Difference between revisions of "OCT 30"

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==16: OCT 30==
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==17: OCT 30==
  
 
===Assigned===
 
===Assigned===
  
:*Emmons C23, “Gratitutde, SWB, and the Brain” (17)
+
:*Haybron, C5, “The Sources of Happiness” (24)
 +
:*Csiksentmihalyi, C2, “The Content of Experience’ (17)
  
===Robert Emmons, Gratitude, Subjective Well-Being, and the Brain===
+
===Is There a Secret to Happiness?===
  
:*importance of exchange of gifts, symbolic and materialNote at 471, anthropological explanation.  (Consider complexity of gift giving.)
+
:*Maybe not.  Our work in this unit suggests the following:
:*Broad range of gratitude: from specific feeling about a particular event or circumstance to a general attitude toward lifeFrom satisfying "civic courtesy" to Life as a gift.
+
::* Happiness does depend upon some '''external factors''', what we’ve called “modest good fortune”These are necessary but not sufficient for happinessThey include (for western adv industrial cultures):
:*Definitions:  "positive recognition of benefits received".  "undeserved merit"  Note that it is dependent upon the ''recognition'' of the benefit.  From Fitzgerald (470): appreciation, goodwill, disposition that follows from appreciation and goodwill.
+
:::*Living in a moderately wealthy society with a stable economy,
:*Gratitude can be a "virtue" if understood as a cultivated disposition to recognize undeserved merit.
+
:::*Rights, Basic Liberties, Opportunities
:*Gratitude response is stronger if the beneficiary intends the benefit.
+
:::*Security of various kinds - health, employment, security in old age,
 +
:::*Access to social respect and relationships
 +
::* Within a range from modest to greater good fortune in having these external goods, there are many '''solutions sets''' for achieving happinessThe emphasis shifts from external strategies to internal strategies. Relevant questions include:
 +
:::*Do the major correlates of happiness (Argyle) apply to me?  Should I choose them as strategies? (Career over relationship in my 20s, invest in faith community, etc.)
 +
::::*Examples: Are my needs for intimacy, social status, and meaningfulness similar to the general population?  Do I find meaningfulness in the same ways that most people do?  Generally, how much do I fit the norms implied by the correlates?
  
:*Gratitude as Affective Trait
+
:*The Asymmetry of “greater good fortune” or the asymmetry of happiness makers.
::*grateful people experience more positive emotion. 473  Direction of causation?  If you're happy, you may be enjoying many benefits that allow for savoring and gratitude.
+
::*How sensitive is my happiness to “greater good fortune”?  If I didn’t have X problem, I would be happier, but having it doesn’t preclude my happinessIf I did have Y good fortune, I would be happier, but not having it doesn’t limit my happiness.  Strictly speaking this is paradoxical, maybe contradictory, but there is a solution.
::*other correlates. Hlhealth, optimism, exercising, empathic, prosocial,forgiving helpful, supportive, less materialistic.  
 
  
:*Evolutionary Perspective
+
:*Let’s call this paradox the “asymmetry of happiness makers” (and unmakers).  If something is a happiness maker you would expect it’s absence to be an unhappiness maker.  SymmetricalBut this isn’t always true. '''The reason may be that our subjectivity tilts us toward seeing our actual fortunes as sufficient.''' Examples:
::*"as a cognitive—emotional supplement serving to sustain reciprocal obligations-Simmel (471) "Thus, during exchange of benefits, gratitude prompts one person (a beneficiary) to be bound to another (a benefactor) during "exchange of benefits, thereby reminding beneficiaries of their reciprocity obligations." (Obligations are also bonds.)
+
::*I would be happier if I got tenure or a promotion, but not getting these things doesn’t objectively limit my potential happiness. (Recall tenure studies.)
::*"Trivers viewed gratitude as an evolutionary adaptation that regulates people's responses to altruistic acts. Gratitude for altruistic acts is a reward for adherence to the universal norm of reciprocity and is a mediating mechanism that links the receipt of a favor to the giving of a return favor." Gratitude enacts/promotes reciprocal altruism.  "places us" in social hierarchy defined by benefactor/beneficiary.
+
::*I would be happier if I won an award, but not winning doesn’t objectively limit my potential happiness.   
 +
::*I would be happier if I didn’t have X chronic health problem, but….
  
::*Emmons: gratitude functions include: moral barometer, moral motive, moral reinforcer.
+
:*Why don’t happiness makers (and unhappiness makers) have symmetrical effects?  (Here, Gilbert helps. Language squishing and experience stretching are part of our subjective “immune system”.)
 +
Subjectivity allows us reweave our understanding of our happiness in light of successes and failures.  I think this explains the asymmetry.  More examples:
 +
::*You will probably all be happier if you succeed at your chosen goals, but other goal achievement is equally able to make you happy.
 +
::*Having enjoyed a satisfying career, I can say that it contributed to my happiness, even though other things ''could have happened'' that would have made my life happier.
  
