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Transcript of 2010 Cognitive Focused Approaches
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Cognitive Focused Approaches 14. Creativity
15 The Role of Personal Control in Adaptive Functioning 16 Well-Being: Mindfulness Versus Positive Evaluation
17 Optimism
18 Optimistic Explanatory Style
19 Hope Theory: A Member of the Positive Psychology Family 20 Self-Efficacy: The Power of Believing You Can
21 Problem-Solving Appraisal and Psychological Adjustment
22 Setting Goals for Life and Happiness
23 The Passion to Know: A Developmental Perspective
24 Wisdom: Its Structure and Function in Regulating SuccessfulLife Span Development
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14. Creativity
People are almost universal in their appreciation of creativity.
Rarely is creativity perceived as a negative quality for a person to possess.
Creative behavior: It is almost in all societies appreciated.
³creative genius.´ such as Aristotle, Descartes Shakespeare
and Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, Architects etc.
Although several psychologists/ perspectives touched upon
this topic, the one who deserves more credit than any other for
emphasizing creativity as a critical research topic is the psychometrician J. P. Guilford (1950). He addressed this issue
as president of American Psychological Association.
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Measurement Approaches :
Creativity must be original.
Creativity must be adaptive.
³adaptive originality,´
lack of consensus on definitions:
First, creativity may be viewed as some kind of mental process that yields adaptive and original ideas .
Second, it can be seen as a type of person who exhibits
creativity
Third, creativity can be analyzed in terms of the concrete
products that result from the workings of the creative
process or person .
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Guilford (1967), who began by proposing a profounddistinction between two kinds of thinking.
Convergent thought involves the convergence on a single
correct response, such as characteristic of most aptitudetests, like those that assess intelligence.
Divergent thought, in contrast, entails the capacity togenerate many alternative responses, including ideas of
considerable variety and originality.Guilford and others have devised a large number of tests purported to measure the capacity for divergent thinking (e.g., Torrance, 1988; Wallach & Kogan, 1965). Typical is the
Alternate Uses test, in which the subject must come up withmany different ways of using a common object, such as a paper clip or brick.
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The creative person
Creative individuals tend to be independent ,
nonconformist, unconventional; they also tend to have wide
interests, greater openness to new experiences, and a more
conspicuous (noticeable) behavioral and cognitive
flexibility and boldness (Simonton, 1999a). The personality contrasts between creative and noncreative
individuals may partially reflect significant differences in
their biographical characteristics, including family
background, educational experiences, and career activities.(heredity & environmental factors)
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One approach is to simply ask individuals to identify
what they would consider samples of their creative
activities, such as poems, paintings, and projects.
Another approach is to have research participants
generate creative products under controlled
laboratory conditions and then have these productsevaluated by independent judges
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Psychological Disorder:
One of the oldest debates in the study of creativity
is the ³mad-genius controversy´ (Prentky, 1980). Asfar back as Aristotle, thinkers have speculated thatoutstanding creativity is associated with psychopathology.
On the other hand, creative individuals often havecharacter traits, such as high ego strength,(Rule-conscious, dutiful, conscientious, conforming,moralistic, settled, rule bound -High Super Ego
Strength) which are not found in clinical populations(Barron, 1969; Eysenck, 1995).
Humanistic psychologists, in particular, tend to see
creativity as a symptom of mental health, not illnesse. . Maslow 1959 Ma 1975 .
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The Nature-Nurture Issue
Is creativity born or made, or some combination of
the two?
Galton (1869) introduced this question in his book
Hereditary Genius, and he later coined the terms
nature and nurture in his book
English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture
(1874).
Specific Congruency of Nature-Nurture(Eysenck,1995)
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Small-c Versus Big-C Creativity
Small-c creativity enhances everyday life andwork with superior problem-solving skills
Whereas big-C creativity makes lasting
contributions to culture and history. In the first case, we are speaking of the
creative person, whereas in the latter case we
are talking about the creative genius.
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Practical applications
Children are naturally creative.
The view of creative development is consistent with
creative adults¶ tendencies to exhibit childlike traitssuch as openness to experience, playfulness, andrich imagination (Feist, 1998).
However it should be emphasized that many of the
personal attributes contributing to adult creativityhave respectable heritability coefficients, therebysignifying that environmental influences may play aminor role
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Future Directions
the genetic basis of individual differences in
creativity, using the latest theoretical andmethodological advances in behavior genetics
Second, the psychological study of creativity would be greatly strengthened by a comprehensive and
precise theoretical framework. It is not that the fieldlacks theoretical perspectives. but no single theoryhas emerged as the consensual one in the field.
Third, practical new methods are needed for enhancing both personal and societal creativity.
The psycho economic theories stress ³investment inhuman capital´ or human assets.
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The Role of Personal Control in Adaptive Functioning
Perceived control is particularly relevant to the positive focus on the ability to find a meaningful life
even in difficult circumstances.
Frankl (1963) reports that those who were able tokeep this sense of self effectiveness were more likely
to survive the harsh prison environment.
Humans stand out for their exceptional success notonly at survival but also in learning how to control
their environment.
