The course gave me fresh perspectives on the science of well-being. I enjoyed the studies on how our brain works and on happiness. It helped me make another step towards a more satisfying and happy life. I’m more than happy to share my knowledge and discoveries with my clients in my training programmes, but also in supervision, coaching and mentoring if necessary.

In the programme ‘The Science of Well-Being’, Laurie Santos from Yale University illustrates with the help of Ebbinghaus Illusion how our perception about happiness can be influenced by who we judge ourselves against.

In the Ebbinghaus Illusion, the orange surrounded by larger circles seems smaller than the one on the right surrounded by smaller circles despite the fact that both orange circles are exactly the same size.

We tend to make social comparisons, compare ourselves against other people. For example, if you live in a 100 m2 apartment and you are surrounded mostly by people who live in an apartment or house significantly larger than yours, you may feel dissatisfied with your apartment. Yet, if you are surrounded by people living in a flat significantly smaller than yours (e.g. 40m2), you may feel more satisfied with your house and maybe your life in general.

It’s illogical. The absolute or true size of the apartment doesn’t change, but our own and others’ perception may change depending on the context or reference point, i.e. a point to which we are judging something. And that may influence our perception of satisfaction and happiness in general.

The McGurk effect reveals that what you see can override what you hear. When what you see clashes with what you hear, then what you see can influence what we hear.  In the video, the only sound you hear is ‘Ba’, but when the mouth movements change, we hear the sound ‘Fa’ instead (see the video below). The funny things is that the effect works no matter how much you know about the effect. Just like in Shepard tables illusion.

This experiment also shows that when your actions clash with your words, your words may be interpreted by the listeners so as to match you your actions. Some typical examples where behaviours can override words and be perceived as threat to psychological safety in the workplace:

• The manager emphasises the importance of collaborative team culture, yet he seldom asks his team for their opinion, often delivers monologues at meetings and makes disparaging comments on ideas that differ from his view.
• The team has agreed that they give each other immediate and honest feedback, yet some colleagues criticise their team mates and their work behind their back and nobody turns their attention to the team agreement.

“A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”

What was your first response to the question?

Many people say that the ball costs 10 cents. Although this is often the first intuitive response, it is not correct. If the ball cost 10 cents and the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball, then the bat would cost $1.10 and the total would be $1.20.

The correct answer to this problem is that the ball costs 5 cents and the bat costs $1.05, totalling thus $1.10.

Our brains tend to simplify things and place too much faith in our intuitions. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains that many people find cognitive effort at least mildly unpleasant and avoid it as much as possible, so they tend to trust their intuitions instead.

Positiivse psühholoogia kursused on andud mõtteainet muuhulgas selliste kontseptsioonide osas:

• õpitud abituse teaooria ei peagi paika;
• mälu on mineviku hallutsinatsioon, mis on tuleviku otsinguil;
• PERMA mudel;
• kuidas lastes depressiooni ennetada;
• mis on konstruktiivne ajakirjandus;
• kuidas suurandmeid (big data) vaimse tervise edendamiseks kasutada;
• jpm millest kirjutan natuke lähemalt lähipäevil.

Kui Sul on rohkem huvi, kuula-vaata ka siit ühte mu webinari: https://kaidipeets.com/2020/04/17/resilience-supporting-oneself-and-others/

Oletame, et Sul on 1000 m2 krunt.

Variant A

Vald pakub, et natuke asjaajamist ja Sa saad 10 m2 maad juurde. Mõtled natuke ja võimalik, et otsustad, et see vallaga asjaajamine on tavaliselt nii tüütu ja keeruline, et see pole seda 10 m2 lisamaad väärt.

Variant B

Vald ütleb, et võtab 10 m2 maad Sinult ära. Nüüd oled ilmselt kohe valmis tegutsema ja oma varast ilmajäämise eest võitlema.

Kaotuse ületähtsustamine

Kaotuse ületähtsustamine (loss aversion) on tajuviga, mille tõttu hindavad inimesed võimaliku kaotuse ebameeldivust mitu korda suuremaks samaväärse võidu meeldivuse suhtes.

Ilma jäämise hirm motiveerib rohkem kui kasu saamise soov. Seetõttu rõhutavad ka ettevõtted oma müügikõnes sageli seda, millest me nende teenust/toodet mitte tarbides ilma jääme. Nt sõnum, kui palju raha me kaotame, kui mingit teenust/toodet ei tarbi on mõjusam kui sõnum, mis rõhutab, kui palju raha me võidame, kui me seda tarbime.

On tõestatud, et kaotust tajume emotsionaalselt kaks korda sama suurena kui sarnase asja võitu.