Unit 8A: Motivation

1. Introduction
1. People can receive motivation in many ways. Motivation is the need or desire
that propels a behavior toward a goal.
2. For example, after being trapped while rock-climbing, Aron Ralston was motivated
to cut off his arm in order to live.
3. There are four main ways psychologists approach motivation…
1. Instinct theory (today known as the evolutionary perspective) – focuses
on how genetics dictates behavior.
2. Drive-reduction theory – focuses on how our inner and external
motivations interact.
3. Arousal theory – focuses on finding the right level of stimulation.
4. Hierarchy of needs – Abraham Maslow’s idea that we satisfy the most
basic needs first then move up.
2. A hierarchy of motives
1. The instinct/evolutionary theory gained popularity about a hundred years ago,
when Charles Darwin’s ideas were fresh. It tried to explain human behavior in
terms of instincts. There was, supposedly, an instinct for everything.
2. An instinct is a complex behavior within a species that is unlearned. For
example, a salmon instinctively returns to its birthplace to spawn; a bird
instinctively makes a nest in its own specie’s style.
3. People also have instincts (though they may be less obvious than a bird building a
nest).
3. Drives and incentives
1. After the instinct and evolutionary theory fell out of fashion, the drive-reduction
theory replaced it. This theory says that physical drives make an aroused state
and thus moves us to satisfy that drive.
1. For instance, the physical drive/need for water creates thirst and the
desire to satisfy that thirst by drinking water.
2. The theory also says that, as well as being pulled by internal factors, we’re
pushed by external factors.
1. For instance, we may not be physically hungry, but if we smell some hot
cookies and see them, we want to eat them!
3. This is nature-nurture in action—nature gives us physical hunger and urges us to
eat, nurture sells us yummy-looking desserts.
4. Optimum arousal
1. The arousal theory says we do more than react only to our bodies and the
environment. We are curious and have an inner drive to “go further.”
1. For example, the young man who cut off his arm to live. Or the first man
to climb Mt. Everest simply, “Because it is there.”
2. From toddlers to adults, after satisfying basic needs, we crave more information
and more learning.
5. A hierarchy of motives
1. This theory says we satisfy basic needs first, then move on to achieve great
things.
1. For instance, air is a very basic need. We rarely think of it, but if your air
supply was somehow cut off, you’d be very motivated to get it back. The
same for water and for food.
2. Abraham Maslow identified a hierarchy of needs. It’s usually shown as a
pyramid. He says we start at the bottom of the pyramid, satisfy those basic
needs, then move up. Maslow’s needs are (just FYI, this list is upside down as
compared to the pyramid)…
1. Physiological needs – hunger and thirst
2. Safety needs – to feel the world is organized and predictable
 3. Belongingness and love needs – the need to love and be loved, to be
accepted and avoid loneliness
4. Esteem needs – we need self-esteem, achievement, competence,
independence, recognition, respect from others
5. Self-actualization needs – to live up to our full potential
6. Self-transcendence needs – to find meaning beyond ourselves
6. The physiology of hunger
1. The need for food and the hunger it creates forces us to drastic action. For
example, in Nazi concentration camps, family members fought over food. When
partially-starved, we react a couple of ways…
1. Our bodies adjust by slowing down and conserving energy.
2. Our minds adjust by making food and eating the #1 thing on our mind all
the time. At this time, little else matters.
2. A. L. Washburn studied how we feel hunger. He swallowed a balloon, inflated it,
and recorded whenever he felt hunger. His conclusion was that stomach
contractions cause the feeling of hunger.
1. Studies on rats showed they still had hunger even without stomachs.
3. Body chemistry and the brain play a part in hunger as well.
4. People and animals also have a built-in balance system – we innately try to
maintain the balance between energy and weight.
5. Our blood sugar glucose level is monitored and managed by the brain and insulin.
This affects our storage of fat and feelings of hunger.
6. The hypothalamus is key to managing feelings of hunger.
1. Animals have had their hypothalamuses electrically stimulated – they get
hungry.
2. The hypothalamus gives out orexin, a hormone that triggers hunger.
3. The lower mid-hypothalamus does the opposite. Stimulating it will
decrease hunger. Damage to this area can lead to excessive eating and
weight-gain.