:*Correlates of gratitude: greater LS, hope, less depression, anxiety, envy, prosociality, empathy, forgivingness, less focused on material goods, more spiritual and religious. Later (481) - promotes positive memory bias!
+
:*What conclusion(s) follow:
 +
::*If you enjoy moderate good fortune, your happiness depends upon you and your '''internal strategies''' - getting better at introspection and self-knowledge, managing your affect states, seeking typical states like flow, savoring, and gratitude.
  
:*Gratitude as Affective Trait
+
:*Finally, if this is correct, there is no secret to happiness.  Happiness is about bringing our knowledge of ourselves into line with the many things that we know make humans happy.  It’s more like learning to ride a bike than it is discovering a secret.
  
::*More grateful people experience: more instances of G, more intense G, G over wider range of experience.  (Primed for G every day!)
+
===Haybron, “The Sources of Happiness”===
  
::*Core Emmons and McCullough gratitude research.  
+
:*Acknowledges cultural relativity of what counts as happiness. (Note universality of happiness itself.)
 +
:*Focusing on things we don’t adapt to.  But also that we can change.
 +
:*Haybron’s list (expanding from Ryan Deci’s theory of basic needs)
 +
::*1. Security -
 +
:::*material, social, project, time.  Rational approach to risk.
 +
::*2. Outlook -
 +
:::*the “internal strategy” -external H-makers vs internal H-making skills.
 +
:::*positivity (savoring, gratitude, pos focus) and acceptance (not passivity or low ambition)
 +
:::*caring for others. -volunteering next to dancing in joy. (But maybe not for you?)
 +
:::*extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation. 
 +
::*3. Autonomy - general human desire for self-determination. 
 +
:::*Option freedom v autonomy. (Paradox of Choice - still current)
 +
:::*Makes a case for autonomy as universal - takes diff shape in kin-culture.
 +
::*4. Relationships
 +
:::*Component h-makers: understanding, validation, caring, trust (also a security item)
 +
::*5. Skilled and meaningful activity.
 +
:::*development of skills, meaningful activity (work or not), appreciative engagement.
  
::* Developed the GQ-6 self-rating instrument.  Found some correlates for G, including negative correlation with envy and materialism. Positive with prosociality.  In personality model, G correlates with ExtroversionG-people higher LS, more religious,
+
:*Money —
::*Acknowledge another instrument: GRAT
+
::*shows an Easterlin graph.   
 +
::*income affects H-l more.
  
:*Interventions to Promote Gratitude
+
===Csiksentmihalyi, Finding Flow, Chapter 2 ===
:*Intervention studies:  Gratitude Journals with pre/post testing. gratitutde, hassles, and events conditions, 1. 1xwk 10 weeks, 2. daily for 2wks, 3. in adults with neuromuscular disease. results: higher LS, optimism, lower health complaints, more excercise.  results held up 6 months later.
 
  
:*Some evidence in kids. Some discussion of level of maturity need for Theory of Mind (necessary for taking perspective).  Quasi-experiment in grades 6&7, “hassles group”.
+
====The Content of Experience====
  
:*Why is Gratitude GoodMechanisms.
+
:*Theoretical position, p. 21: In story of woman with two jobs: looking for patterns of human commitment to a lifeWants to ask less for self-reports of happiness and more about the moods and affect that might be functionally related to happiness.  
::*1. strengthen social relationships
 
::*2. counters NA and depression (increases '''positive memory bias''' -- a form of positive illusion by foregrounding a selected reality!)
 
::*3. promotes resiliency (study of responses to disaster)(Recall Bryant discussion of savoring and coping.  Gratitude is a form of savoring.)
 
  
:*Gratitude and the Brain
+
::*Two big points:
::*Cognitive-affective neuroscience construct (What's happening to your brain when you experience gratitude?)
+
:::*1. Happiness is positive emotion that might be driven by behavior. And,  
::*Summary of other research, top of 483: read
+
:::*2. It may be especially evident in a life of commitments and goals which reduce "psychic entropy." (Negative emotions are “entropic” for C.)
::*General hypothesis:  We have structures for both perceiving gratitude in others and expressing it.
 
::*Specific hypothesis:  Limbic prefontal networks involved:  "; (1) the fusiform face-processing areas near the temporal—occipital junctions, (2) the amygdala and Limbic emotional processing systems that support emotional states, and (3) interactions between these two subcortical centers with the prefrontal regions that control executive and evaluative processes." 483.  Like other prosocial emotions.
 
