PSYC groeptaak

PSYCzine
Your guide on the road to wellness
A PATH
TOWARDS
FLOURISHING
FUNCTIONING
WELL
The 6 myths
about the good life
MYSELF
AND
OTHERS
HARMONISING
PERSPECTIVE
ON WELL BEING
HEALTH
AND
WELLNESS
MEANING
HOPE
EUDIAMONIC PERSPECTIVE
ON FUNCTIONING WELL
issue 01/2015

8
Benefits
of
positive thinking
Great and harmonious relationships.
When you chose positive attitude, you
will start to notice 1a lot of positive
qualities in people and ignore their
defaults, and then, you will start to
create more meaningful friendships
and great relationships. This type of
attitude will create a very good and
positive atmosphere around you.
Positive thinking and optimistic attitude
will turn all your problems into
opportunities.
Negativity can blind people’s mind. If
you turn your 2thoughts from the
negative ones into positive, your eyes
will be opened and you will see the
bottle half full, instead of half empty.
You will start to notice solutions and will
understand that every problem is
actually an opportunity to grow. All
problems can be solved, and you,
finally, will be able to see it.
Positive mind attracts positive events.
First of all, if we decide to become positive,
we can make 3the so called “law of
attraction” work for our favour. The main
principle of the law of attraction is that “like
attracts like”. If you will make positive
thinking your habitual way of seeing life,
imagine how many great things you can
attract into your life!
Boost of motivation.
Positive attitude 4will boost your
motivation and you will start to achieve
your goals quicker and easier. To have
strong motivation is the same as to have
“wings”!
Key of success.
Positive people 5are more likely to be
successful than the negative ones.
When you will implement positive
thinking into your life, you will notice
that success becomes easier and
it’s not as tough and difficult, as
many people think.
Vibrant health.
Positive thinking is very beneficial for
your health. Even several scientific
studies have shown that people with
a good, positive “vibe” are less likely
to suffer from 6depression and they
get ill more rarely than the negative
thinkers. In many cases, bad thoughts
are the main cause of deceases,
and even the word “decease”
means that the person is not at
ease…Just change your thoughts
and you will change your life. That’s
why, taking care of our thoughts – is
taking care of our health!
No more stress.
The main cause of stress is worry and
negative thoughts. If we think about it
further, we can 7understand that stress
never solves problems, on the contrary,
it can leave us helpless. Positive people
overcome stress more easily. When you
start to increase the quantity of good
and positive thoughts, stress will
gradually leave your life, until you
won’t hear about it any more.
Beauty will shine from within.
Positive thinking 8will make you look
more beautiful. It happens naturally:
smiling, friendly and happy people are,
somehow, extremely attractive. Your
inner beauty will shine and will become
visible on the outside, as well.
adapted from http://www.beautyandtips.com/motivation/10-benefits-of-positive-thinking/

INDEX
3
A PATH TOWARDS
FLOURISHING
4
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
issue 01/2015
5
FUNCTIONING WELL
The 6 myths
about the good life
No matter what
you're going
through, there's a
light at the end of
the tunnel and it
may seem hard to
get to it but you can
do it and just keep
working towards it
and you'll find the
positive side of
things.
Demi Lovato
5
6
7
9
10
12
HARMONISING PERSPECTIVE
ON WELL BEING
HOPE
EUDIAMONIC PERSPECTIVE
ON FUNCTIONING WELL
SELF DETERMINATION THEORY
MENTAL HEALTH CONTINUUM MODEL
MEANING
16
MYSELF AND OTHERS
17
6 ways to become
more positive
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
2

