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Unit 5: Perspectives on Happiness and Well Being - Practice Quiz

PSY292 — Positive Psychology 50 Questions
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1 Which of the following best describes the Hedonic perspective of well-being?

A. Acceptance of suffering as a path to growth
B. The actualization of human potential
C. The maximization of pleasure and minimization of pain
D. Living a life of virtue and meaning

2 Who is credited with the concept of Eudaimonia, distinguishing it from mere pleasure?

A. Sigmund Freud
B. Aristotle
C. B.F. Skinner
D. William James

3 In the PERMA model of well-being developed by Martin Seligman, what does the 'A' stand for?

A. Acceptance
B. Autonomy
C. Affection
D. Achievement

4 According to Diener's tripartite model, Subjective Well-Being (SWB) consists of which three components?

A. Health, Wealth, and Relationships
B. Positive Affect, Negative Affect, and Life Satisfaction
C. Pleasure, Meaning, and Engagement
D. Optimism, Resilience, and Hope

5 The Easterlin Paradox refers to which finding regarding the relationship between income and happiness?

A. Spending money on others creates less happiness than spending it on oneself.
B. Within a country, richer people are happier, but over time, as a society gets richer, average happiness does not increase.
C. Money has absolutely no correlation with happiness at any level.
D. Happiness decreases as income increases due to stress.

6 Which theory posits that positive emotions expand an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire, leading to the accumulation of enduring personal resources?

A. Discrepancy Theory
B. Self-Determination Theory
C. Set-Point Theory
D. Broaden-and-Build Theory

7 According to Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade's Sustainable Happiness Model, what represents the approximate breakdown of the determinants of happiness?

A. genetics, circumstances, intentional activity
B. genetics, environment, choices
C. genetics, circumstances, intentional activity
D. genetics, environment

8 The Hedonic Treadmill (or hedonic adaptation) implies that:

A. Unhappy people are caught in a cycle of negative thinking.
B. People require constantly increasing amounts of pleasure to feel happy.
C. Physical exercise is the primary driver of hedonic well-being.
D. Humans quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative life events.

9 Which of the following scales is most commonly used to measure the cognitive component of Subjective Well-Being?

A. BDI (Beck Depression Inventory)
B. MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)
C. SWLS (Satisfaction with Life Scale)
D. PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule)

10 In the context of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which three basic psychological needs are essential for well-being?

A. Optimism, Gratitude, Resilience
B. Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness
C. Pleasure, Power, Meaning
D. Safety, Belonging, Esteem

11 Ryff’s Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being includes which of the following dimensions?

A. Wealth Accumulation
B. Social Status
C. Physical Fitness
D. Environmental Mastery

12 Which research method involves asking participants to report their feelings at random intervals throughout the day using a pager or smartphone?

A. Retrospective Interview
B. Longitudinal Cohort Study
C. Experience Sampling Method (ESM)
D. Day Reconstruction Method (DRM)

13 The concept of Flow, a state of deep absorption and optimal experience, was introduced by:

A. Carl Rogers
B. Martin Seligman
C. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
D. Abraham Maslow

14 Which personality trait is most strongly positively correlated with happiness?

A. Extraversion
B. Conscientiousness
C. Neuroticism
D. Openness

15 What is the general shape of the relationship between age and happiness across the lifespan in many Western countries?

A. Linear increase
B. U-shaped curve
C. Linear decrease
D. Inverted U-shaped curve

16 The PANAS scale is used to measure:

A. Life Satisfaction
B. Depression levels
C. Meaning in life
D. Positive and Negative Affect

17 Bottom-up theories of happiness suggest that:

A. Happiness is genetically predetermined.
B. Happiness is the sum of many small positive experiences and satisfied needs.
C. Happiness is a state of mind independent of external events.
D. Happiness is determined by personality traits.

18 Research on the effects of happiness indicates that happy people generally have:

A. Fewer social relationships
B. Lower career success due to complacency
C. Weaker immune systems due to lack of stress
D. Better physical health and longevity

19 Which of the following is considered a valid critique of self-report measures of happiness?

A. They cannot be analyzed statistically.
B. They are influenced by current mood and social desirability bias.
C. They are too expensive to administer.
D. They only work on children.

20 The Undoing Hypothesis within the Broaden-and-Build theory suggests that:

A. Happiness is found by undoing social conditioning.
B. One must undo past trauma to be happy.
C. Negative emotions undo the progress made by positive emotions.
D. Positive emotions correct or 'undo' the aftereffects of negative emotions (e.g., cardiovascular stress).

21 Which of the following factors has a relatively weak correlation with long-term happiness once basic needs are met?

A. Meaningful work
B. Quality of social relationships
C. Genetics
D. Income/Wealth

22 The Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) attempts to combine the accuracy of real-time measurement with the efficiency of daily diaries by:

A. Asking participants to reconstruct the previous day into episodes and rate emotions for each.
B. Recording video of the participants throughout the day.
C. Asking participants to predict their happiness for the next day.
D. Using brain scans to reconstruct memories.

23 According to Social Comparison Theory, happiness may decrease if we:

A. Compare ourselves to those less fortunate (downward comparison).
B. Compare ourselves to those who are better off (upward comparison).
C. Focus on our own past performance.
D. Refuse to compare ourselves to others.

24 Who developed the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), a 4-item global assessment?

A. Albert Bandura
B. Martin Seligman
C. Sonja Lyubomirsky
D. Ed Diener

25 Which term describes the psychological phenomenon where people judge their happiness relative to their recent past experiences?

