The five subscales of time were then separately calculated. The past negative subscale is where an individual embodies a pessimistic attitude towards the past. This subscale was measured by ten items (‘I often think about bad things that have happened to me in the past’) which are recoded to calculate a mean from the ten items. Internal consistency within the present study’s past negative subscale was highly acceptable (Cronbach’s Alpha=.83).
The present hedonistic subscale, where individuals have an orientation to make sacrifices in the present, to enjoy rewards tomorrow, is measured by fifteen items (‘I take risks to put excitement in my life’). It was calculated by taking the fifteen items related to present hedonistic
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Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP) A BTP was originally based on Zimbardo and Boyd’s (1999) cross-cultural data and can be calculated from the five time subscales. A BTP is characterised by high scores on the past positive (4.60), moderately high scores on the future (4.00) and present hedonistic (3.90) and finally low scores in past negative (1.95) and present fatalistic (1.50). Stolarski et al.’s (2011) Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP) measure was used to operationalise a BTP, as it was found to be the most valid method for calculating it (Zhang, Howell & Stolarski, 2013). DBTP is an empirical measure of how far participant’s values, across the five time dimensions are from an ideal BTP value (0). This results in a score for how ill-balanced an individual is. Empirical time perspectives were taken away from optimal time values and the closer to 0 the DBTP value was, the more a BTP an individual had. Each scale deviation can be squared to examine any biases to a particular time orientation. A strength of this measure is that each person received a score for their distance from the optimal time perspective profile. The following formula was used to calculate the DBTP:
DBTP=√(oPN−ePN) 2 +(oPP−ePP) 2 +(oPF−ePF) 2 +(oPH−ePH) 2 +(oF−eF) 2
Wellness Behaviour Inventory (WBI) The practice of positive health behaviours was assessed by participants
Buddha, a man who devoted himself to years of contemplation and self-denial, once said “do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”. Thinking too much about times gone by typically keeps your mind stuck in neutral. Existing in an earlier life could result in revisiting feelings of anger, guilt, resentment, sorrow, or shame. Obsessing about the people and events precipitating such negative feelings can lead to endless rethinking. Becoming increasingly lifeless, or infatuated, thinking really cannot progress toward any resolution. Ultimately, it is pointless to employ memory to hold onto what may have been lost many years ago. As a result of not letting go of the past, it is possible to be robbed of present opportunities. Often, in many novels the characters are still dwelling on their past in the present. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author demonstrates how George Wilson and Jay Gatsby are held hostage by their pasts with little hope for their futures.
Often times we find ourselves thinking about the past only to try to force the memories away and return to our current delusion. We can never erase the past, but if the past is who we are, then should we just welcome pain back into our lives? Embarrassment, guilt, and pride betray us as we choose to bury our darkest memories in our head and look to a positive future without ever having to readdress them and acknowledge that they had ever happened in the first place. Thinking back now my weakest moment caught me by complete surprise.
As humans we are constantly in search of understanding the balance between what feels good and what is right. Humans try to take full advantage of experiencing pleasure to its fullest potential. Hedonism claims that pleasure is the highest and only source of essential significance. If the notion of hedonism is truthful, happiness is directly correlated with pleasure. Robert Nozick presented the philosophical world with his though experiment, “The Experience Machine” in order to dispute the existence and validity of hedonism. Nozick’s thought experiment poses the question of whether or not humans would plug into a machine which produces any desired experience. Nozick weakens the notion of hedonism through his thought experiment, claiming
Since I was young, I have always had an affinity of people watching, and trying to figure out what type of life they lived. Especially, what type of events would cause people to adopt a positive (happy) outlook in comparison to people that dwell on the negatives attributes? Growing up, my mother had a peculiar thought process that would always managed to lead to negative (not happy) thoughts. In the beginning, I too would follow similar thought process, but I quickly realized how exhausting it was to maintain. Before reading Shawn Achor’s book, I wanted to clear my mental database and allow for this new information to be absorbed into my life.
Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjective satisfaction of desire. I will explain the similarities and the differences between the desire-satisfaction theory of value and hedonism. I will also discuss the most successful theory and defend my argument by explaining how the theory
Psychologists at NPR’s Health News channel say that “When memories never fade, the past can poison the present...”. Not only is it unhealthy to live in the past, it’s impossible, as evident in The Great Gatsby. “...his life had been confused and disorderly since then, but if he could return once more to that certain starting place, he could figure it all out...” (Fitzgerald, pg 71). What’s done is done, what’s gone is gone. We have only the present to take hold of, and the future to dream in.
Psychologist James Hamblin believes that happiness comes from experiences that occur in life rather than the materials life has to offer. In other words, a person will be happier in the long run going on vacation rather than buying a new phone. Hamblin’s article creates an argument in hopes of encouraging people to enjoy the moments in life and not the big or little things. Hamblin argues that ‘if you pay for an experience, like a vacation, it will be over and gone; but if you buy a tangible thing, a couch, at least you 'll have it for a long time” (Hamblin 2014). A person may be able to buy something and have it in possession for a long period of time,
Most of us think of past problems because we want closure but others because they might be jealous of others succes. Either way the past can not be changed. Focusing on the past is also not good for your mental health if you are only thinking about the problems because it can lower your self esteem and make you feel depressed. Negative experiences can always affect you even if it is years later. Some experiences make you stronger while others make you weaker they can make you feel more or less sure of yourself but either way you are still affected.
Counterfactual thinking is the cognitive process in which individuals can simulate alternative realities, to think about how things could have turned out differently, with statements such as ‘what if’ and ‘if only’. Counterfactuals can be either upward, in which alternative realities are improved, or downward, in which alternative realities are worsened. Reflecting on previous outcomes can make individuals experience regret and this review will focus on the effects of counterfactual thinking and feelings of regret, which has been referred to as a ‘counterfactual emotion’.
The hedonist would argue that pleasure is the only intrinsic good in life, that joy and suffering are the only distinguishing marks of things beneficial or harmful to the human being. To the hedonist, life is like the common balance scale with suffering on one side and pleasure on the other. With pleasure being inversely related to suffering, in order to maximize the good of life, the hedonist strives to minimize suffering, thereby maximizing net pleasure (pleasure minus suffering).
Another important thing to examine carefully are moral choices. If moral choices are not examined, people will choose only what benefits them in the short term and not follow hedonism. Hedonism is a doctrine that states that pleasure is the only intrinsic good in humans and it is our moral obligation to strive to reduce pain and increase pleasure in themselves and others. 3 A student who slacks off on their homework may benefit in the short term by having free time to do as they please, but are putting their long term interests at risk. The student has not thought about how their lack of effort will affect their grades and whether or not they will have enough marks to get into a university or college.
Theorists have invested years of research into learning the dynamics of one’s personality. Humanistic and Existential Personality Theories offered perspectives that have proved to be valuable to those researching and exploring how one’s personality develops and expands throughout life. From Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to Carl Rogers’s development of the formative tendency and the actualizing tendency, the range of perspectives is diverse. In this paper, we will analyze how humanistic and existential theories affect individual personalities and give explanation to how these
Hedonic adaptation the human’s ability to reduce the damage of major trauma cause by the impact of major emotional events that occur. Also known as the Hedonic Treadmill, Hedonic adaptation is defined by its use of a set point that defines the constant level of happiness a person generally feels. This set point is permanently defined by the individual person and should never change due to impacts from environmental situations. No matter the problems a person is faced with, his or her overall happiness will, depending on situation and mental regards, reset itself at a certain unchanged point.
Everyone’s past can have some bumps in the road that can result in misery, regret but also happiness. But it can also play an important role
Affective motives deal with the need to reach satisfying feeling states and to obtain personal goals (Hawkins, 2010). Another shopping situation on my personal consumption is line 15 page 2, April 14, 2012, my family on an impulse spent $143.07 dollars on recreational products. Even after this shopping situation, I could not understand how or why I allowed my family that is trying to save money spend so much of it. However slowly understanding our purchasing behaviors, I can understand that it relates to the need for tension reduction and some hedonic shopping motives. People encounter situations in their daily lives that create uncomfortable levels of stress. In order to effectively manage tension and stress, people are motivated to seek ways to reduce arousal. Recreational products and activities are often promoted in terms of tension relief (Hawkins, 2010). After closely observations of my consumption journal, I think most of our purchasing