A PATH TOWARDS FLOURISHING
Positive psychology is the scientific study of
optimal human functioning. It aims to discover
and promote the factors that allow individuals
and communities to thrive. It focuses on the
nature, manifestation, patterns, origins,
dynamics, and enhancement of strengths on
individual, group and community level.
Life is a journey where you live your whole life
trying to discover who you are and what it is
about. Sometimes people may wonder 'why
are they alive?', 'why are they here?', 'what is
their purpose'. These type of questions are
what make life interesting.
There comes a time where we have to really
sit down and ask ourselves those mind
shuttering questions. So we decided to ask
one of our students to give us their opinion to
the following questions:
With those answers being given mankind
should start evaluating and monitoring their
lives and start putting more efforts in things
that really matters in their lives. Factors
driving communities and individuals to
succeed is unity, communication and love
towards yourself and other people. In
conclusion we can say that we agree with
Wissing, et al that positive psychology
endeavours to enhance the quality of human
life by focusing on strengths and already
existing resources, enriching life and
promoting optimal functioning.
- Kgothatso Pooe
Q: What is a good and meaning for life?
A: Having people who love you surrounding
you and supporting you in anything and
everything you do. People who would see
success in you and never judge your
decisions and actions.
Q: How do we live the good life?
A: Any life you live is a good or rather it can be
a good life but we should never lose sight of
what is important.
Q: Do you think the life you are living is a good
life and why is that?
Keep your face to the sunshine
and you cannot see a shadow.
Helen Keller
A: Yes of course, I already have a family that
loves me. A circle of friends that loves to be
around me and of course a precious gift given
to me by God - another day to live and
express myself.
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PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

HEALTH AND WELLNESS
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO, 1986) health is a state of complete
physical, mental and social wellbeing and is not
merely the absence of disease and infirmity.
Staying healthy is very important for human
existence, to help our coming generation to have
stronger genetic mutations
and keeping our traits we have to conserve them
and keep ourselves healthy at the same time.
Health goes hand in hand with wellness but what is
wellness really? Wellness is about valued
subjective experiences: well-being, contentment,
and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism
(for the future); and flow and happiness (in the
presence).
Happiness is jolly feeling that makes us feel
positive about life and everything that is happening
around us. It makes us socially active and helps us
relate to other people.
So when you're having a nice day just know other
people are having the worst. We have two of
perspectives:
Hedonic perspective consists of happiness,
enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction and comfort.
Eudemonic perspective deals with the meaning,
purpose, expression of potential and being
included with something larger than the self
(functioning well).
The hedonic perspective on well-being is about
having more pleasant experiences than negative
ones and living a happy and satisfying life.
What is subjective well-being??
Subjective well-being are those facets of life that
make us feel good or make us happy. Subjective
well-being consists of three facets.
1. A general evaluation of one's life as being good
2. Having more positive emotions
3 . Having fewer negative emotions
SWB = life satisfaction + high positive affect + low
negative affect
Life satisfaction is when we evaluate our lives
against our own standards. our standards will be
the ones that determine our happiness, when we
evaluate our lives we get to check if our
standards are too low or too high, and if we have
unrealistic standards, whether high or low, we
can end up happy or sad, that is why it is one of
the facets of SWB.
Affect is the emotions and emotional state of a
person. The presence of more positive
emotions, in comparison to negative ones, is
associated with higher levels of SWB. Positive
emotions including love, contentment and joy
are important for well-being and can contribute to
building our psychological resources.
We measure subjective well-being by measuring
life satisfaction. The satisfaction with life scale is
the most widely used. The affect is also a way of
measuring subjective well-being. The Positive
and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS),
d e v e l o p e d b y W a t s o n , C l a r k a n d
Tellegen(1998), is most often used to evaluate
the affect in subjective well-being. Global scales
also measures SWB. The subjective happiness
scale (SHS) developed by Lyubomirsky and
Lepper (1999) is used to measure global scales.
The stability of SWB, the big question will be if it
will stay the same or fluctuate over the life span,
but Pavot and Diener suggest that the levels of
SWB are relatively stable for most people over
time.
We have seen how SWB is related and linked to
our everyday lives so with the following
demographic variables we can have a further
and clearer understanding of how it works.
These demographic variables include age,
gender, marital status, intelligence and
education, and employment.
Age: Life satisfaction seem to remain stable
across the lifespan, however it has been shown
to increase between the ages 40 - 65 and then
decreases towards the end of line.
Gender: Women and men experience the same
amount of SWB.
- Women experience both positive and negative
emotions more frequently and more intensely.
Marital status: Marriage is associated with
happiness and high levels of SWB.
Intelligence and education: Emotional
intelligence seems to be associated with well
being.
Employment: Job satisfaction leads to
happiness.
- How an individual views their work and career
has an effect on SWB.
- Kgothatso Pooe
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
4

