the science of happiness positive psychology bill o’hanlon

The Science of HappinessPositive Psychology

Bill O’Hanlonwww.billohanlon.com

Negative talk shown to increase stress hormones

A recent study shows that extensive discussions of problems and encouragement of ‘‘problem talk,’’ rehashing the details of problems, speculating about problems, and dwelling on negative affect in particular, leads to a significant increase in the stress hormone cortisol, which predicts increased depression and anxiety over time.

Byrd-Craven, J., Geary, D. C., Rose, A. J., & Ponzi, D. (2008). “Co-ruminating increase stress hormone levels in women,” Hormones and Behavior, 53, 489–492.

Bias of Psychology to Study the Negative

Psychological publications and studies dealing with negative states outnumbered those examining positive states by a ratio of 17 to 1 in a survey done in 1995.

Myers, D. and Deiner, E. (1995) “Who is Happy?,” Psychological Science, 6:10-19.

Freudian legacy

Freud thought the best we could hope for was “ordinary misery”

He questioned the quest for happiness and indeed, all our motives, and ascribed dark impulses and infantile wishes to them

What is Positive Psychology?

Research evidence about what works in human life; what makes people happier; what gives their lives a sense of satisfaction and meaning; what helps them function better;

Also called “Subjective Well-Being”

The Power of Negative Thinking

“I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought:

What the hell good would that do?”

–Ronnie Shakes

Relevant research

People who are in a more positive mood are better liked by others and more open to new ideas and experiences.

Fredrickson, Barbara. (1998). “What good are positive emotions?” Review of General Psychology, 2:300-319.

Relevant researchTwo studies show that focusing on or creating pleasant experiences

enhances our learning or performance abilities.

Kids who were asked to spend 30 seconds remembering happy things did better on learning tasks they were given just after remembering the happy stuff.

Internists who were given some candy or who watched a funny video (vs. reading humanistic statements about medicine and a control group) did better at diagnosing a hard-to-diagnose case of liver disease.

References:

Masters, J., Barden, R. and Ford, M. (1979). "Affective states, expressive behavior, and learning in children," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37:380-390

Isen, A, Rosensweig, A. and Young, M. (1991). "The influence of positive affect on clinical problem solving," Medical Decision Making, 11:221-227.

Relevant research

Several studies have shown that whatever the most recent or last part of an experience is tends to color and strongly influence our overall memory or sense of that experience. A particularly graphic example involves people who were undergoing proctological exams. Patients were divided into two groups: the first was given the standard proctological exam; the second was given the exam but the scope was left in but not moved for an extra minute at the end (sorry for the pun) of the exam. Those patients who experienced the longer exam were more willing to undergo the procedure again in the future. Ending on a good note makes a difference in how the whole (sorry again) experience is remembered.

Reference: Redelmeier, D., and Kahneman, D. (1996). "Patients' memories of painful medical treatments: Real-time and retrospective evaluations of two minimally invasive procedures," Pain, 116:3-8.

How to apply this to changework

End sessions with compliments or pleasant topics

Or at the very least, neutral topics and emotional tones

Caveats and ChallengesMuch of this research is new and

preliminary

Some of it is correlational and some of it is experimental

Much of is not done by and for clinicians or pointed toward practical uses, so it takes some translation

We will have to wait to find out what really works in clinical settings

Happiness defined

Pleasure/positive emotions

+engagement

+meaning

=Happiness

The benefits of happinessHappy people:

Are half as likely to dieDanner, D.D., Snowdon, D.A. & Friesen, W.V. (2001). “Positive emotions in early life and

longevity: Findings from the Nun Study,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80:804-813.

Diener, Ed. And Seligman, Martin. (2002). “Very happy people,” Psychological Science, 13:81-84.

Half as likely to be disabled

Live longer than average

Have better health habits;

Have lower blood pressure

Have more robust immune systems

Are more productive on the job

Have higher incomes

Are able to tolerate more pain

The benefits of happiness

Cheerful college students ended up earning $25,000 more per year than their dour counterparts.

King, Laura and Lyubomirsky, Sonja. (2005). “The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?” Psychological Bulletin, 131:803-855.

Happiness is relatively stableOne year after winning the lottery or becoming

quadriplegic, people’s happiness level return to where they were before the drastic change of circumstance (Happiness Set Point; genetically influenced but not fixed)

Brickman, P.; Coates, D.; and Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). “Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36:917-27.

There are some things that seem to permanently increase happiness levels

People are generally pretty bad at predicting what will make them happy

Happiness seems to be contagious

Emotions such as happiness, seem to be contagious. In contrast to behaviors (like smoking or obesity), people must have direct contact with others (even by proxy) to “catch” the emotions in a social network.

