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Positive Psychology Exercises to Enhance Well-being

As students adjust to changing circumstances, psychology professor Laura Sockol is providing them with evidence-based exercises designed to enhance their well-being, and the well-being of their cooped-up cohabitants. Sockol curates and shares the exercises, which are grounded in positive psychology research. Some examples are below—we’ll add to this list on an ongoing basis, so please check back.

Exercise 1: Three Good Things

People tend to focus on negative experiences. In positive psychology, we often say “bad is stronger than good.” For example, the positive emotion that someone feels if they find an unexpected $20 is usually less intense than the negative emotion that someone feels if they lose $20.

The Three Good Things exercise, also referred to as Three Blessings, is an activity designed to focus your attention on positive experiences.

The activity is simple: At the end of the day, write down three things that went well. These can be anything—from the small and ordinary to great and important. After you write down your three good things, write down why you think each good thing happened.

The Science

Emmons, R. A. & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389. Read the full paper.

Exercises 2-6: Pleasure, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment

Early in the history of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman proposed that there are five elements that contribute to well-being. He termed this the PERMA theory of well-being, to highlight these five elements. This model also provides a way to think about increasing well-being—different behaviors or activities can enhance well-being by increasing any of these five elements. They include:

Pleasure or Positive Emotion: Increase well-being by increasing the positive emotions you experience, especially by increasing the amount of pleasure you experience. This is often accomplished by providing experiences that are pleasurable to your basic senses–looking at things you consider beautiful, listening to sounds or music you find enjoyable, tasting things you find flavorful, smelling scents you find pleasurable, or experiencing positive kinds of physical touch. You can enhance pleasure by seeking out additional opportunities for these experiences, or by increasing the intensity or duration of the pleasurable experiences you already have in your life.

Engagement: Increase well-being by providing opportunities to experience “flow”–a state which many people describe as a loss of self-consciousness and awareness of time during a particular activity. You can think of engagement as being “in the zone.”

Relationships: Increase well-being by cultivating and nourishing your relationships with other people.

Meaning: Increase well-being by developing your sense of belonging, connection, and service to things greater than yourself.

Accomplishment: Increasing well-being through achieving goals for their own sake. (I typically do not need to define this element further for Davidson students – you are all familiar with this!)

Exercise 2: Savoring

This activity, savoring, is designed to increase the first element of PERMA–pleasure. Savoring is a way of enhancing the pleasure you derive from an activity by mindfully attending to the experience, especially the positive sensory elements. One of my former students claimed that this exercise led her to experience “the best chocolate of my life.” Don’t take my word for it – try it out for yourself!

For this brief savoring exercise, you’ll need to choose a small thing you enjoy eating. (I like to use individually wrapped Dove chocolates, because the wrappers have positive messages inside!) To really savor whatever you choose, you’ll eat it a little bit differently than you usually do. I’ve used chocolate as an example below, but you can use anything you enjoy.

  1. Start by holding the chocolate in your hand. Hold it in the palm of your hand – notice its weight and its shape. Hold it between your pointer finger and thumb. Explore it – imagine that you have never seen a chocolate before in your life. What do you notice?
  2. Take the time to really observe the chocolate. Notice everything about it – its shape, the color, the texture of the surface of the wrapper. Does the light glint off the wrapper? Does it feel smooth beneath your fingertips, or rough? Warm, or cool? Heavy, or light?
  3. Explore the chocolate further. You might close your eyes to enhance your sense of touch or smell.
  4. Slowly unwrap the chocolate (try doing this with your eyes closed!). Notice the sounds you hear as you unwrap the chocolate, and the smells. Do you begin to notice a taste as you can smell the chocolate? Notice how the unwrapped chocolate feels different than the wrapped chocolate. How has the texture changed? How has the temperature changed? Do you notice the chocolate becoming warmer or softer as you hold it?
  5. Bring the chocolate up to your nose. Notice how it smells, and the sensation of the air as you breathe in and out. You might find yourself thinking about this chocolate, or having memories of chocolate, or even feeling impatient to eat this chocolate. Notice the thoughts you are having, and the emotions you’re experiencing.
  6. Slowly bring the chocolate to your mouth and take a small bite. Notice the texture and pressure of the chocolate against your teeth. Notice the flavor of the chocolate, and how it spreads through your mouth. Notice how the temperature and texture of the chocolate change over time. Hold this bite in your mouth for at least 10 seconds, exploring the sensations you are experiencing.
  7. Continue to use this approach to slowly eat the remaining chocolate. Take your time and use all of your senses to explore the chocolate.

