Positive Psychology

Greetings everyone! It is wonderful to see you today, and I am happy that you have stumbled upon my little corner of the internet. My name is Kat, and I am a Life Sciences student, with an interest in psychology. This blog was created to share my interest in positive psychology with others, and help others find how to be happy. If you ever want advice, please feel free to message me. Or maybe there is something you are curious about. Also feel free to submit happy and heartwarming stories, as I will post those too.

[shittyninja-deactivated20210218]

dear tumblr staff,

stop trying to turn the desktop layout of tumblr into a mobile layout. the user interfaces are completely different and you’re fucking making this harder for anyone who’s using a computer. 

sincerely,

basically everyone

[jabbersaurus-next]

Is that what this crazy new shit is???

Man, I don’t even “believe” in using the internet on phones.  I WOULD LIKE MY WEBSITES ON MY PC BROWSER TO REMAIN LIKE A WEBSITE ON A PC BROWSER, KTHX.

[safrising]

I would like to know who thought it was a good idea to have the search bar take up 2/3 of the top bar.. I never use the search function and even if I did, I sure as heck wouldn’t type that much shit in there.

[positive-psychology]

Great tumblr, I hope you are having a wonderful thanksgiving!!!! :)

Awww, thank you so much! <3

I live in Canada, so my Thanksgiving was actually last month, but happy Thanksgiving to all my American followers! I hope that your day has been splendid, that you have had wonderful dinners, and have spent your time with good company, appreciating the little things! uwu

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

How to Find your Purpose in Life

1. Take time to ponder the important questions like: “What really matters most of all in life; what do I want to have achieved in the end; how do I want to feel when I look back, and review the kind of life that I have lived?”

2. Make time for solitude and silence. Filling every minute makes it hard to listen to our intuition, or that inner guiding voice.

3. Seek out people who inspire you to live well – and then consciously learn what you can from them.

4. Consciously monitor your progress. It is easy to slip back into unproductive habits. Hence, we need to be committed to sticking to our plan. If it helps, be accountsble to a friend, or at least write down your goals so you can check how you’re progressing.

5. Accept that struggles, disappointments and setbacks will always be part of your experience. There will be times when you are tempted to give up and stop trying … but choosing to keep going will lead you to your dreams.

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

1. Exhibit integrity – A person is said to have integrity if what they say and what they do are rooted in the same set of core values.

2. Don’t speak badly of others – If you speak badly about others to a friend, the chances are you’ll also speak badly about them. Hence, they are likely to be hesitant in what they share with you.

3. Be an optimist – This doesn’t mean burying your head in the sand. It means choosing not to dwell on the negatives, and actively looking for the positives.  

4. Make the effort to be helpful – Life is so much sweeter if you’re thoughtful and kind – and we rarely forget someone who’s caring and warm.

5. Set some goals and have some ambition - This is an extremely contagious quality.  Not only will you achieve higher goals for yourself, you’ll give hope to others, and inspire them to try.

6. Seek to be compassionate and understanding – All of us face battles and experience hard times. Empathising with others when life is tough helps to ease their burden and renew their inner spark.

7. Believe in, love and respect yourself - If you don’t accept, respect and love yourself, then you’ll send out vibes that you’re inadequate. However, it you love, believe in and treat yourself well then it’s likely that others will treat you that way, too.   

8. Persist until you succeed – Although ambition is important, it is not enough. You have to persevere if you’re going to succeed. So when you stumble or fall down just get up and start again. Then keep on going till you finally succeed.

9. Be open minded and willing to learn - If you’re closed in your thinking  and set in your ways then you’ll never discover a different,  better way .. and you’ll close yourself off to other possibilities.

10. Take responsibility for your life - Blaming others for your problems, or acting like a victim won’t help you to move forwards, and have the life you want. Take control of your destiny. Success is up to you.

[positive-psychology]

What is Meaning?

In general, Psychologists have agreed upon four areas that we require to have meaning in our lives. If all four of these needs are not met, then life will not seem meaningful.The four areas in which we find meaning include:

Life Work/Achievement: be the best amongst a group of people

Relationships/Intimacy: show care and acceptance for others, and help friends/family

Religiousness/Spirituality: feel in tune with a higher power, and have a relationship with your decided beliefs

Service/Self-Transcendence: act as a positive role model for others, and feel useful to society

Something that should be noted when looking upon these though is that Achievement actually predicts LOWER subjective well-being and greater negative affect (when alone). Intimacy, Spirituality, and Service all predict great subjective well-being, as well as increased satisfaction in marriage, greater positive affect, and higher life satisfaction.

