🦶
The act of generating, intensifying, and prolonging positive experiences and emotions.
what is savoring
Demoralizing Upward Social Comparisons
The tendency to compare oneself to people who are perceived as superior or better off, which frequently breeds feelings of inadequacy, envy, and lower self-worth.
What is the savouring strategy of "Luxuriating"?
Physically indulging in sensory experiences.
What is optimism?
The generalized expectation that good things will happen in the future.
What is the savouring strategy of "Marveling"?
Experiencing awe and wonder at the beauty around you.
What are flow blockers according to Rian Doris and Steven Kotler?
Distractions, multitasking, lack of clear goals, high stress/cortisol, and fear of failure.
What do savouring, flow, and mindfulness all have in common?
present-moment attention, pulling an individual out of autopilot, rumination, or future-tripping.
What are two common gratitude interventions?
The "Three Good Things" exercise and the Gratitude Visit.
what is the dampening strategy of "Fault-Finding"?
Focusing on what went wrong during an otherwise great event.
A manager receives ten performance reviews. Nine are overwhelmingly positive, but one contains mild criticism. The manager spends the entire weekend agonizing over the single criticism. Which psychological concept does this illustrate?
negativity bias
What are the main research findings linking gratitude to health and wellbeing?
Higher life satisfaction, lower depression/anxiety, improved sleep quality, lower blood pressure, reduced inflammation, and stronger relationships.
What are signature strengths?
An individual's top 3 to 5 core character strengths that are most authentic, energizing, and natural to them.
What are the six virtues in the Values in Action (VIA) classification?
Wisdom & Knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence.
What is the Amplification Theory of Gratitude by McCullough
The theory that gratitude acts as a moral barometer and moral motive, amplifying social bonds, positive emotional capital, and resilience.
What are character strengths?
Positive traits reflected in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that allow individuals to perform at their highest potential.
Give an example of a fixed mindset?
"I failed this exam, so I must not be smart enough for this subject."
What is a growth mindset example?
I didn't do well on this exam yet; I need to change my study strategy and review the concepts I missed."
What are the three key components of mindfulness?
Intention, Attention, and Attitude.
What are the four stages of the flow cycle?
1. Struggle (Loading Phase), 2. Release (Decompression), 3. Flow (The State), 4. Recovery (Consolidation).
What is hope theory according to positive psychology?
Rick Snyder's theory stating that hope arises from having clear goals, pathways to achieve them, and the agency (willpower) to use those pathways.
Hedonic Treadmill (Hedonic Adaptation):
The human tendency to rapidly adapt to major positive or negative life changes and return to a relatively stable baseline of happiness.
what are Thinking Traps
All-or-nothing thinking (black-and-white evaluation), magnifying the negative (filtering out successes to focus on a single error), and "should" statements (rigid rules about how things ought to be).
Inaccurate Affective Forecasts:
the cognitive bias where individuals poorly predict how future events will make them feel, typically overestimating the intensity and duration of both future happiness and future distres
Social Wellbeing:
Quality of Life:
How an individual appraises their circumstances and functioning within society and their communities.
A broad assessment of a person's life conditions, including physical health, psychological state, and environmental context.
What is the difference between trait gratitude and state gratitude?
rait gratitude is a stable personality disposition to notice and appreciate positives across situations; state gratitude is a temporary, transient emotional feeling triggered by a specific event.
Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan)
theory that says wellbeing is achieved when three basic psychological needs are met: Autonomy (control over one's life), Competence (mastery of tasks), and Relatedness (connection to others).
what is Mind Wandering & its Purpose
The human mind naturally defaults to wandering (planning, ruminating, or daydreaming), often leading to dissatisfaction. Mindfulness interrupts this "default mode" by anchoring attention back to the present. Its purpose is to reduce psychological suffering and increase clarity and emotional regulation.
Subjective vs. Psychological: Subjective wellbeing
is based on life satisfaction and high positive affect; psychological wellbeing (Ryff) is based on multidimensional growth, autonomy, and purpose in life.
Broaden and Build Theory (Fredrickson
The theory that positive emotions broaden our awareness and thought-action repertoires (encouraging novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts/actions), which in turn build enduring physical, intellectual, and social resources for the future.
Theory of Sustainable Happiness (Lyubomirsky)
Genetic Factors (Set Point): Accounts for roughly 50% of our happiness.
Intentional Actions: Accounts for roughly 40% of our happiness (what we actively choose to do and think)
Environmental Factors (Life Circumstances): Accounts for only about 10% of our happiness.
How does Ryan Niemiec conceptualize strengths overuse and underuse?
Strengths operate on a spectrum (Golden Mean): underuse is a deficit/lack of expression, optimal use is balanced context-calibration, and overuse turns a strength into a liability or dysfunction.
What characterizes adaptive perfectionism (healthy striving)?
High personal standards paired with self-compassion, intrinsic motivation, and satisfaction from hard work where mistakes are accepted as natural.
What characterizes problematic perfectionism (neurotic perfectionism)?
Rigid, impossibly high standards driven by an intense fear of failure and harsh self-criticism, where self-worth is entirely tied to flawless output, leading to anxiety and burnout.
What are the best mindfulness evidence based programs
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which combines cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness to prevent depression relapse.
what does PERMA stand for
P: Making progress generates positive emotions.
E: Striving for goals requires active engagement/flow.
R: Shared goals foster relationships and teamwork.
M: Core goals give life overarching meaning.
A: Reaching a goal provides the accomplishment factor.
Hedonic vs. Eudaimonic:
Hedonic wellbeing focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain (feeling good), whereas eudaimonic wellbeing focuses on meaning, virtue, and self-realization (functioning well)