forms

Brief History

1. 1970-80s - early enthusiasm - low self-esteem as psychological equivalent to toxic virus or environmental carcinogen.

Raise self esteem & cure social & individual problems.



2. 1990s - critique - research reviews (Baumiester, et al.)Self-esteem overrated Not so predictive:

- high self-esteem teens - risky behaviors- defensive high self-esteem more violent

**Biggest: got cause & effect backwards e.g., academic performance = cause

3. 2000 - contingent self-esteem (Crocker) Basis not level of SE most important.Where - on what - do you hang your sense of self-worth?

4. 2007- recent review - global SE does matter in ways would expect.

Contingent Self-Esteem - Recent Theory/Research

Crocker - Contingencies of Self-Worth - more complex view of SE

1. Each person’s sense of self-worth is based on different life domains or contingencies of self-worth.

2. Whether we are motivated, take pride in an activity, try to enhance, protect, or maintain SE (i.e., whether SE matters) depends on its source.


3. Crocker -7 examples - Contingencies of Self-worth (many others)

Approval of Others - respect of others central to SEAppearance - feeling attractiveCompetition - need to win, being better than othersAcademic Competence - grades get basis of self-respectFamily Support - quality of relationships with familyVirtue - following moralsGod’s Love - close relation to God

4. Research supports - feel good/bad depends on source of SE involved…High SE predicts performance if involves contingency of self-worth - e.g., academics getting into graduate school


Contingencies and FailureDisengagement rather than low level of SE

Steele & minority academic performance:African American students - more dropouts in high

school & college. Lower performance.If believe:

Effort won’t be rewarded Hostile & lack of support from environmentPeer pressure reinforcing

Then: may disengage sense of worth from this domain.Why put up with frustration and continual threats to sense of worth? Find something else to take pride in - feel good about.

Choice: Be popular, solidarity with peers versus selling out and loose approval & support.

Gifted African American students who excel have few black friends.


Dark Side of Self-Esteem

Pursuit of self-esteem - feeling good about self:

Self-worth needs to be your “own” and based on actual competence.

Protecting GPA to maintain image as “good “ student may sacrifice learning - avoiding hard classes.

SE built on others’ approval may sacrifice autonomy and self-directed life.

Like materialism - important needs that are the basis of happiness - unfulfilled in pipe dream of belief in money-happiness connection.


Optimism-PessimismMost widely researched positive trait -

Do you see the glass as half full or half empty?

Two views of same reality.

Two major theories and tests of optimism.

1. Dispositional optimism - Carver & Scheier

Optimism as a personal trait.

2. Optimism as explanatory style - Seligman & Peterson

How people explain negative events.


Dispositional Optimism

Optimism as a general expectation about the future.

Optimists believe future holds lots of good things and few bad.

Confident about abilities and future.

Pessimists expect the worst - more bad than good.

Doubts about abilities and a positive future.



Measure - Life Orientation Test (LOT)

1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best.

2. If something can go wrong for me, it will.

3. I’m always optimistic about the future.

4. I hardly ever expect things to go my way.

5. I rarely count on good things happening to me.

6. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad.

Dispositional Optimism

Why is optimism beneficial? Enhances self-regulation of actions towards personal goals.

When obstacles encountered

- optimists believe in themselves - overcome challenges.

- pessimists doubt themselves - become passive or give up.

Bottom Line: attitude/confidence somewhat independent of ability.



LOT Optimism & Well-Being

Personal resource that fosters resilience in times of distress.

First child birth and post partum depression.

Recovery from bypass surgery.

Early stage beast cancer - level of distress.

Coping with care-giver role for Alzheimers, cancer.

High school to college transition.

Physical & emotional health - longevity.

Optimism as Explanatory Style

Originally focused on thinking of depressed people.

Why do bad things happen to me? (ASQ scenarios)

Optimists find “excuses” that deflect away from them as cause.

Pessimists take ownership, feel less control, likely happen again.



Three aspects of pessimistic explanatory style:Stable causes - unlikely to change - I’m no good at math.Global causes - effect everything - I’m a bad test-taker.Internal causes - personal traits - It,s my fault.

OptimistsUnstable - just had a bad day - no time to study.Specific - just couldn’t get this test or this teacher.External - I was late for class and rushed through exam.

Research: Stable-unstable and global specific best predictors.

Optimism as Explanatory Style

Similar pattern of predictions to LOT - dispositional optimism:E.g., Harvard grads from 1930s & 40s - optimism at 25 predicted physical health, longevity, & mental health 35 years later .

How Optimism Works:1. Source of positive motivation - get you out of bed.

Protect against passivity & defeatist attitude.2. Optimists use more effective and active coping/problem

solving strategies. Better at identifying controllable and uncontrollable threats & problems…work on things can change, give up on those that can’t.

Serenity Prayer of A.A.: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; wisdom to know the difference.”


How Optimism Works

3. Optimism may increase experience of positive affect/emotion and follow Broaden-and-Build theory.

More social support, resilience, creative problem solving-ability to fight disease, etc.

Coping TendenciesOptimists Pessimists

Information seeking Suppression of thought

Active coping & planning Giving up

Positive reframing Self-distraction

Seeking benefit Cognitive avoidance

Use of humor Focus on distress

Acceptance overt denial


Varieties of Optimism

Hope TheoryDefensive Pessimism - Norem & Cantor

Positive power of negative thinking (at a price)Defensive pessimists:

Expect the worst despite past success.Say -”know won’t do well” - but usually do.High anxiety about upcoming event/performance.

BUT: thinking/anxiety about failure motivates attention to every detail to avoid failure - mental rehearsing of what will do, how to avoid problems….so usually do great.



Price: Suffer more anxiety & worry - more neurotic.

Negative thinking seems to lower self-esteem.

Pain for others to be around - get tired of being supportive - constant reassurance will do well.

Unresolved Issues

1. Realism versus Optimism

2. Explanations for negative events best predictor,

not positive…seems backwards….curious.

- excuse making - really measuring presence or absence of pessimism not presence of optimism.

3. Age & cultural differences -

Young optimism benefits older some cynicism & realism

College students versus “real people.”

Asians as defensive pessimists.

Asians - pessimism better predictor of good coping..


“Healthy Illusions” (even if illusions)

Shelley Taylor & Jonathon Brown (1988) – Literature Review

People biased towards the positive, who see themselves in best possible light are happier and healthier than those who don’t.

Sadder but wiser effect – depressive realism – Alloy &

Abramson• Depressed show “sadder but wiser effect” – depressive

realism.• Healthy illusions promote positive self-image and sense of

well-being and serve as self-protection from ego-deflating experiences.



•Depressed•1. Realistic assessment of control•2. Realistic assessment of future•3. Accept responsibility for outcomes•4.Accurate perception of self

•Non-Depressed•1. Exaggerated belief in control•2. See only a rosy future•3. Self-serving bias•4. Inflated perception of self

Positive Distortion Buffers a Negative Reality

Compared to “truth” and “reality”:– Happy people show a positive bias in their view of

themselves and life.– Less happy (mildly depressed) people view

themselves and their life more realistically.

– Living a life too close to reality is a bummer.– Happiness comes in part from the ability to distort reality in

positive and self-serving ways: healthy illusions.

– Mental health = mild positive distortions not “reality.”


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