WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS? Mindful-Attention Awareness

Transcription

1 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Selective Attention discussion in the Consciousness chapter. Mindful-Attention Awareness We vary greatly in our mindfulness our attending to what is taking place in the present. Below are statements about your everyday experience. Using the 1-6 scale below, indicate how frequently you have each experience. 1 almost always 2 very frequently 3 somewhat frequently 4 somewhat infrequently 5 very infrequently 6 almost never 1. I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until some time later. 2. I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else. 3. I find it difficult to stay focused on what s happening in the present. 4. I tend to walk quickly to get where I m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way. 5. I tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention. 6. I forget a person s name almost as soon as I ve been told it for the first time. 7. It seems I am running on automatic, without much awareness of what I m doing. 8. I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. 9. I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I m doing right now to get there. 10. I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I m doing. 11. I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. 12. I drive places on automatic pilot and then wonder why I went there. 13. I find myself preoccupied with the future or past. 14. I find myself doing things without paying attention. 15. I snack without being aware that I m eating. To obtain your score, add up the numbers before all 15 items. Scores can range from 15 to 90, with higher scores reflecting greater mindfulness, that is, greater attention to and awareness of current experiences. Those with higher scores tend to be more observant of what is occurring both internally and externally. One large sample of undergraduates obtained an average (mean) score of High mindfulness scores are linked with life satisfaction, optimism, and self-esteem. Researchers suggest that mindfulness pausing to savor life s experiences fosters well-being and happiness by adding clarity and vividness to experience. It may also facilitate our choosing behaviors that are consistent with our needs, values, and interests. Source: Brown, K. W. & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, (Scale items appear on p. 826.)

2 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Deprivation of Attachment discussion in the Development chapter. Attachment Styles and Love Relationships A.Read the following three paragraphs and check the one that best describes your relationship with your mother when you were a child growing up. Then do the same for your relationship with your father. Mother Father 1. Warm/responsive: She/he was generally warm and responsive. She/he was good at knowing when to be supportive and when to let me operate on my own. Our relationship was always comfortable, and I have no major reservations or complaints about it. 2. Cold/rejecting: She/he was fairly cold and distant or rejecting, not very responsive. I wasn t her/his highest priority, her/his concerns were often elsewhere. It s possible that she/he would just as soon not have had me. 3. Ambivalent/inconsistent: She/he was noticeably inconsistent in her/his reactions to me, sometimes warm and sometimes not. She/he had her/his own agendas which sometimes got in the way of her/his receptiveness and responsiveness to my needs. She/he definitely loved me but didn t always show it in the best way. Source: Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1986). Parental Caregiving Style Questionnaire. Unpublished. Those infants experiences warm, responsive parents often show secure attachment. About 60 percent of North American infants show this pattern (Hazan & Shaver, 1994). Babies with cold, rejecting caregivers often show avoidant attachment. About 25 percent of North American infants demonstrate this type of attachment. The infants experiencing inconsistent parenting often show anxious attachment. This style, the rarest of the three, averages about 15 percent in North American samples. B. Which of the following best describes your current feelings, particularly as they might apply to present or potential romantic love relationships? Circle 1, 2, or Secure: I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them. I don t often worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me. 2. Avoidant: I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others. I find it difficult to trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I am nervous when anyone gets too close, and often others want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being. 3. Anxious: I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often worry that my partner doesn t really love me or won t want to stay with me. I want to get very close to my partner, and this sometimes scares people away. How closely did your self-assessment match your earlier ratings of your parents? Adult love relationships do tend to mirror early infant attachments. Source: Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Love and work: An attachment-theoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 515.