7. There are many hormones at work dealing with hunger…
1. Insulin – regulates blood sugar level.
2. Leptin – causes brain to alter metabolism.
3. Orexin – hunger hormone from hypothalamus.
4. Ghrelin – “I’m empty” hormone from stomach.
5. Obestatin – “I’m full” hormone from stomach.
6. PYY – “I’m not hungry” hormone from intestines.
8. Animals have a set point which is a stable weight. Set point is influenced by
heredity and body type.
9. Our weight is influenced by (1) how much we eat, (2) how active we are, and
(3) basal metabolic rate. This is the rate that we burn energy when at rest.
1. When semi-starved, people will see their basal metabolic rate drop by
about a quarter. And thus, their weight drops then stabilizes at about 75%
of their normal weight.
10. The idea of a biologically pre-established set point has been questioned recently.
Now the movement is toward a “settling point” where the body settles. This is
because environmental factors, like all-you-can-eat buffets tend to see us over-
eat.
7. The psychology of hunger
1. There’s more to eating than just hunger.
1. Two researchers studied people who could not remember beyond 20
minutes. Since they couldn’t remember eating a full meal, say 30 minutes
ago, they ate another, and then another.
2. We crave some foods depending on our mood or what we’re doing.
3. We crave some foods naturally, like sweets and salty foods.
2. Different cultures yield different cravings too. People across the world eat some
crazy, and gross, things when viewed from a different culture.
 1. Hotter cultures use more spices because food spoils easier there but
spices help preserve it.
2. People naturally are slow to try unusual foods, perhaps as a biological
defense mechanism.
3. The situation that we’re in also matters.
1. People eat more when together with others.
2. Portion-size matters in a big way. People eat more when given bigger
portions. And they eat more when given big plates and utensils.
4. There are three main eating disorders…
1. Anorexia nervosa – This usually starts as a weight-loss diet but turns
into a monster. Even after losing about 15% below normal weight, a
person with anorexia is often very thin yet still sees herself as fat, even
though she may be extremely skinny.
1. 3 out of 4 people with anorexia are female.
2. ½ of anorexics use a “binge-purge” technique of eating-and-
vomiting or the use of laxatives.
2. Bulimia nervosa – This also often starts as a diet. Bulimia typically sees
binging and purging where the person eats a lot, then pukes it up.
1. Bulimia is usually seen in women in their late teens and early 20s.
2. Depression is common, especially around binge time periods.
3. A bulimic is often around her normal weight so identifying the
disorder is difficult.
3. A person who binges, but then does NOT purge, fast, or excessively
exercise may have a binge-eating disorder.
4. It seems that the family environment plays a big role in eating disorders.
1. Summed up, kids in well-off families are in the high-risk category
because they don’t want to let themselves or others down.
2. Basically, it’s the Barbie complex – girls imagine trying to be
Barbie and take drastic steps to try to attain Barbie.
5. Other factors play a role in body image…
1. Culture – Some cultures, like in Africa, see bigger women as
healthier women. Western cultures tend to prefer skinny women.
2. Gender – Women are much more critical of their bodies than are
men. Western society dictates that women be attractive, men not
so much.
8. Obesity and weight control
1. Historically, adding fat has been a good thing. Whenever a person could eat
sugary or fatty foods they did it. Fat was stored up for the lean years and a hefty
person was seen as a healthy person.
1. Obesity is growing very fast. “Wealthy” countries lead the fat-race:
Australia, Canada, France, and the U.S. The U.S. has the highest rate of
gaining weight.
2. Obesity brings several health risks including the risk of diabetes, high blood
pressure, heart disease, gallstones, arthritis, types of cancer, and Alzheimer’s for
women.
1. Summed up, obesity lowers a person’s life expectancy.
3. Obesity also affects how others see you and how you see yourself.
1. Obese people are seen as lazier, meaner and they make less money.
4. The physiology of obesity helps explain obesity.
1. Fat cells are like balloons – they blow up to store energy/fat. But, they can
also divide in two or tell nearby fat cells to divide and blow up. Once they
divide, they can blow up, then shrink, but they never go away.
2. So, once a person has become obese, then lost weight, the fat cells are
still there, just smaller. This makes it very easy to gain the weight again.
 3. Once fat, it’s tougher to burn it off because fat has a low metabolic rate. If
you eat a lot then cut off the food, the body thinks it’s being starved and
slows metabolism.