The Science

Hurley, D. B. & Kwon, P. (2012). Results of a study to increase savoring the moment: Differential impact on positive and negative outcomes. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 579-588. Read the full paper. Having trouble accessing the article? Check out the library’s Guide to Remote Learning & Research.

Exercise 3: Engagement

This exercise builds on the second element of well-being: engagement.

This exercise works by asking you to identify and use your personal strengths. Many people spend a lot of time thinking about their weaknesses. For example, when you study for a test, you probably spend more time reviewing material that you find more challenging than the topics that you already understand well. In this activity, rather than identifying and improving areas in which you feel weak, you are asked to think about areas in which you are already strong – and to capitalize on these strengths by using them in new and different ways.

As you’ll see below, I encourage you to share your plan with someone else and to check in later in the week to report back about how you’ve used your signature strengths in new ways. My top strength is “Love of Learning.” This week, I’m going to use that strength in a new way by listening to podcasts about some new-to-me topics, instead of my usual true-crime favorites.

  1. Complete the VIA Character Strengths inventory (select “Take the Free VIA Survey” and register to create a free account). Make sure to save your report!
  2. Consider the strengths for which you earned the highest score. Choose 1-2 of these strengths to explore further. Visit the VIA Institute on Character to learn more about your strengths and see suggestions for ways to put your strengths into action.
  3. Choose one way in which you’ll put one of your signature strengths into action this week. Try sharing your plan with a friend and checking in to report back about what you’ve tried!

The Science

Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Wellenzohn, S. & Ruch, W. (2015). Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: A randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths- intervention. Frontiers in Psychology. Read the full paper.

Exercise 4: Relationships

This positive psychology exercise targets the R in PERMA—improving well-being by strengthening your relationships. Chris Peterson, one of the key early researchers in the field of positive psychology, stated that the field could be summed up in three words: “Other people matter.

This exercise encourages you to connect with others—whether they are people you already have relationships with, or people you’ve never met—through acts of kindness. “Prosocial behavior” includes a wide range of actions you can take with the goal of benefiting others, ranging from everyday acts of kindness (like asking your neighbor if you can pick up things for them if you are already taking a trip to the store) to large-scale efforts to make positive change in the world. Prosocial behaviors don’t only benefit the recipients–they boost the well-being of the person doing the helping, as well.

The exercise is simple: find one thing you can to do to be kind to another person. If you’re finding it hard to brainstorm ideas while maintaining social distancing, here are some suggestions:

  • Text, email, or call someone you know who works in a healthcare field to thank them for the work they are doing.
  • Compliment someone! Maybe one of your classmates is making great contributions to online discussion forums, or you’ve noticed that your neighbor is cultivating a beautiful garden. Let them know you’ve noticed (just make sure to do so from at least six feet away).
  • If you are able, consider making an appointment to donate blood to help address the critical need for donations. You can find locations and make an appointment through the American Red Cross.
  • Stopping at the drive-through? Consider paying for the person behind you. Although folk wisdom suggests that “money can’t buy happiness,” it turns out that sometimes it can—if you spend it right! Spending money on other people provides a stronger boost for well-being than spending money on yourself.

The Science

Nelson, S. K., Layous, K., Cole, S. W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self-focused behavior on psychological flourishing. Emotion, 16(6), 850-861. Read the full paper. If you are off-campus, this link will prompt you to log into your Davidson account to access the article.