FUNCTIONING WELL
There are qualitatively different types of
happiness that are phenomenological felt as a
distinct from one another (Biswas-Diener,
Kashdan & King 2009, p209.
There are a number of reasons for us to
consider whether there are other routes to
well-being then the pursuit of pleasure.
1
6 MYTHS REGARDING THE “GOOD LIFE”
Simple hedonism is not
an adequate path to well-being.
2
Happiness should not be the sole
criterion for well-being.
3
4
5
Trying to suppress emotions does not eliminate
them
A stress-free life is not the most desirable
life
Virtues and good character are important to a
good life
6
It is not necessary to be perfect to be an
admirable person
- Tshepang Seobi
HARMONISING PERSPECTIVE
ON WELL BEING
Cultural diversity and on integrated
understanding of well-being.
Cross-cultural studies that explore the
supposed universal indicators of wellbeing
have found not only many
similarities, but also clear differences (
Delle Fave, Freire, Vella-BrodricK &
Wissing Brdar.
People in Asia prefer low- arousal positive
emotions such as peacefulness, harmony
and people in Western world prefer higharousal
positive emotions such as
happiness, joy.
- Tshepang Seobi
The full understanding of well-being
needs to take these similarities and
differences into account; therefore both
the hedonic and eudemonic approaches
are informative and complementary.
Facets of well-being such as positive
emotions do not always manifest in the
same way in different cultural context.
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PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

HOPE
Hope has many definitions in Positive
Psychology. Snyder (1994) states that Hope =
Mental Willpower + Waypower for Goals. He sees
Mental Willpower an Waypower for Goals as
components of hope. According to Seligman et al
(2006) Hope is an indicator of psychological well
being, a motivator of action and is linked to
happiness and positive adjustment. Hope can also
be defined as “a positive motivational state that is
based on an interactively derived sense of
successful agency and pathways” (Snyder 1989).
In this definition successful agency refers to goal
directed energy an pathways refers to planning to
meet goals (Snyder, 1989). This leads us to
Snyder's Hope Theory.
Snyder's Hope Theory
Snyder started his investigation of hope with why
people give poor performance. He found that
people tend to think in terms of their goals and their
capacity to find routes to reach their goals (Snyder,
1989). According to Snyder (1989) hope has 2
interrelated cognitive components. Hope can be
defined as “a positive motivational state that is
based on an interactively derived sense of
successful agency and pathways” (Snyder 1989).
Three components can be identified in this
definition, namely goals, pathways and agency.
Goals
You have to have something you aim for, in order to
have hope. You can 1have two types of goals,
namely approach goals and avoidance goals.
Approach goals refers to goals we move towards,
and avoidance goals can be defined as goals we
move away from (Snyder, 1989)
Pathways
Pathways refers to an individual's thinking of
possible means and 2routes to follow in order to
reach their goals (Snyder, 1989). When people
have high hope levels, they can find realistic and
logical methods to reach our goals. But, when
people have low hope, they experience it as
difficult to find pathways to reach their goals.
Agency
Agency thinking is the 3motivational component of
Snyder's Hope Theory. Agency is when you belief
that you can use the pathways to reach desired
goals (Snyder, 1989).eight and 16 and has three
agency and three pathways items (Snyder et al.,
1997)
Three instruments have been developed based
on Snyder's work.
1. The Adult Trait Hope Scale consists of
agency, pathways and distracter items. This is
measured according to the eight-point Likert
scale (Snyder et al., 1991)
2. The Adult State Hope Scale has three agency
and three pathways items (Snyder et al., 1996)
3. The Children's Hope Scale is for children
between
- Carina Meyer
Resources:
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson,
C. (2006). Positive psychology progress: Empirical
validation of interventions. American Psychologist,
60(6), 410-421.
Snyder, C. R. (1989) Reality negotiation: From excuses
to hope and beyond. Journal of Social and Clinical
Psychology, 8, 130-167.
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J., Holleran, S.,
Irving, L., Sigmon, S., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle,
C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways:
Development and validation of an individual difference
measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60, 670-686.
Snyder, C. R., Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Rapoff, M.,
Ware, L., Danovsky, M., Highberger, L., Rubenstein, H.,
& Stahl, K. J. (1997). The Development and validation of
the Children's Hope Scale. Journal of Pediatric
Psychology, 22(3), 399-421.
Snyder, C. R. (1994). The Psychology of Hope: You can
get there from here. America: The Free Press.
Snyder, C.R., Sympson, S. C., Ybasco, F. C., Borders,
T. F., Babyak, M. A., & Higgins, R. L. (1996).
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
6