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A person¶s self-assessment of the ability to exertcontrol is called perceived control ² the judgment thone has the means to obtain desired outcomes and toavoid undesirable ones.
one¶s sense of personal control has positiveimplications for emotional well-being, for the
likelihood that action will be taken, for physical healtand for general adaptive functioning.
Perceptions of control also are advantageous becausethey may prompt individuals to take action and avoid
stressful situations. In summary, perceived control is beneficial because i
is associated with positive emotions, leads to active problem solving, reduces anxiety in the face of stress,and buffers a ainst ne ative h siolo ical res onses.
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If one intends an outcome and can see a connection
between one¶s action and the outcome, then
judgments of control will be high. the cognitive processes by which control is
estimated appear to be biased toward control
overestimation.
Thompson and Wierson (2000) suggest that people
use at least three strategies to maintain control
even in difficult circumstances, including
changing to goals that are reachable in the currentsituation, (alternate goals will be able to maintain a
sense of control).
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Creating new avenues for control, e.g. chronically illindividuals can influence the course of their illness byobtaining extensive medical information, getting good
medical care, following the course of treatment, reducingstress in their lives, improving overall fitness through dietand exercise, and investigating alternate types of treatment.
Accepting current circumstances
Primary control is the same as perceived control as it isdefined in this chapter: the perception that one can getdesired outcomes.
Secondary control involves accepting one¶s lifecircumstances as they are, instead of working to change
them.
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Acceptance can be achieved in a variety of ways, includingfinding benefits and meaning in the loss and in one¶s lifesituation. Even in an overall negative experience, many
individuals are able to find some benefits or advantages intheir situation For example, some stroke patients report thattheir stroke has helped them appreciate life and their spouseand that they have grown from the experience (Thompson,1991).
Acceptance increases a sense of control because it helps people feel less like helpless victims and reduces thediscrepancy between desired and achieved outcomes.
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Measuring Perceptions of Control
(a) locus of control, which is the perception that most people¶s outcomes are influenced by personal action(internal) versus out side forces or other people(external),
(b) self efficacy, which refers to the belief that one
personally has the ability to enact the actions that arenecessary to get desired outcomes.
Perceived control is the combination of an internallocus (i. e., outcomes depend on personal action) andself-efficacy (i. e., I have the skills to take effectiveaction).
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Interventions to Increase Control
Cunningham, et. al (1991) instructed cancer patientsin a psycho educational program with weekly 2hour
sessions that included learning coping skills,
relaxation, positive mental imagery, stress control,
cognitive restructuring, goal setting, and lifestylechange. After the program, participants had higher
perceptions of self efficacy, which, the authors
suggest, led to their ability to exert control,improved mood, and improved relationships with
others.
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Slivinske and Fitch (1987) tested a comprehensive
control-enhancing intervention for elderly
individuals that focused on enhanced responsibility,stress management, physical fitness, and spirituality.
In a study by Hazaree singh and Bielawski (1991),
one group of student teachers received cognitive
self-instruction training (positive self-talk) and saw
models who took responsibility for their behavior .
Compared with another group that did not get this
training, the student teachers who received self-instruction and modeling perceived themselves as
being in more control in classroom settings.
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Well-Being: Mindfulness Versus PositiveEvaluation
Positive or negative evaluation, leads to our happiness or unhappiness.
Mindfulness is a flexible state of mind ² an openness to
novelty, a process of actively drawing novel distinctions. When we are mindful, we become sensitive to context and
perspective.
we are situated in the present, our behavior may be guided
rather than governed by rules and routines. Mindfulness is not vigilance or attention when what is
meant by those concepts is a stable focus on an object or idea. When mindful, we are actively varying the stimulusfield.
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When we are mindless, we are trapped in rigid mind-sets,
oblivious (unaware) to context or perspective. When we are
mindless, our behavior is governed by rule and routine.
mindlessness may come about on a single exposure to
information The context has changed, but our behavior
remains the same. (habitual responses)
Mindless is not habit although habit is mindless. Yet over 25 years of research reveals that mindlessness may
be very costly to us.
Mindlessness comes about in two ways: either through
repetition or on a single exposure to information. (lowmotivation)
e. g. It is learned that horses do not eat meat.
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In different studies have found that an increase in
mindfulness results in greater competence, health
and longevity, positive affect, creativity, andcharisma and reduced burnout, etc. (Langer, 1989,
1997).
Mindfulness can increase, rather than decrease,
one¶s performance. Consider states of ³flow´.
It is a cognitive behavior that is well adapted to the
circumstances of having to react to an environment
that requires quick, decisive action.
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Mindlessness and Evaluation
One man¶s passion is another man¶s poison´,
Evaluation is central to the way we make sense of
our world, yet in most cases, evaluation is mindless.
Example of Frogs.
(Yours geeta)
Often negative evaluations lead us to give up.
³Clothes make the man´ versus ³You can¶t
judge a book by its cover.´
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Consider three different perspectives: (a) bad things
are intolerable;
(b) bad things happen, but if we just hold on, theywill pass; and
(c) bad things are context dependent² shift the
context, and the evaluation changes. The Multiple Meanings of Behavior :
Fundamental attribution error : The tendency to
explain others` actions as stemming from
dispositions, even in the presence of clear situational
causes.
