#11: last day

For our last day of class we went to a nature preserve. It was a beautiful place and a perfect way to end the class. There were sheep, cows and birds and lots of different kinds of plants. We learned about how nature influences our wellbeing and the requirements that nature must have. For example some of the requirements were that it has to have a variety of species, be open and allows opportunities for socializing. I noticed my own wellbeing, I felt very relaxed and happy. It was fun roasting marshmallows and hanging out with everyone. I'm sad the class is over but I've learned a lot and will apply what I've learned to my life.

#10: meeting the danes

Today, we had four Danes come to our class. We got into groups and did an activity called Castaways. It's where we were given different dilemmas centered around being stranded on an island. Our group had to discuss different scenarios and had to decide what we would do or what we would keep. The Dane ended up just wanted to escape the island and his answers were more focused on getting off the island compared to our answers that were more long-term based. After the Castaway activity we met with another Dane for a discussion. It was a great class and it was really interesting to get a Danes perspective. When we asked him if he thought Denmark was rightfully one of the happiest places he said that it depended on how one defined happiness. He said he felt it was safety and security. He feels happy because he knows that he is safe here in Denmark. Because the healthcare system is so great, he knows that if anything were to happen to him or his friends or family they would all be ok. He also talked about the stereotypes of Americans, and was really understanding and knew that they were just stereotypes. He talked about biking, the dating scene in Denmark and education. I'm glad we had this opportunity to sit down and have a good conversation.

#9: the theory of situated learning & using situated learning to describe a culture:

Situated learning is learning how to act in a group, learning from the experience and the situation not just knowing facts.
We learned that there are three topics in the theory:
1) Social construction: the truth is what people together decide is the truth.
2) Communities of practice: where learning happens, learning happens all the time and everywhere. meaning, practice, community & identity//share a common goal, shared repertoire & mutual engagement.
3) Competent and peripheral legitimate participants.
We applied this theory to our own experiences in DIS. We noticed that we were on the outside/legitimate peripheral participation at the beginning of the session and have worked our way to the center/full participation. With each new experience and uncertainty one can drift to the outside and once they get comfortable they earn the role in the middle.

#8: happy

We started watching the film called Happy. It's a documentary that shows the different perspectives and outlooks that people have on their lives from all over the world, with the goal aiming to find out what makes people happy. It showed that having a lot of things and being beautiful isn't everything, and it won't guarantee happiness.

One of the stories is about a woman who was in a car accident. She had been known for her beauty, but after the accident her face was severely injured. She went through many surgeries but still didn't end up looking like her old self. Even though the accident changed her life drastically, she believes it changed her for the better. She said that she now feels happier and more in touch with her life than before the accident. Her values were reevaluated after her accident and after she redefined them she found wellbeing. She showed strength and courage. Eudamonic wellbeing plays a role in her life as she found a new meaning and purpose for life. Her family and friends also provide her with positive relationships by giving her constant support and love. She's learned that hedonic pleasures with appearance aren't as important anymore.

#7: connect positive psychology to culture

Cultural Understanding Perspectives:
Hofsteede's theory: 
- get an understanding of what kind of values are related to wellbeing
- culture is learned, adapted and shown in behavior

Geertz's theory: 
- get an understanding of what kind of meaning that lies behind
- go out and see/experience culture
- to really understand culture & traditions one needs "to make thick descriptions"

Today, we went to see the celebration for constitution day and the 100 year anniversary of women's suffrage. There were many differences of this event compared to the ones we have in the United States. If Obama were to give a public speech, the security would be more strict, more barriers and restrictions and you would probably have to pay to be there. At this event, the Queen (and her family) and Prime Minister were there giving a speech. The security was similar to airport screening. They scanned my body for metal and let me through. However, there were plenty of body guards and police in the area. Even though I couldn't understand the speeches I got a strong sense of pride and unity. The audience laughed at the jokes the Queen made, there wasn't any struggling or fighting to get the best view and when the national anthem was sung it seemed full of enthusiasm.

#6: nudging & how wellbeing is reflected in products:

Nudging is positive reinforcement directed in gaining a desired outcome. It can influence behavior and thoughts with indirect suggestions. Our daily decisions are influenced constantly by the environment around us. Today our class went out and visited specific brand fast food restaurants and stores that are also in the United States. Our class noticed that health and aesthetic are valued more in the Danish culture. The fast food restaurants that we visited were very different to the same brand stores in the US. In the 7Eleven we noticed that the food was fresh, healthy and more expensive than most of the stores back home. The store was also very clean and organized. The store nudges consumers to eat better by placing those products in the front of the store and are the majority within the store. This then affects ones wellbeing by knowing they are eating right for themselves and for the environment.

