The Short Life of Emotional Ups and The Short Life of Emotional Ups and DownsDowns

• Negative emotionNegative emotion is highest just after we wake is highest just after we wake up and before we go to sleep. up and before we go to sleep.

• Positive emotionPositive emotion rises gradually, peaking about rises gradually, peaking about seven hours after we rise, then falls gradually.seven hours after we rise, then falls gradually.

• The moods triggered by the day’s good or bad The moods triggered by the day’s good or bad events seldom last beyond that day.events seldom last beyond that day.

• Even significant bad events, such as a serious Even significant bad events, such as a serious illness, seldom destroy happiness for long, illness, seldom destroy happiness for long, although we tend to underestimate our capacity although we tend to underestimate our capacity to adapt. to adapt.

Moods across the dayMoods across the day: when psychologist David Watson sampled: when psychologist David Watson samplednearly 4500 mood reports from 150 people he found this patternnearly 4500 mood reports from 150 people he found this pattern

of variation from the average levels of positive and negative of variation from the average levels of positive and negative emotions.emotions.

The short life of strong emotionsThe short life of strong emotions: A university student’s daily: A university student’s dailyReports of negative and positive moods revealed day-to-dayReports of negative and positive moods revealed day-to-dayFluctuations, punctuated by temporary elation on the day heFluctuations, punctuated by temporary elation on the day he

Learned that he was now cancer free Learned that he was now cancer free

Wealth and Well-BeingWealth and Well-Being• At a simple level, money helps us to avoid

pain by allowing better nutrition, health care, education, and science and these in turn increase happiness.

• Increases in wealth can also increase happiness in the short term.

• In the longer run, research does not show an increase in happiness accompanying affluence at either the individual or national level.

Two Psychological Phenomena: Two Psychological Phenomena: Adaptation and ComparisonAdaptation and Comparison

• The The adaptation-level phenomenonadaptation-level phenomenon is our is our tendency to assess stimuli by contrasting them tendency to assess stimuli by contrasting them with a neutral level that changes with our prior with a neutral level that changes with our prior experience. experience. – Satisfaction and dissatisfaction, success and failure- Satisfaction and dissatisfaction, success and failure-

all are relative to our experience. all are relative to our experience. • The The relative-deprivationrelative-deprivation principle is our principle is our

perception that we are less well off than others perception that we are less well off than others with whom we compare ourselves. with whom we compare ourselves.

• Happiness is relative to both our past Happiness is relative to both our past experience and our comparison withexperience and our comparison with

• others. others.

Predictors of happinessPredictors of happiness• Happiness is genetically influenced and

(partially) in our control• There are ten ways which researchers have

advised one to be more happier. – Realizing that enduring happiness doesn’t come

from financial success– Taking control of one’s time– Acting happy– Seeking work and leisure that engages one’s skills– Exercising regularly– Getting adequate sleep– Giving priority to close relationships– Focusing beyond oneself– Being grateful for what we have– Nurturing our spiritual selves

Stress and HealthStress and Health• In a recent Gallup poll,

three in four respondents reported that they “sometimes” or “frequently” experience stress in daily life.

• Prolonged stress increases our risk for serious illness and death.

Stress and HealthStress and Health• To study how stress and

healthy and unhealthy behaviors influence health and illness, psychologists and physicians created the interdisciplinary field of behavioral medicine

• Health psychology provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.

Stress and HealthStress and Health

• Stressor- is the object/person/event that can trigger a stressful situation

• Stress reaction- is the physical and emotional response to the stressor.

• Not all situations can be stressful, it depends on the person’s reaction to the situation.

Stress and HealthStress and Health• Stress is defined as the process by which

we appraise and cope with the environmental threats and challenges.

Stress and HealthStress and Health

• Stress can have positive and negative effects– Positive: arouses and motivates us to conquer

problems– Negative: prolonged and severe stress can

put people in risk for chronic disease. (digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and infectious)

Stress and HealthStress and Health

Walter Cannon observed that, in response to stress, the sympathetic nervous system activates the secretion of stress hormones, triggers increased heart rate and respiration, diverts blood to skeletal muscles, and releases sugar and fat from the body’s stores, all to prepare the body for either fight or flight.

Stress and HealthStress and HealthIn addition to this first (and faster) stress response system, a slower system involves the cerebral cortex stimulating the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland to trigger the release of glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as cortisol, from the outer part of the adrenal glands.

Gender differences in Stress situationsGender differences in Stress situations• Men tend to withdraw, turn to alcohol, or become

more aggressive in stressful situations. • Women tend to tend and befriend. Which is caused

partly by the release of oxytocin which makes them band together and nurture in stressful situations.

Stress and HealthStress and Health(GAS) General Adaptation Syndrome- (Selye) The body’s

adaptive response to stress is composed of three stages. • Phase 1, we experience an alarm reaction due to the

sudden activation of our sympathetic nervous system. Heart rate increases and blood is diverted to the skeletal muscles.

• Phase 2, With our resources mobilized, we then fight the challenge during resistance. Temperature, blood pressure, and respiration remain high, and there is a sudden outpouring ofstress hormones.

• Phase 3, If the stress is persistent, it may eventually deplete our body’s reserves exhaustion. With exhaustion, we are more vulnerable to illness or even, in extreme cases, collapse and death.

Generalized Anxiety Syndrome (GAS)

Stress and HealthStress and Health• Catastrophic floods, hurricanes, and fires are followed by

increased rates of psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety.

• Those who experience significant life changes, such as the death of a spouse, divorce, or loss of a job, are vulnerable to disease.

• Experiencing a cluster of such crises puts one even more at risk.

• Daily hassles, such as rush-hour traffic, long lines at thestore, aggravating housemates, and e-mail spam, may be the most significant sources of stress. Over time, these little stressors take a toll on our health and well-being.

Where life satisfaction is high, hypertension rates are low.

Toxic StressToxic Stress; on the day of its 1994 earthquake, LA Experienced a fivefold increase in sudden-death heart

Attacks especially in the first two hours after the quakeAnd near its epicenter. Physical exertion (running, lifting

Debris) was a factor in only 13% of the deaths, leaving Stress as the likely trigger for the others.

Stress and HealthStress and Health• Stress can increase the risk of

coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in North America.

• Type A personality- competitive, hard-driving, and impatient. negative emotions, especially the anger associated with an aggressively reactive temperament.

• Under stress, the sympathetic nervous system of the Type A person redistributes blood flow to the muscles and away from internal organs, such as the liver, which removes cholesterol and fat from the blood. The resulting excess cholesterol later gets deposited around the heart.

Stress and HealthStress and Health• The more easygoing Type B

personality is less physiologically reactive when harassed or given a difficult challenge and less susceptible to coronary heart disease.

• Pessimism and depression also can have a toxic effect on a person’s health.

Stress and HealthStress and Health

• Psychophysiological illness refers to any stress-related physical illnesses such as hypertension and some headaches. Our understanding of the impact of stress on resistance to disease has fostered the development of the field of psychoneuroimmunology, which studies how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health.