A. Self-Determination
B. Flow
C. Adaptation Level Theory
D. Broadening

26 In the context of the effects of happiness, success is viewed as:

A. Something that decreases happiness due to stress.
B. Often a consequence or byproduct of happiness.
C. The sole cause of happiness.
D. Unrelated to happiness.

27 The Cantril Ladder is a measurement tool that asks respondents to:

A. Climb a physical ladder to test physical well-being.
B. Rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10.
C. Imagine a ladder with steps 0-10, where 10 is the best possible life.
D. List their top 10 friends.

28 Which of the following is a consistent demographic correlate of happiness?

A. Marriage (Married people tend to report higher happiness)
B. Education (PhDs are the happiest group)
C. Climate (People in hotter climates are always happier)
D. Gender (Men are consistently significantly happier)

29 The 'Set-Point' of happiness is believed to be primarily influenced by:

A. Geographic location
B. Education level
C. Heritable/Genetic factors
D. Income

30 According to Self-Discrepancy Theory, emotional discomfort arises from:

A. Having too many choices.
B. The difference between income and expenses.
C. The gap between one's 'actual self' and 'ideal self' or 'ought self'.
D. Lack of sleep.

31 What is the relationship between social relationships and happiness?

A. Solitude is more correlated with happiness than socializing.
B. They are the single most important variable; very happy people usually have strong social ties.
C. They only matter for extroverts.
D. They are necessary but not sufficient for happiness.

32 Which intervention has been empirically shown to increase well-being by focusing on the past?

A. Ignoring past events
B. Gratitude Visit / Gratitude Journaling
C. Worrying about mistakes
D. Analyzing childhood trauma

33 Top-down theories of happiness emphasize:

A. That specific joyful events build up to create happiness.
B. That personality and cognitive outlook determine how we perceive events.
C. That happiness comes from spiritual authorities.
D. The role of government in creating happiness.

34 The positivity ratio (often cited as roughly ) refers to:

A. The ratio of work hours to leisure hours.
B. The ratio of positive to negative emotions required to flourish.
C. The ratio of happy people to unhappy people in a country.
D. The ratio of money spent on others vs. self.

35 In the context of the effects of happiness on cognition, positive affect is associated with:

A. Narrow, focused attention
B. Global, flexible, and creative thinking
C. Analytical, critical thinking
D. Reduced problem-solving ability

36 Which of the following is an example of Savoring?

A. Analyzing why a bad event happened
B. Mindlessly eating while watching TV
C. Moving quickly to the next task after a success
D. Mentally prolonging a positive experience by sharing it with others

37 The Nun Study (Danner et al., 2001) is famous in positive psychology for demonstrating that:

A. Prayer is the only path to happiness.
B. Nuns are happier than the general population.
C. Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies predicted longevity.
D. Diet is the main factor in well-being.

38 What is the primary focus of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire?

A. Measuring momentary pleasure
B. Measuring broad psychological well-being including self-esteem and sense of purpose
C. Assessing financial satisfaction
D. Diagnosing depression

39 Which concept describes the pursuit of goals that are consistent with one's core values and interests?

A. Hedonism
B. Extrinsic motivation
C. Self-Concordance
D. Learned Helplessness

40 Regarding the correlation between health and happiness:

A. Subjective perception of health correlates stronger than objective health stats.
B. Only mental health matters, not physical health.
C. Objective health (doctor's report) correlates stronger than subjective health.
D. There is no correlation.

41 The Telos in Aristotelian virtue ethics relates to happiness as:

A. The accumulation of wealth.
B. The end goal or purpose of human life.
C. The avoidance of death.
D. The moment of physical pleasure.

42 Studies on purchasing and happiness suggest that:

A. Spending money never increases happiness.
B. Buying experiences brings more happiness than material goods.
C. Buying material goods brings more sustained happiness than experiences.
D. Saving money is the only way to be happy.

43 Which of the following describes Telic theories of happiness?

A. Happiness is achieved when a specific state or goal is reached.
B. Happiness is random.
C. Happiness comes from the journey, not the destination.
D. Happiness is biological.

44 Cultural differences in happiness measurement show that Collectivist cultures tend to:

A. Not value happiness at all.
B. Report higher levels of happiness than Individualist cultures.
C. Rate happiness based on personal achievement.
D. Rate happiness based on social harmony and fulfilling duties.

45 The Peak-End Rule suggests that when people evaluate a past experience, they focus on:

A. How long the experience lasted (duration neglect).
B. The average of every moment experienced.
C. The most intense moment (peak) and the final moment (end).
D. The very beginning and the very end.

46 Which neurotransmitter is most commonly associated with the reward system and the anticipation of pleasure?

A. Melatonin
B. Cortisol
C. Serotonin
D. Dopamine

47 In the context of measurements, what does 'Social Desirability' refer to?

A. The desire to be famous.
B. A response bias where respondents answer in a way that will be viewed favorably by others.
C. The goal of social policy.
D. The correlation between extraversion and happiness.

48 Research suggests that unemployment:

A. Increases happiness due to more free time.
B. Has a temporary negative effect that people adapt to fully within 2 months.
C. Has a scarring effect and significantly lowers SWB, often without full adaptation.
D. Has no impact on life satisfaction.

49 The concept of 'Flourishing' usually implies:

A. Being physically fit.
B. High psychological and social well-being combined with high emotional well-being.
C. Making a lot of money.
D. High positive affect and low negative affect only.

50 Which variable helps explain why some people stay happy despite adversity (Resilience)?

A. High income
B. Cognitive Reframing / Optimistic Explanatory Style
C. Avoidance coping
D. Suppression of emotions
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