3 This feature would appear on the page nearby the sexuality discussion in the Motivation chapter. Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is our sense of being competent and effective in shaping our future. It is an important component of well-being. To assess your own self-efficacy, respond to the following statements with a number from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree I will be able to achieve most of the goals that I have set for myself. When facing difficult tasks, I am certain that I will accomplish them. In general, I think that I can obtain outcomes that are important to me. I believe I can succeed at most any endeavor to which I set my mind. I will be able to successfully overcome many challenges. I am confident that I can perform effectively on many different tasks. Compared to other people, I can do most tasks very well. Even when things are tough, I can perform quite well. To obtain your score, simply add up the numbers you placed in response to the eight items. Scores can range from 8 to 40 with higher scores reflecting a greater sense of self-efficacy. A large sample of undergraduates in upper-level psychology courses obtained an average (mean) score of about 31. Gilad Chen and colleagues who designed the scale report that higher scores on their scale are positively related to selfesteem. More generally, researchers have found that those with strong feelings of self-efficacy are less anxious, less depressed, and more persistent. They have a higher need for achievement and are more conscientious. They also live healthier lives and perform better in school. Source: Chen, G., Gully, S. M., Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational Research Methods, 4, No. 1, The scale items appear on page 79.

4 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Types of Reinforcers discussion in the Learning chapter. Consideration of Future Consequences Are you more prone to favor the here and now rather than what s to come? The following scale measures your tendency to consider the delayed consequences of your behavior. Please keep the following scale in mind as you rate each of the statements below. 1 extremely uncharacteristic 2 somewhat uncharacteristic 3 uncertain 4 somewhat characteristic 5 extremely characteristic 1. I consider how things might be in the future, and try to influence those things with my day-today behavior. 2. Often I engage in a particular behavior in order to achieve outcomes that may not result for many years. 3. I only act to satisfy immediate concerns, figuring the future will take care of itself. 4. My behavior is only influenced by the immediate (that is, a matter of days or weeks) outcomes of my actions. 5. My convenience is a big factor in the decisions I make or the actions I take. 6. I am willing to sacrifice my immediate happiness or well-being in order to achieve future outcomes. 7. I think it is important to take warnings about negative outcomes seriously even if the negative outcome will not occur for many years. 8. I think it is more important to perform a behavior with important distant consequences than a behavior with less-important immediate consequences. 9. I generally ignore warnings about possible future problems because I think the problems will be resolved before they reach crisis level. 10. I think that sacrificing now is usually unnecessary since future outcomes can be dealt with at a later time. 11. I only act to satisfy immediate concerns, figuring that I will take care of future problems that may occur at a later date. 12. Since my day-to-day work has specific outcomes, it is more important to me than behavior that has distant outcomes. Scoring Add up the numbers you have given all twelve items, except reverse the scoring for statements 3 to 5 and 9 to 12 (for which a 1 becomes a 5, a 2 becomes a 4, a 4 becomes a 2, and a 5 becomes a 1). Total scores can range from 12 to 60, with higher scores reflecting a greater consideration of the future consequences of one s behavior. One large sample of college students scored an average (mean) of Researchers have found that high scorers are more conscientious, hopeful, and optimistic. They demonstrate greater concern for their health, including less cigarette smoking and lower alcohol consumption. Those with higher scores are also more likely to be environmentally conscious, as evidenced by recycling, driving a fuel-efficient car, and using a water-saving shower head. Source: Strathman, A., Gleicher, F., Boninger, D.S., & Edwards, C.S. (1994). The consideration of future consequences: Weighing immediate and distant outcomes of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 752, Copyright 1994 by the American Psychological Association.

