Speaker Mike Dow - Happiness
Tue, Jan 8th 2019 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Happiness was the new year topic of Kilrymont St. Andrews Rotary member Mike Dow in a talk to club colleagues.
Since the 1950s the standard of living has been unprecedented. However, we have not necessarily been happier.
Clinical psychologists aim to help us understand the positive traits and health-promoting activities that protect people from anxiety and depression.
Since 2010, with the work of Richard Layard of the London School of Economics, a statistical measurement of well-being economics has been produced and there is now an all-party Parliamentary group on the subject. This complements GDP as the main indicator of national success.
Mike explained there were types of well-being, hedonic, with maximum pleasure and minimum pain/discomfort, and Eudaimonic, with meaning and purpose, fulfilling potential and self-actualisation.
Seligman's theory of well-being highlighted five factors--positive emotion, engagement, accomplishment, relationships and meaning/purpose.
Mike said there were five main barriers to well-being.
These included negativity bias, where more weight is given to negative experiences or information rather than positive ones, duration neglect, where the length of time of a bad experience doesn't matter but how the experience ends which has more impact, and most importantly the barrier of lack of self-control.
Mike said that lack of self-control was central to many social and personal problems. Research showed that happiness and greater well-being was linked to higher self-restraint.
Mike concluded that sound and stable friendships/relationships were particularly important for people to enjoy the greatest well-being and this resulted in better health and greater longevity.
Gordon Mackenzie proposed thanks for a most thought-provoking talk.
Since the 1950s the standard of living has been unprecedented. However, we have not necessarily been happier.
Clinical psychologists aim to help us understand the positive traits and health-promoting activities that protect people from anxiety and depression.
Since 2010, with the work of Richard Layard of the London School of Economics, a statistical measurement of well-being economics has been produced and there is now an all-party Parliamentary group on the subject. This complements GDP as the main indicator of national success.
Mike explained there were types of well-being, hedonic, with maximum pleasure and minimum pain/discomfort, and Eudaimonic, with meaning and purpose, fulfilling potential and self-actualisation.
Seligman's theory of well-being highlighted five factors--positive emotion, engagement, accomplishment, relationships and meaning/purpose.
Mike said there were five main barriers to well-being.
These included negativity bias, where more weight is given to negative experiences or information rather than positive ones, duration neglect, where the length of time of a bad experience doesn't matter but how the experience ends which has more impact, and most importantly the barrier of lack of self-control.
Mike said that lack of self-control was central to many social and personal problems. Research showed that happiness and greater well-being was linked to higher self-restraint.
Mike concluded that sound and stable friendships/relationships were particularly important for people to enjoy the greatest well-being and this resulted in better health and greater longevity.
Gordon Mackenzie proposed thanks for a most thought-provoking talk.
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