Exercise 5: Grateful Contemplation

This exercise enhances well-being through the fourth element of PERMA: meaning. It does so through an important emotion—gratitude. Not all researchers agree on the definition of gratitude, but many definitions emphasize that gratitude is characterized by positive appreciation of the helpful actions of other people (read a more in-depth review of some of the different ways in which gratitude has been conceptualized). There is very clear evidence that gratitude is associated, not only with well-being, but with a wide range of benefits such as physical health and relationship quality.

This positive exercise, Grateful Contemplation, will be led by Fred Rogers. Yes, that’s Mr. Rogers! Listen to him lead you through the exercise. For more Mr. Rogers, check out the documentary Lessons from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which is available for streaming through the library. If you prefer to read instead of watch, I have also included a transcript of this section of the video below:

  1. “I’d like to give you all an invisible gift: A gift of a silent minute to think about those who have helped you become who you are today. Some of them may be here right now; some may be far away; some—like my astronomy professor—may even be in heaven. But, wherever they are, if they’ve loved you and encouraged you and wanted what was best in life for you—they’re right inside yourself. And I feel that you deserve quiet time on this special occasion to devote some thought to them. So, let’s just take a minute in honor of those who have cared about us all along.”
  2. Take a silent minute.
  3. “Whomever you’ve been thinking about, imagine how grateful they must be that, during your silent times, you remember how important they are to you.”

The Science

Rash, J. A., Matsuba, M. K., & Prkachin, K. M. (2011). Gratitude and well-being: Who benefits the most from a gratitude intervention? Applied Psychology: Health & Well-Being, 3(3), 350-369. Read the full paper.

Exercise 6: Choosing “Good Enough”

This exercise builds on the last element of well-being: achievement.

You might find this exercise challenging, because many of you value “doing your best”—whether you’re working on academics, extracurriculars, or caring for people in your community, Davidson students tend to give (at least!) 100 percent. However, a growing body of literature suggests that always doing your best isn’t necessarily the best for you and, paradoxically, might even lead to worse outcomes.

When it comes to making decisions, we can characterize strategies in two ways:

  • Maximizing involves seeking the best option available across a wide range of domains. For example, if you are buying a car, you might want to find a car with the lowest price, the best fuel efficiency, the most reliable safety ratings, the most convenient purchase options, the best stereo system, in your favorite color. Maximizers seek out as much information as possible in order to make optimal choices.
  • Satisficing involves determining the standards that are important to you and your threshold for what is acceptable in those domains, then choosing the first option that meets your standards in all of these areas. Rather than deliberately seeking out “the best,” satisficers determine their standards (which may be quite high!) and select the first option that meets these standards. In our car example, a satisficer might decide that they want a blue or green SUV that is less than 5 years old, has less than 75K miles on it, and costs under $15,000. If they found a car that met these criteria—they’d purchase it!

Counterintuitively, by trying to find “the best” option, maximizers often experience worse outcomes than satisficers. A series of studies by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who report a tendency to maximize are:

  • Less happy than satisficers.
  • More likely to be depressed.
  • More likely to regret their choices.
  • More likely to compare themselves to others, and more strongly affected by social comparison.

The evidence that maximizers make better choices than satisficers is mixed. Some studies have found that “objective” outcomes are better for maximizers—for example, maximizing college seniors secured jobs with initial salaries approximately 20% higher than those of their satisficing peers. However, they reported much higher negative affect throughout the job search process, and were less satisfied with the outcome of their job search. Other studies have found that maximizers’ decision-making strategies could lead to less favorable outcomes; for example, earning less money in an experimental gambling task.

For this exercise, I encourage you to think about what it means to “achieve” a goal and to deliberately practice what has been called “robust satisficing.”

I encourage you to identify one task (or decision) to practice deliberately satisficing.

  1. Take a look at your to-do list. Choose one task to practice satisficing.
  2. Write down your goal(s) for the task you select. In advance, decide what standard(s) you need to meet before you will consider the task “done.”
  3. Start your task and check in regularly to assess whether you have met the standard(s) you identified. When you have accomplished this—stop! Even if you could keep doing more!

The Science

Iyengar, S. S., Wells, R. E., & Schwartz, B. (2006). Doing better but feeling worse: Looking for the “best” job undermines satisfaction. Psychological Science, 17(2), 143-150. Read the full paper.

