Confidence and Well-being Eight Years on:The Centre’s ‘Integral’ perspective

PsychologyTHE SCIENCE OF MENTAL LIFE

Psychology had 3 aims:

Understand genius

How to lead a better and moremeaningful life

Understand and cure mental

illness

Focused ON UNDERSTANDING AND CURING MENTAL ILLNESS

• World War II veterans• Investment in research

Result PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOPED A DISEASE FOCUS

Psychological abstracts 1887 – 2000

* Totals reflect total studies on negative and positive emotions during this period

Result PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOPED A DISEASE FOCUS

Psychological abstracts 1887 – 2000

* Totals reflect total studies on negative and positive emotions during this period

Ratio of imbalance

21 : 1

Deficit Model

Focus on the individualFocus on faults | deficits | weaknessessFixing peopleGetting from -5 to 0

Affects everyday lifelanguage | neurotic | ego | paranoia | schizorotten to the core | bad apple

Concentration on negativity

Deficit ModelPSYCHOLOGY – DOES IT REALLY MATTER

PsychologyWHAT HAS IT IGNORED OR PLAYED DOWN

positive emotionsWhy they matterHow they affect usInfectious nature

positive human characteristicsStrengths and virtuesWhat does it mean to be:kind | wise | self controlled

Professor Martin Seligman

People want more than just to correcttheir weaknesses. They want livesimbued with meaning and to learn howto go from plus two to plus seven in lifeand not just to go from minus five backto minus three.

Positive PsychologyTHE SCIENCE OF LIFE GOING WELL

“

”

Positive Perspective

What is right with people

Virtues and strengths

Focus on flourishing and optimal experiences

Focus on the individual and the collective

In contrastTO THE DEFICIT APPROACH TO CHILDREN GOING INTO CARE

Look at strengths

Focus on coping

mechanisms and building resilience

In contrast TO THE DEFICIT APPROACH IN COMMUNITIES

Identify assets and capacitiesFind out what’s going well and can be built onLook at positive indicators such as happiness and well-being

In contrastTO THE DEFICIT APPROACH IN ORGANISATIONS

Identify what’s going well

Do more of the positive

Think in terms of trust |

loyalty | motivation

Negativity bias

Evolution dictates

The dangers in life

encourage

negative thinking

Fight or flight

Constant danger

Avoid danger

We’re hard-wired to respond to fear

The negativity bias in everyday life Tendency to remember

negative actions rather thanpositive actions

People care more

about losingthan winning

More aware of threats

than

opportunities

The negativity bias in everyday life

Bad news makes more of an impactthan good news

Pay more attention to

criticism than praise

Individual differencesMARY POPPINS | GRUMPY OLD MEN

Some people are happy-go-lucky

Others are more fearful and pessimistic

Negative emotions are part of humanexperience

Why positive psychology

Positive emotions are just as important

The importance of positive emotionsTHE BROADEN AND BUILD THEORY OF POSITIVE EMOTION

Unlike negative emotions whichnarrow attention, positive emotionsbroaden our attention encouragingus to see the whole picture

Barbara Fredrickson

“

”

The importance of positive emotionTHE BROADEN AND BUILD THEORY OF POSITIVE EMOTIONEnhance learning and

development

Encourages exploration

Aids creative problem

solving

Helps relationships e.g.

can read body language,

encourages

empathy

The importance of positive emotionHEALTH

The Nun Study

A lifetime study of nuns

who

expressed positive

emotion in their

diaries, lived longer

than nuns who

expressed less positive

emotion

The importance of positive emotionAGING Young men who displayed:

physical healthjoy in livinghigh income

30 years later

93% could still chop woodwalk 2 milesclimb 2 flights of stairs without tiringonly 53% of men who did not do thiswhen young could perform in old age

