Pawsey 1 Sydney Pawsey Dr.

Roudabush UNIV 200 April 29, 2014 The Enduring Gratifications of a Positive Mind From a very early age, children are taught through Disney and various literatures the basic principle of, if you dont have anything nice to say, then dont say it all. What if, instead of being taught to just watch what came out of their mouths, children were instead initially taught to be mindful of their thoughts? What if it were that easy to manipulate your own thoughts in such a way, for the better? The idea of positive thinking has been around for decades and has slowly begun to prove itself in regards to how beneficial it really is; especially in the physical, mental and social aspect of ones wellbeing. If people were taught this idea of having positive thoughts early on, just how much would it affect or change their life in the long run? What are the benefits of having an affirmative mind frame and how extreme does one have to go in order to truly see a change in their life, not only mentally but possibly physically as well? Through looking into the broad overview of all the dimensions of a persons life affected by utilizing positive psychology, and in understanding the falsities that come along hand in hand, we will hopefully begin to understand the true meaning behind what it takes to be, as well as the significance in, truly being happy. Positive thinking has contributed to various outcomes, in numerous scientific studies, and has been an important topic of debate through a wide array of many disciplines; so it is important to fully understand these results and conclusions, especially

Pawsey 2 if there is a metaphorical life antidote in leading a life of positive self-talk. In order to better understand the effects of positive thinking it is important for us to first take into consideration exactly what positive thinking means. One way of trying to incorporate all of the various attributes as a whole, and in order to better explain it, would be to describe it as; the conscious and deliberate effort to manage ones own thoughts, emotions, speech, non-verbal behavior and beliefs in such a way that one entertains only the possibility of good outcomes and not the possibility of bad outcomes, for any difcult or challenging set of circumstances" (McGrath et al. 666). Although the practice of constant optimism requires a lot of exercise and self-control, the yields can be very beneficial in the long scheme of things. In many cultures the idea of monitoring your thoughts and being extremely diligent in watching what leaves your mouth is of utmost importance, and taught very early on in a persons life. Even through daily meditation on positive energy and thoughts has been proven to have drastic effects on someones anxiety levels, and stress management. Having an optimistic outlook on life can not only make you a more enjoyable person to be around socially, it has been proven to help in a many aspects of your life from a physical standpoint on your overall health, to your mental stability in battling stress and depression as well. Having an altruistic outlook on life has proven to be exponentially beneficial to a persons mental health and psychological well-being. The effect of Positive Autonomic Thoughts (PATs) has shown in studies that they not only help reduce depression and stress, but increase life satisfaction as well, which is a important component in a persons mental health. If people were to incorporate positive emotions into their life, studies have shown that there is a greater overall satisfaction rate and not because they feel more

Pawsey 3 positive emotions per se, but because their greater positive emotions help them build resources for living successfully(Fredrickson et al. 1028). When talking about an overall life fulfillment and the tools needed in order truly find bliss, there isnt exactly a map or a recipe a person can just whip together by following specific steps. However, in trying to always incorporate a glass-half-full attitude on things, we are able to get a strong foundation and are that much closer to attaining complete happiness. In many studies in the area of positive thinking it has been made apparent that if you are experiencing positive emotions you will see more possibilities in your life. These findings were among the first that suggested positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options"(Clear). This idea can also be behind the common thought of keeping your options open, and not being closed off to other opportunities in order to avoid disappointment. Throughout life, there are always going to be difficult unanticipated circumstances that arise. Whether it is being terminated from your job, or having to move across the country for unforeseen reasons, so in having a positive outlook on these new endeavors makes them much easier to handle, and in turn can make the entire venture that much more beneficial in the long run. People who are constantly bogged down by the negative aspect of things and are constantly thriving in toxic thoughts are, more often than not, depressed. Depression is slowly creeping up on Americans as a more prevalent psychological disorder and has a vast array of negative tormenting effects on a persons life. When people become depressed they are more susceptible to diseases due to a lowered immune system and are prone to self-sabotaging their social lives as well, seeing as they are more likely to be absent from work or a social event. Depression leads to a sense of hopelessness,

Pawsey 4 destructive emotions and does not feed the notion of a constructive future, which is paramount in the workings of positive thinking. The idea behind positive thoughts and emotions and their long term effect on depression explores the mechanism through which people build the resources that make their lives more fulfilling and help keep their depressive symptoms at bay"(Fredrickson et al. 1050). These resources that are continually being mentioned are the tools that are used to create a euphoric utopia, in a sense and are the same resources that go hand in hand with ones life satisfaction. Studies have concluded that patients with major depressive disorders and those with anxiety disorders showed reduced ability to generate vivid mental images of positive future events compared to healthy controls, and also rated the events as less likely to occur in the near future"(Blackwell 57). In a study done by Shawn Achor, renowned positive psychologist, he had patients diagnosed with depression work on healing themselves and riding their depression, while taking antidepressants as well. However, he had one group of patients utilize his positive thinking techniques and then had patients trying to battle their depressive symptoms on their own in another group. It was in the group of patients that were practicing his methods that a greater change for the better was made more evident. Through the patients that had demonstrated the positive psychology methods they had shown a greater gain overall optimism and had defeated their depression entirely, unlike the other group who still had shown minor depressive symptoms and psychological defeats (Achor The Happiness Advantage). It is in these studies that it becomes conclusive as to the beneficial effects of simple optimistic thoughts in dealing with psychological illnesses such as depression.

