Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/Positive psychology

Overview
This tutorial:
 * considers assumptions of positive psychology
 * discusses characteristics of self-actualisation
 * explores types of happiness

Take-home messages:
 * Positive psychology assumes that people have a natural motive towards personal growth
 * Several characteristics are exhibited are people who are self-actualised (higher values, autonomy, deep engagement, and quality interpersonal relationships)
 * Happiness can be counter-intuitive – sometimes is it better to not get what you want

Assumptions
Growth psychology is a broad term which encompasses:
 * Humanistic psychology (1950s-1960s)
 * Positive psychology (1990s-)

To what extent do you agree with the underlying assumptions of growth psychology?

Not sure?

Consider these questions :
 * 1) Do you think that "evil" (or anti-social) behaviour is:
 * 2) * inherent in human nature?
 * 3) * a product of a sick culture?


 * 1) How does learning best occur? Does it follow from:
 * 2) * well-developed curricula and expert teaching?
 * 3) * having one’s interests identified, facilitated, and supported?
 * 4) Does psychological therapy work best by:
 * 5) * fixing what is broken?
 * 6) * nurturing what is best?
 * 7) Which answers correspond to positive psychology paradigms? (the 2nd answer in each case)

Characteristics of self-actualisation

 * 1) What is self-actualisation? (Self-actualisation is the fulfillment of your potential; self-actualising in the process of becoming self-actualised).
 * 2) Maslow identified 16 characteristics of self-actualised people which can be grouped into 4 categories:
 * 3) Priority of values like truth, love, and happiness
 * 4) Internally controlled
 * 5) High involvement, productivity, and happiness
 * 6) High quality interpersonal relationships
 * 7) The last three categories map closely to self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). The first category relates to meaning/purpose.
 * 8) Complete this Self-evaluation of self-actualisation (Google Form).
 * 9) Before submitting, make note of:
 * 10) What are you doing particularly well that is helping you towards self-actualisation?
 * 11) What could you improve to better promote your growth towards self-actualisation?
 * 12) What self-actualisation characteristic(s) would you like to share or learn more about?
 * 13) Review class responses

Science of happiness
Since the emergence of positive psychology in the 1990s, there has been a renewed focus on psychological theory and research about happiness.
 * 1) Martin Seligman suggests three components of happiness which he calls the:
 * 2) Pleasant life: Dealing with past, optimism about future, happiness in present (hedonic pleasure and the skills to amplify pleasure). Limitations:
 * 3) * 50% heritable
 * 4) * short-lived, subject to the hedonic treadmill (i.e., pleasure wears off quickly).
 * 5) Good life: Engagement (flow, absorption) or Eudaimonia;
 * 6) Meaningful life: Connection to a higher purpose
 * 7) Dan Gilbert suggests two types of happiness:
 * 8) Natural happiness: What we feel when we get what we want
 * 9) Synthetic happiness: What we feel when we learn to like what we get (instead of what we wanted)

Watch: The surprising science of happiness (Dan Gilbert, 2004, 21:00 mins, YouTube, TED Talk)

Take-home message: The science of happiness is counter-intuitive. People are subject to many biases, including the "impact bias" (i.e., we overestimate the hedonic impact of good and bad events) which undermines our decision-making about how to be happy. But we have a "psychological immune system" which "synthesises happiness" when we don't get what we want.

Recording

 * Tutorial 11 (2023)