People who are happy and have friends, or friends of friends, tend to be happier. Amount of influence: Next door neighbor 34% Friends 25% Close living sibling 14% Spouse 8%

People at the center of the “happy” social network tend to be happiest (vs. people on the periphery). The more people one is connected to, the happier.

Happiness spreads more readily than unhappiness.

Fowler, James and Christakis, Nicholas. (2008). “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study,” British Medical Journal, 337:a2338.

Estimates of contributors to happiness and where we can influence happiness levels

Problems with deliberately pursuing happiness

We are bad at predicting what will make us happy• We overestimate the negative effects of

bad stuff• We overestimate the lasting

happiness/satisfaction that will result from good stuff

Our preferences change

Habituation/the hedonic treadmill

The Hedonic Treadmill

"When we have an experience -- hearing a particular sonata, making love with a particular person, watching the sun set from a particular window of a particular room–on successive occasions, we quickly begin to adapt to it, and the experience yields less pleasure each time. Psychologists call this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility, and the rest of us call it marriage" (p. 130).

From Dan Gilbert’s Stumbling On Happiness

Looking for joy in all the wrong places

A study by Tim Kasser at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, found that young adults who focus on money, image and fame tend to be more depressed, have less enthusiasm for life and suffer more physical symptoms such as headaches and sore throats than others (The High Price of Materialism, MIT Press, 2002).

The Paradox of Happiness:Happiness eludes us when we try to get or create it directly

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” –Eric Hoffer

“If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.” –Edith Wharton

Trying to be happy or monitoring your happiness blocks happiness

People were told to monitor their happiness or try to be more happy while listening to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. People who merely listened to it reported more happiness afterward than people who were monitoring their happiness or trying to be happy while listening.

Schooler, J., Ariely, D. and Lowenstein, G. (2003). “The pursuit of happiness can be self-defeating,” in Brocas and Carillo (Eds.) The Psychology of Economic Decisions, Vol. 1, pp. 41-70. NY: Oxford University Press.

But all is not lost; one can increase happiness (but not directly)

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. –Aldous Huxley

Four Key Findings

S.O.A.P.

Social Connections

Optimism

Appreciation (Gratitude)

Purpose (greater than oneself)

S.O.A.P.

Social Connections

andHappiness

Relationships

"By far the greatest predictor of happiness in the literature is intimate relationships," – Sonja Lyubomirsky, researcher at UC-Riverside

Family

Friends/social network

Couple/marital (mixed)

ResilienceGist and Devily report that estimates of PTSD after

the 9-11 attacks dropped by nearly 2/3 within a few months of the tragedy.

“. . .these findings underscore the counterproductive nature of offering a [treatment] with no demonstrable effect [Critical Incident Stress Debriefing], but demonstrated potential to complicate natural resolution, in a population in which . . . strong natural supports exist, and spontaneous resolution is prevalent.”

Gist, R., and Devilly, G., (2002). “Post-traumatic debriefing: The road too frequently traveled,” Lancet, 360(9335):741-743

Social connections are at risk in modern societies

Shared family dinners and family vacations are down over a third in the last 25 years

Having friends over to the house is down by 45% over the last 25 years

Participation in clubs and civic organizations is down by over 50% in the last 25 years

Church attendance is down by about a third since the 1960s

Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

See also: http://www.bettertogether.org/

Social connections are at risk in modern societies1. The average number of people we consider close

confidants dropped nearly one-third, from 2.94 in 1985 to 2.09 in 2004

2. The average American has only two close friends3. 1 in 4 Americans (25%) report that they have no one to

confide in4. Average household size has decreased by about 10%

during the past twenty years, to 2.5 people5. In 1990, more than 1 in 5 household was headed by a

single parent; currently it is 1 in 36. 27 million people in the U.S. live alone and that is

expected to increase to 29 million by 2010

McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L. and Brashears, M. (2006). “Social isolation in America: Changes in core discussion networks over two decades,” American Sociological Review, 71:353-375.