5. Genetics plays a role too.
1. People who sit still generally store more fat than those who fidget.
“Fidgetiness” might be inherited.
2. When trying to figure how much of a role genetics plays in anything, you
go to twin and adoptions studies. Evidence of genetics role in obesity…
1. Adopted siblings weights correlate with their biological parents, not
adoptive parents.
2. Identical twins raised separately have weights that correlate at
+0.74 (that’s pretty high).
3. If a parent is obese, boys are 3 times as likely to become obese,
girls 6 times.
6. What we eat and what we do also matters.
1. A lack of sleep leads to gaining weight. Leptin declines (brain doesn’t get
the “fat report”) and ghrelin increases (more appetite).
2. If we’re friends with an obese person, our chances of getting obese
increase.
3. The whole world is getting fatter, with Western nations leading.
1. The types of food and increased TV watching are major culprits.
1. We eat fast food cooked in oils and drink lots of sugar-laced
soda.
2. On average, every 2 hours more of TV per day meant a
23% obesity increase and 7% diabetes increase.
2. Also, we do much less physical labor than in the old days. Old
Order Amish folks, who do lots of work, have an obesity rate 1/7th
of the national average.
7. Losing weight can be done, but keeping off the weight is the tough part.
1. After losing weight, the fat cells are shrunk in size, but still there. And,
with the body below its set point, it thinks it’s being starved so (1)
metabolism slows and (2) the person constantly thinks of food.
2. A successful weight-loss strategy is to slowly, moderately, and realistically
drop the weight. 10% loss in 6 months is a good time frame.
3. Always, a successful weight loss consists of a healthy diet and exercise.
There’s really no secret here.
9. The physiology of sex
1. Sexual arousal is a mix of internal and external stimuli.
2. The “sexual response cycle” was studied by William Masters and Virginia
Johnson in the 1960s. It has four stages:
1. Excitement phase
2. Plateau phase
3. Orgasm – brain scans show no difference between men and women.
4. Resolution phase – brings the body back to normal. Males enter
a refractory period which is the “re-set time” or the time when he’s
incapable of orgasm.
3. Hormones initiate sexual behavior.
1. Women secrete estrogen, which peaks during ovulation.
2. Men generate testosterone. Men’s hormones are more stable. The
situation that a man is in can increase testosterone.
1. Removing testosterone usually means a loss of sex-drive.
10. The psychology of sex
1. External stimuli affects sex-drive. In other words, what we see, hear, and the
situation we’re in can “get us in the mood.”
 1. Viewing sexually explicit material can have negative effects—men can
think the woman likes being raped or might view his spouse less
favorably.
2. Imagined stimuli affects sex-drive because the brain is the most powerful sex
organ. Sexual fantasies are common (95% of men and women report it).
11. Adolescent sexuality
1. Family values and one’s culture matters greatly in whether or not a teen has sex
before marriage. They estimate that a decision to first have sex is 75% due to
environmental factors.
2. Teen pregnancy in the U.S. is high. Some reasons for this include…
1. Less use of contraceptives due to ignorance. Many teens say they know
about STI’s but tests show they really don’t. They also overestimate how
much sex is really going on.
2. Less talk about birth control. Being a touchy subject, contraception isn’t
discussed much with parents or partners.
3. Guilty feelings about having sex. Most teen girls say they regret having
had sex.
4. Using alcohol. Alcohol is a disinhibitor—it makes you do things you
normally would not do, like have sex.
5. Lessons from the media saying, “It’s cool.” TV, movies, the internet, etc.
all point to sex. An hour of TV yields 15 suggestions to sex. The people are
usually unmarried, uncommitted to one another, and unprotected. Studies
show sex in the media leads to sex among teens.
3. STI’s are sexually transmitted infections.
1. STI’s hit young people hardest. 39.5% of girls 14 to 19 years old had STI’s
in one study.
2. Condoms sometimes help, sometimes don’t.
1. Condoms don’t help with skin-to-skin diseases.
2. Condoms do help stop the HIV virus with an 80% effective rate;
but this means they still have a 20% ineffective rate.