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Actor-observer differences: the tendency to attribute our
own behaviour mainly to situational causes but the
behaviour of others mainly to internal (dispositional)
causes.
Self-serving bias: The tendency to attribute positive
outcomes to internal causes but the negative outcomes to
external causes.
We think we know because we know how we would feel
in the same situation. That is, we overestimate how similar
other people are to ourselves. Lee Ross and colleagues
have called this the false consensus effect (Ross, Greene,& House, 1977).
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Regrets
Regret happens under two conditions:
when we are unhappy, and when we obscure thedifference between our perspective at time one,
when we took some action, and when we evaluate
the action we took. Regret is a prediction of our emotions: If we had chosen differently then, we
would feel better now.
it is too easy for people to jump from ³could have
been,´ to ³should have been´ and then there arises
the problem of how could we have been so stupid or
incompetent not to have done it that way in the first
place.
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Blame and Forgiveness ³To err is human, to forgive divine.´ Again, ask 10 people
whether forgiveness is good or bad. All will probably tellyou that it is good. Forgiveness is something to which weshould aspire. The more wronged we have been, the moredivine it is to be able to forgive. Now ask 10 people if blame is good or bad. All will probably tell you that blame
is bad. And yet to forgive, we have to blame. If we do not blame in the first place, there is nothing to forgive.
Discrimination Is Not Evaluation
Mindfulness Versus Positive Evaluation
Surely a single-mindedly positive view is likely to be more beneficial to health and well-being than a mindlessly
negative view. (Langer, Janis, & Wolfer, 1975).
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17. O ptimism
� O ptimism is a generalized sense of confidence about the future, characterized by a broad expectancy that outcomes are
likely to be positive´ (Boniwell, 2006)�O ptimists are people who expect goodthings to happen to them
� Pessimists are people who expect bad
things to happen to them.� Dictionary definitions of optimism and pessimism rest on people¶s expectations
for the future.
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� This grounding in expectancies links the concepts of optimism and pessimism to a long tradition of expectancy-value models of motivation.
Expectancy-value theories begin with theassumption that behavior is organized around the pursuit of goals.
Goals are states or actions that people view as either desirable or undesirable.
The second conceptual element in expectancy-valuetheories is expectancy² a sense of confidence or
doubt about the attainability of the goal value.
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Variations in Conception and Assessment
1. One approach measures expectancies directly,
asking people to indicate the extent to which they believe that their future outcomes will be good or
bad.
2. LifeO
rientation Test( LO
T)http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2006/HelpingHands/LOTtest.pdf
3. Another approach to optimism relies on the
assumption that people¶s expectancies for the
future derive from their view of the causes of
events in the past (Peterson & Seligman, 1984;
Seligman, 1991).
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O ptimism and Subjective Well-Being
O ptimism, Pessimism, and Coping
In the workplace optimists use more problem-focused coping (self-control and directed problem
solving) than do pessimists² (Strutton & Lumpkin,
1992). Pessimists use more emotion-focused coping,
including escapism (such as sleeping, eating, and
drinking), using social support, and also avoiding
people.
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Aspinwall & Taylor (1992) reported that O ptimisticstudents engaged in more active coping and less
avoidance coping than did pessimistic students. Avoidance coping related to poorer adjustment;
active coping related (separately) to better adjustment.
O ptimists turn toward acceptance in uncontrollablesituations, whereas pessimists turn more to the useof active attempts at denial. Although both tactics
seem to reflect emotion-focused coping, there areimportant differences between them.
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Some people are more vulnerable to suicide than
others. It is commonly assumed that depression is
the best indicator of suicide risk. But pessimism (asmeasured by the Hopelessness scale) is actually a
stronger predictor of this act, the ultimate
disengagement from life (Beck, et. al 1985) Pessimists`3ps
Personal
Permanent Pervasive
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Promoting Well-Being
Shepperd, et. al (1996) found optimism related togreater success in lowering levels of saturated fat, body fat, and an index of overall coronary risk.O ptimism also related to increases in exercise acrossthe rehabilitation period.
Pessimism and Health-Defeating Behaviors Pessimism can lead people into self defeating
patterns. The result can be less persistence, moreavoidance coping, health damaging behavior, and
potentially even an impulse to escape from lifealtogether. With no confidence about the future, theremay be nothing left to sustain life (Carver & Scheier,1998).
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Is O ptimism Always Better Than Pessimism?
Chesney, and Tipton (1995) studied the extent towhich adolescent girls at risk for HIV infection
sought out information about HIV testing and agreed
to be tested. Those higher in optimism were less
likely to expose themselves to the information andwere less likely to follow through with an actual test
than those lower in optimism (Perkins,et. al, 1993).
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Do not encourage optimsim when the cost of
failure is high
Downside of optimism µIt can¶ happen to me¶
thinking is associated with an underestimation
of risks, and so optimists get themselves intorisky situations (Peterson & Park, 2003)
O ptimists see themselves as below average for
such occurrences as cancer and heart disease
(e.g. Peterson & de Avila, 1995; Peterson &
Vaidya, 2001)
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Balanced PerspectiveThere are downsides of
extreme optimism and
extreme pessimism
³optimism is a
wonderful motivator
but it needs to be wed
to reality,´ (Reivich)
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Can Pessimists Become O ptimists?
