priori%zing posi%vity: a be2er way to pursue happiness?...a priority for me is experiencing...

Priori%zingPosi%vity:ABe2erWaytoPursueHappiness?

LahnnaI.Catalino

Posi%veemo%onsincludehigh-ac%va%onaswellaslow-ac%va%onstates.

Regardlessofna%onality,peoplegenerallywanttofeelhappy.

Andscienceshowsthatposi%veemo%onspredictbeneficialoutcomes.

Thebenefitsofposi%veemo%ons

Cohen,Doyle,Turner,Alper,&Skoner,Psychoma)cMedicine,2003

Diener&Seligman,PsychologicalScience,2002

Ourselves

Thepursuitofhappinessisadelicateart

Catalino,Algoe&Fredrickson,Emo)on,2014

Let'sreviewwhatsciencetellsuswhatNOTtodo:

“Tohaveameaningfullife,Ineedtofeelhappymostofthe)me.”

Mauss,Tamir,Anderson&Savino,Emo)on,2011

“IamconcernedaboutmyhappinessevenwhenIfeelhappy.”

1.Relatetoone'shappinessinanextreme,obsessiveway

"Watchapleasantfilmclip"

Mauss,Tamir,Anderson&Savino,Emo)on,2011

"Watchapleasantfilmclip"+"feelthegreatestamountofhappiness"

2.Tryto"will"yourselftobehappierinthemoment.

Thereasonwhy?

Disappointment

Thus,tryingtofeelhappierinthemoment,withveryhighstandardsinmind,maybackfire.

Mauss,Tamir,Anderson&Savino,Emo)on,2011

Butthesearenottheonlywayspeoplecanpursuehappiness.

WeeklyPlanner

WhichjobshouldItake?

Anotherapproach...

WeeklyPlanner

Priori%zingposi%vityPeoplewhopriori%zeposi%vity:-setaside%meonadailybasisforpleasantevents-makelargelifedecisionsbyconsideringtheirpoten%alhappiness

Catalino,Algoe&Fredrickson,Emo)on,2014

Indirecttheore%calsupportforpriori%zingposi%vity

Theintegra%vemodelofsustainablehappiness

Lyubomirsky,Sheldon,&Schkade,ReviewofGeneralPsychology,2005

Howispriori%zingposi%vitymeasured?

Catalino,Algoe&Fredrickson,Emo)on,2014

Apriorityformeisexperiencinghappinessineverydaylife.

Istructuremydaytomaximizemyhappiness.

WhatIdecidetodowithmy%meoutsideofworkisinfluencedbyhowmuchImightexperienceposi%veemo%ons.

Exampleitems:

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PositiveEmotions

PrioritizingPositivity

Catalino,Algoe&Fredrickson,Emo)on,2014

e.g.“Istructuremydaytomaximizemyhappiness.”

00.51

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

PositiveEmotions

ValuingHappinesstoanExtreme

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1

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PositiveEmotions

PrioritizingPositivity

e.g.“Tohaveameaningfullife,Ineedtofeelhappymostofthe)me.”

e.g.“Istructuremydaytomaximizemyhappiness.”

r=-.15*

r=.44***

Theeffecthasreplicatedinmul%pleindependentsamplesintheU.S.

CollegeStudentsr=.27**

Mid-lifeadults.41**

Catalino,2013;Catalino,Waugh,Moskowitz,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on

Datu&King,2016,PersonalityandIndividualDifferences;Sugawara&Sugie,2017,inprep.

Ini%alevidence:theeffectreplicatesinothercountries

Filipinosecondarystudentsr=.38**

Japanesestudentsr=.31**

Researchonpriori%zingposi%vitysuggeststhatthepursuitofhappinessisnotinherentlyself-defea%ng.

Previousresearch…

“I’mreallytrying!!”

Whatifweteachpeoplehowtopursuehappiness?

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

WeeklyPlanner

Whatifweteachpeoplehowtopursuehappiness?

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

Screenedforpriormedita%onexperience

Loving-kindnessmedita%onMindfulnessmedita%on

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

Loving-kindnessmedita%onMindfulnessmedita%on

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

Loving-kindnessmedita%onMindfulnessmedita%on

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

Significantinterac%onbetweenmedita%ontypeandpassage,F(2,218)=4.45,p<.05

Effectdependeduponlearningabouthealthierwayofrela%ngtoandpursuinghappiness

Loving-kindnessmedita%onàmoreloveandcompassion

VanCappellen*,Catalino*,Fires%ne,&Fredrickson,inprepara)on*authorscontribu%ngequally

Summarizingthoughts…

Isthereawayyoucantweakyourdailyrou%nesothatitsparksali2lemorejoy?

Thankyou,thankyou,thankyou.