3. Condoms help stop bacterial diseases.
3. Abstinence (not having sex) is the only fail-safe way to prevent both
pregnancy and STI’s. Teens that wait to have sex usually show these
traits…
1. Higher intelligence.
2. Religious activity.
3. A father who is present and engaged.
4. Volunteer somewhere.
12. Sexual orientation
1. Sexual orientation is the consistent sexual attraction to the opposite sex
(heterosexual) or the same sex (homosexual).
2. About 3 or 4% of men are homosexual; about 1 or 2% of women are
homosexual.
13. The need to belong
1. As Aristotle pointed out, we humans are “social animals.” We like to be around
other people.
2. Being social has helped us survive over the years by aiding (1) hunting, (2)
foraging, (3) safety, and (4) increasing the chance we reproduce.
1. Also, having close family or friends to help us through hard times yields
happier people.
3. Likely above everything else, real, true, close relationships are what matter to
people. This “need to belong” seems to far outweigh the need to be rich.
1. When we feel and know we belong, our self-esteem soars.
2. Conversely, feeling rejected yields low self-esteem.
4. People like relationships to last and we seem to have a fear of being alone.
 1. After being separated from friends and family, we’re rather diligent about
communicating.
2. “Homesickness” is common for a young person off to summer camp or to
college.
5. Ostracism (social exclusion) hurts.
1. This is usually in the form of the “silent treatment”, turning away, or
simply being ignored.
2. A person ostracized usually feels depression, tries to get accepted, then
withdraws.
3. In the brain, this social pain behaves similarly to real pain.
1. Any pain gets our attention and calls for action.
2. Action might be constructive like seeking new friends or it can be
mean-spirited or even drastic.

Unit 8B: Emotions, Stress, and Health

1. Introduction
1. One thing that makes us all human, other than our errors, is the emotions we
feel.
2. Emotions are complex.
1. Think of hearing a “bogey-man” outside. The emotion of fear is made up
of (1) physiology (heart pounding), (2) our behaviors (grabbing a baseball
bat), and (3) our thoughts (imagining what all might happen).
2. There are two debates on emotions…
1. The first wonders which comes first, physiology or feeling? It asks,
does the physiology arouse the emotions, or do the emotions
arouse the physiology?
2. The second wonders if thinking always comes before feeling? It
asks, do I think about it and therefore create my feelings?
3. There are 3 main theories on emotions…
1. James-Lange theory – Henry James and Carl Lange built the James-
Lange theory which says our bodies react first, then we experience the
emotional feeling.
1. For example, a baseball pitcher suddenly sees a batted ball
screaming for his face. He reacts and catches the ball. Then he
feels a rush of fear/surprise/emotion. Thinking and acting came
before feeling.
2. Cannon-Bard theory – Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disagreed with
this theory. They came up with the Cannon-Bard theory saying our bodies
reaction and our emotional feeling occur at the same time.
3. Singer-Schachter Two-factor theory – Stanley Schacter and Jerome
Singer came up with the two-factor theory saying emotions are made up
of (1) physical arousal and (2) a cognitive label (we must be actually
aware of the physical arousal).
1. This one says that we feel our bodies react, we’re aware of this
reaction, then we feel the emotion associated with it.
2. Emotions and the autonomic nervous system
1. Anyone who has experienced the death of a close loved-one or falling in love
knows that the body and emotions work together.
2. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is our “auto-pilot nervous system” – it
works on its own to protect us, such as when a dog attacks. The ANS alerts us to
action then calms us when the crisis is over. The ANS has two main subdivisions…
1. Sympathetic division – this “hypes us up” when there’s a danger. It gets
us ready to fight.
 1. Hormones are released (epinephrine AKA adrenaline, and
norepenephrine).
2. The liver shoots sugar into your blood.
3. Respiration and pulse go up, digestion slows, blood moves to your
muscles.
4. Pupil dilate, perspiration starts to cool us.
2. Parasympathetic division – this calms us down when the danger’s over.
1. The opposite of everything above takes place.
2. But, with things already in the system, calming down is gradual.
3. Arousal affects performance.
1. The Yerkes-Dodson law says that optimum arousal yields peak
performance.
1. This means that being under-aroused/alert yields low performance.
Or, being over-hyped yields low performance. The trick is to be
just right.
2. Performance is often graphed like a hump. The top of the hump is
the optimum arousal level.