O ptimism relates both to neuroticism and to
extraversion, and both are known to be geneticallyinfluenced. (Scheier et al., 1994), it may be that the
observed heritability of optimism reflects these
associations.
Erikson (1968) held that infants who experience the
social world as predictable develop a sense of ³ basic
trust,´ whereas those who experience the world as
unpredictable develop a sense of ³basic mistrust.´
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Insecurity of adult attachment is related to
pessimism. This suggests that optimism may derive
in part from the early childhood experience of secure attachment (Snyder, 1994).
If pessimism is that deeply embedded in a person¶s
life, can it be changed?
Role of cognitive-behavioral therapies.
Personal efficacy training.
The focus of such procedures is on increasing
specific kinds of competence (e. g., by assertiveness
training or social skill training).
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Training in problem solving, selecting and defining
obtainable Sub goals, and decision making improves
the ways in which a person handles a wide range of everyday situations.
The tendency must be countered by establishing
realistic goals and identifying which situations must
be accepted rather than changed. The person must
learn to relinquish unattainable goals and set
alternative goals to replace those that cannot be
attained ( Schulz, 2000).
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18. O ptimistic Explanatory style
Explanatory style, how people habitually explain thecauses of events that occur to them.
History: From Learned Helplessness (Skinner`s Dog
experiment) to Explanatory Style
Researchers immobilized (powerless) a dog and
exposed it to a series of electric shocks that could be
neither avoided nor escaped.
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This behavior was in marked contrast to that of dogs
in a control group, which reacted vigorously to the
shock and learned readily how to turn it off.
Response-outcome independence was represented
cognitively by the dogs as an expectation of future
helplessness that was generalized to new situationsto produce a variety of motivational, cognitive, and
emotional deficit
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Human Helplessness
First, More generally, people differ from animals in
our sophistication of assigning meaning to events. Rothbaum, et. al(1982) suggested that there are
circumstances in which passivity, withdrawal, and
submissiveness among people are not prima facie
evidence of diminished personal control; rather,
these reactions may represent alternative forms of
control achieved by cognitively aligning oneself
with powerful external forces.
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A second asymmetry is what can be termed
vicarious helplessness. Problem-solving difficulties
can be produced in people if they simply seesomeone else exposed to uncontrollability (Brown &
Inouye, 1978).
A third difference is that small groups of people
can be made helpless by exposure to uncontrollable
events. So, when a group works at an unsolvable
problem, it later shows group problem-solving
deficits relative to another group with no previousexposure to uncontrollability (Simkin, 1983).
Pete s et l (1993) sed th ee f m l ite i ith
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Peterson et al. (1993) proposed three formal criteria withwhich to judge the goodness of an application:
1. O bjective non contingency : Learned helplessness is present only when there is no contingency between actionsand outcomes.
2. Cognitive mediation : Learned helplessness also involvesa characteristic way of perceiving, explaining, andextrapolating contingencies. The helplessness model
specifies cognitive processes that make helplessness moreversus less likely following uncontrollable events.
3. Cross-situational generality of passive behavior
( mediating variables) Does the individual give up and failto initiate actions.
Other consequences : cognitive retardation, low self-esteem,sadness, reduced aggression, immuno suppression, and physical illness.
Att ib ti l R f l ti d
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Attributional Reformulation andExplanatory Style
Internal vs. External (³it¶s all my fault´),
Unstable vs. stable (³it¶s going to lastforever´)
Global vs. specific (³it¶s going to
undermine everything´) An explanatory style characterized by
internal, stable, and global explanationsfor bad events has been described as pessimistic, and the opposite style,characterized by external, unstable, andspecific explanations for bad events, has
been described as optimistic (Buchanan
f l l ib i l l
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Measures of Explanatory Style: Attributional Style
Questionnaire (ASQ).
In the ASQ, respondents are presented withhypothetical events - ³the one major cause´ of each
event if it were to happen (Peterson et al., 1982).
CAVE (an acronym for Content Analysis of
Verbatim Explanations), which allows written or
spoken material to be scored for naturally occurring
causal explanations (Peterson, et. al, 1992).
A something happens
B belief about something
C emotional reaction to the belief
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Origins of Explanatory Style: (about 8 years)
Genetics: Schulman, et. al (1993) found that the
explanatory styles of monozygotic twins were morehighly correlated than the explanatory styles of dizygotic twins (r = .48 vs. r = .00). This findingdoes not mean that there is an optimism gene.
Parents: Researchers have explored the relationship between the explanatory styles of parents and their offspring.
Simple modeling (Bandura 1977) parents¶ interpretation of their children¶s behaviors.