EUDIAMONIC PERSPECTIVE
ON FUNCTIONING WELL
There are many constructs and processes involved
in well-being. These include Self-regulation,
mindfullness, living a life of meaning and purpose,
constructive coping and posttraumatic growth.
Growth happens due to the development of the
greater levels of skills that every human being should
master it in an organised manner. Moving onto selfregulation
we can ackowledge that it involves
transition of the self in a complete manner or relating to
certain aspects. Standards such as rules are placed in
order to achieve a desired outcome, this steering of
behaviour is organised in the pre-frontal lobe of the
brain that regulates neurological process.
to change the goals when an individual finds it
necessary to, this is known as Conformity.
Autonomous coping falls into two categories:
Accommodation ( allowing to move past blame,
bitterness and pity, leading to acceptance of the
current situation). Negotiation (considering
others and not simply competing to meet goals).
Post Traumatic Growth include positive
alterations that go hand-in-hand with the search
for meaning as well as finding purpose.
Geniuses are made, not born
Mindfulness can be related to consciousness due to
the awareness of the events occurring in the present.
This aspect involves flexibility as openness to novelty
is essential due to non discriminatory awareness
leading to accepting ways as well as not jumping to
conclusions too soon. An increase of mindfulness is
directly proportional to healthy and value consistent
behaviour.
Living a life full of meaning pertains satisfaction with
age as more insight on meaning is discovered in later
stages. V. Frankl, a well known person in the world of
Psychology had discovered that people do still find
meaning even after bitter events in life which occur
unexpectedly.
Constructive Coping: mental and behavioural
alterations are taken place in order to care take of the
demands of both the internal and external aspects.
Strategies may include accepting responsibility,
planning, self-control, social support and cognitive
avoidance, etc. Submission does not give the platform
Peak performances are achieved by taking part
in activities that promote true expression, that
a l l o w t r u e f o c u s s i n g a n d s h o w - c a s e
spontaneous behaviour. Extraordinaries are
prepared by Framing, Reflecting and leveraging.
Character Strengths and Resilience.
Character Strengths: A disposition to act, desire,
and feel that involves the exercise of Judgement
and leads to a recognisable human excellence or
instance of human flourishing.- Yearly
Studies show that different culture show different
core strengths, however there are 24 character
strengths that are taken into account that fall
within six broad categories, Wisdom and
knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice,
Temperance and transcendence.
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PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

Resilience: significant threats that allow the presence of positive adjustments, increase
competence that give rise to obstacles and shows assaults on biological and physical
development.
Krumpfer's Transational Resilience Model (1999)
- Fahrin Delawala
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
8