2. If a task is easy, you perform better if arousal is high.
1. For instance, a runner finds running easy (because it’s been
learned over and over). Having competition in a race would lead to
a high state of arousal and force the runner to perform better and
run faster.
3. If a task is difficult, you perform better if arousal is low.
1. For instance, taking the SAT is difficult. Being in a low state of
arousal (being calm) leads to better performance but being in a
high state of arousal (being nervous) leads to poor performance.
3. Physiological similarities among specific emotions
1. When experiencing different emotions, there are no major physical differences
shown by the body.
2. Put another way, by simply reading the body, a researcher can’t tell the difference
between fear, anger, and sexual arousal.
4. Physiological differences among specific emotions
1. Different emotions do yield some differences between emotions.
1. In the body…
1. Finger temperature and hormone secretions are different for fear
and anger.
2. Fear and joy perk different facial muscles
2. In the brain the emotions show more differences…
1. The amygdala reacts differently when responding to different
emotions. The amygdala could be considered the “headquarters of
emotion.”
2. EEG scans show that emotions “light up” different parts of the
brain.
3. Depression shows up more in the right frontal lobe, positive moods
in the left frontal. This may be due to lots of dopamine receptors in
the left lobe. Essentially, right is cranky, left is happy.
2. This evidence, that the brain handles emotions differently, seems to support the
James-Lange theory (the body acts, then our feelings react).
3. The other two theories still stand though. How we think about what we physically
feel still matters.
1. Consider a lie-detector test. If our thoughts about our physical reactions
did not matter, a lie-detector test would never fail. In reality, they’re
sometimes wrong.
5. Cognition and emotion
1. What goes on in our head (cognition) can impact what we feel.
2. Cognition can outline our emotions.
 1. If we’re in a state of arousal (hyped up from exercise or adrenaline) we
might get different emotions depending on how we label a situation.
1. If we see the situation as joyful, we feel joy. If we see the situation
as testy, we get testy.
2. If we’re in a state of arousal, we might react with aggression, like a soccer
riot.
3. These facts supports the Two-factor theory that says arousal + a label =
emotions.
3. Cognition can also come after emotion.
1. Studies have shown that people can emotionally feel something to which
they can’t “put a finger on it” or label. We’re fine-tuned to emotionally
sensitive information.
2. For instance, people were flashed pictures so fast they couldn’t consciously
see them. But, depending on the picture, responded accordingly to things
like happy or frown faces.
3. There are two pathways that sensory input takes when dealing with
emotions, like fear…
1. The “high road” – sensory input (from say the eyes)→
thalamus→sensory cortex→prefrontal cortex→amygdala→creating
a fear response. This is slower and we actually think about it. It’s
like the calm person who never shows any emotion and calmly
reacts to situations.
2. The “low road” – sensory input (from say the
eyes)→amygdala→fear response. This is super-fast. It usually
involves fear or likes/dislikes. It’s like the person who “wears his
emotions on his sleeve” and reacts to any situation immediately.
3. Much of our emotions occur on auto-pilot, without us actually
thinking about it or being conscious of it. But, making a conscious
effort to switch to the “emotional high road” helps us get some
control over our emotions.
6. Detecting emotion
1. People also communicate without words. “Body language” speaks volumes.
1. We’re better at picking out danger, like the word “bomb” or an angry face.
2. Facial muscles tell our emotions, usually involuntarily.
1. Raising the inner part of your eyebrows reveals worry.
2. Eyebrows raised and together shows fear.
3. Tensed muscles under the eyes and raised cheeks show a genuine smile. A
“for-the-camera” smile often doesn’t have this.
3. Studies have shown that we can usually decode these things pretty easily.
1. The eyes and mouth are the most important for picking up the emotions.
2. Extraverts’ emotions are easier to read; introverts are better at reading
them.
4. We’re not so good at detecting lies. The idea that “a person looks away when
lying” may not hold up. People could detect lying only 54% of the time.
5. Emails and text messages usually don’t have any non-verbal clues to
communication. Thus, we’re judged only by our words and our meaning is
sometimes misinterpreted. We may be “just kidding”, but the person may not
know that and therefore take it seriously.
7. Gender, emotion, and nonverbal behavior
1. The notion of “women’s intuition” just may be real. Women tend to be better at
sensing emotional cues and identifying lies.