Pawsey 5 Another major mental component when dealing with ideals behind concept of positive thoughts is the winner effect. The winner effect is when a person is able to win, outsmart or defeat someone in something and, in turn, that event automatically boosts his or her confidence and subconsciously changes the "winner's" mood, normally towards the positive. The winner effect is in direct correlation to a persons confidence level, and is not to be mistaken for being cocky or pompous in anyway. In a social aspect, people are impressed by confidence in others and confidence often determines who people choose as leaders, romantic partners, social and material services; even more so, people are also more inclined to believe and take advice from a person with confidence (Lopez 319). When a person is optimistic and thinks positively about his or herself, there is an undeniable vibe of confidence surrounding them and it is only natural psychologically and socially for people to be drawn towards it like flies to a flame. The research of Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson, leading contributor to positive psychology, has shown that: Positive emotions contribute to important downstream life outcomes, including friendship development, marital satisfaction, higher incomes, and better physical health. People who experience frequent positive emotions have even been shown to live longer. Indeed, a recent metaanalysis of nearly 300 findings concluded that positive emotions produce success and health as much as they reflect these good outcomes. (Fredrickson et al. 1027) Not only in Fredricksons research alone, but in many other studies, it has been proven that those who demonstrate a more optimistic outlook on life are far more likely

Pawsey 6 to succeed in their careers or whichever lifestyle choice they choose to pursue. When a person is happy, dopamine is released in the brain, which in turn activates all of the learning centers of the brain. This is why years of research in the business and educational world have come to show that happiness raises nearly every business and educational outcome: raising sales by 37%, productivity by 31%, and accuracy on tasks by 19%, as well as a myriad of health and quality of life improvements (Achor The Happiness Advantage). Positive thoughts not only help build constructive confidence, but helps those further succeed in their long-term and lifetime career goals. With the recent spike in interest, positive thinking has been a major topic for studies and experiments in relation to a persons physical well-being. One study on the effects of positive psychology concluded, "When a person is experiencing a period of stress and negativity, his or her body is less able to mount an inflammatory response to attacks from bacteria and viruses. This results in an increase in infections such as the common cold and cold sores" (Fishman). Which, on the contrary, those who are constantly meditating and washing away the tormenting toxic thoughts are, more often than not, far more healthy in the long run. In the case of addiction, for instance, it has been proven that people are far more likely to relapse, or even initiate some shape or form of substance addiction when in a depressed state of mind, or when being consumed by negative self-talk. All people ultimately want to do is feel better, feel loved or feel anything at all, and it is through those feelings of neglect which seem to steer them towards their poison of choice. When you come across truly happy people, people that always look for the greater good in situations, or always feel and give off a general love and respect towards one another, it will be a rare occurrence that they have a serious

Pawsey 7 addiction, whether it is alcohol, drugs, anorexia or any other self destructing activity. These people would surely prefer to think of themselves as healthy and, therefore, they represent a case of implied standard self-deception"(Lopez 318). Addiction and selfdeception are two factors of negative self-talk. By looking through a Rogerian mindset and in realizing that stress and depression are usually in direct correlation with a lowered immune system, it is easily to conclude that optimism can affect a persons health for the better. Positive psychology, is by no means the golden ticket cure for diseases, however, it has been proven especially in cancer patients that tackling diseases such as cancer with optimism and self-belief has shown to have a beneficial effect on recovery and ability to tolerate treatment"(Fishman). Patients are more willing to fight and go through with all necessary treatments when they believe in the best and are hopeful. By thinking optimistically, they are also able to cope easier emotionally when it comes down to their new necessary lifestyle changes. They tend to be less stressed and in turn their immune system is able to battle off whatever it may be with no psychological restraints. Although, there is controversy when it comes to feeding patients positive optimistic thoughts while they are in long term care with possible terminal diseases. Hospital staff and family members have begun expressing concern in regards to these positive thoughts having a catastrophic end game. Patients that are constantly thinking positively and those that are so hopeful for being forever cured are said to be at a much higher risk for an even greater depression episode in the case of a relapse, or a new terminal progression in their disease. Yet, when the patients themselves were asked, they said they would not change anything for they knew they did the best they could and had given it their all. In those that are working on trying to