Exercise 7: Take a Virtual Nature Break

A wide range of research shows that experiencing the natural world is associated with well-being; for example, activities in natural environments are associated with more favorable emotional and attentional outcomes than similar activities in synthetic environments. A meta-analysis of 32 studies found that even brief exposure to natural environments is associated with moderate increases in positive affect, as well as small decreases in negative affect. Nature can be particularly beneficial for helping us recover from stress; time spent in natural environments is associated with restoration—including feeling calm, relaxed, revitalized and refreshed.

You might be wondering while I am sharing this information with you while 80 percent of the U.S. population is under some version of a “Stay at Home” order, which has limited many people’s ability to get out into nature. The good news is that you can experience the benefits of interacting with the natural environment, even if you can’t get outdoors. Indirect interactions with nature, like exploring natural environments using virtual reality, are a promising alternative in situations in which real-world nature exposure is not possible. Even just having a view of natural elements through a window is associated with well-being.

For this positive psychology exercise, I encourage you to take a “virtual nature break” by exploring the National Park Service. You can “visit” all 58 national parks using Google Maps, or check out virtual tours through Google Arts & Culture. You don’t need to travel to explore these natural landscapes, from glaciers to lava tubes.

The National Park Service invites you to "Find Your Virtual Park" and explore the beauty of our natural parks, even when you can’t be there in person.

The Science

Jeon, J. Y., Yeon, P. S., & Shin, W. S. (2018). The influence of indirect nature experience on human system. Forest Science & Technology, 14(1), 29-32. Read the full paper.

Exercise 8: Three Funny Things

If you took the Values in Action inventory, you might have seen “humor” show up as one of your strengths. The VIA Institute on Character defines humor as:

"Humor means to recognize what is amusing in situations, and to offer the lighter side to others. Humor is an important lubricant to social interactions, and can contribute to team building or moving toward group goals. Where other strengths are more or less essential for achieving certain types of goals or dealing with certain types of problems, humor is rarely an essential component to positive social interactions, but it is often a desirable one. It is also a valuable method of coping with distressing situations."

Humor involves the ability to make other people smile or laugh. It also means having a composed and cheerful view on adversity that allows an individual to see its light side and thereby sustain a good mood.

This humor-based intervention is an adaptation of the “Three Good Things” exercise, in which you will focus on funny things from your day. I have also included several links to things I think are funny.

Write down three funny things you heard, saw, did, or experienced today. Think about the things you found really funny and describe how they made you feel. Don’t just think about these things—make sure to write them down, using as much detail as possible. Describe the event, making sure to include what happened, what you did or said, what other people did or said, and how you felt.

Here is a short set of links that made Dr. Sockol laugh this week:

The Science

Wellenzohn, S., Proyer, R. T., & Ruch, W. (2018). Who benefits from humor-based positive psychology interventions? The moderating effects of personality traits and sense of humor. Frontiers in Psychology. Read the full paper.

Exercise 9: Write a Compassionate Letter to Yourself

Davidson students are great at expressing empathy and compassion for others who are going through a stressful time—you step up and support one another in ways big and small. It is equally important to have compassion for yourself.

Dr. Kristen Neff defines self-compassion on the basis of three core elements:

  1. Being kind to yourself, rather than judgmental or perfectionist when you experience challenges.
  2. Recognizing your common humanity with others, rather than focusing on feelings of isolation when you experience difficulty.
  3. Experiencing your feelings mindfully, rather than suppressing or exaggerating them.

I was introduced to this positive psychology exercise by four Davidson students in my Research Methods in Clinical Psychology class in fall 2015: Alex Casimir ’16, Akanksha Das ’16, Nadia Glover ’17 and Brodie Martin ’16. They conducted a study comparing this exercise to a control exercise that used a similar framework (writing a letter to yourself) that did not address self-compassion, and evaluated whether the intervention increased empathy for others in addition to promoting self-compassion. They found a small and non-significant increase in self-compassion; Akanksha Das ’16 presented findings of their study at the 2016 annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies.