::Specific hypothesis tested with studies of gratitude and mood induction in Parkinson's Disease patients, who have damage to prefrontal networksHyposthesis: PD patients less likely to experience mood benefits of G-induction (by memory recall)
 
  
:*Gratitude and SWB
+
:*Discussion of emotions, goals, and thoughts in terms of the organization of "psychic entropy", 22 roughly, the cognitive / emotive state of order in my mind at a particular moment or during an activity.   
::*Strong claim for long term effects of gratitude as a trait: p. 476 -- participants show SWB boost 6 months later.
+
:*Intentions and goals inform and order our psychic energy.  Most prefer intrinsic motivation, next extrinsic, finally least productive of positive affect is no goal state.  :*William James: self-esteem is a ratio of expectation (goals) to success. Set goals too high, lowers success and self-esteem.  
  
:*Psychological attitudes at odds with gratitude:
+
:*Note distinction between Eastern philosophical suspicion of origin of goals and "superficial reading" that suggests it counsels renunciation of goals.   
::*"A number of personal burdens and external obstacles block grateful thoughts. A number of attitudes are incompatible with a grateful outlook on life, including perceptions of victimhood, an in ability to admit one's shortcomings, a sense of entitlement, and an inability to admit that one is not self-sufficient. In a culture that celebrates self-aggrandizement and perceptions of deservingness, gratitude can be crowded out." 485 (Note again, a potential connection to the discussion of egoism from buddhism.)
 
  
====Option 3: Gratitude and Journal.====
+
:*Three contents of consciousness: emotions, intentions, and thoughts.  Their integration allows for flow.  Concentration is necessary for flow, but can be impaired by lack of motivation and emotion.
  
:*This exercise involves keeping a gratitude journal for a period of three weeks. You don't necessarily turn that in (it's likely to include some personal things), but you do turn in three journal entries (one for each week) based on the guidelines for this exercise from the leading researchers on this, Emmons & McCullough.
+
:*FLOW, p. 29ff.  (What a quiet mind is getting ready for.)
 
+
::*effortless action, being in the zone, altered time consciousness.
::*Your daily gratitude journal is both an occasion for expressing gratitude and reporting moments during the day when you engaged in a gratitude behavior (something more extended or involved than "thanks!")Gratitude behaviors include all of the verbal behaviors by which you can show appreciation to others or in the presence of others for benefits enjoyed. This ranges from telling people ''explicitly'' what you appreciate about what they did for you(examples: call centers, someone correcting you or informing you, someone doing more for you than they had to.) G behaviors can include ''requesting'' a benefit (Could you help me with this?...) that you already intend to be really grateful"I'd be ever so grateful if...."
+
::*clear set of goals, focusing attention.
 +
::*often at limits of skill and challenge level.
 +
::*absorption in task, dynamic feedback. "All in."
 +
:*Theoretical Problem about the Relation of Flow to Happiness:
 +
::*"It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand."  [Theoretical note:  choice of "rather than happiness".  Also could be "causes LS" or savoring model.] Think about place of flow in hierarchy of daily goals. Intensity of flow varies widely from extreme to mundane activityNote related states.
 +
::*Data on frequency of flow experiences, p. 33About 20% yes, often. 15% no, never. (Again, you need to ask how much flow you want or needMight depend upon how you feel when challenged. Ok, to live life staying “inside your game”.)

Latest revision as of 20:12, 30 October 2024

17: OCT 30

Assigned

  • Haybron, C5, “The Sources of Happiness” (24)
  • Csiksentmihalyi, C2, “The Content of Experience’ (17)

Is There a Secret to Happiness?

  • Maybe not. Our work in this unit suggests the following:
  • Happiness does depend upon some external factors, what we’ve called “modest good fortune”. These are necessary but not sufficient for happiness. They include (for western adv industrial cultures):
  • Living in a moderately wealthy society with a stable economy,
  • Rights, Basic Liberties, Opportunities
  • Security of various kinds - health, employment, security in old age,
  • Access to social respect and relationships
  • Within a range from modest to greater good fortune in having these external goods, there are many solutions sets for achieving happiness. The emphasis shifts from external strategies to internal strategies. Relevant questions include:
  • Do the major correlates of happiness (Argyle) apply to me? Should I choose them as strategies? (Career over relationship in my 20s, invest in faith community, etc.)
  • Examples: Are my needs for intimacy, social status, and meaningfulness similar to the general population? Do I find meaningfulness in the same ways that most people do? Generally, how much do I fit the norms implied by the correlates?
  • The Asymmetry of “greater good fortune” or the asymmetry of happiness makers.
  • How sensitive is my happiness to “greater good fortune”? If I didn’t have X problem, I would be happier, but having it doesn’t preclude my happiness. If I did have Y good fortune, I would be happier, but not having it doesn’t limit my happiness. Strictly speaking this is paradoxical, maybe contradictory, but there is a solution.
  • Let’s call this paradox the “asymmetry of happiness makers” (and unmakers). If something is a happiness maker you would expect it’s absence to be an unhappiness maker. Symmetrical. But this isn’t always true. The reason may be that our subjectivity tilts us toward seeing our actual fortunes as sufficient. Examples:
  • I would be happier if I got tenure or a promotion, but not getting these things doesn’t objectively limit my potential happiness. (Recall tenure studies.)
  • I would be happier if I won an award, but not winning doesn’t objectively limit my potential happiness.
  • I would be happier if I didn’t have X chronic health problem, but….
  • Why don’t happiness makers (and unhappiness makers) have symmetrical effects? (Here, Gilbert helps. Language squishing and experience stretching are part of our subjective “immune system”.)

