This document summarizes key points from a chapter about adjusting to modern life and pursuing higher education. It discusses: 1) Pursuing higher education is an important tool for adjusting to modern life challenges and complexities. Successful students attend class more than unsuccessful students. 2) The document provides tips for getting more out of lectures and emphasizes that academic adjustment is more dependent on factors like curiosity and effort than IQ. 3) It introduces concepts like hedonism, happiness, and cognitive processing as they relate to adjustment and outlines some empirical findings on what contributes to happiness and well-being.

1. Chapter 1
Jan. 23, 2014

2. Adjusting to Modern Life
 Pursuing higher education is an important tool for
adjusting to modern life.
 This course attempts to help you better adjust as you
make efforts to adjust to our complex, modern life and,
more immediately day to day academic, social and
relationship challenges
 Your text is a presentation of scientific research
relevant to human behavior and adjustment, and thus
different than self-help books and programs

3. Successful and Unsuccessful
Students’ Class Attendance
 Successful students (C or above), in class 84%, out 16%
 Unsuccessful (C- or below), in class 47%, out 53%
(Lindgren, 1969)
See Figure 1.13 in text book

4. Getting More out of Lectures
 Use active listening procedures-anticipate what’s




coming and search for deeper meaning (e.g., how
relevant to me).
Prepare for lectures by reading ahead (brain more
relaxed and learning more pleasant if prior exposure
Write down lecturers’ thoughts in own words
Look for clues re: what lecturers think important
Ask questions during lectures

5. Academic Adjustment
 IQ NOT AS IMPORTANT AS
CURIOSITY
ATTENTION
EFFORT

6. Cognitive Processing Model
vMo<-----------------v---------v---------v
W___>S___>A___>STM____>O___>LTM___>R
v
v
v
T
v
v
F
F
W=World, S=Senses, A=Attention, Mo=Motivation,
STM=Short Term Memory, O=Operations, T=Thought,
LTM=Long Term Memory, R=Retrieval, F=Forgetting

7. HEDONISM
*The tendency to MAXIMIZE PLEASURE
and MINIMIZE DISPLEASURE
Adjustment efforts are driven by this
principle

8. YUMMY

9. The Roots of Happiness: Efforts
Toward An Empirical Analysis
Inner Reflection Moment

10. The Roots of Happiness: Efforts
toward an Empirical Analysis
 Empirical view of happiness
(What is NOT important)
1. Money- correlation between income and happiness is
very weak (.13) in U.S.
(Diener & Seligman, 2004).
2. Age- accounts for less than 1% of variation (over lifespan) in reported happiness. (Lykken, 1999).

11. The Roots of Happiness: Efforts
Toward and Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (What is not
important) cont.
3. Gender also accounts for less than 1%
of the variation in people’s subjective
sense of well-being (Myers, 1992;
Lykken, 1999).
4. Parenthood does not make people
more or less happy than non-parents.
(Argyle, 2001)

12. The Roots of Happiness: Efforts
Toward and Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (what is not
important) cont.
5. Intelligence => a coveted trait
-findings do not support there being an
association between IQ scores and
happiness
6. Educational attainment also seems unrelated to
happiness (Ross & Van Willigen, 1997)

13. The Roots of Happiness: Efforts
Toward an Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (what is not important),
cont
7. Physical Attractiveness - though an important
resource in Western society
-low correlation between attractiveness and happiness
(Diener, Wolsic, & Fujita, 1995).

14. The Roots of Happiness: Towards
An Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (what is important)
1. Health and happiness are correlated positively but
only moderately so (Argyle, 1996).
2. Social networking satisfaction is an important
contributor to happiness (Diener &Seligman, 2002)

15. The Roots of Happiness: Towards
An Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (what is important),
cont.
3. Religion has a mild correlation with
peoples subjective sense of
happiness.
4. Love and marriage are positively
correlated with a sense of happiness.
Married people happier than unmarried.
(Myers & Diener, 1995). This is a robust
finding around the world.

16. The Roots of Happiness: Toward an
Empirical Analysis
 Empirical View of Happiness (what is important),
cont.
5. Work satisfaction is strongly associated
with general happiness (Warr, 1999).
6. Genetic predisposition accounts for
50% of the variance in happiness.

17. Where, What, When is Happiness?

18. Authentic Happiness
 Marty Seligman (2004)
THE PLEASANT LIFE
-Set range
-High heritability, biologically given range
THE GOOD LIFE
-Flow
-Absorption
-Time loss
-No thoughts or feelings in awareness
THE MEANINGFUL LIFE
-Using personal strengths for some higher good
-Small self becomes big self; immortal

19. The Paradox of Progress
 In the HEDONISTIC move toward greater pleasure we
create and desire:
-More Goods
-More Money
-More Time
-More Choice (Freedom)
-More Popularity
(Basically more PMS)

20. The Paradox of Progress
 “The technological advances of the past century,
impressive though they may be, have not led to
perceptible improvement in our collective health and
happiness.”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zASS9O4ff_M

