REVIEW Health and Happiness

Learning Objectives

Test Yourself by taking a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within the module). Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term memory of the concepts (McDaniel et al., 2009).

Question

34-1 In what two ways do people try to alleviate stress?

ANSWER: We use problem-focused coping to change the stressor or the way we interact with it. We use emotion-focused coping to avoid or ignore stressors and attend to emotional needs related to stress reactions.

Question

34-2 How does a perceived lack of control affect health?

ANSWER: A perceived lack of control provokes an outpouring of hormones that put people's health at risk. Being unable to avoid repeated aversive events can lead to learned helplessness. People who perceive an internal locus of control achieve more, enjoy better health, and are happier than those who perceive an external locus of control.

Question

34-3 How can our self-control be depleted, and why is it important to build this strength?

ANSWER: Exercising willpower temporarily depletes the mental energy needed for self-control on other tasks. Self-control requires attention and energy, but it predicts good health, higher income, and better grades.

Question

34-4 How does an optimistic outlook affect health and longevity?

ANSWER: Studies of people with an optimistic outlook show that their immune system is stronger, their blood pressure does not increase as sharply in response to stress, their recovery from heart bypass surgery is faster, and their life expectancy is longer, compared with their pessimistic counterparts.

Question

34-5 How does social support promote good health?

ANSWER: Social support promotes health by calming us, by reducing blood pressure and stress hormones, and by fostering stronger immune functioning.

Question

34-6 How effective is aerobic exercise as a way to manage stress and improve well-being?

ANSWER: Aerobic exercise is sustained, oxygen-consuming activity that increases heart and lung fitness. It increases arousal, leads to muscle relaxation and sounder sleep, triggers the production of neurotransmitters, and enhances self-image. It can relieve depression and, in later life, is associated with better cognitive functioning and longer life.

Question

34-7 In what ways might relaxation and meditation influence stress and health?

ANSWER: Relaxation and mindfulness meditation have been shown to reduce stress by relaxing muscles, lowering blood pressure, improving immune functioning, and lessening anxiety and depression. Massage therapy also relaxes muscles and reduces depression.

Question

34-8 What is the faith factor, and what are some possible explanations for the link between faith and health?

ANSWER: The faith factor is the finding that religiously active people tend to live longer than those who are not religiously active. Possible explanations may include the effect of intervening variables, such as the healthy behaviors, social support, or positive emotions often found among people who regularly attend religious services.

Question

34-9 What is the feel-good, do-good phenomenon, and what is the focus of positive psychology research?

ANSWER: A good mood brightens people's perceptions of the world. Subjective well-being is your perception of being happy or satisfied with life. Happy people tend to be healthy, energized, and satisfied with life. They also are more willing to help others (the feel-good, do-good phenomenon). Positive psychologists use scientific methods to study human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive. The three pillars of positive psychology are positive well-being; positive character; and positive groups, communities, and cultures.

Question

34-10 How do time, wealth, adaptation, and comparison affect our happiness levels?

ANSWER: The moods triggered by good or bad events seldom last beyond that day. Even significant good events, such as sudden wealth, seldom increase happiness for long. Happiness is relative to our own experiences (the adaptation-level phenomenon) and to others' success (the relative deprivation principle).

Question

34-11 What are some predictors of happiness, and how can we be happier?

ANSWER: Some individuals, because of their genetic predispositions and personal histories, are happier than others. Cultures, which vary in the traits they value and the behaviors they expect and reward, also influence personal levels of happiness. Those who want to be happier can (1) realize that financial success may not lead to enduring happiness; (2) take control of their time; (3) act happy to trigger facial and behavioral feedback; (4) seek skill-engaging work and leisure to foster flow; (5) buy shared experiences rather than things; (6) exercise; (7) get adequate sleep; (8) nurture close relationships; (9) focus beyond themselves; (10) record and express their gratitude; and (11) nurture their spiritual self.

Terms and Concepts to Remember

Test yourself on these terms.

Question

coping (p. 419)
problem-focused coping (p. 419)
emotion-focused coping (p. 419)
learned helplessness (p. 419)
external locus of control (p. 421)
internal locus of control (p. 421)
self-control (p. 421)
aerobic exercise (p. 426)
mindfulness meditation (p. 428)
feel-good, do-good phenomenon (p. 431)
positive psychology (p. 432)
subjective well-being (p. 432)
adaptation-level phenomenon (p. 434)
relative deprivation (p. 435)
sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety.
alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.
the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards.
the perception that we control our own fate.
self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.
the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.
attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.
people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.
the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.
attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction.
a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.
our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.
the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.
the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
Page 439

Experience the Testing Effect

Test yourself repeatedly throughout your studies. This will not only help you figure out what you know and don’t know; the testing itself will help you learn and remember the information more effectively thanks to the testing effect.

Question 11.8

1. When faced with a situation over which you feel you have no sense of control, it is most effective to use (emotion/problem)-focused coping.

Question 11.9

2. Seligman's research showed that a dog will respond with learned helplessness if it has received repeated shocks and has had

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 11.10

3. When elderly patients take an active part in managing their own care and surroundings, their morale and health tend to improve. Such findings indicate that people do better when they experience an (internal/external) locus of control.

Question 11.11

4. People who have close relationships are less likely to die prematurely than those who do not, supporting the idea that

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 11.12

5. Because it triggers the release of mood-boosting neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and the endorphins, exercise raises energy levels and helps alleviate depression and anxiety.

Question 11.13

6. Research on the faith factor has found that

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 11.14

7. One of the most consistent findings of psychological research is that happy people are also

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 11.15

8. psychology is a scientific field of study focused on how humans thrive and flourish.

Question 11.16

9. After moving to a new apartment, you find the street noise irritatingly loud, but after a while, it no longer bothers you. This reaction illustrates the

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 11.17

10. A philosopher observed that we cannot escape envy, because there will always be someone more successful, more accomplished, or richer with whom to compare ourselves. In psychology, this observation is embodied in the principle.

Use image to create your personalized study plan, which will direct you to the resources that will help you most in image .

[Leave] [Close]