Lack of Connection Takes a Toll

Research by Renée Spitz on orphans who were not handled or cuddled

1. They were smaller in height and weight fro their age

2. Their brain developed 20-30% smaller than normal3. 25% died within the first year; 37% within two years4. 40% who contracted measles died vs. only .5% of

infants outside the orphanage5. They scored much lower (72) than average (90-105)

on intelligence tests


Changes in immune cell gene expression are correlated with social distance and reported feelings of loneliness (lack of close feelings with others over time)

1. The more lonely the person, the more immune system activation and the greater inflammation

2. The less anti-viral and antibodies were produced3. Measured by DNA microassays of activity in human

genes in white blood cells

Gene Biology, September 2007 reporting research done at David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA


Emile Durkheim, sociologist, observed as early as 1897, that “social solidarity” is related to suicide rates

1. Examined the quality of social ties in a particular area

2. In areas where social ties were strong, suicide levels were low

3. In areas where social ties were weak, suicide levels were much higher

Durkheim, E. (1897). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Translated by Spalding and Simpson. New York, Free Press

Positive social talk matters The amount and type of parental talk to infants varied between

disadvantaged families and those who had higher incomes and education

Disadvantaged parents generally talked less than advantaged (10 million words vs. 80 million words)

Disadvantaged parents directed more “discouragements” (no; shut up; stop) to their kids (200,000 vs. 80,000 “encouragements” [chit chat; positive comments; gossip; joking; running commentary; praise])

Advantaged parents had a reversal of this ratio (500,000 encouragements to 80,000 discouragements)

It turns out that these differences have profound and hard to reverse effects on intellectual and academic achievement (vocabulary growth and standardized intellectual achievement tests measured at ages 3 and 9)

Hart, B. and Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company

Social Connections and Happiness

Four shifts in social connections that can make a positive difference in happiness levels

1. Increase the number of connections you have outside your immediate family members

2. Strengthen your intimate sexual/romantic relationship

3. Get married4. Become an active member of a community

Even in severe poverty, social connections help happiness levels

Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener surveyed life satisfaction of the homeless and prostitutes living in the slums of Calcutta and found that healthy bonds with family and good social relationships were correlated with higher life satisfaction levels.

Biswas-Diener, R. and Diener, E. (2001). “Making the best of a bad situation: Satisfaction in the slums of Calcutta,” Social Indicators Research, 55, 329-352.

Social connections and happiness

Countless studies document the link between society and psyche: people who have close friends and confidants, friendly neighbors, and supportive co-workers are less likely to experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem, and problems with eating and sleeping. The single most common finding from a half century's research on the correlates of life satisfaction, not only in the United States but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one's social connections (Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 332)

Happiness and social connections

People with five or more close friends (excluding family members) are 50 percent more likely to describe themselves as "very happy" than respondents with fewer.

One survey of 800 college alumni showed that classmates who valued high income, job success and prestige more than close friends and a loving marriage were twice as likely to be "fairly" or "very" unhappy.

Two kinds of social connections

One-to-one: friendships; pets; marriage; intimate partnerships; child-parent

Group/community connections: neighborhoods, interest groups, church communities, professional or work groups, groups of friends, sports teams, military units, support groups and so on

Connective ritualsA review of 50 years of research (32 studies) on family rituals

showed that regular routines had a positive effect on health and family relationships

Common routines: Dinnertime Bedtime Chores Talking on the phone Visiting with relativesTypical family rituals: Birthdays Holidays Family reunions Funerals Religious rituals and services

Fiese, Barbara H.; Tomcho, Thomas J.; Douglas, Michael; Josephs, Kimberly ; Poltrock, Scott; and Baker, Tim. (2002)."A Review of 50 Years of Research on Naturally Occurring Family Routines and Rituals: Cause for Celebration?," ; Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 16, No. 4.

Using a positive psychology to improve relationships

Relevant researchHappily married couples say 5 positive remarks for every negative remark, even when having conflicts

Couples who are headed for divorce use less than 1 (0.8) positive remarks for every negative one

Source: Gottman, J., Gottman, J. And DeClaire, J.(2006). 10 Lessons to Transform Your Marriage. NY: Crown.

Infidelity/fidelity and positive interactions in relationships

Couples with a 2.4 to 1 ratio of positive interactions (nodding, smiling, eye contact) to negative (eye rolling, scowling, expressing contempt) were more likely to experience infidelity after being married than couples with a 4 to 1 positive to negative interaction ratio

Allen, E., et.al. (June 2008). “Premarital Precursors of Marital Infidelity,” Family Process, 47(2):243-259.

Positive Illusions in RelationshipsSandra Murray and colleagues at SUNY Buffalo have

done many research studies in which they have found that if one sees one’s partner more positively than they see themselves, the relationship is better (rated more positively and satisfying). Also it helps to reframe their negative qualities as assets.

Murray, S. L., & Holmes, J. G. (1993). “Seeing virtues in faults: Negativity and the transformation of interpersonal narratives in close relationships,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 707-722.

Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., Dolderman, D., & Griffin, D. W. (2000). “What the motivated mind sees: Comparing friends' perspectives to married partners' views of each other,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 600-620.

.Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). “The benefits of positive illusions: Idealization and the construction of satisfaction in close relationships,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 70, 79-98.

Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). “The self-fulfilling nature of positive illusions in romantic relationships: Love is not blind, but prescient,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1155-1180

S.O.A.P.

Optimismand

Happiness

Optimism and Positive Psychology

What we can learn from some psychotically optimistic dogs

Pessimistic vs. Optimistic Styles

Bad stuff is:Permanent and will persist;Pervasive;Out of my control

Reflects:My resourcelessness;Bad qualities (“I’m such a loser”)

Pessimistic explanatory style

Pessimistic vs. Optimistic Styles

Bad stuff is:Time and context limited (“I am just going through a rough patch”; or “This job sucks”);Under my influence

I possess good and resourceful qualities

Optimistic explanatory style

Good to knowOptimistic and pessimistic styles and tendencies are

relatively stable traits, but they can be affected by actions and changed focus of attention

One study found that even naturally pessimistic people who spent one week doing exercises in which they:

Identified and wrote down times in the past in which they were at their best

Wrote down their personal strengths

Expressed gratitude to someone they had never properly thanked

Wrote down three good things that happened that day

Were happier when their happiness levels were measured 6 months later

Seligman, M., Stern, T., Park, N & Peterson, C. (2005). “Positive Psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions,” American Psychologist, 60: 410-421.

Common Factors in Therapy

30%Relationship

40%ClientFactors

15%Expectation/Placebo/Hope

15%Model/Technique

Creating or restoring hope

Rehabilitating or inviting people into preferred, compelling positive futures

Elspeth McAdamElspeth McAdam. . . A young girl I was working with had experienced

abuse. She walked into my office as a very large girl with shaved hair, tattoos on her head, and I don't think she had showered in a week. I had been asked to see her because she was so angry. She clearly didn't want to come and see an expletive expletive shrink. She was very angry at being there. I just said to her, 'You've talked to everybody about your past. Let's talk about your dreams for the future.' And her whole face just lit up when she said her dream was to become a princess. In my mind I could not think of two more opposite visions–but I took her very seriously. I asked her about what the concept of princess meant for her.

. . . A young girl I was working with had experienced abuse. She walked into my office as a very large girl with shaved hair, tattoos on her head, and I don't think she had showered in a week. I had been asked to see her because she was so angry. She clearly didn't want to come and see an expletive expletive shrink. She was very angry at being there. I just said to her, 'You've talked to everybody about your past. Let's talk about your dreams for the future.' And her whole face just lit up when she said her dream was to become a princess. In my mind I could not think of two more opposite visions–but I took her very seriously. I asked her about what the concept of princess meant for her.

Elspeth McAdamElspeth McAdam

She started talking about being a people's princess who would do things for other people, who would be caring and generous and a beautiful ambassador. She described a princess who was slender and well dressed. Over the next few months, we started talking about what this princess would be doing. I discovered that, while this girl was 14 and hadn't been attending school for a long time, the princess was a social worker. I said, 'Okay it is now ten year's time and you have trained as a social worker. What university did you go to?' She mentioned one in the north of England. I asked, 'What did you read [study] there?' She said, 'I don't know, psychology and sociology and a few other things like that.' Then I said, 'Do you remember when you were 14? You'd been out of school for two or three years. Do you remember how you got back in school?'

She started talking about being a people's princess who would do things for other people, who would be caring and generous and a beautiful ambassador. She described a princess who was slender and well dressed. Over the next few months, we started talking about what this princess would be doing. I discovered that, while this girl was 14 and hadn't been attending school for a long time, the princess was a social worker. I said, 'Okay it is now ten year's time and you have trained as a social worker. What university did you go to?' She mentioned one in the north of England. I asked, 'What did you read [study] there?' She said, 'I don't know, psychology and sociology and a few other things like that.' Then I said, 'Do you remember when you were 14? You'd been out of school for two or three years. Do you remember how you got back in school?'


She said, 'I had this psychiatrist who helped me.' I said, 'How did she help you?' And she started talking about how we made a phone call to the school. I said, "Who spoke? Did you or her?' She replied, 'The psychiatrist spoke but she arranged a meeting for us to go to the school.' I said, 'Do you remember how you shook hands with the head teacher when you went in? And how you looked and what you wore?' We went into these minute details about what that particular meeting was like–looking from the future back. And she was able to describe the conversations we had had, how confident she had been, how well she had spoken, and the subjects she had talked about. I didn't say any more about it.

She said, 'I had this psychiatrist who helped me.' I said, 'How did she help you?' And she started talking about how we made a phone call to the school. I said, "Who spoke? Did you or her?' She replied, 'The psychiatrist spoke but she arranged a meeting for us to go to the school.' I said, 'Do you remember how you shook hands with the head teacher when you went in? And how you looked and what you wore?' We went into these minute details about what that particular meeting was like–looking from the future back. And she was able to describe the conversations we had had, how confident she had been, how well she had spoken, and the subjects she had talked about. I didn't say any more about it.


