PSY336H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Hedonic Treadmill, The Good Life, Duration Neglect
Document Summary
Purpose of posiive psychology: to empirically or scieniically study the good life balance out bau/clinical. Major determinants of happiness: geneics, circumstances, aciviies (behavioural, cogniive, or psychological; 40%) Adaptaion, hedonic treadmill: step of the hedonic treadmill, goal = adapt less slowly, engage in aciviies which aren"t as subject to adaptaion. Major themes in this course: process not state, respect individual diferences, consciousness (contents of our consciousness and how we shape our contents) and mindfulness of how we interact with reality. Looked at year book picture of 114 women from 1958 and 1960. Of the 114, 111 were smiling, duchenne-ness varied: duchenne smile = a full-faced smile, smizing. Taken to relect a more genuine happiness: coded 1-10, m=3. 8. Researchers contacted these women and found that duchenne smiles more likely to be married and have saisfying marriages 40 years later. Happiness expressed at ime 1 predicts saisfacion with marriage (& marital status) 4 decades later.
