Cardiff Metropolitan University
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Name FATHIMATH SANIHA SALIH
Student ID CL.BSC.PSY.06.01
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Unit title The Psychology of promoting Happiness
Unit enrolment details Year 1
Study period 2017/18
Lecturer Ms. Shalindi Pandithakoralage
Mode of delivery Full Time
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Learning Outcomes covered 001 ‘ 003
Word count 1500
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Name/Signature FATHIMATH SANIHA SALIH Date 23.01.2018
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CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY ‘ PSYCHOLOGY
Module: The Psychology of Promoting Happiness
Student:
Marker: Ms. Shalindi Pandithakoralage
Assignment:
PSYCHOLOGY OF PROMOTING HAPPINESS
It is a matter of fact that humans are determined to be happy. Whether the happiness comes within themselves or from an outside source. Even if it is viewed as being cheerful all the time or a quiet sense of satisfaction. Humans are always striving for happiness in every stage of their life (Snyder, Lopez & Pedrotti, n.d.). This is the reason why a branch of psychology, named as positive psychology bounced up which is dedicated to human happiness and other various positive aspects of life. Psychology is believed to be a negative subject where people talk about their problems and issues and try to solve them. However, positive psychology looks at the positive aspects of human lives such as what makes life worth living. According to Lopez & Synder (2009), positive psychology is concerned with the pleasant life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life. These three factors are directly connected to human well-being and happiness. The main aim of positive psychology is to enrich the well-being and happiness of people, rather than focusing on the deficits. Thus, positive psychology focuses on what is right with the person, what makes the person happy instead of what is wrong with the person. Positive psychologists have suggested numerous ways in which happiness can be nurtured in people. Relationship with the partner, family, friends, at work, social gatherings contribute to a happy life. Moreover, practicing meditation, physical exercises may as well improve the quality of life, promoting happiness.
Mindfulness has emerged as a prominent research topic in psychology and now seems to attract much interest in the context of positive psychology (Ivtzan & Lomas, n.d.). Positive psychology explores approaches that boost thrive in a person’s life. And mindfulness exercises such as meditation and yoga are thought to be approaches which are directly linked to many positive outcomes. There are multiple ways to define mindfulness. Each researcher or author has his or her own take on it. Nevertheless, a large group of mindfulness scientists gathered to come up with a proper definition for mindfulness. Ultimately, mindfulness is not about getting relaxed or achieving a particular state; rather, it refers to being present to what is happening in the unfolding moment to moment experience, without pre-conceptions or judgments (Ivtzan & Lomas, n.d.). A mindful person will be sensitive to context and perspective while situated in the present. In contrast, a mindless person will be stuck in stiff mind-set, unaware of the situation and perspective.
There are numerous techniques to practice mindfulness, but then again the main aim of any mindfulness technique is to attain alertness, gain relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations with no judgment. This allows the mind to divert the focus to the present moment. All mindfulness techniques are a form of meditation. A number of researches have proved that mindfulness brings in a lot of benefits which will enhance the ability to deal with daily issues. Which will certainly reduce the stress, leading to a happy life. Mindfulness has been found to provide greater exposure to inner self which helps to overcome the blind spots in self-knowledge and discover the real and ideal self. In other words, mindfulness help people to discover and examine their true selves through judgments and comparisons and clearly see who they are. Similarly, positive psychologists also not only strives to bring out the best in people but also tries to confront and manage what is discomforting. Therefore, the synergy between mindfulness and positive psychology will provide an additional benefit for humans to not only lead a better quality of life but also to fight against all the negative thoughts. In addition, being mindful allows a person to live in the present rather than feeling anxious about future or regret over the past. This kind of freedom from endless commentary of thoughts help people to distinguish between unhelpful habits of mind and behavior and hence, change this behavior leading to more positive thinking. According to Annee Griffths , a mindfulness teacher, people who practice mindfulness exercises appear to be happier and less stressed after practice of few weeks. This generates kindness and compassion among people, leading to happier people and society. Furthermore, mindfulness is widely studied and practiced among people who suffer from chronic illnesses such as cancer patients. It is true that no exercise can eliminate the symptoms of the disease, however mindfulness helps them make the symptoms more manageable. For example, mindfulness can reduce the symptoms of stress and get rid of fatigue and various kinds of physical pains which will eventually ease the symptoms of the illness.
Despite of all the benefits and contribution of mindfulness to positive psychology and promoting happiness, it is imperative to note down at least few short-comings of the theory. In one recent study published in Psychological Science, the author team led by psychologist Brent Wilson found that after one 15 minute mindfulness session, participants started forming false memories, impairing their reality monitoring accuracy. These people were not able to differentiate between what is real and what is fake. Furthermore, many people use mindfulness as an excuse to run away from situations and critical thinking tasks such as career challenge. Positive psychology does not encourage to escape the situation, rather helps to manage the situation more positively. When adopting a mindfulness technique, it is essential to look at both positive and negative outcomes of that particular practice, to avoid possible adverse side effects.
