READING 1: Psychology of Happiness by David Myer
DOWNLOAD MY CLASSNOTES IN PDF: PP 5 Correlates of Happiness
Veenhoven, R.. (2009). World Database of Happiness: Tool for dealing with the ‘data-deluge’. Psychological Topics 18(2), 221-246.
Veenhoven, R. (2012). Cross-national differences in happiness: Cultural measurement bias or effect of culture? International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(4), 333-353.
My Lecture Notes
Lecture 6: Psycho-Social Substrates of Wellbeing
Positive psychology makes a distinction between subjective wellbeing, social wellbeing and psychological wellbeing. The literature of positive psychology makes use of different terminologies to name positive affective states and some of them are not yet clarified. For instance, there is a confusion of terms – what Seligman (2002, p.115) prefers to call ‘gratification’, Csikszentmihalyi (2002) calls ‘enjoyment’. These confusions suggest that psychological understanding of affective states is still a work in progress (Kristjánsson, 2010). On the other hand, the complexity of terminology goes to show that pleasure, happiness and wellbeing lies in a spectrum of psycho-social states with a varying degree of valence.
Pleasure
Positive psychology suggests that pleasure (largely understood as hedonia) is not negative in itself. It has a limitation insofar as exaggerations are concerned. The exaggeration in intensity could lead to euphoria, and the exaggeration in frequency and duration could lead to habituation. Subsequently, the state of euphoria could […]
Lecture 7: Values in Action – Catalogue of Character Strengths
Values in Action – Catalogue of Character Strengths
Click here for a PDF version: Character strengths summary
DOWNLOAD MY CLASSNOTES IN PDF: PP 7 Values in Action Intro
Peterson & Seligman, 2004
A Summary by Sahaya G. Selvam
CLICK HERE TO TAKE AN ONLINE SURVEY OF VALUES IN ACTION
CS1. Creativity
Creavity can be observed in behaviours that exhibit, and ideas that express, great degree of originality and adaptive character (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.110). It may be seen as a mental process, expressed by certain individuals, and can be analysed in terms of tangible products (Simonton, 2005, p.191).
CS2. Curiosity
Curiosity represents “one’s intrinsic desire for experience and knowledge” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.125). Curiosity is particularly noticed when someone seeks knowledge that goes beyond the principle of “utility of the information to the agent.” It is as if information is sought for its own sake (Loewenstein, 1994, p.75).
CS3. Open-mindedness
This character strength consists in the ability to seek actively […]
Lecture 8: Character Strengths of Altruism: Kindness, Love, Forgiveness
Kindness
Kindness, generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, and “niceness” are closely related terms that indicate “a common orientation of the self toward the other” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.326). Kindness consists in doing favours or good deeds to others, while compassion is more related to the emotion evoked at the sufferings of others. Compassion becomes significant when the troubles of the other person are serious, not self-inflicted, and the agent of compassion is able to picture oneself in the same predicament as the one in trouble (Cassell, 2005, p.435). Assessing kindness involves very practical indicators as in:
I have voluntarily helped a neighbour in the last month.
I always call my friends when they are sick
Love
Peterson and Seligman attempt to define love in terms of psychology:
Love represents a cognitive, behavioural, and emotional stance toward others that takes three prototypical forms. One is love for the individuals who are our primary sources […]
Lecture 9: Character Strengths of Temperance & Transcendence: Self-regulation, Hope, Gratitude, Wisdom
Self-regulation
As one of the character strengths of temperance, self-regulation can also be referred to as self-control or self-discipline. The expressions of self-regulation and its constructs refer to how a person exerts control over his or her impulses and behaviour so as to pursue their goals while maintaining their moral standards. It can also mean a rhythm of life that facilitates self-efficacy (Bandura, 1999). “Delay of gratification constitutes an important paradigm of self-regulation,” implying that a person with self-regulation is able to resist the temptation to choose an immediate, small reward in order to obtain a larger benefit, even if the latter was delayed (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.500).
I am a highly disciplined person.
I can always stay on a diet.
I can always say “enough is enough.”
Hope
“Hope, optimism, future-mindedness, future-orientation represent a cognitive, emotional, and motivational stance towards the future” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.570). In more precise terms, this stance […]