About a month after this conversation she said to me, 'I think it's about time we went to the school, don't you? Can you ring and make an appointment?' I asked if she needed to talk about it anymore and she said no, that she knew how to behave. When we went into the school she was just brilliant. I first met that girl ten years ago. Now she is a qualified social worker. She fulfilled her dream–although she didn't go to the university she mentioned.

About a month after this conversation she said to me, 'I think it's about time we went to the school, don't you? Can you ring and make an appointment?' I asked if she needed to talk about it anymore and she said no, that she knew how to behave. When we went into the school she was just brilliant. I first met that girl ten years ago. Now she is a qualified social worker. She fulfilled her dream–although she didn't go to the university she mentioned.

Instilling or encouraging hope Future pull: The future can cause the present

Four methods Problems into preferences Expectancy talk Letter from the future Starting from the end and working backwards

Lopez, S. J., Snyder, C. R., Magyar-Moe, J. L., Edwards, L., Pedrotti, J. T. Janowski, K., Turner, J. L., & Pressgrove, C. (2004). “Strategies for accentuating hope,” In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.). Positive Psychology in Practice. pp. 388-404. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Problems into preferences

Rephrase/reflect problem statements:

From past to future

From what the person doesn’t want to what he/she does want

Introduce small increments of the preference

Expectancy talk

When; will

How quickly?

Yet; so far

After; before

Letter From The Future Have the person write a letter from their future self to

their current self from a place they are happier and have resolved the issues that are concerning them now

From [five years/two months/ten years/one year] from now

Have them describe where they are, what they are doing, what they have gone through to get there, and so on

Have them write about the crucial things they realized or did to get there or write about some crucial turning points that led to this future

Give themselves some sage and compassionate advice from the future

Exercise: Future Self Letter

Try writing the future letter to yourself to find out what it feels like from the inside out

Try the method with one of your clients/patients within the next few weeks

Letter to Me (Brad Paisley)

Working backwards from the future When we are done with therapy and things are better, what

will be happening in your life?

What could you do, think or focus on during the next while that would help you move a little bit in that direction or would at least be compatible with it?

If your problem disappeared, what would be different?

• In your relationships?

• In your daily life?

• In your thinking or focus of attention?

• In your actions?

• In any other areas?

Is there any part of that you could start to implement in the near future?

Future Pull

“The best thing about the future is that comes only one day at a time.” –Abraham Lincoln

Hope comes from believing your efforts can make a difference

Carol Dweck and colleagues gave children a fairly simple puzzle and told half the kids a comment that told them they were smart and the other half that they must have worked hard to solve the puzzles. Then they offered them a choice of simple or challenging puzzles. 90% of the kids who were praised for effort chose the difficult puzzles; a majority of the kids who were praised for intelligence chose the easier ones. Then all the kids were given some difficult puzzles. Then some that were about as easy as the initial ones. The “work hard” kids did 30% better than they had in the initial scores, while the “intelligence” kids scores declined by 20%.

A. Cimpian et. al (2007). “Subtle Linguistic Clues Affect Children’s motivations,” Psychological Science, 18:314-316.

Resilience

Trauma, resilience and our ideas about it

“It was a glorious experience.”

[Moreese Bickham, after being released from Louisiana State Penitentiary after being wrongly convicted and serving 37 years for defending himself against a Ku Klux Klansman who shot him]


“I didn’t appreciate others nearly as much as I do now.”

[Christopher Reeve, after being paralyzed from the neck down in a riding accident]


“It helped me a lot. . . .

It turned out to be very fortunate . . .

It made me grow a lot as a person. . . .

It was a gift. . . . It made me a deeper person.”

[Rudy Guiliani, about having prostate cancer]

Resilience

Definitions:

“The ability to withstand and rebound from disruptive life challenges.” (Walsh, 2003)

“The ability to ‘bounce back’ from adversity, to overcome negative influences that often block achievement.” (Glick, 1994)

Resilience is learnable

“We do know there are factors that make some people resilient. There are genetic components to it, but there’s a huge learning component. People can train themselves to be more resilient.” –Dr. Steven Southwick, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, deputy director of the Clinical Neurosciences Division of the National Center for PTSD

“Facing Combat Without Stress? Researchers Examine Most Resilient Soldiers,” VA (Veterans Administration) News Flash, August 26, 2007, http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/ nfAUG07/nf082607-7.htm

Resilience research findings20 years of resilience research shows that many

children from highly dysfunctional families and very poor communities do well as adults