The importance of positive emotionOPTIMISM

People with a positive outlook livelonger than those who are miserable

A survey measured

optimism in 1000people between 1962 and 1965 andagain 30 years later

Optimists lived 19%

longerOptimists have 50% lower risk ofdeath from all causes

23% had a lower risk of

heart failure

The importance of positive emotionRELEVANCE TO SCOTLAND?Lowest life expectancy in

Europe formen – women not far behind

Scottish effect and

Glasgow effect

Negative trumps positiveExperiencing positive emotion iscentral to people’s lives

Natural for people to be

in a positivemood but negative trumps positive

Equal amounts of postive

and negative- atmosphere will be negative

Ratio of 3:1

Negative emotions are important

If they are supressed they will have an adverseeffect

We need to learn to control the ancient reptilian brain...

...or it will control us

Learning from other cultures

Buddhismacceptance | mindfulness | meditation

The role of Christianity

New testament - religion of

love

Forgiveness

Compassion

Gratitude

Kindness

Learning from the Amish communityChristian sect in the USA

Live separately from the

rest of the world

Have 10 times less

depression

than the rest of the

world

Cognitive tasks

reduce activation

in the emotional areas

of the brain

Richer but not happier

$20000

$18000

$16000

$14000

$12000

$10000

$8000

$6000

$4000

$2000

$0

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

1956 1963 1970 1977 1984 1991 1998

Personal Income(in 1995 dollars)

Percentage Very Happy

While income has risen - self reported happiness has not

Richard Layard

Our ability to adaptWe are not as affected by external events as we think

Human beings have an

incredible capacity to adapt

This is a very positive

feature but it

does have problems

Adapting also means that..Pleasure diminishes as we get used to things

They just become our

life

Hedonic treadmill

Social comparison

Keeping up with the

Joneses

Researchers have asked people what they would prefer£50,000 a year while

other peopleget on average of £25,000

or

£100.000 on average

while otherpeople get £250,000

People would rather earn less but more than others

Some choice is good but more is not better Time consuming

Dissatisfying

Feeling you’ve made the

wrong choice

Paralysing (often we

don’t choose)

Decreased confidence and increased doubt

Less is more

Happiness buildersINTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SHOWS

Marriage

Social

relationships

Work |

employment

Exercise

The pleasurable life

Presentsavouringspending time with peopledoing pleasurable things

Pastsatisfactioncontentmentforgiveness

Futurehopeoptimism

The engaged life

Flowbecoming engrossed in challenging,interesting activities (home | work | hobbies)

Finding your signature strengths

The meaningful life

Serving a goal larger than selfparticularly using your signature strengths to serve this larger goal

Interior Exterior

Individual I (intentional)Psychology, art, spirituality

IT (behavioural)Physiology, neuroscience, nature, the built environment

Collective WE (cultural)Beliefs, history, religion

ITS(social)Social/economic/political factors and systems

Ken Wilber’s Four Quadrants

A richer and healthier inner life

Increased feelings of hope and optimism about the possibility of change

More positive emotions More people participating in spiritual

experiences such as meditation Heightened feelings of transcendence,

connection and purpose More beauty in people’s lives through

contact with nature, music or art

Improvements to health care and infrastructure

Better care for under 5s to improve physical, emotional and cognitive health

Enhanced opportunities for physical activity Improved neighbourhoods-more green spaces Better maintenance of social housing Housing developments encompassing a greater

range of social classes

Cultural/relationship changes

More values placed on relationships particularly committed relationships between men and women

More emphasis on the importance of family life and child rearing

More positive and appreciative interactions between individuals and groups

More willingness to embrace change and development

More tolerance of others who are different

Genuine respect for everyone irrespective of background

Socio-economic changes

Getting people into work Tackling inequality (particularly reducing gap

between rich and poor through measures such as ‘maximum’ not just minimum wage and tackling poverty

Reducing alcohol consumption through availability and pricing

More diversionary activities and youth work Enhanced gender inequality so that women play a

more visible role in decision making

Outline of an ‘Integral Approach’ to Glasgow’s problems