2. Women seem to have more depth and complexity in sensing emotions; men tend
to keep emotions pretty simple.
3. Anger is an exception to the “women are more emotional than men” rule. Anger is
a male-dominated emotion.
 1. In one experiment, a computer-generated gender-neutral face was given
either an angry and a smiling face. People usually saw the angry face as a
male, the smiling face as a female.
4. Women see themselves as empathetic (they can imagine being in another’s
shoes).
1. Objective measurements show the gap isn’t as wide as women say.
2. Still, women are much more likely to show their empathy and emotions.
It’s okay for a woman to show emotions, but the old saying “men don’t
cry” applies to males.
8. Culture and emotional expression
1. Gestures have different meanings throughout the world. Examples…
1. China – hand clapping means you’re worried, sticking out your tongue
means you’re surprised.
2. USA – “thumbs up” means “It’s A-okay,” but in Brazil it means “up yours.”
2. Facial expressions are pretty universal, regardless of one’s culture. Paul Ekman
led this research in the 1970s.
1. Six basic facial expressions have been identified and are easily recognized.
They are…
1. Happiness
2. Surprise
3. Fear
4. Sadness
5. Anger
6. Disgust
2. These expressions apply to all age groups, including babies and even blind
children who’ve never actually seen them. Babies also throw in an extra
expression: interest – like they’re saying, “Ooh, look at that cool thing!”
3. Smiles are social expressions. Although we may be happy about
something, we usually save our smiles for sharing with others.
4. Western cultures that value individuality show more emotions than
Eastern cultures that value the group.
9. The effects of facial expressions
1. William James felt that if we act a certain way, like acting happy, we’ll begin to
feel happy. Research has shown that James may well have been right. A person’s
attitude really does matter.
1. In studies, if people are told to make a certain facial emotion, they say
they can feel the emotion they’re masking. Faces show our feelings and
they fuel our feelings.
2. The facial feedback effect is the resulting feeling after making an emotional
facial expression.
1. One study had people hold a pen in between their teeth. Doing this
activates smile-muscles. They reacted by saying cartoons were funnier.
Holding the pen with your lips activates frowning muscles.
2. In another study, Botox was given to depressed patients so they couldn’t
frown. 9 out of 10 were no longer depressed two months later.
3. Walking with your head down and shuffling your feet makes you feel down
and out. Walking with long strides, arms swinging, eyes straight ahead
makes you feel positive.
3. To increase empathy, let your face mimic the person you’re with.
10. Fear
1. Fear, real or perceived, is very powerful.
1. We can become afraid of almost anything. It can be natural (heights) or it
can be learned (creepy clowns). Naturally not afraid, monkeys learned to
fear snakes.
2. The amygdala is part of the limbic neural system and is important to feeling fear.
 1. The amygdala alerts us as if saying, “Hey! Watch out! Something bad is
coming!”
2. A person with a damaged amygdala is grossly unaware of obvious danger.
3. Identical twins show similar fearfulness, even when raised separately. This
supports the genetics that influence fear.
11. Anger
1. Anger is a powerful emotion, perhaps the most powerful aside from love.
2. In Western cultures that value the individual, “venting” one’s anger is seen as a
good thing because it “releases steam.” In Eastern cultures that value the group,
venting is a negative because it brings discord within the group.
1. Westerners believe in catharsis. This idea says that we need to do
something violent or extreme to kick in the “release valve,” then we feel
better. Studies show this usually fails. Showing anger tends to breed
anger.
2. There are two bits of advice to relieving anger…
1. Wait. Just give it some time to settle.
2. Don’t dwell on it. This only lets the anger steep, like tea bags in
water. Rather, deal with it in another manner. For instance, you
might turn to exercising, engaging in a hobby, or talking to a
friend.
3. Additionally, forgiveness is powerful. Research shows that forgiving
someone for doing you wrong is a very powerful remedy for ill feelings.
1. Physiologically, one study showed that forgiveness lowered blood
pressure, pulse, and facial tension.
2. On the inside, there are no bounds as to how much forgiveness
heals.
12. Happiness
1. Happiness matters.
1. People who are happy are more playful, creative, have better self-images,
better relationships, and hopes for the future.
2. They have better marriages and make more money.
2. Also, it’s worth noting that unhappy people also launch social reforms and write
great literature (witness Ernest Hemingway).