5 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Emotional Intelligence discussion in the Intelligence chapter. Emotional Intelligence The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test assesses our ability to read the emotions of others.your task is to pick the word (from the four that surround each photo) that best describes what the person is thinking or feeling. grateful flirtatious ashamed confident serious ashamed hostile disappointed joking dispirited bewildered alarmed A total of 30 items appear in the complete test. Although the sample items do not provide an adequate measure of your ability to read the emotions of others, they do give you insight into the unique challenge of tuning into another person s thoughts and feelings. The correct answers appear below. Women tend to outperform men on the test. Simon Baron-Cohen believes that his test assesses empathy, that is, the capacity to put oneself in another s shoes. Empathy fosters sensitive listening and effective communication. It motivates genuine caring and thus may provide the bedrock of human morality. We foster empathy through active listening and by deliberating assuming the perspective of others. Correct answers: flirtatious, confident, serious Source: Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste,Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Revised Edition: A Study with Normal Adults and Adults with Asperger Syndrome or High-functioning Autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 2, pp [Eds: Seek permission for three sample items (#30, #31, and #32) from Dr. Baron-Cohen at sb205@cam.ac.uk]

6 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Happiness discussion in the Emotion chapter. Satisfaction with Life Below are five statements that you may agree or disagree with. Using the scale below, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your responses. In most ways my life is close to my ideal. 7 - strongly agree 6 - agree 5 - slightly agree 4 - neither agree nor disagree 3 - slight disagree 2 - disagree 1 - strongly disagree The conditions of my life are excellent. I am satisfied with my life. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. Add up your answers to the five items to obtain your total score. People in economically developed nations average between 20 and 24. Ed Diener, who designed this scale, reports that high scorers on the scale usually have close supportive family and friends, have rewarding work, enjoy their leisure, and report good health. In addition, they experience life as meaningful and have goals and values that are important to them. People who score between 20 and 24 are generally satisfied with their lives but might move to a higher level by making some life changes. See Close-Up: How to Be Happier on p Source: Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffen, S., The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49,

7 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Internal Versus External Locus of Control discussion in the Stress and Health chapter. Self-control Indicate how much each of the following statements reflects how you typically are. Use a scale from 1 = not at all to 5 = very much I am good at resisting temptation. I have a hard time breaking bad habits. I am lazy People would say that I have iron selfdiscipline. Pleasure and fun sometimes keep me from getting work done I say inappropriate things. I do certain things that are bad for me, if they are fun. I refuse things that are bad for me. I wish I had more self-discipline. 10. I have trouble concentrating. 11. I am able to work effectively toward longterm goals. 12. Sometimes I can t stop myself from doing something, even if I know it is wrong. 13. I often act without thinking through all the alternatives. To score your scale, first reverse your numerical answers to statements 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 13. That is, for each of these items, change 1 to 5, 2 to 4, 4 to 2, and 5 to 1. Then add up the numbers in front of all the items. Scores range from 13 to 65 with higher scores reflecting greater self-control. The average score for a large sample of undergraduates was about Scale authors June Tangney and her colleagues report that those with higher scores enjoy higher self-esteem and are less anxious and depressed. They have stronger social skills, demonstrate greater empathy, and are less vulnerable to alcohol abuse and eating disorders. When they do transgress, they are more likely to take responsibility for their actions. Source: Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72,

8 This feature would appear on the page nearby the Optimism Versus Pessimism discussion in the Stress and Health chapter. Optimism Respond to each statement below by using the following scale: 1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. 0 - strongly disagree 1 - disagree 2 - neutral 3 - agree 4 - strongly agree If something can go wrong for me, it will. I m always optimistic about my future. I hardly ever expect things to go my way. I rarely count on good things happening to me. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad. To score the Life Orientation Test, first change the numbers you placed in answer to statements 2, 4 and 5. That is, for each of these items, change 0 to 4, 1 to 3, 3 to 1, and 4 to 0 (a 2 remains 2). Then add up the numbers in front of all items to obtain a final score. Scorers range from 0 to 24 with higher scores reflecting greater optimism. the average (mean) score is between 14 and 15. Higher scores are linked with a positive mood and higher morale. In fact, optimism is associated with various measures of psychological health including a sense of self-mastery and self-esteem. In contrast, optimism is negatively linked to depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Optimists are more likely than pessimists to pursue important goals, and, when they encounter obstacles, are more likely to persist. Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M.W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67,