P B h d t l (1993) f d th t hild ( d 8 t
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Perez-Bouchard, et. al (1993) found that children (aged 8 to14) of substance abusers were more likely to have a pessimistic explanatory style than children of parents
without a history of substance abuse. (Home environment) Teachers : As teachers administer feedback about children¶s
performance, their comments may affect children¶sattributions about their successes and failures in the
classroom. Television¶s proclivity for ruminating in its news coverage
compounds a tendency to magnify stories of violence in aself-serving way that may slant factual presentation(Levine,1977).
Trauma
Trauma also influences the explanatory style of children.
Di ti f F t R h
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Directions for Future Research:
Explanatory Style as Positive Psychology :Thecurrent stage in learned helplessness research beganwith the reframing of explanatory style by Seligman(1990) in his book Learned O ptimism, where hedescribed how his lifelong interest into what can go
wrong with people had changed into an interest inwhat can go right
Attention to Outcome Measures
Attention to Mechanisms
The mechanism that lead from explanatory style tothese outcomes.
Psychological and biological mechanisms for
humans
P t (1988) f d th t ti i ti l t
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Peterson (1988) found that an optimistic explanatorystyle was associated with a variety of healthy practices, such as exercising, drinking in
moderation, and avoiding fatty foods. In one of recent studies of optimistic explanatory
style and physical well-being, studied 1,000
individuals over almost 50 years (Peterson, at. al1998). Pessimistic individuals had an increasedlikelihood of early death, and the large sample sizemade it possible to investigate associations between
explanatory style and death from different causes. Accidental deaths are not random. ³Being in the
wrong place at the wrong time´
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19. Hope theory
Some psychologists ask people to talk about their
goal-directed thoughts.
Recall the previous view of hope as ³the perception that
one can reach desired goals´;
Two components of goal-directed thought² pathwaysand agency.
One can find pathways to desired goals and become
motivated to use those pathways (Agency).
We also proposed that hope, so defined, serves to
drive the emotions and well-being of people.
( hint: experiential/ insightful intelligence)
G l
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Goals :
We begin with the assumption that human actions
are goal directed.
Accordingly, goals are the targets of mental action
sequences, and they provide the cognitive
component that anchors hope theory (Snyder,
1994a, 1994c, 1998b). Goals may be short or long-term, but they need to
be of sufficient value to occupy conscious thought.
Pathways:
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Pathways:
Thinking In order to reach their goals, people mustview themselves as being capable of generating
workable routes to those goals.This process, which we call pathways thinking,
signifies one¶s perceived capabilities at generatingworkable routes to desired goals.
The production of several pathways is importantwhen encountering impediments (obstacle), andhigh-hope persons perceive that they are facile(too easy) at finding such alternate routes;moreover, high-hope people actually are veryeffective at producing alternative routes (Irving, et.al. 1998)
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Agency:
Thinking :The motivational component in hope
theory is agency² the perceived capacity to useone¶s pathways so as to reach desired goals.
Agentic thinking reflects the self-referential
thoughts about both starting to move along a
pathway and continuing to progress along that
pathway.
We have found that high-hope people embrace
such self-talk agentic phrases as ³I can do this´and ³I am not going to be stopped´
Adding Pathways and Agentic Thinking:
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Adding Pathways and Agentic Thinking:
It is important to emphasize that hopeful thinking
necessitates both the perceived
Capacity to envision workable routes and goal-
directed energy.
Thus, hope is ³a positive motivational state
that is based on an interactively derived sense of
successful (1) agency (goal-directed energy) and (2)
pathways (planning to meet goals)´
Hope, Impediments (obstacle), and Emotion:
It is proposed that goal-pursuit cognitions cause
emotions. ( cognition emotion )
Full Hope Model
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Outcomesvalues
Pathways thoughts
AgencyThoughts
Goal
Behaviour
Pathwaysthoughts
AgencyThoughts
Learning history Pre event Event sequence
Individual Differences Scales Derived From
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Individual-Differences Scales Derived Fr om
Hope Theor y;
Trait Hope Scale:
The adult Trait Hope Scale (Snyder, et.al., 1991)
consists of four agency, four pathways, and four
distracter items.
State Hope Scale:
The State Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1996) has
three agency and three pathways items in which
respondents describe themselves in terms of
how they are ³right now.´
Children¶s Hope Scale:
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Children s Hope Scale:
The Children¶s Hope Scale (for ages 8 to 16) (Snyder,Hoza, et al., 1997) comprises three agency and threepathways items.
Similarities Between Hope Theor y and Other Positive Psychology Theories:
Optimism: Seligman`s optimistic attributional style is thepattern of external, variable, and specific attributions for failures instead of internal, stable, and global attributes
that were the focus in the earlier helplessness model. In hope theory, however, the focus is on reaching
desired future positive goal-related outcomes, withexplicit emphases on the agency and pathways thoughtsabout the desired goal.
In both theories, the outcome must be of highimportance, although this is emphasized more in hopetheory.
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Self -Efficacy: Bandura According to Bandura (1982,
1997), for self efficacy to be activated, a goal-related
outcome must be important enough to capture attention.
This premise is similar to that held in hope theory.
Although psychologists have deviseda trait measure
of self-efficacy.
Self -Esteem Hewitt (1998) concludes that self-esteem reflects the
emotions flowing from persons¶ appraisals of their overall
effectiveness in the conduct of their lives. In the words of
Cooper smith (1967), ³Self-esteem is the personal judgment of worthiness´ .