3. The feel-good, do-good phenomenon is very pervasive among people. It says
that when we’re happy, we’re inclined to help others.
4. A person’s well-being is his or her perceived happiness or satisfaction with life.
5. David Watson studied happiness hourly. He determined that after waking, we
quickly move into a good mood. It gets slightly better until 8 hours later then
begins to slide. After being up 13 or 14 hours, it drops fast.
1. The bottom line, we’re happiest during the daytime hours, then saddest
during the evening.
6. People have a strong ability to adapt, move on, and live. Even though things
sometimes seem hopeless, there’s something powerful in us that moves us
on. Our will to live and fight is stronger and longer-lasting than our negative
emotions. We often underestimate this.
1. It’s normal to have day-to-day up-and-down mood fluctuations.
2. Studies have shown that emotions tend to be short-lived. The lesson: no
matter how bad you feel, don’t give up because it will pass.
7. The question is, “Can money buy happiness?”
1. Beginning in the 1960s, college students were asked to rate the goals of
“developing a meaningful life philosophy” and “being very well-off
financially.”
1. In the 60s, the “life philosophy” rated very high.
2. In 1977, the two goals were equal.
3. After 1977, “well-off financially” was rated high.
 2. Wealth does tend to lead to happiness over basic needs. Wealthy nations
have healthier people – they don’t have to deal with the stress of things
like getting food.
1. But, the economics law of diminishing marginal utility applies here.
It says each additional bit of something (in this case, money) gives
less usefulness.
2. In other words, once you have enough money for the basics,
adding money doesn’t bring you much more happiness. For a
billionaire, an extra $1,000/year means nothing. To a person on
welfare, it means a lot.
3. It also seems that instead of money breeding happiness, happiness breeds
more money.
4. Beyond the basic needs, money cannot buy happiness.
1. From 1957 to 2008, average incomes went from $10,000 to over
$28,000 per year (in year 2000 dollars). But, ratings of personal
happiness were essentially flat.
2. People who seek money for power and prestige usually have the
lowest happiness.
3. People who focus on relationships, growth, and community usually
have the highest happiness.
8. Two principles that try to explain why, for non-poor people, gaining more money
gives only a temporary boost in happiness…
1. The adaptation-level phenomenon says we judge things relative to a
neutral level, which is defined by our past experience. Everything is
relative.
1. With music, we have a neutral volume level in our minds based on
past listening experience. If we hear a song, we compare it to our
neutral level then decide if it is loud or quiet.
2. The same is true with income. We have a neutral income level
based on our income of past years. A raise of $100 a year to an
adult would be almost nothing; to a child, it would make him/her
feel like a king.
2. Our happiness also depends in part on how we compare ourselves to
others.
1. If we think we’re not “keeping up with the Joneses,” we’re not
happy. Conversely, if we see the Joneses as worse-off than us, we
feel better.
2. The relative deprivation concept says we become disappointed
because we think others are doing better than us.
9. Tips on how to be happy…
1. Realize money can’t buy happiness.
2. Manage time.
3. Act happy.
4. Use your skills at work and play.
5. Exercise.
6. Get your sleep.
7. Make close relationships matter.
8. Help others.
9. Be thankful for what you have.
10. Find faith and religion.
13. Stress and illness
1. Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to events that we feel
are threatening or challenging.
1. A stressor is an event that threatens or challenges us, like a job
performance evaluation.
 2. Our physical and emotional responses to the stressors are our stress
reaction.
3. How we view an event can determine whether it’s a stressor. To some
people, a job interview is a great opportunity. To others, it’s very
intimidating.
2. The time stress lasts matters.
1. Short-lived stress can be a good thing. It jolts our immune systems and
gets us going to do great things. For instance, an athlete might prep
before a big game or a person might bounce back from losing a job to
move on to a better one.
2. Long-term stress hurts us, not only emotionally, but it can physically harm
us.
3. We have a built-in “stress response system.” Researcher Walter Cannon was the
pioneer in this field.
1. The sympathetic nervous system kicks in when stressed. It releases
“stress hormones” of epinephrine (AKA adrenaline) and norepinephrine
and hypes us up for a fight. This is the fight-or-flight stage where we
decide to either fight the threat or take off running.
