Unit 4 Source of Personal Well-Being

Unit 4 Source of Personal Well-Being By: CiciliaEviGradDiplSc., M. Psi

The Sources • Understanding the sources is an important step in constructing action plans and exploring strategies for its attainment • Biopsychosocial sources: • Biological and Constitutional Factors • Early Parenting Experiences • Emotional Intelligence • Loving Relationship

Biological and Constitutional Factors • Thomas & Chess (1977)  biologically individual differences among babies: activity, emotion, ability to self-regulate  can also be modulated by environment • 3 types: easy, difficult, slow to warm up • Twin studies  highly similar in various measurement of personality, incld subjective well-being (Diener & Lucas, 1999)

Biological and Constitutional … (2) • McCrae & Costa (1990)  5 personality traits • Neuroticism  negative emotions • Extraversion  preference for relating to others • Openness to experience • Agreeableness • Conscientiousness

Early Parenting Experiences • Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1978) • John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory (1982) • Secure  solid relationship, free to explore • Anxious-ambivalent  no consistent care • Avoidant  rejecting and unresponsive • Hazan & Shaver (1987, 2004)  links between early attachment styles with primary caregivers and later romantic relationships

Emotional Intelligence • Peter Sallovey then popularized by Daniel Goleman • Defined as “abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratifications; to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to empathize and to hope” (Goleman, 1994, p. 34)

Emotional Intelligence (2) • Four key elements: • self awareness: knowledge of one’s emotions, strengths, limitations and value system • Self-management: ability to control disruptive emotions and impulse • Social awareness: ability to empathize with others • Relationship management: ability to cultivate and maintain a web of relationships, resolve interpersonal conflict, work positively and collaboratively with other people

Loving Relationships • Married individuals  live longer, survive health problems and less prone to serious mental health problems • Need to affiliate is a basic human need  from the moment of birth and throughout our lives • We are largely shaped by our relationships with close others

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love Intimacy Passion Commitment

Loving Relationships (2) • Relationship maintenance  mechanism by which partners conserve, protect and enhance the health of their important relationships, once those relationships have achieved some degree of closeness – is essential to the longevity of a relationship (Reis & Rusbult, 2004)

Loving Relationships (3) • Self-disclosure and partner responsiveness  elements in development of intimacy • Reveal personal information, thoughts and feelings to their loved ones • Happy couples have a wealth of positive thoughts and feelings toward one another (Gottman, 1999)  reflected in their daily interactions and serves to protect them in times of conflict

Organizational Sources of Personal Well-Being

Why is it important? • Because the emotional climate in the organizations and the opportunities provided for growth and engagement will affect overall levels of satisfaction and personal well-being

Compare These Situations!

Emotional Climate and Group Cohesion • Sense of belonging and commitment to the group, enjoy spending time with other group members, and less likely to suffer from stress related to social and interpersonal factors  enthusiastic about the group and its work, have + expectations • Cohesion creates a healthier work environment  individual can thrive

Emotional Climate and Group Cohesion (2) • Group dynamics  stages: • Storming  conflict is unpleasant, but needed as required ingredients for group cohesion • Forming  disagreement can be expressed and conflict can be resolved • Norming  sufficiently mature to reach optimal level of productivity • Feelings are contagious  a toxic environment at work  spillover effect into family life

Compare These Situations!

Opportunities for Growth, Engagement, and Self-Determination • Features of work that correlate with personal well-being (Warr, 1999): • Opportunities for personal control : make decision, autonomy, and freedom of choice • Not being trusted and work at micromanaged system  getting low when boss isn’t around • Engaged workers  report happy feeling while on the job, because it is important for them and report much higher of overall life satisfaction

The Intersection of Work and Family • Disengaged workers  much more likely to have a spillover of stress and unhappiness from their work life to home life • Role enhancement perspective  multiple roles are advantageous • Role strain perspective  difficulty to meet the requirements of every role • Poverty is a problem  not the working parents

Community Sources of Personal Well-Being

Why Is It Important? • Social factors can create stress strong enough to undermine the foundation of resilience laid early in life through attachment and bonding • On the other hand, enabling environments and social propitious can help to undo negative sequels of a tough childhood (Ungar, 2005)

Social Gradient • Not just about absolute poverty  but also relative deprivation  when you have physiological and security needs met, but you feel inferior or less, compare to others • Impact of social status on well-being is big • What if you’re on the lower step of social ladder?

Stress • Extended exposure to conflict and stress can create permanent physiological and psychological damage • More vulnerable to wide range of health problems  infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, depression and aggression (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003)

Early Life • Basic emotional and organic needs in early life has a paramount importance • Reduction of risk factors + enhancement of protective factors = family and social priority • Resilience starts in the womb (Ungar, 2005)

Social Exclusion • Due to disability, race, gender, class or immigrant status  excluded from the mainstream of the society • Prolonged exposure to exclusion diminishes self-worth and health • Physical environment can also feel excluding and isolating

Work • Coronary heart disease  has a lot to do with working conditions and especially with level of control • Control at work is determined by a number of factors: position, climate, seniority, age, race and gender

Job Security • Alleviates worries and provide a meaningful identity for many, occupational stress and all • Unemployment is a major source of anxiety, depression and low self-image, not to mention economic instability and downright poverty (Frey & Stutzer, 2002; Fryer, 1998)

Social Support • Has been found to have direct effects on well-being and indirect effects as a buffer against stress • Inviting VS isolating environments  defined by many factors: numbers of friends, shops, transportations system, street life

Addictions • People turn to tobacco and alcohol to numb the pain of isolation and deprivation  deepens their problems • Reflect social gradient  lower class shows much higher number of addictions

Food • Malnutrition VS obesity epidemic • Environmental influences such as subsidies for corn, culture, prices and community characteristics – interact with personal preferences

Transportation • Mode of transportation contributes to either pollution or clean air • Car-driven society  single-occupancy vehicles

Unit 4 Source of Personal Well-Being