#5: what we would change/continue/add in the presentations & our groups

Presentations:
Change: more content on slides, organized, concise talking topics, more visuals on slides, more enthusiasm while presenting
Continue: using Prezie, liked the half presentation/half group discussion aspect, breaking class up into discussion groups
Add: play a game, make activity more interactive, include a video

Group:
Change: start working earlier, meet up more often
Continue: being supportive, delegating responsibilities equally, collaborating, meeting in good locations, working on Google docs, living near each other, working efficiently, spending time wisely
Add: better methods of communication (not just facebook), class time devoted to group work, use each other to understand content learned in class

#4: resilience & different approaches to supporting resilience:

Resilience can be defined simply as doing better than expected, or bouncing back from a traumatic event. Lepore and Revenson believed it was broken down into three parts: recovery, resistance, and reconfiguration. Recovery meaning that one returns to their basic functioning level. They described resistance as showing a lack of disturbance to a traumatic event and reconfiguration is when an individual is changed positively or negatively from a traumatic event. There are six identifying factors in those that are resilient: "reframing, experience of positive emotions, participation in physical activity, trusted social support, the use of personal and authentic strengths, and optimism"(Hefferon and Boniwell, 2011). There are also risk factors that are common in non-resilient individuals. Werner and Smith did a study that showed that those with "low birth weight, low SES, low maternal education and an unstable family structure" were more likely to be less resilient (Hefferon and Boniwell, 2011). When one believes that things will work out, understands their meaning and achievements, they then have the ability to react positively and act resilient.

Today we went to Cafe Exit and saw a real life example of resilience in individuals. Cafe Exit is a program that helps those who have finished their prison sentence and are looking for ways of starting over. The program provides opportunities of wellbeing for these ex-inmates. For instance, there is a choir that performs, which gives them something to look forward to. The choir is also a way for them to create positive relations. They also help provide financial and educational advice, teaching right from wrong. This helps give the individuals a new perspective to help them develop an understanding of their meaning in life, which leads to eudamonic wellbeing.

#3: eudamonic wellbeing & hedonic and eudamonic approaches:

Eudamonic wellbeing is centered around meaning and the actualization of human potential. This potential or psychological wellbeing includes: self-acceptance, positive relations, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life and autonomy. Eudamonic wellbeing contrasts hedonic wellbeing. In eduamonic wellbeing the focus is on autonomy, social relations, competence and meaning versus pleasure and materials in hedonic wellbeing. Today in class, we had to find examples of hedonic and eduamonic wellbeing in songs, movies, reality t.v. shows and quotes. This assignment required us to apply the terms to real situations, which helped me understand the concepts better. For our reality t.v. shows we chose The Bachelorette as an example of hedonic wellbeing, as the main character looks for a partner she may base her decisions on how her pleasure/materialistic needs are being met. For eudamonic, we chose Naked and Afraid. Out in the wild with two tools, they learn that happiness can occur without many things, the form a team and they find their true character and meaning of life in nature.

#2: hedonic happiness & bottom-up and top-down arguments:

Hedonic happiness or the attainment of subjective wellbeing, is based on three components: 1) Satisfaction w/ life, 2) High positive affect, and 3) Low negative affect. With hedonic wellbeing, a person's satisfaction is based on pleasure. However, social comparisons and the adaption theory have an influence on how people view their satisfaction. The discrepancy theory states that people strive for the ideal, but social comparisons limit ones satisfaction. When someone accomplishes something they feel good, but once they compare their achievements to others it goes away. The adaptation theory is where one has a natural set point and moments/things can make their satisfaction go above or drop below their set point. After an event, positive or negative, an individual will go back to their set point after three months. If someone bought a car they would be on a higher wave, but after awhile that satisfaction would start to drop due to the time and money spent on the car, or getting used to their car and not appreciating it as much, this is an example of the adaptation theory. Bottom-up refers to the idea that something causes wellbeing versus top-down where the wellbeing/happiness causes an outcome. For example, if someone got a job, bottom-down would say they're happy because they got the job compared to top-down saying, they're happy and therefore got the job.

#1: positive psychology & differences from other areas of psychology:

Positive psychology is the study of what makes humans flourish and how our positive emotions and thoughts influence our health and lives. Positive psychology doesn't look only at what makes one just happy, but ones wellbeing as well. Wellbeing is made up of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievements. Positive psychology is not limited to the individual--ones social connections are important, and this field has also helped society and researchers see new angles/perspectives. There are similarities to other areas of psychology as it developed after the humanistic approach and the ideas of participation. Positive psychology for example uses the scientific method, something that is important to this theory. Additionally, positive psychology differentiates itself by studying psychological depth, and contrasting Freud by seeing that there are more to humans than just the negative. Other areas of psychology focus on the negatives: the mental diseases/illnesses and how to cure them. Positive psychology looks at all dimensions, the strengths and weaknesses. Our group decided to write out our idea of the definition of what positive psychology entails. We then drew branches representing the components that build up positive psychology. We showed that their is individual steps that need to be met, but also showed the importance of community and interpersonal relationships and the social aspect that needs to be met. We included the resilience & coping to acknowledge the strength that people have.