 One of the main pillars of Positive Psychology  PSE = how good our mood is based on whether we are achieving things that we want out of life.  Maintaining PSEs can lead to happier moods, emotions, and faster thinking. (hint: don’t take timed tests when sad.)

 PSE indicate the degree to which people are achieving a goal based on what they believe to be important  Example: if people value straight A’s, then achieving them will result in positive feelings about themselves.  Not doing so will result in negative feelings.  Happiness is then based on how well you are achieving anything that you value

 Every situation can have positive or negative influence on our PSE, and this is related to 5 specific factors

 1. Temperament  Inborn qualities that determine how well people interact with their environment  2. Learned Positive Outlook  People can learn optimism and hope through experience; also people get greater life satisfaction when they work for something they value rather than immediate reward (remember the marshmallow study?)

 3. Strongly held values and goals  People with clear goals and making progress towards them are happier  4. Cultural differences  Strong cultural affiliation reports higher PSE (i.e. “I’m a proud Latino!”)  5. Age  With age comes wealth of perspective and experience that colors how they view life situations Older people are more suited to deal with life’s problems; hence why teenagers may think everything is a “life or death” situation

 Understanding the sources of PSE leads to better individuals and societies  People who have positive experiences often:  Contribute more to communities  Have better relationships with others  Are more creative  Excel in sports and academics  Provide leadership and model behavior  Propose new ideas  Are less of a drain on psychological and physical health systems

 100 wealthiest Americans interviewed (Forbes Magazine) (Diener et al., 1985) a. Only a slight difference from the average person  Income in the USA (Myers, 1993) a. More than doubled between 1960 and 1990 b. Percentage of "very happy" unchanged (~30%) c. Similar findings in other countries

 NOT happier (scale 0-5) (Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman, 1978) PastPresentFutureEveryday pleasures Winners Controls Paralyzed

 Forbes Richest Americans5.8 (billionaires)  Amish (Pennsylvania)5.8 (ride in horse carts)  Inuit (Northern Greenland)5.8 (live on frozen tundra)  Traditional Maasai5.7 (live in mud huts)  College students (47 nations)4.9  Calcutta slum dwellers4.6 (dirt poor)  *Calcutta homeless2.9  *California homeless2.9 *Note: high rate of mental illness and addictions among the homeless

Happiness does increase income somewhat (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002) 1. One-way relationship: Income does not significantly increase SWB (above poverty level) 2. Happiness → Income (not Income → Happiness)

 Escalating expectations (habituation, hedonic treadmill) (Chicago Tribune poll, 1987) a. People who earn $30,000 want $50,000 to be satisfied b. People who earn $100,000 want $250,000 to be satisfied  Conflicting demands – Trade off: material gain vs. other aspects of life

 Social Comparison a. Tend to compare ourselves to the wealthiest (affluent people can still feel “poor”) b. Frequency of Social Comparison: 1. Correlates with more negative emotion (fear, anger, shame, sadness) 2. No relationship to positive emotion

More:  Financial problems  Credit card penalties  Debt  Compulsive buying  Emotional  Anxiety  Depression  Stress

Less:  Positive emotion  Life satisfaction  Job satisfaction  Less family happiness  See family as obstacles  4x divorce rate