I hope you also find that this exercise helps you treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion you extend to others!

  1. What imperfections make you feel inadequate? Take 5 minutes to write about an issue you have that tends to make you feel inadequate or bad about yourself (physical appearance, work or relationship issues, etc.). What emotions come up for you when you think about this aspect of yourself? Try to just feel your emotions exactly as they are–no more, no less–and then write about them.
  2. Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of an unconditionally loving imaginary friend. For the next 10 minutes, write a letter to yourself from the perspective of this imaginary friend–focusing on the perceived inadequacy you tend to judge yourself for. What would this friend say to you about your “flaw” from the perspective of unlimited compassion? How would this friend convey the deep compassion he/she feels for you, especially for the pain you feel when you judge yourself so harshly? What would this friend write in order to remind you that you are only human, that all people have both strengths and weaknesses? And if you think this friend would suggest possible changes you should make, how would these suggestions embody feelings of unconditional understanding and compassion? As you write to yourself from the perspective of this imaginary friend, try to infuse your letter with a strong sense of their acceptance, kindness, caring, and desire for your health and happiness.
  3. Read your letter again, really letting the words sink in. Feel the compassion as it pours into you, soothing and comforting you like a cool breeze on a hot day. Love, connection and acceptance are your birthright. To claim them you need only look within yourself.

The Science

Smeets, E., Neff, K., Alberts, H. & Peters, M. (2014). Meeting suffering with kindness: Effects of a brief self-compassion intervention for female college students. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(9), 794-807. Read the full paper.

Exercise 10: Check Out “The Great Space”

I’m excited to share a positive exercise from a group of current Davidson students: Chloe deBeus, Christos Koumpotis and Rachel McLean are finishing their semester in the Davidson in Silicon Valley program. They created today’s exercise, The Great Space, as a capstone project for their work with Adjacent Academies in San Francisco.

Visit The Great Space to share what you are grateful for and to read others’ submissions. They also provide helpful “Anxiety Tips”—strategies for coping with stress.

Today’s experts are Chloe deBeus '21, Christos Koumpotis '23 & Rachel McLean '22.

Chloe deBeus '21: “I am currently a Junior at Davidson College with a Sociology major and class concentration of data science. Most of my previous work includes qualitative work, but I also value what quantitative data has to offer. I think they can both come together and offer a perspective of humanity and community. To personally learn more about the connection that the social world has to technology, I am participating in a Davidson College program in Silicon Valley in partnership with Adjacent Academies to develop code and utilize technology in an efficient way.”

Christos Koumpotis '23: “I grew up during the Greek economic crisis and I’ve experienced political injustice and discrimination. For that reason, I am motivated to work towards having an impact and creating a better future for young people, for my country, and for the rest of the world. My interest is to combine my study of Economics and Computer Science with my passion for Politics to build innovative solutions that contribute to changing the world into a more inclusive, forgiving and just place. I have worked with diverse and multicultural teams in Davidson, San Francisco, Paris, Dublin, and Greece. From these experiences, I have developed the ability to adapt to the needs of each environment and team, in order to inspire and foster a process that results in effective and just solutions.”

Rachel McLean '22: “I value resilience, creativity, and persistence, and strive to demonstrate these values in my work, as a student, and in my everyday life. I'm a current sophomore at Davidson College pursuing a major in mathematics, and a minor in gender and sexuality studies. In high school, I began to learn how to code, and this interest pushed me to study the tech industry in Silicon Valley this spring semester. While I’m here, I'm excited to learn about the intersections between mathematics and the tech industry, and discover how I can apply my tech-related skills to further social good. My unique blend of studies in a liberal arts environment brings a creative and empathetic perspective to the tech industry.”

The Science

Dickens, L. R. (2017). Using gratitude to promote positive change: A series of meta-analyses investigating the effectiveness of gratitude interventions. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 39,(4), 193-208. Read the full paper.

Credits:

Created with images by Andrew Neel, Amirali Mirhashemian, Junior Moran, Mike Anderson, Joel Mott, and Tyler Nix.