2. Another level of the stress response system sees our adrenal glands send
out the hormone cortisol. Whereas epinephrine takes effect fast, cortisol
is for the long-haul.
3. There are alternatives to fight-or-flight…
1. Some people might withdraw from the stress—they may “hole
themselves up” to conserve energy or become paralyzed with
inactivity.
2. Another technique is called tend and befriend. This is where, in
times of crisis, a person helps others and seeks help from them.
This is more common with women.
3. Men tend to socially withdraw, such as turning to alcohol or
aggression. Women do just the opposite, they tend to join together
with others.
4. Hans Seyle developed the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). He said our
responses to stress are amazingly uniform. He identified the following phases…
1. Phase 1 – alarm reaction – This is the “Oh! Wow!” moment when you’re
shocked at something. Your sympathetic nervous system kicks in. Pulse
races, blood goes to your muscles, you get a faint feeling of shock, and
you’re ready to fight.
2. Phase 2 – resistance – This is where you deal with the situation. It sees
your temperature, blood pressure, and respiration stay high. Hormones
are released.
3. Phase 3 – exhaustion – This is when your body’s “stress resources” are
running low or gone. You’re susceptible to illness and perhaps collapsing
or death.
1. The bottom line with Seyle’s research is that (1) we tend to deal
with stress in a predictable pattern and (2) prolonged stress takes
a physical toll on our bodies.
5. Certain life events are more stressful than others.
1. Catastrophes are very stressful. They cause increases in heart attacks,
sleepless nights, and suicide.
2. Significant life changes are very stressful. This includes things like the
death of a loved one, change in job, moving, marriage, or divorce.
3. Daily hassles cause stress. Little day-to-day things can add up to stress
you out.
1. Poor countries have high hypertension rates because they worry
about making ends meet.
 2. Wealthy countries have higher stress amongst people who are
dissatisfied with their lives.
14. Stress and the heart
1. High blood pressure is one factor that increases the risk of coronary heart
disease – the closing of the blood vessels that nourish the heart. This is North
America’s #1 cause of death.
1. Smoking, obesity, high fat diet, and high cholesterol add to the risk.
2. But, stress also adds to the risk. This was shown in a study, by Friedman
and Rosenman, of tax preparers who scrambled to finish tax returns on
time and saw their risk go up due to stress.
2. Friedman and Rosenman also identified two groups…
1. Type A personalities are competitive, driven, impatient, time-conscious,
motivated, verbally aggressive, and easily angered.
2. Type B personalities are easygoing people.
3. Type B folks are much less prone to have a heart attack than Type A
people. The #1 factor seemed to be the Type A person’s anger.
4. Other factors matter…
1. People who were pessimistic were at a greater risk for heart
disease.
2. People who were depressed were at a greater risk for heart
disease.
15. Stress and susceptibility to disease
1. The term psychosomatic describes a physical symptom that has a psychological
cause. But, the term became known as a person “faking it” or the symptom is
“just in their head but it’s not real.” Sometimes this is true, sometimes what’s in
our head does affect us physically. So, the term is not used much anymore.
2. Psychophysiological illness is used now. This implies that what’s in our head
can actually cause physical symptoms, like hypertension and headaches.
3. Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) now describes how what’s going on in our
head impacts our nervous and endocrine systems and altogether affects our
immune system.
1. Our immune system fights diseases. The main “warrior” is
our lymphocytes or white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses.
2. Under stress, our brains release stress-fighting hormones which suppress
our lymphocytes. Thus, the bottom line: stress lowers our immune system
and makes us more susceptible to disease.
4. AIDS is the 4th killer in the world and the top killer in Africa. AIDS is
immunodeficiency (lowered immune system).
1. Stress adds to the power of AIDS by weakening the immune system
further.
2. Some people say stress should be lowered to in turn lower its affect on
AIDS patients.
3. Others say it's best to simply not get AIDS in the first place by following
the ABC’s…
1. Abstinence.
2. Being faithful.
3. Condom use.
5. Stress speeds up cancer.
1. Studies showed stressed rats were more prone to cancer than care-free
rats.
2. People under stress have higher rates of cancer.
3. Stress doesn’t create cancer, but it may make the body more susceptible
to it.
6. Lastly, as an overall theme of psychology, stress reminds us how the mind and
the body interact.