I bl l i th th ¶ id tifi ti f
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In problem-solving theory, the person¶s identification of adesired goal (a problem solution) is explicitly noted, and itis assumed implicitly that an important goal is involved .
Significant positive correlations (r of .40 to .50) have beenfound between hope and problem solving (Snyder, Harris,et al., 1991).
Impor tance f or Academics: Academics Learning andperforming well in educational settings are important
avenues for thriving (flourishing) in American society. By applying hopeful thinking, students should enhance
their perceived capabilities finding multiple pathways todesired educational goals, along with the motivations topursue those goals. Also, through hopeful thinking,
students should be able to stay ³on task´ and not beblocked by interfering self-deprecatory (apologetic/critical)thoughts and negative emotions (Snyder, 1999a).e.gMana Ke ««««.
Hope relates to higher achievement test scores in
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Hope relates to higher achievement test scores inschool children and higher semester grade pointaverages in college students.
In a 6year longitudinal study, Hope Scale scorestaken at the beginning of students¶ very firstsemester in college predicted higher cumulativegrade point average and graduation rate, as well
as lower attrition as tapped by dropout rate; Imagine the negative ripple (wave/ flow)²lost
opportunities, unfulfilled talents, and sense of failure² that may flow over a lifetime for some
students who drop out of high school or college.So, Hope may offer a potential antidote (remedy).
Given the predictive power of the Hope Scale for
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Given the predictive power of the Hope Scale for
academics, perhaps it also could be used to identify
academically at-risk low-hope students who would
especially profit by interventions to raise their hopefulthinking.
Psychological Adjustment
Hope should bear strong relationships with affectivity, and
we have found that hope is related positively with positiveaffect and negatively with negative affect (correlations in
.55 range).
Furthermore, high-hope as compared with low-hope
college students have reported feeling more inspired,energized, confident, and challenged by their goals
(Snyder, et. al 1991), along with having elevated feelings
of self-worth and low levels of depression
Human Connection:
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Human Connection:
Researchers also have found that higher levels of hopeare related to more perceived social support (Barnum et
al., 1998), more social competence (Snyder, Hoza, et al.,1997), and less loneliness (Sympson, 1999).
They appear to truly enjoy their interactions with others(Snyder, Hoza, et al., 1997), and they are interested intheir goals and the goals of others around them (Snyder,
1994b) Meaning in Life Viktor Frankl (1965, 1992) has provided
an eloquent voice on the ³What is the nature of meaning?´question. To answer this query, he advanced the concept
of the ³existential vacuum´²the perception that there is no meaning or purpose in theuniverse.
Hope for the Many Rather Than the Few
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Hope f or the Many Rather Than the Few
Whether it is a business, city council, state
legislature, or national or international
organization, there is enormous potential in
working together in the spirit of hope.
21. Problem-Solving Appraisal and
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21. Pr oblem Solving Appr aisal and Psychological Adjustment
The research evidence in this chapter will clearly
indicate that how people appraise their problem solvingaffects not only how they cope with problems, but alsotheir psychological adjustment.*
The importance of higher order or meta-cognitive
variables in various cognitive processes.Pr oblem Solving Inventor y
In the PSI, perceptions of one¶s problem-solving abilitystyle, behavior, and attitudes are assessed (Heppner,
1988; Heppner & Baker, 1997). The PSI consists of 35 six-point Likert-type items (1³strongly agree´ to 6 � ³strongly disagree´), with a totalscore and three subscale scores .
The three subscales tap Problem-Solving Confidence (11
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p g (items), Approach-Avoidance Style (16 items), Personal Control(5 items), and 3 filler items.
Problem-Solving Confidence is defined as an individual¶s
self-assurance in a wide range of problem-solving activities, abelief and trust in one¶s problem-solving abilities (generalproblem-solving self-efficacy), and coping effectiveness.
The Approach-Avoidance Style, as the label implies, refers to ageneral tendency to approach or avoid different problem-solving activities.
Personal Control is defined as a belief in one¶s emotional andbehavioral control (thereby reflecting emotional over reactivityand behavioral control; Heppner, 1988; Heppner & Baker,
1997). Higher scores on the PSI indicate a lack of problem solving
confidence, an avoidant problem solving style, and an absenceof personal control.
Summar y of the Pr oblem-Solving Appr aisal
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y g ppLiter ature
Problem-solving appraisal using the PSI has been the focus of over 100 empirical investigations.
Psychological Adjustment
Early in the evolution of this topic, researchers claimed thatproblem solving was linked to psychological adjustment(D¶Zurilla & Goldfried,1971).
In over 50 studies now, researchers have examined the linkbetween problem-solving appraisal and psychological health.We will briefly discuss the literature specifically related to (a)general psychological adjustment, perceived effective (ascompared with ineffective) problem solvers report themselves
to be more adjusted on (a) general measures such as theMinnesota Multiphasic Personality, (b) specific measures of personality variables such as positive self-concepts (c) personalproblem inventories.