Pawsey 8 enforce positive psychology in the clinical setting it is very important for the patients to feel comfortable in being able to be allowed to express their negative emotions towards their current condition, and for them to go into depth about their fears and worries. It is critical to let them know that confronting painful or difcult issues and planning for possible or probable bad outcomes is neither the same as giving up nor does it spell the end of hope"(McGrath et al. 667). In doing this patients are able to still have real emotion towards their situation and have a realistic view of their possible outcomes, and are not stuck in a figurative rainbow of enlightenment with naive unicorns by their side. Through optimism they are more likely to fight and possibly conquer their disease, yet all the while are not without the realism of their critical situation. Another aspect of positive psychology that needs to be taken into consideration is how much nature itself makes us generally feel better. Sincerely pleasant people are usually active and are more or less dealing with nature in some way, shape, or form. There is a reason as to why the National Zoos attract thousands of more people every year than sporting events, because people love being around nature and it is a natural stimulant (Etcoff Happiness and its Surprises). A cognitive researcher, Nancy Etcoff, describes one of her studies where there were two types of post-op patients, one type had a room with a view of a brick wall and the other type had a view of outside, which may have been just the city skyline, a park or just of a few trees with birds chirping throughout the day. Nonetheless, in comparing the two it was made very evident that the patients whos view was of the brick wall were far less happy and did not fair as well as the first scenic group, since they had overall endured a longer stay in recovery, needed more medication, and had far more complications down the road (Etcoff Happiness and its

Pawsey 9 Surprises). So in grasping the idea that nature adds to a persons happiness and with having the patients who were able to view life constantly happening outside their window, there is another direct correlation to happiness and ones ability to self-heal or increase their own well-being. Nature has proven to be yet another aspect to the multidimensional world of true bliss. In order to further understand what it means to be ultimately happy, or enforcing the positive psychology techniques in ones life, it is important to decipher between the common misconceptions of happiness. Even though happiness is generally relative and it is hard to pinpoint the exact feeling across the board for every individual, there are many notions that create the illusion, yet are not complete in doing so. When digging even further into a persons psyche it is sometimes prevalent to see how or if they apply the Pollyanna principle. The Pollyanna principle is when a person is more inclined to remember only the positive memories, or positive aspects of various scenarios, and brush the unpleasantries under the rug. This principle or pollyanism describes how people can have positive biases towards one another or things in general. People often mistake this for happiness, however it is just a factor in the overall scheme of general happiness. The Pollyanna Principle to its entirety is not very conducive to living a positive life, yet the action of reminiscing about a happy or grateful moment is. If you were to wave your hand in front of your face, area 17 in the visual cortex would light up. Now, if you close your eyes and think about your hand waving in front of your face, the same area 17 in your visual cortex lights up (Achor The Happiness Advantage). The brain cannot decipher what is real and what is visualized, which is why visualization is so detrimental to positive psychology, and is even implied in other areas such as

Pawsey 10 professional sports with athletes as well. A main beginner component in practicing positive thoughts is to journal every day selfless moments that took place or things you are grateful for, and in journaling about these moments, you are brought back to that precise moment, which in terms of your brain, you are essentially reliving it. The theory behind the Pollyanna principle and certain aspects of it are fairly constructive, and the visualizations have been known to be a factor in a better optimistic lifestyle, yet the principle in full force is nowhere near true happiness and is often a harmful in cases of neglecting certain truths, having blinders on or being nave. Just as misleading as the Pollyanna principle may be to some people, pleasure is often mistaken for complete happiness as well. Pleasure is contingent upon time, upon the object, upon the place (Ricard The Habits of Happiness). Pleasure is an unsustainable feeling of elation that dissipates once you start to experience it. People find something pleasurable and equate their happiness with such activity and/or object and they are often misled. Things such as drugs, or moment of achievement to a short-lived success only to lead to yet another milestone to overcome; there is no endpoint in the chase for pleasure. So when people find something that gives them pleasure and associate that brief euphoria to true happiness and feel as though that is a positive aspect in their optimistic lifestyle, they are in turn very mistaken. Pleasure can act like a wolf in sheeps wool, which is why it has been so detrimental into the fall of many people; it is very short lived. Chasing pleasure and quick experiences of ecstasy are nothing more than shallow attempts in the pure pursuit of happiness. On the contrary in terms of looking into everything positive, it was taken into consideration to look into just how effective and possibly self-destructive negative