This finding applies to children who experience divorce, children who live with stepparents, children who have lost a sibling, children who have ADD or suffer from developmental delays and children who have become delinquent or run away

Source: Glicken, M. (2006) Learning from Resilient People. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Resilience research findings 1/3 of the high-risk children (those born into poverty and

raised with parental pathology, family discord and poor child-rearing conditions) followed for many years on Kauai by Emily Werner grew up to become competent, caring and confident adults

3 factors: Individual: affectionate and good-natured as infants; outgoing,

active, autonomous, bright and possessing positive self-concepts in middle childhood and adolescence

Family: close bonds with at least one nurturing, competent and emotionally-stable parent

Community: support and counsel from peers and elders in the community

Source: Werner, Emily & Smith, R. (1992). Overcoming the Odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Positive emotions help resilience

Frederickson and colleagues found that people who experienced more positive emotions coped better and recovered more quickly from the trauma of the 9/11 attacks.

Fredrickson, B. L., Tugade, M. M., Waugh, C. E., & Larkin, G. (2003). “What good are positive emotions in crises?: A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 365-376.

Skills of resilient people Better coping skills Positive social functioning Present and future orientation Ability to be invisible (avoid traumatic situations

and distance themselves emotionally) Optimism Higher aspirations (educationally and

extracurricularly) Self-responsibility Desire to help others Humor CreativitySource: Glicken, M. (2006) Learning from Resilient People.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Resilience references

Masten, A. S. (2001). “Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development,” American Psychologist, 56, 227-238.

Reivich, K. & Shatte, A. (2003). The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life’s Hurdles. NY: Broadway Books.

Yates, J. & Masten, A. S. (2004). “Fostering the future: Resilience theory and practice of positive psychology,” In P.A. Linley and S. Joseph (Eds.) Positive Psychology in Practice, pp. 521-539. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Resilience

“Resilience is often the most commonly observed outcome trajectory following exposure to a potentially traumatic event.” [G. A. Bonnano, C. Rennicke and S. Dekel. (2005). “Self-enhancement among high-exposure survivors of the September 11th Terrorist Attack: Resilience or Social Maladjustment?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88:984-988.]

Resilience

Bonnano, G.A. et. Al. (2002). “Resilience to Loss and Chronic Grief: A prospective study from pre-loss to 18-months post-loss,” Journal of Social Issues, 83:1150-64.

Tedeschi, R. G. and Calhoun, I.G. (2004). “Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence,” Psychological Inquiry, 15:1-18.

Linley, P.A. and Joseph, S. (2004). “Positive Change Following Trauma and Adversity: A review,” Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17:11-21.

Carver, C.S. (1998). “Resilience and Thriving: Issues, models and linkages,” Journal of Social Issues, 54:245-266.

Post-traumatic Growth Inventory

Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, an instrument for assessing positive outcomes reported by persons who have experienced traumatic events, is described. This 21-item scale includes factors of New Possibilities, Relating to Others, Personal Strength, Spiritual Change, and Appreciation of Life. Women tend to report more benefits than do men, and persons who have experienced traumatic events report more positive change than do persons who have not experienced extraordinary events.

Ref: Richard G.Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun. (1996).“The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma,” Journal of Traumatic Stress, July, 9(3):455-471


Categories are:

New Possibilities

Relating to Others

Personal Strength

Spiritual Change

Appreciation of Life

The American Psychological Association has this inventory on their website so people can take it:

http://locator.apa.org/ptgi/


Sample statements; rate on a scale of 1-5 how much the trauma or crisis led to this:

I established a new path for my life.

I know better that I can handle difficulties.

I changed my priorities about what is important in life.

New opportunities are available which wouldn't have been otherwise.

I have more compassion for others.

I discovered that I'm stronger than I thought I was.

I have a greater sense of closeness with others.

S.O.A.P.

Appreciationand

Happiness

Appreciation/Gratitude

Two aspects: Acknowledgment and recognition

Acknowledgment:• Noticing• Affirming

Recognition• That the things we are grateful for came in part from

outside ourselves

Source: Emmons, Robert. (2007). Thanks: How the new science of gratitude can make you happier. NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Andrew ClementsBlessed example

Ricky Boone Blessed story

Exercise: Finding/identifying angels, mentors and models

• Who has taken a special interest in you and encouraged you?

• Who believes or believed in you?

• Who has been/is your mentor?

• Who have been your inspirational models?

• Who has blessed you?

• Who has been your angel?

The Gratitude ExerciseAt the end of each day, after dinner and before going to sleep,

write down three things that went well during the day. Do this every night for a week. The three things you list can be relatively small or large in importance. After each positive event on your list, answer in your own words the question: “Why did this good thing happen?”