[kaekami]

DOVE REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES

If you ever doubt your own beautiful, yourself, or how others see you, watch this video. Even if you just know somebody that doesn’t know how beautiful they are, watch this, then send to them.

Read the article that I have linked as well.

I won’t give a description of what this video involves, just watch it.

[sputniked]

Adventure Time inspirational quotes — in respective characters’ color palettes

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

Someone with an attractive personality:

1. Is warm and friendly towards others.

2. Is open and real

3. Knows their own strengths and weaknesses - and neither boasts nor puts themselves down.

4. Looks for the good in every situation, and is generally positive and optimistic.

5. Doesn’t gossip or pass on others’ secrets

6. Doesn’t gloat when things go wrong for others.

7. Is secure and has a healthy self–esteem; is not self-centred and narcissistic.

8. Is not highly critical or argumentative.

9. Is not possessive and jealous in relationships.

10. Makes time for the people they care about.

[psych-quotes]

More From Psych-quotes.tumblr.com

[psych-quotes]

We all have different types that we are attracted to and different things that we like in a partner, but there are certain characteristics that are universal and nearly everyone sees as important. Here are 10 characteristics of an ideal partner that almost everyone can agree on:

  1.    Respectful. Someone who values the importance of our lives, our choices, and our friends and family and treats us with respect is attractive to everyone.

2.    Sense of Humor. Nearly everyone values this in a relationship, especially as life throws tough situations at us. Being able to laugh together is a way that we cope with stress and get through things together.

3.    Appreciative. No matter who you are, you want to know that you are appreciated in your relationship. No one wants to be taken for granted and we all like when our partner is appreciative and lets us know how much they enjoy being with us.

4.    Thoughtful. Having a partner that thinks of us and anticipates our needs is something that we all like. Someone who thinks of what we want and need and doesn’t just consider themselves is something we all look for in an ideal partner.

Read More

[positive-psychology]

Practices of Mindfulness

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): • Created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder • Meant to create a balance and synthesize opposing ideas • Acceptance and change (learn to accept that things will not necessarily change) • Contains several mindfulness exercises Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): • Patients must learn to recognize an observing self (starts with acceptance) • Thoughts and emotions are experienced without judgement • Accept feelings rather than changing them; change behaviors instead Mindfulness vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: • There is no evaluation of thoughts as irrational (in mindfulness) • There are no specific goals oriented towards change (in mindfulness) • The therapist generally must practice mindfulness as well before teaching (CBT therapists do not necessarily go through CBT therapy before teaching others

[positive-psychology]

Some Interesting Optimism Facts

Optimists are more likely than pessimists to pay attention to NEGATIVE information, such as health

Optimists are also more likely to elaborate and consider NEGATIVE information; they are more willing to look at the dark side

Optimists remember more negative information, and are willing to process negative facts about themselves

Optimists are willing to take more risks if the stakes are not very important, but if the stakes are important, less risks are taken

[positive-psychology]

Our Adaptation to Events in Life

For the majority of events in our life, the transition to our baseline happiness is very swift, however, there are some situations that have been shown to have long-term effects:

Marriage = 2 years

Widowhood = 8 years

Longlasting Disability = 8 years

Divorce = Long-term

Unemployment = Long-term

[positive-psychology]

How Stable is Subjective Wellbeing?

75 to 85% trait variance for SWB is stable over two months (Ed & Diener (2004))

.56 to  .60 correlation between Life Satisfaction, Positive Affect, and Negative Affect (overall SWB) over three years (Lucas et al.)

30% over 17 years in a German study (Fajita & Diener (2005))

50% Life Satisfaction stability in domains that are shared, 70% stable variance for unique domains, suggesting happiness could be specific to location (Lucas (2004))

[positive-psychology]

SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING = LIFE SATISFACTION (LS) + POSITIVE AFFECT (PA) + NEGATIVE AFFECT (NA)

[positive-psychology]

Developing Mindfulness

Body Mindfulness: follow your breath and be aware of your full body

Thought/Emotion Mindfulness: watch your thoughts go by, do not evaulate

Mindfulness in Daily Life: practice these things daily to become more at peace with yourself

[positive-psychology]

Flow State Scale

Challenge/Skill

Action Awareness Merging (automatic performance)

Clear goals

Unambiguous Feedback (aware that you are doing well)

Total concentration

Feel in control

Self-consciousness ceases

Time flies by

Autotelic experience

IMPORTANT NOTE: it is the full involvement of Flow, not happiness, that will bring wholeness to life. Flow does not create happiness, as the task absorbs us. The positive feelings of flow last longer.