Locus Of Control And Explanatory Style Essay

The question of whether individuals can create their own happiness without the aid of external influences has been raised and researched. However, the answer to the question is unclear. Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that supports the theory that an individual’s happiness is under their personal control, independent of any external influences or validation. Consequently, researchers have uncovered evidence that provides mixed results regarding the effectiveness of positive psychology in increasing individual happiness.

Jennifer Senior discusses her research concerning positive psychology and whether or not happiness is teachable and highlights some of the darker sides of happiness. To start the article, Senior reveals her score on her test from the Authentic Happiness Inventory. The test designed by Chris Peterson of the positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. This test is intended to numerically score ones level of happiness. In a scale of 1 to 5, Jennifer got a grade of 2.88. This indicated she was below average for most rankings such as “age, education level, gender and occupation” (422). Senior states she is at the 50 percent mark for her given zip code. She stated that liking her

My results showed that my happiness was an eight, out of the zero to ten scale. On average my happiness score was about 70 percent higher than all of the groups I was compared to on the questionnaire. My percent of time spent happy was also about 80 percent happier than most people my age or in the other groups. I am very pleased with this outcome, even if it did not change much from the first time I took this questionnaire. I am proud that I have such positive energy and attitude. As i have mentioned countless times, my main focus in life is to be happy. These results prove that I am on the right track. I know there's no way I can be happy 100 percent of the time but having such a high percent now really helps for the

Obesity has become a rising epidemic in recent decades (Manson & Bassuk, 2003) and it is often attributed to unhealthy eating or overeating (Puhl & Heuer, 2010). Things like food choice, especially unhealthy food choices, can attribute to how an individuals weight locus of control is perceived because unhealthy foods are often priced lower than healthy foods (Cummins, 2005). This can show that since an obese individual is willing to buy less expensive food that they are indifferent to their food habits (Cummins, 2005; Puhl & Heuer, 2010). The purpose of the present study was to explore the hypotheses that weight condition (obese, skinny) and food condition (healthy, unhealthy) influenced perceived weight locus of control, and participant

whereas externals believe that feedback to be strictly due to forces outside of their control (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Locus of control is a concept developed by Julian Rotter as part of his own social-learning approach to psychology. Haynes and Ayliffe (1991) utilize a theory of internal and external attribution that parallels Rotter’s locus of control, specifying attribution as an important mental process when addressing self accountability. Internal attribution is behavioral change that is instigated internally by the individual, such as a conscious decision to modify behavior. External attribution is change that is caused by outside factors such as medication or disease (Haynes & Ayliffe, 1991). An excellent example of these concepts is an alcoholic who is told

Some people may say that having control over someone or something can bring satisfaction and a sense of power. In the an article called “Gunman Kills Himself After Hostage Drama (584)” written by Charles P. Wallace and Tim Waters loss of control and the feeling of being helplessness makes Robert B. Rose commit a last act of asserting control over himself. In another article written by Martin E.P. Seligman called “On Learned Helplessness (585)” the feeling of loosing control of oneself is something that can cause someone to do things that they thought they would never do. What is hard to understand is that some of the things the someone may commit may implicate the lives of others in a negative way and the ending result could be death.

Locus of Control, originally conceptualized by Julian Rotter (1966), has been found to be critical to numerous studies. Within psychology, it is considered to be a generalized expectancy regarding the forces that determine reinforcement. Individuals with internal orientation perceive rewards as contingent based on personal behavior, whereas those with external orientation attribute reinforcement received to external factors such as chance and powerful others (Levenson 1981). This essay examines the nature and significance of this psychological construct, especially in academic achievement and health domains. Additionally, it has been argued that high internality is positively associated with leadership while high scores of powerful others

In class on Monday, we had a very engaging presentation on positive psychology and how flourishing shapes our perspective to be the successful young adults we are today. Positive psychology is the study of promotion for successful functioning. Building enabling conditions for a life worth living is vital to being satisfied with our lives and within ourselves. A few enabling conditions for a life worth living for my own perspectives is my resilience, my supportive buffers, and using my signature strength to help others.

The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” (Chuck Palahniuk). The first concept I learned is positive psychology, and unexpectedly I have applied this concept throughout my life for the last sixteen years without realizing it until this course. People who employ positive psychology are those who make people happy throughout the course of their life and are optimistic during difficult times to cope with the challenges (Franzoi, 2014, pg. 8). People who incorporate positive psychology into their life have less stress and are tend to be happier and healthier. Positive psychology brings similar effects to positive emotions like happiness and pleasure as clinical psychology that treats depression and anger (Max, 2007).

The extent to which people believe they have power over events in their lives. A person with an internal locus of control believes that he or she can influence events and their outcomes, while someone with an external locus of locus of control blames outside forces for everything. When it comes to me, I am more of an internal locus of control guy. I believe that, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” For example, I work at WinCo Foods as a cashier, if I do my job with my full attention and focus on what I do than I will not lose any money from my till

The premise of the article: Universal Happiness? Cross-Cultural Measurement Invariance of Scales Assessing Positive Mental Health, is that positive mental health compliments the emotional security and the psychosocial aspects of a person’s life into a single paradigm. The paradigm shows that people who have a good mental health status see themselves as having a distinct direction in their life and that their life has more purpose than those who allow their mental health to deteriorate. Along with direction and purpose people with a good mental health status also have lasting relationships, are more accepting of whom they are, and exhibit a more positive affect. Bieda et al (2016) illustrates this by utilizing the Positive Mental Health Scale,

Those that will be covered in this overview consist of quality of life, coping styles, unhappiness, and faith in a fair world. Prior investigation has established that a perceived quality of life is swayed by an individual’s level of optimism. Other aspects, such as coping styles and social connections have been positively correlated with a high quality of life. This is a very subjective phrase and has been demarcated in many ways. One meaning states that quality of life is centered on the personal assessment of one's possessions and contentment with these possessions (Harju & Bolen, 1998).

Taking part in the varying Happiness Assessment surveys was insightful in many ways. My results showed that I am typically in alignment with the rest of the population on the happiness scale. Upon examining the overall graphed data, I found that the spread of the distributions were close to being symmetrical and contained no outliers. Most of my scores gave the interpretation that I was just slightly above average compared to others on the well-being scale. However, my general satisfaction with life interpretation was slightly below average. I found that the results of each test were relatively consistent with each other and provided fairly accurate feedback, however, the use of one test alone would not allow someone to make an accurate assessment.

Due to the increase in research on subjective wellbeing throughout the 1980’s, and its relation to personality, the Satisfaction with Life Scales (1993) were developed (Diener, Emmons, Larson & Griffin, 1985). Life satisfaction refers to a

Satisfaction with life is oftentimes highly correlated with happiness, but it is not by inherently the same as happiness. One may be satisfied with one’s life outcomes or satisfied with external factors, without being very happy. Once discovering a satisfaction with life rating, one may be able to determine if satisfaction with life is something one can control, and if it is, one may be able to maximize one’s life satisfaction. For instance, if one is typically not searching for a mate, and he or she scores low on this scale, one may be more willing in the future to seek a partner if he or she knows that statistically speaking, people with partners are more satisfied with his or her life.