This exercise was found to increase happiness and decrease depression up to 6 months after the week. [Note: 60% of participants carried on the habit.]

Seligman, M.; Steen, T.A.; Park, N.; and Peterson, C. (2005). “Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions,” American Psychologist, 60:410-421.

Three Aspects of Appreciation1. Highlighting Gratitude to Oneself: Note to

oneself things that one can be grateful for on a weekly basis

2. Savor: Note to oneself or others what one appreciates aesthetically, like a beautiful sunset, a good meal, and so on

3. Expressing Gratitude to Others: Express appreciation to those people one values and is grateful to

Gratitude/appreciation Expressing gratitude has a short-term

positive effect (several weeks) on happiness levels (up to a 25% increase)

Those who are typically or habitually grateful are happier than those who aren’t habitually grateful

Park, N. Peterson, C. and Seligman, M. (2004). “Strengths of character and well-being among youth,” Unpublished manuscript, U. of Rhode Island.

Appreciation/Gratitude Research 1

People who noted weekly the things they were grateful for increased their happiness levels 25% over people who noted their complaints or were just asked to note any events that had occurred during the week.

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389

Appreciation/Gratitude Research 2

Seligman reports a study done by himself and Jeff Levy with people who scored as severely depressed in a depression inventory. Participants were instructed to recall and write down three good things that happened each day for 15 days. 94% of them went from severely depressed to mildly to moderately depressed during that time.

Cited in Authentic Happiness, Seligman, Martin E. P., 2002, NY: Free Press.

Gratitude LettersIn research studies, both initiator and recipient

of a gratitude letter report positive outcomes.

Instructions: Write a gratitude letter to a person you choose, expressing your gratitude and for what and why, specifically, you are grateful.

If at all possible, deliver it personally and ask the person to read the letter in your presence.

If personal delivery is not possible, mail, fax, or email the letter and follow up with a phone call.

Source: Chris Peterson, A Primer in Positive Psychology

Clinical methods of evoking gratitude

When people are dissatisfied or complaining, inquire about things that are going well in their lives

Or bring up bad things that are no longer happening in their lives and ask them to contrast these current troubles with those previous ones

Or ask them about someone whom they know that is struggling with something that is more challenging than what they are struggling with

SavoringSavor: To appreciate fully; enjoy or relish -

American Heritage Dictionary

Pay full attention; engage

Use as many of the senses as you can (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)

Don’t multi-task; focus on what you are experiencing or perceiving

Don’t overdo; savoring diminishes due to the hedonic adaptation if done too much or too often

Share it with others

Three Types of Savoring

Anticipating something good [Future-oriented savoring]

Enjoying something in the present moment [Present-oriented savoring]

Remembering something pleasurable from the past [Past-oriented savoring]

Relational savoring

Ellen Langer and Leslie Coates Burpee found that couples relationships are more rewarding when partners use mindfulness to notice variations in their partners rather than generalizing (“You are always distracted.” or “You are never spontaneous.”).

Burpee, L. and Langer, E. (2005). “Mindfulness and marital satisfaction,” Journal of Adult Development, 12: 43-51.

S.O.A.P.

Purpose/meaningand

Happiness

The Meaningful Life and Happiness

Several studies with older Americans find that one of the best predictors of happiness is whether or not a person thinks his or her life has a purpose. If they had no such sense of purpose, seven out of ten people studied felt unsettled about their lives; if they had a sense of purpose seven out of ten felt satisfied.

Lepper, H. (1996). In Pursuit of Happiness and Satisfaction in Later Life: A Study of Competing Theories of Subjective Well-Being. Ph.D. Dissertation, UC Riverside.

The Meaningful Life and Happiness

College students who enjoyed their lives and studies were compared to those who didn’t. The main difference was that those students who were happier had an underlying sense of purpose in life.

Rahman, T. and Khaleque, A. (1996). “The purpose in life and academic behavior problem students,” Social Indicators Research, 39:59.

Elements of the Meaningful Life

Purpose

Contribution

Engaging work or activities

Finding meaning in suffering

Turning negative or hurtful events into happiness or satisfaction with positive connotations or meaning

What animates your life?

Recognize what brings you alive or animates you

Finding and connecting with the source of your energy and uniqueness

Recognizing and claiming your own voice and sensibility

Howard Thurman

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Finding meaning and purpose from

pain

Patsy Rodenberg

Voice coach for actors and public speakers

Leonard Cohen

There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the

light gets in.

WoundedI thank God for my handicaps, for through

them I have found myself, my work and my God. - Helen Keller

Real suffering burns clean; neurotic suffering creates more and more soot. - Marion Woodman

Wounded/Cursed/Indignation to Life Direction/Purpose

Where have you been wounded?