21. Paradox of Progress in Education

22. The Paradox of Progress
 TIME
-Time saving devices=>automobiles,
air travel, dishwashers, photocopy,
computers, cell phones, etc., BUT
NO TIME
-Weil & Rosen (1997); 51% surveyed
want more time than more money
-Time crunch remains=>unhealthy
adjustment patterns (e.g., less sleep=>
less alert)

23. The Paradox of Progress
 CHOICE
-More variety in goods, services and
personal expression=>more difficulty
at decision making=>less control=>
more anxiety

24. Paradox of Progress
 CONTROL OF WORLD
-Genetically engineered food, greater
fishing capacity, transporting of nonindigenous foods, prevention of food
spoilage, heat/air conditioning, night
illumination, taste enhancement=>
but more health and environmental
concerns

25. The Search for Direction
 Progress is good but has engendered
- Time crunches
- Indecisiveness
-Some negative environmental
consequences
 Loss of MEANING, DIRECTION and
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

26. Clinically Assessed Student
Goals: Post Treatment
*Achieving productive academic engagement
 Achieving new and more mindful and productive relations
with family and friends
 Achieving role which is consistent with my personality in
achieving life goals
 Accepting body, mindful maintenance and using body
effectively
 Building and using Self Awareness effectively to assist in
thriving and moving toward goals
 Preparing for marriage and family life
 Affirming values and ethical system appropriate to my life
 Selecting and preparing for a career for fulfillment and
material comfort

27. Outline
 Problems with self-help and happiness market
 Scientific method

28. Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar – Harvard
Happiness Professor
 Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting
Fulfillment, taught hugely popular courses
 “There is mounting evidence in the psychological
literature showing that focusing on cultivating
strengths, optimism, gratitude, and a positive
perspective can lead to growth during difficult times.”

29. Problems with happiness and related
success programs
1. unrealistically positive views of the self
2. exaggerated perceptions of personal control
3. unrealistic optimism: positive illusions … collapse when
reality becomes too harsh/intrudes on the dream (C. Hedges)
Hedges, Chris (2009). Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy
and the Triumph of Spectacle

30. Problems with happiness and success
programs
4. forces the victim of failure to blame him or herself for
his or her pain or suffering (C. Hedges)
5. effective in keeping people from questioning
structures around them responsible for their misery or
difficulty getting ahead
6. in land of happiness and success there is something
wrong with us if we are not happy or successful

31. Cheryl Sandberg

32. Sheryl Sandberg: Lean In published
March 2013 aspire to business success by learning
 Sets women up to
how to be more assertive and confident in the work place
Problem: has zealous addiction to workoverly simplistic and optimistic about
cutting back work hours and having
children while achieving success
Truth: both men and women who make
over 100k a year work more hours and
have less leisure time in order to get ahead

33. Lean In by S. Sandberg
 Sandberg graduated as the top student in her class
in Economics from Harvard and acquired an MBA
from Harvard’s business school - operates from a
position of privilege that is difficult to attain even
through hard work for the vast majority of women
Possible Truths:
-women blaming themselves if not
successful at level of Sandberg –COO at Facebook
-exaggerated perception of control

34. Cheryl Sandberg: Lean In
 women need to aspire more and work harder to
achieve success in the corporate business world
Problem: The problem of achieving success more
complex than presented: Sandberg argues women ought
to change and Lean In at their work by joining a system
of male-modeled aggressiveness/following example of
men - hoping for a fairer system in the future
Truth: Women still earn $.77 on the dollar in the US
compared to men – rather than women working harder,
women ought to be objecting to and correcting global
unfairness to women in business

35. The Scientific Approach

36. experiment = research method
investigator manipulates one
(independent) variable under
carefully controlled conditions
observes whether any changes
occur in a second (dependent)
variable as a result
IV
DV

37. • dependent variable – variable that is
thought to be affected by the
manipulations of the independent
variable
–
usually a measurement of
observable behavior
–
Schachter (1959) study (Fig. 1.2 in
text)

39. Video:
https:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7b
pwbnged4
0-5:00 min.

40. •experimental group – subjects who
receive some special treatment in
regard to the independent variable
•control group –subjects who do not
receive the special treatment given to
the experimental group

41. advantage of controlled
experiments: precise
control allows cause and
effect conclusions to be
drawn

42. Why can we assume cause and effect???
- If the experimental and control groups
are alike in every way except for the
treatment from the independent variable
(ANXIETY )
AND
- if a difference between the two groups is
found in the dependent variable (DESIRE
TO AFFILIATE)
THEN
- the difference must BE DUE TO the
independent variable (ANXIETY) or the
special treatment

43. NON-EXPERIMENTAL,
CORRELATIONAL METHODS
–
Naturalistic observation – careful
observation of behavior without
intervening directly with the subjects
–
Case studies
–
Surveys – structured questionnaires
designed to solicit information about
specific aspects of participants

44. Correlation coefficient
Class absence
Grades
Caffeine intake
anxiety