Gratitude is another important intervention method used by positive psychologists in the clinical setting. Generally, gratitude is linked with higher, exalted realms of life. For centuries, philosophers and writers have acknowledged gratitude as an essential manifestation of virtue and fineness of character. In a study, a philosopher remarked that ‘gratitude is the most pleasant of virtues and the most virtuous of pleasures’. Despite such acclaim, gratitude was never studied by psychologists until recently. Today, many psychological researchers have begun studying gratitude in detail and how it affects the lives of people and thus, promote positive psychology. In psychological parlance, gratitude is the positive recognition of benefits received. Bertocci and Millard (1963) noted that the virtue of gratitude is the willingness to recognize that one has been the beneficiary of someone’s kindness, whether emotional response is present or not.
When a person feels and express gratitude, it compensates the brain’s natural tendency to worry and focus on negative aspects of life. Rather, it motivate the person to focus more on the positive aspects of life such as love and joy. This broadens the thinking and create positive cycles of thinking and behaving in healthy, positive ways. Recently, a set of researchers had people participate in a study to measure to what extent gratitude promotes positivity and happiness. Two groups of participants were given the task to write down a list of things to be grateful for and a list of challenging things, for a period of 10 weeks. By the end of 10 weeks, researchers found out that the group of people who did the gratitude writing exercise were 25% happier than the other group. Moreover, this group of people were seen to be more optimistic about the future and career while focusing to be happy at the present. Surprisingly, these people were reported to be happier for several months following the study. As positive psychology is concerned with the positive emotions of people and promoting happiness, being grateful eliminates the negativity and compensates it with resilient, mentally strong and optimistic way of thinking.
In addition, being grateful opens doors to more relationships and connect socially. When gratitude is expressed, it cause a chain of mutual good deeds which reinforces feelings of appreciation between people. When a person does something good and he or she is appreciated for the good deed that foster a reliance on the relationship proving that both parties want to be involved with each other. Also, gratitude point toward humility. That is recognizing and accepting the fact that a person cannot live his or her life alone without the contribution of the others. Furthermore, being grateful increases self-esteem and efficacy of the people. Being thankful for the good things in life helps to focus on the positives putting the person in a better frame of mind. However, being grateful can sometimes give the person negative impressions such as being the best. In life, people have to go through ups and downs which a person with utmost grateful personality might find hard to tackle with. Furthermore, modern research has proven that maintaining a gratitude journey does not bring happiness to everyone. Suppose, for someone who does not prefer writing, even if psychologists recommends a gratitude journal, it is highly unlikely to work for that person since the passion to write will be missing. Nevertheless, psychologists working in the field of positive psychology are very much interested in the psychological propensities that lead to a rich life, thus believe that gratitude is one of the essential propensities (Emmons, 2007).
Having examined two intervention methods used is positive psychology, namely mindfulness and gratitude, it is important to note that simply having a positive mindset will not actually stop negative things from happening. But it will act as a tool to better deal with negative situations. For some people, thinking positive and stay positive is quiet natural where as some people might require professional help to get on the right track.
REFERENCE
Emmons, R. (2007). Thanks!. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Ivtzan, I., & Lomas, T. Mindfulness in positive psychology.
Kendis, R. (1989). An attitude of gratitude. New York: AMS Press.
Snyder, C., Lopez, S., & Pedrotti, J. Positive psychology.
Ackerman, C. (2018). The 23 Amazing Health Benefits of Mindfulness for Body and Brain (+ PDFs). Positivepsychologyprogram.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/benefits-of-mindfulness/
Benefits of Mindfulness: Practices for Improving Emotional and Physical Well’Being. (2018). Helpguide.org. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/benefits-of-mindfulness.htm
For Happiness, K. (2018). For Happiness, Keep a Gratitude Journal – Less Wrong. Lesswrong.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from http://lesswrong.com/lw/i0c/for_happiness_keep_a_gratitude_journal/
Meade, C. (2018). Gratitude and Positive Psychology: What is Gratitude and What are the Benefits of Gratitude? – PositivePsychology.org.uk. PositivePsychology.org.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from http://positivepsychology.org.uk/gratitude/
Positive Psychology – Merits and Shortcomings. (2018). Criticalscience.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from http://criticalscience.com/positive-psychology-merits-shortcomings.html
team, E. (2018). What is Gratitude and What Is Its Role in Positive Psychology?. Positivepsychologyprogram.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/gratitude-appreciation/
Why Gratitude Is Good. (2018). Greater Good. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good