For example perceived effective (as compared
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For example, perceived effective (as compared
with ineffective) problem solvers reported having
(a) more social skills (b) less social uneasiness/
distrust/ distress (c) social support.
Thus, there is a well-established association
between positive problem-solving appraisal and
better social and psychological adjustment. (b) Depression the link between a more positive
problem-solving appraisal and lower depression
appears across populations and cultures. (studies
in different environments e. g Prison, on students,on adults with spinal cord injuries and in different
cultures)
(c) hopelessness and suicidal behavior , there was a
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( ) p ,stronger association between problem-solvingappraisal and hopelessness (rs .48 to .62) than
between problem solving appraisal and suicidalideation (rs .11 to .43).
Alcohol Use/ Abuse The proponents of cognitive-social learning approaches propose that individualswho abuse drugs and alcohol do so because they lacka sense of self-efficacy for coping with stressfulsituations. Thus, alcohol and drug consumption maybe their coping strategy for altering feelings of personal inadequacy. Related to this thesis, support
for this relationship between problem-solving appraisaland alcohol/ drug usage emerges in several studies. Itis found a significant linear relationship between morepositive problem-solving appraisal and less alcohol
use/ abuse.
(e) Personality variables, a consistent association
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(e) Personality variables, a consistent association
between a more positive problem-solving appraisal
and lower anxiety . Moreover, a more positive problem
solving appraisal has been related to lower anger andhigher curiosity.
(f) Parental associations: It is found that the more
positively the mothers appraised their own problem-
solving style, the more positive were their preschoolchildren¶s social and emotional development
behaviors, such as more direct coping behaviors in
incest victims.
use of parental punishment in child-rearing
situations.(-r)
Physical Health
Problem-Solving Training Interventions Problem-
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Problem Solving Training Interventions Problem
solving training (PST) has involved teaching (a)
specific component skills (e. g., problem definition
and formulation),
(b) a general problem-solving model; and,
(c) specific problem-solving skills in conjunction
with other interventions. Future Research Directions
22. Setting Goals for Life and Happiness
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22. Setting Goals for Life and Happiness
Thinking: To achieve happiness, individuals mustunderstand their own natures, and especially their needs.
³Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action´
Need ( Maslow`s view)
Values:
It is now necessary to distinguish needs from values.
Needs as such are inborn and they are part of an
organism¶s nature. Values are acquired, that is, learned (Rokeach, 1972).
N d i t if i t f th l
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Needs exist even if one is not aware of them; valuesexist in consciousness (or the subconscious).
A value is ³that which one acts to gain and/ or keep.
It is that which one regards, consciouslysubconsciously, as conducive to one¶s welfare.
The most fundamental of all values are moralvalues² that which the individual considers good or right. A moral code is a code of values accepted bychoice.
Emotions:
Emotions are the form in which people experienceautomatized, subconscious value judgments
(Lazarus, 1991; Locke, 1969). Emotions reflect subconscious knowledge and also
one¶s subconsciously held values and valuehierarchy.
Every emotion reflects a particular type of value
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Every emotion reflects a particular type of valueappraisal.
Fear is the response to physical threat, anxiety to an uncertain threat or a self esteem ;
threat, guilt to the breach of a moral value,satisfaction to value achievement;
Anger to another person doing something heshould not have done,
jealousy to another person having a value onewants for oneself, and so forth.
It should be obvious from this discussion thatsetting priorities in values and goals is critical tomanaging one¶s life, both in the short range and inthe long range.
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Goal setting theory
Difficulty
Specificity
Feedback
Commitment
Self efficacy
Task knowledge
Incentives & personality
Affect work
Blocks to goal achievement:
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It should be clear from the foregoing discussion that goalsetting² which means fundamentally purposefulness² isnecessary for living a successful happy life.
Most people, at some level, seem to know this. Why, then, areso many people unhappy? Three reasons are primary:
1. The most fundamental reason is irrationalism;
2. A second reason is the unwillingness to put forth mental (and
physical) effort² 3 The third reason is fear : fear of change, fear of telling the
truth, fear of being wrong, fear of being different, fear of thinkingfor oneself, fear of failure, fear of the subconscious and of knowing one¶s own motives, fear of disappointment, fear of
disapproval, fear of being hurt, fear of being vulnerable, fear of the new, and fear of standing up for one¶s values.
C l i
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Conclusion :
Goals are the means by which values and
dreams are translated into reality. Happinessdoes not just happen. It has to be earned by
thinking, planning, and the constant pursuit of
values² both in work and in love² over the
course of a lifetime. Goal-directed action is
therefore critical to positive psychology.
Th P i T K
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The Passion To Know
�Stimulus seeking organisms
� Arousal-optimizing organisms
�Competence ±seeking organisms
�Information seeking organisms
�Born to know
�Developmental research reveals that babies are
surprisingly capable learners, as well as energeticand determined pursuers of information.(Schulman1991)
In a television interview, a reporter asked the Nobel
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physicist Richard Feynman what he wanted to knowabout the world. Feynman thought for a moment,
then exclaimed ³Everything!´ (a) identify and classify the phenomena we
encounter,
(b) discern temporal patterns between some of those
phenomena, (c) determine causal relationships behind some of
those temporal patterns,
(d) discover how to enter into the antecedent-
consequent chain and become causal agentsourselves.