Where or about what have you been cursed?

What would you like to change about the world or other people?

What would you talk about if given an hour of prime time television to influence the nation or the world?

How can you turn this wound or disrespect or curse into a blessing or contribution?

Contribution and Compassion

It’s Not About You!

Albert Schweitzer

You must give something to your fellow men. Even if it is a little thing, do something for those who have need of help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of giving. . . The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.”

Relevant research

Life satisfaction was shown to increase 24% with the level of altruistic activity in the person’s life.

Williams, A., Haber, D., Weaver, G. and Freeman, J. (1998). “Altruistic activity,” Activities, Adaptation, and Aging, 22:31.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?

Benefits of service

Volunteering can improve self-esteem, reduce heart rates and blood pressure, increase endorphin production, enhance immune systems, buffer the impact of stress, and combat social isolation.

(Research Summary: Graff, L. (1991). Volunteer for the Health of It. Etobicoke, Ontario: Volunteer Ontario.)

Evolutionary views on altruism/service/contribution

Helps your genes survive when you help people who are closely genetically related to you

People are more likely to help you after you have helped them, so doing good to others might help you in the long run

Contribution

U of Michigan study by Stephanie Brown

• 423 older couples- 5 year study

• Couples who reported (unpaid) helping someone else even as little as once a year were between 40 and 60% less likely to die than those who reported not helping anyone else during the previous year

• Examples: volunteering, babysitting for grandchildren; assisting family members

Brown, Stephanie; Nesse, Randolph; Vinokur, Amiram; and Smith, Dylan. (2003). “Providing Social Support May Be More Beneficial Than Receiving It: Results From a Prospective Study of Mortality” Psychological Science, 14:320–27.

I, Me, Mine as a clue to suicide

About 300 poems from the early, middle and late periods of nine suicidal poets and nine non-suicidal poets — from the 1800s to the present — were compared using the computer text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC)

Textual analysis of poets who committed suicide shows more use of the words “I,” “me,” and “mine,” when compared with poets who died of natural causes.

Shannon Wiltsey Stirman and James Pennebaker. (2001). “Word Use in the Poetry of Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Poets,” Psychosomatic Medicine, 63:517-522.

Laura King, U of Mo.

“People who want to live a more fulfilling life should quite reading self-help books and start helping others.”

(quoted in Biswas-Diener, R. and Dean, B. (2007). Positive Psychology Coaching, NY: Wiley.)

W.H. Auden

We are all here on earth to help others;

what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.

The Secret of Happiness

“Find something more important than yourself and dedicate your life to it.” –Daniel Dennett

Chinese wisdom on happiness

If you want happiness for an hour–take a nap.

If you want happiness for a day–go fishing.

If you want happiness for a month–get married.

If you want happiness for a year–inherit a fortune.

If you want happiness for a lifetime–help others.

How to apply this to changework

Help people find their life directions, meaning and purpose by helping them identify the signal(s) that drive them

Help people find activities that contribute to others or the world

Contribution Is there anywhere you could be of service or make a

contribution that would help you make amends or heal wounds?

If you had to name the cause that you feel most passionate about, what would it be?

Become aware of some social injustice or victim situation that moves or touches you.

Every time you experience some recurrent problem, do one thing to contribute to the relief of the victim’s suffering or to righting some social injustice. It may be writing a letter, making a donation of money or time to some charitable group, praying, or some other action you are moved to.

The Three Legs of Happiness

Someone to love

Something to do

Something to look forward to

-Martin Sexton

Egyptian Afterlife Entry Questions

Have you found joy in your life?

Has your life brought joy to others?

Source: The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson

Best Summary Books

Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness

Chris Peterson, A Primer in Positive Psychology

Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness

Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss

Dan Gilbert, Stumbling On Happiness

Resources Journal of Happiness Studies

www.authentichappiness.org

www.pos-psych.com

www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu

www.bus.umich.edu/Positive

www.viastrengths.org

www.centreforconfidence.co.uk

www.psych.uiuc.edu/~ediener

people.virginia.edu/~jdh6n

www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja

89.234.4.50/cappeu/index.aspx

Bill O’Hanlon’s infoWebsites:http://www.billohanlon.comhttp://www.getyourbookwritten.comhttp://wwwbookpublishingpath.comhttp://www.paidpublicspeaker.comhttp://www.yourlifeoffreedom.comhttp://www.getovertrauma.com

Email:[email protected]

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Bill O’Hanlon, M.S., LMFTPossibilities

223 N. Guadalupe #278Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA

[email protected]

www.billohanlon.com

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