Subjectivity allows us reweave our understanding of our happiness in light of successes and failures. I think this explains the asymmetry. More examples:

  • You will probably all be happier if you succeed at your chosen goals, but other goal achievement is equally able to make you happy.
  • Having enjoyed a satisfying career, I can say that it contributed to my happiness, even though other things could have happened that would have made my life happier.
  • What conclusion(s) follow:
  • If you enjoy moderate good fortune, your happiness depends upon you and your internal strategies - getting better at introspection and self-knowledge, managing your affect states, seeking typical states like flow, savoring, and gratitude.
  • Finally, if this is correct, there is no secret to happiness. Happiness is about bringing our knowledge of ourselves into line with the many things that we know make humans happy. It’s more like learning to ride a bike than it is discovering a secret.

Haybron, “The Sources of Happiness”

  • Acknowledges cultural relativity of what counts as happiness. (Note universality of happiness itself.)
  • Focusing on things we don’t adapt to. But also that we can change.
  • Haybron’s list (expanding from Ryan Deci’s theory of basic needs)
  • 1. Security -
  • material, social, project, time. Rational approach to risk.
  • 2. Outlook -
  • the “internal strategy” -external H-makers vs internal H-making skills.
  • positivity (savoring, gratitude, pos focus) and acceptance (not passivity or low ambition)
  • caring for others. -volunteering next to dancing in joy. (But maybe not for you?)
  • extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation.
  • 3. Autonomy - general human desire for self-determination.
  • Option freedom v autonomy. (Paradox of Choice - still current)
  • Makes a case for autonomy as universal - takes diff shape in kin-culture.
  • 4. Relationships
  • Component h-makers: understanding, validation, caring, trust (also a security item)
  • 5. Skilled and meaningful activity.
  • development of skills, meaningful activity (work or not), appreciative engagement.
  • Money —
  • shows an Easterlin graph.
  • income affects H-l more.

Csiksentmihalyi, Finding Flow, Chapter 2

The Content of Experience

  • Theoretical position, p. 21: In story of woman with two jobs: looking for patterns of human commitment to a life. Wants to ask less for self-reports of happiness and more about the moods and affect that might be functionally related to happiness.
  • Two big points:
  • 1. Happiness is positive emotion that might be driven by behavior. And,
  • 2. It may be especially evident in a life of commitments and goals which reduce "psychic entropy." (Negative emotions are “entropic” for C.)
  • Discussion of emotions, goals, and thoughts in terms of the organization of "psychic entropy", 22 roughly, the cognitive / emotive state of order in my mind at a particular moment or during an activity.
  • Intentions and goals inform and order our psychic energy. Most prefer intrinsic motivation, next extrinsic, finally least productive of positive affect is no goal state. :*William James: self-esteem is a ratio of expectation (goals) to success. Set goals too high, lowers success and self-esteem.
  • Note distinction between Eastern philosophical suspicion of origin of goals and "superficial reading" that suggests it counsels renunciation of goals.
  • Three contents of consciousness: emotions, intentions, and thoughts. Their integration allows for flow. Concentration is necessary for flow, but can be impaired by lack of motivation and emotion.
  • FLOW, p. 29ff. (What a quiet mind is getting ready for.)
  • effortless action, being in the zone, altered time consciousness.
  • clear set of goals, focusing attention.
  • often at limits of skill and challenge level.
  • absorption in task, dynamic feedback. "All in."
  • Theoretical Problem about the Relation of Flow to Happiness:
  • "It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. When we are in flow, we are not happy, because to experience happiness we must focus on our inner states, and that would take away attention from the task at hand." [Theoretical note: choice of "rather than happiness". Also could be "causes LS" or savoring model.] Think about place of flow in hierarchy of daily goals. Intensity of flow varies widely from extreme to mundane activity. Note related states.
  • Data on frequency of flow experiences, p. 33. About 20% yes, often. 15% no, never. (Again, you need to ask how much flow you want or need. Might depend upon how you feel when challenged. Ok, to live life staying “inside your game”.)