Pawsey 11 thoughts can be, in order to try and understand all angles of how powerful the thought process of the brain really is. Negative thoughts are almost comparable to a cancer of sorts, in that they are destructive to a persons overall well being, and able to spread throughout the mind like wildfire; which is especially dangerous in the facets of positive psychology because "positive emotions are less intense and less attention-grabbing than negative emotions" (Fredrickson et al. 1026). In looking into cognitive therapy, Jeffrey Bernstein PH.D., suggests how this form of psychotherapy is able to show us and demonstrate the ways in which negative thoughts and flawed problematic ways of thinking result in feelings of unhappiness, stress, anxiety, or depression (Bernstein and Magee 5). People have become so accustomed to negative-self talk that they are unaware that they are even doing it. Thoughts as simple as judging/criticizing yourself or others, or being upset about how your significant other never unloaded the dishwasher, all go hand in hand with each other and the destructive path that toxic thinking. It has become a reality in which peoples conscious minds will pull them down, without them even realizing, and it is these people that are far more likely to become insecure, overly remorseful and indecisive; which will ultimately lead into a great risk of psychological and stress-related problems down the road (Fishman). By having negative thoughts, you are not considered to be a bad person; your brain has just simply been taught to scan for the stresses and hassles of every situation first, instead of looking for the bright positives to focus on. With that being said, scientifically, happiness is a choice about where your single processor brain will devote its finite resources as you process the world (Achor The Happy Secret To Better Work). So if a person were able to devote these resources into processing them for the

Pawsey 12 positive, and able to reprogram their thoughts, they in turn could ultimately be happy. The Tetris effect is one that has been explained to be truly helpful in resolving the negative self-talk issue for the positive. When someone has been playing Tetris for hours on end, once they have stopped throughout the day they are very likely to still be playing the game deep in there subconscious and be constantly visualizing as to where to put the next piece to get the perfect fit. The same goes for positive thinking. If we are able to think optimistically or focus on pure altruistic thoughts first thing in the morning for weeks on end, it is possible to re-generate the Tetris effect and subconsciously think positively throughout the rest of the day (Achor The Happiness Advantage). When someone is able to truly find happiness and live his or her life in such an altruistic notion, it is evident that they are bound to be more successful throughout most of their endeavors. Whether it is engaging in a social relationship, taking on new tasks in the workforce, or having to battle and overcome a psychological defeat; the process behind positive psychology has not only proven to change a persons outlook on life itself, but be ultimately beneficial in the entirety that life. Throughout this discussion the multitude of benefits have been examined, from the conquest to overthrow the confines of depression all the way to the definitive increase in success rate of a persons career. So by looking into almost every aspect and angle of a persons life and just how each one could benefit from a simple change in how we see the world and process various situations, it would seem as though it is a fairly obvious and simple solution. Wouldnt it?

Pawsey 13 Works Cited Achor, Shawn. Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work. TED Talks, May 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. ---. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. 2010. Narr. Shawn Achor. Audio Recording. Crown Publishing Group, September 2010. 1 Apr. 2014. Digital File.

Bernstein, Jeffrey, and Susan Magee. Why Can't You Read My Mind?: Overcoming the 9 Toxic Thought Patterns that Get in the Way of a Loving Relationship. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2003. Print.

Blackwell, Simon E., Nathaly Rius-Ottenheim, Yvonne W.M. Schulte-van Maaren, Ingrid V.E. Carlier, Victor D. Middelkoop, Frans G. Zitman, Philip Spinhoven, Emily A. Holmes, and Erik J. Giltay. "Optimism and Mental Imagery: A Possible Cognitive Marker to Promote Well-being?" Psychiatry research 206.1 (2013): 5661. Web. Clear, James. "The Science of Positive Thinking: How Positive Thoughts Build Your Skills, Boost Your Health, and Improve Your Work." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 July 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Etcoff, Nancy. Nancy Etcoff: Happiness and its Surprises. TED Talks, February 2004. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.

Fishman, Joanna. "Positive Psychology: The Benefits of Living Positively | World of Psychology." Psych Central.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

Pawsey 14 Fredrickson, Barbara L., Michael A. Cohn, Kimberly A. Coffey, Jolynn Pek, and Sandra M. Finkel. "Open Hearts Build Lives: Positive Emotions, Induced through Loving-kindness Meditation, Build Consequential Personal Resources." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95.5 (2008): 1045-062. NIH Public Access. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. Lopez, Jason Kido, and Matthew J. Fuxjager. "Self-deceptions Adaptive Value: Effects of Positive Thinking and the Winner Effect." Consciousness and Cognition 21.1 (2012): 315-24. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. McGrath, C., C. F. C. Jordens, K. Montgomery, and I. H. Kerridge. "Right Way to Do Illness? Thinking Critically about Positive Thinking." Internal Medicine Journal 36.10 (2006): 665-9. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Ricard, Matthieu. Matthieu Ricard: The Habits of Happiness. TED Talks, February 2004. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.