AP PSYCH Unit 8B.3 Happiness & Stress 1. What are the causes and consequences of happiness? 2. Is happiness healthy? 3. Are there levels of happiness that we can measure? 4. Why are countries like Denmark so happy and Korea is so sad? 5. Are disabled people happy?
Happiness Happiness has a long list of benefits Feel-good, do-good phenomenon - People are more likely to be helpful when in a good mood. AND being helpful makes us happy. It s a sort of Mobius strip of happiness. Who was happierà Why?
The Short Life of Emotional Ups & Downs Stressful events trigger bad moods. But by next day the gloom nearly lifts away. People usually rebound from bad days to a better than usual day. In the long run our mood tends to balance. Even with health and eminent death problems!
Well-being - selfperceived happiness or satisfaction with life used to evaluate people s quality of life Money can buy some happiness Richer countries somewhat happier than poor Wealth & Well-being
Wealth & Well-being Once one has enough money to provide for their basic needs gaining more and more money will matter less and less. Diminishing marginal utility 2 nd piece of desert less satisfying. The first piece is amazing, but it gets less and less amazing if you just keep eating and eating and eating. Ever had that feeling?
Happiness and Prior Experience Adaptation-level phenomenon - our tendency to judge various stimuli relative to those we have previously experienced. If current income increases we feel an initial surge of pleasure but then adapt to this new level of income and consider it normal Each YEAR teachers want a new raise in income or they get low morale Comparable to tolerance in drug users
Relative Deprivation Happiness and Others Attainments 1.Think about something you have that makes you happy, that makes your life good. 2.How do you feel? 3.Now think about someone you know that has even more of that. 4.Now how do you feel? That was upward comparison 1.Think about something else in life that you are glad you don t have to deal with, a problem that you do not have... 2.Now think about those people that are dealing with that problem, people that have less of something that makes you happy. 3.Now how do you feel? That was downward comparison
Happiness and Others Attainments Relative deprivation - the perception that we are worse off relative to those whom we compare ourselves. When expectations rise above attainments happiness drops. Sports superstar s salary compared to his teammates Have you ever experienced Facebook envy? Also works oppositely, when we think about those worse-off we might feel better
How to be Happier 1. Realize that enduring happiness may not come from financial success 2. Take control of your time 3. Act happy 4. Seek work & leisure that engage your skills flow 5. Join the movement movement 6. Give your body the sleep it wants 7. Give priority to close relationships 8. Focus beyond self 9. Count your blessings and record your gratitude 10. Nurture your spiritual self
Predictors of Happiness Why are some people more happy and more gloomy? Answers vary by culture Genes matter Happiness set point is not fixed over your entire life Happiness: biological, physiological, conscious / thoughtinduced, and emotional.
Stress and Health 1. What is stress? 2. What causes stress? 3. What makes some of us more prone to stress? 4. Can stress effect your health? 5. Can we reduce stress?
The end of HS is very stressful uni app s, activities, deadlines, relationships, family, etc This effects our health how? To study these effects: Behavioral Medicine behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease. Health Psychology a subfield of psychology that provides psychology s contribution to behavioral medicine. A health psychologist would ask: How do our emotions and personality influence our risk of disease? & other stress & health questions Stress & Health
Stress & Illness Ben s story! Outside of AP PSYCH we use the word stress to describe threats or challenges Ben was under a lot of stress & to describe our responses Ben experienced stress For AP PSYCH: Truck ride was stressor (stimulus) Ben s reaction is a stress reaction The process by which he related to the event was stress
Stress & Illness Stress perceive and respond to certain events or stimuli, (called stressors), that we appraise as threatening or challenging Stress can aid us, or hinder us Do you work well under pressure?
Stress Response System Fight or flight sympathetic nervous system response. Withdraw Pull back, conserve energy; when faced with loss or extreme disaster, people become paralyzed by fear EX: how you would act after a loved one dies Tend and befriend respond to stress of loss by nurturing and banding together. Hormone oxytocin is released. oxytocin Men are more likely to withdraw and women to befriend
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Selye s universal concept of the body s adaptive response to stress 3 phases Phase 1 Alarm reaction: sudden activation of the sympathetic nervous system fight or flight. You get ready for phase 2 Phase 2 Resistance: you face the challenge. Body temp, blood pressure, and respiration stay high. Can wear oneself out if maintained for too long. Phase 3 Exhaustion: you are more vulnerable to illness, collapse, or even death Overload, burnout, giving up, fatigue
Effects of Stress People can cope with temporary stress, but prolonged stress can lead to physical deterioration. Severe stress ages people. Presidents have always been evident of this
Stressful Life Events 1 - Catastrophes Unpredictable large scale events that everyone appraises as threatening: War, natural disasters, etc. Following disasters, psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety rise about 17% in the effected area
Stressful Life Events 2 - Life Changes Personal life transitions Moving, new job, marriage, children born, divorce, death of loved one, etc. Young adulthood big time! Result can be more vulnerable to disease A study of 96,000 widows = the risk of death 2X in the week following partner s death. Ever heard of old couples dying close in time to each other?
Stressful Life Events 3 - Daily Hassles Everyday annoyances may be the most significant sources of stress. Over time, little stressors add up to have a major impact on health and well being High blood pressure rates are the highest in areas where people express the least satisfaction with their lives due to stress Is this a problem in Korea?!
Stress and the Heart Coronary Heart Disease the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in North America Stress à Elevated Blood Pressure à Coronary Heart Disease Became the leading cause of death by the 1950 s in North America Along with hypertension and family history, there are now believed to be other behavioral and physiological factors high-fat diet, physical inactivity, elevated cholesterol, stress, and personality
Friedman-Rosenman Study Type A competitive, harddriving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people. Type B easy going, relaxed people 3,000 healthy men ages 35-59 were interviewed, then followed for a time of 9 years 257 men suffered heart attacks. 69% of them were type A. None were purely type B.
Susceptibility to Disease Stress can make us physically sick and inhibit our ability to fight off illness Psychophysiological illness stress related physical illness; hypertension and some headaches Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health.
Psychoneuroimmunology Lymphocytes two types of white blood cells that are part of the body s immune system. B lymphocytes: made in marrow and attack bacterial infections T lymphocytes: made in lymph nodes and attack cancer, viruses, and foreign substances
B lymphocytes T Lymphocytes Macrophage Natural Killer Cells (NK) Psychoneuroimmunology
Psychoneuroimmunology Age, nutrition, genetics, body temperature, and stress all influence the immune system Stress hormones suppress the release of lymphocytes, making it more difficult to ward off infection Stress takes up energy that the body needs to keep us healthy Slowly healing wounds More frequent colds 100+ year olds report good stress management
1. Surgical wound healing time 2. Punch wound healing time 3. Susceptibility to the cold virus 4. People over 100 manage stress well Psychoneuroimmunology
Stress and AIDS Stress and negative emotions correlate with: the progression of HIV to AIDS the speed of the decline of those infected Stress reducing activities have shown to have a positive effect in the treatment of AIDS
Stress and Cancer Stress helps speed up the growth rate of tumors in animals. Studies have not yet found a correlation between cancer and stress in humans. Stress does not create cancer cells.