The function of intelligence is to gain information ineach of these domains.
Wi d
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W isdom
Toward a Positive Psychology of OptimalDevelopment.
Perfection and Optimality: A Dilemma for
Psychology
On Positive Psychology :The understanding of
three contributors to a good life: positive subjective
experiences, desirable individual traits, and civic
virtues.
Table 24.1 General Criteria Derived from an Analysisof Cultural Historical and Philosophical Accounts of
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of Cultural-Historical and Philosophical Accounts of Wisdom
Wisdom addresses important and difficult questions
and strategies about the conduct and meaning of life. Wisdom includes knowledge about the limits of
knowledge and the uncertainties of the world.
Wisdom represents a truly superior level of
knowledge, judgment, and advice. Wisdom constitutes knowledge with extraordinary
scope, depth, measure, and balance.
Wisdom involves a perfect synergy of mind andcharacter, that is, an orchestration of knowledge andvirtues.
Wisdom represents knowledge used for the good or well-being of oneself and that of others.
Wisdom, though difficult to achieve and to specify, is
easily recognized when manifested.
Psychological Theories of Wisdom: Fr om Implicitt E li it Th i
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to Explicit Theories
Implicit Theories :All conceptions include cognitive as
well as social, motivational, and emotionalcomponents
The cognitive components usually include strongintellectual abilities, rich knowledge and experience
in matters of the human condition, and an ability toapply one¶s theoretical knowledge practically.
A second basic component refers to reflective judgment that is based on knowledge about the world
and the self, an openness for new experiences, andthe ability to learn from mistakes.
Socio-emotional components generally include goodsocial skills, such as sensitivity and concern for othersand the ability to give good advice.
A fourth motivational component refers to the good
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A fourth motivational component refers to the goodintentions that usually are associated with wisdom.That is, wisdom aims at solution that optimize thebenefit of others and oneself.
Implicit Belief s about Wise People: Four Dimensions
1.Exceptional knowledge about wisdom acquisitioncomprehends the nature of human existence triesto learn from his or her own mistakes
2.Exceptional knowledge about use of wisdom
knows when to give/ withhold advice is a personwhose advice one would solicit for life problems
3 E ceptional kno ledge abo t conte t of life
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3.Exceptional knowledge about context of life
knows that life priorities may change during the life
course knows about possible conflicts amongdifferent life domains
4.Exceptional personality and social functioning
- is a good listener
- is a very humane person
Explicit Theories:
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Explicit Theories:
To date, the theoretical and empirical work on explicit
psychological conceptions of wisdom can be dividedroughly into three groups:
(a) the conceptualization of wisdom as a personal
characteristic or a personality disposition
(b) the conceptualization of wisdom in the neoPiagetian tradition of post formal and dialectical
thinking
(c) the conceptualization of wisdom as an expert
system dealing with the meaning and conduct of life,
as advocated in the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm.
Ber lin Wisdom Par adigm
Th t t t hi h thi ti f i d f
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The contents to which this expertise of wisdom refersare the ³fundamental pragmatics of life,´ that is,knowledge about the essence of the human condition
and the ways and means of planning, managing, andunderstanding a good life
First, as is typical for the development of expertise, weassume that wisdom is acquired through an extended
and intense process of learning and practice. Second, wisdom is a complex and multifaceted
phenomenon; therefore, for wisdom to emerge, avariety of experiential factors and processes on microand macro-levels are required to interact and
collaborate.
Third, given that wisdom involves the orchestrationf iti l i l i t l d
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of cognitive, personal, social, interpersonal, andspiritual factors, its antecedents are diverse in
nature. Fourth, because developmental tasks and adaptive
challenges change across life, and the humancondition is inherently a life-course phenomenon,
we expect wisdom to reach its peak relatively latein adult life.
Fifth, we believe that, as with other fields of expertise, the guidance of mentors, as well as the
experience and mastery of critical life experiences,are conducive to individual manifestations of wisdom.
Our paradigm for assessing wisdom comprises
f f
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the following three core features:
(a) Study participants are confronted with difficult life
problems of fictitious people under standardizedconditions. Specifically, they are asked to read shortvignettes about problems of life management,planning, and review.
(b) Participants are then instructed to think aloudabout those life problems, and their responses aretape-recorded and transcribed.
(c) A selected panel of trained judges then rates the
protocols according to five criteria ,that weredeveloped based on the general theoretical frameworkoutlined.
e.g. A 15year-old girl wants to get married right away.What should one/ she consider and do?
The psychometric location of wisdom-relatedf U i d h d ti f
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performance: Unique and shared portions of
predictive variance of measures of intelligence,
personality, and the personality-intelligenceinterface (Staudinger, Lopez, & Baltes, 1997).
The three key findings of this study are :
First, at least 10 of the 33 indicators turned out tobe significant predictors of wisdom-relatedperformance.
Overall, these 10 predictors accounted for 40% of the variance in wisdom-related performance.
None of the indicators alone explained more than18%.
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Interventions
Future directions