PSY 325 1st Edition Lecture 7 Outline of Current Lecture I. Father of Positive Psychologya. Martin SeligmanII.Psychology “As Usual”a.What is Good About Working in the Disease Modelb.What is Not So Good About Working in the Disease Modelc.Reasons for Focusing on the NegativesIII.Why a Positive Psychology? a.Balanceb.CompletenessIV.Factors Outside Psychologya.Everyone FailsV. Paradox of AffluenceVI. Depression: Up Despite Increased AffluenceVII. Further Evidencea. Positive Emotions and Healthb. The Pleasant Lifec. The Meaningful LifeCurrent LecturePositive Psychology’s “Official” BeginningFather of Positive Psychology:Martin Seligman 1998 APA (American Psychological Association) Presidential AddressBefore positive psych, everything was done from the disease modelHe said that the state of psychology was “not good enough”Proposed shift in focus for all of psychologyPositive psychologyFROM: studying and trying to undo the worst things in lifeThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.TO: building the best things in lifePsychology “As Usual”Behaviorism--Reinforcement-satisfy needs, deprivationPsychoanalysis--Defense mechanisms, driven by aggression/sexuality(Freud argued were driven by two things: need for sexuality and a death wish (self-destruction))Disease Model/Deficit Model--PathologyJob is not to give them a fulfilling life; it is just to achieve absence of symptoms. Is that enough? What’s Good About Working in “The Disease Model”Science of mental illnessTaxonomy and reliable diagnoses (DSM-IV and DSM-V)Measuring “fuzzy concepts”(example: alcoholism)Specific criteria must be met for certain things Discover causesCreate TreatmentsAssess effectiveness of treatments (Malaria cured syphilis somehow; it stopped the progression of brain diseases. Malaria was effective but lethal as well). They looked at sexual history and realized it all had a similar cause. Now we use Penicillin to cure syphilis. In summary, a lot of good things came from the disease model despite lack of positive model. However….What’s Not so Good About Working in the “Disease Model”- Victimologists/Pathologistso We start adopting SICK ROLE. Teaches some learned helplessness. Big issued with paraplegics… start getting treated as a victim and give away their power- What about the average person?o Relatively healthy people didn’t get studied- Few interventions put into placeo Looking to treat sick people, not necessarily trying to prevent illnessReasons for Focusing on the NegativeWhy Has Psychology Historically Focused on the Negative and Not the Positives in Human Experience?1. Disease Model and Being Useful:a. Psychology’s historical desire to be useful, gain status, respect as a scientific discipline bysolving problemsb. Dominance of Disease Model—primacy of pathology as a focus2. Beliefs about Authenticitya. Negative states viewed as more real and authentici. (Example: often question a happy person but not an angry person)b. Attribution: reason we give for a behavior…Fundamental attribution bias (fail to take in situation and account for something due to something wrong with the person involved)i. Self-serving bias—bad things happen, blame on someone else. Good things, attribute to yourself3. Beliefs About Positive Emotionsa. Joy, hope, optimism, happiness viewed as coping mechanisms to offset negative emotions. Not valuable in own right. How do we use optimism to offset a negative?4. Power of Negativitya. Trait Negativity Bias—Research:i. Impression formation gives more weight to negative information. We are wired to pay more attention to negative things than positive for evolutionary reasons for survival.ii. Relationships—one negative can undo thousands of acts of kindness (Presence or absence of negative, not positive, differentiates good from bad relationships) Positive illusions enable relationships functioning iii. We also focus on the negative because it violates our expectations. We are still surprised when people act in a negative way… it surprises youb. Why Negatives are given more weight and attention:i. It has evolutionary valueii. Violates general expectation of positivity in everyday life.I. Why A positive Psychology?Inside Factors1. Balance:A. General Psychology: Restoring balance to psychology’s historic emphasis on the negative. Add study of positives.Most people who experience abuse don’t come out unscathed, but they are able to get through life and form relationships. We are more resilient than we think--Overcome negative image of human nature--What learned about human nature in general psychology?B. Clinical Psychology: Providing language of mental health and human strengths to complement and complete language of mental illness and disease model--Traditional Psych—Disease Model-DSM-what’s wrong--Positive Psych-Strengths Model-Positive mental health-what’s right--Traditional Psych.-life below zero--Positive Psych-what is life above zeroAbsence of illness isn’t health: Concept from Life below zero=“Flourishing”: Life after not having symptomsNorman cousins—world famous; he said his life was better after the illnesses. He healed himself with laughter from two illnesses2. CompletenessA. Restoring psychology’s original focus on the totality of human qualities and experiences, including those declared off-limits for “Scientific” psychology--Bringing back “forbidden” topics.Religious people have shown to be healthier, far healthier than people who are notFirst study was biased because they measure church/prayer-serviced attendants (sickest of the sick aren’t going to be present)B. “Good Life”—life well-livedKnow about a bad life-what is a good life?Provide answers to “deathbed test”: I wish I had devoted more of my life to__________What matters most in life?Medical science defined healthy lifestyle—markers of healthPsychological science—what are the definitions and markers of health flourishing?II. Factors Outside PsychologyWhy Now?Measures of material well being going northMeasures of subjective well being going southLevels of happiness flat despite dramatic gains in income/material possessionsMiddle-class is relatively speaking, higher than its ever been.Happiness is lower…Psychiatric illness is on the rise…satisfaction with life has decreased. “Hedonic Treadmill”3.5