SELF DETERMINATION THEORY
Some people do more, try more and explore more
because of their motivational levels. People van be
active or passive and most people want to achieve
and are willing to put in some effort. This all refers to
self-motivation and self determination (Ryan & Deci,
2000).
There are two types of motivation, namely intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is
things we do because we want to (Kasser & Ryan,
1996). Extrinsic motivation is because of external
rewards or pressures (Ryan & Deci, 2000). With the
self-determination theory we have to distinguish
between autonomous and controlled motivation.
Autonomous motivation refers to motivation where
the value of an activity is integrated with the true self.
Controlled motivation is behaviour where people
feel pressured to a certain degree (Deci & Ryan,
2008)
Three needs were identified that are essential for
o n g o i n g p s y c h o l o g i c a l g r o w t h , n a m e l y
competence, autonomy and relatedness.
1. Competence
Competence refers to when someone masters their
experiences in order to deal effectively with the
environment. We are more likely to engage and
enjoy an activity when we are proficient in it. We can
feel more competent through positive sincere
feedback and self-praise (Petri & Govern, 2004).
2. Autonomy
Autonomy is a sense of choice and freedom from
external pressure to behave in a specific way.
Intrinsic motivation can enhance a sense of
autonomy and external reward can diminish it
(Chirkov, Ryan, Kim & Kaplan, 2003).
3. Relatedness
Relatedness is important, because everybody
wants to feel that they are connected to others
and that they belong. Motivational levels will
increase in a caring environment which provides
support and interest in our work and activities
(Ryan, Stiller & Lynch, 1994).
The link between goals and our ways to reach
them shows us how we can become more
hopeful people. Motivation and regulation of the
self can also enhance and help us lead to a more
fulfilled life.
- Carina Meyer
Resources:
Chrikov, V. I., Ryan, R. M., Kim, Y., & Kaplan, R. (2003).
Differentiating autonomy from individualism and independence:
A self-determination theory perspective on internalization of
culture orientations and well-being. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 84, 97-109.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008) Hedonia, eudaimonia and wellbeing:
An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 1-11.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the
American dream:Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic
goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 80-87.
Petri, H. L., & Govern, J. M. (2004) Motivation: Theory, research,
th
and applications (6 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson
Learning.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and
the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and
well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. doi:
10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.68.
Ryan, R. M., Stiller, J. D., & Lynch, J. H. (1994). Representations
of relationships to teacher, parents, and friends as predictors of
academic motivation and self-esteem. The Journal of Early
Adolescence, 14(2), 226-249.
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PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

MENTAL HEALTH CONTINUUM MODEL
The Mental Health Continuum Model, was proposed by Keyes (2002) and consists of three main
components, namely, psychological/personal well-being, social well-being and emotional well-being. Well
being has a continuum with three categories, namely, languishing, moderate mental health, and flourishing
(Keyes, 2002). Languishing refers to low levels of emotional, social and psychological well-being, while
flourishing refers to high levels of emotional, social and psychological well-being.
Main Components of the Mental Health
Continuum Model (Keyes, 2002):
1. The Psychological/personal well-being consists
of the following components:
- self-acceptance which refers to the fact that
people try to feel good about themselves, even
though they are aware of their own limitations.
- personal growth where people makes the most of
their talents and capacities.
- environmental mastery where people shape their
own environments to meet personal needs and
desires.
2. The social well-being component includes:
- social coherence which refers to interests in social
life and society
- social actualisation refers to beliefs that people
have potential and can grow
- social acceptance refers to the degree to which
people have a positive attitude towards others
3. The emotional well-being component consists of:
- having positive emotions
- being interested in life
- experiencing life-satisfaction
won't cure or prevent this, but may help us.
The broaden-and-build model of positive
emotions:
The broaden-and-build model of Frederickson
(2001) states that positive emotions opens ups
our minds and expand our perceptual abilities.
Perceptual abilities refers to our functional
capacity. Positive emotions also improve our
creativity, generate more possibilities for tasks at
hand and gives an awareness of more action
options (Frederickson, 2001). Positive emotions
also broaden people's attention and thinking in the
moment they are in.
The broaden-and-build model of positive
emotions has steps on which it builds
(Frederickson, 2001). First, the person
experiences positive emotions. Because of that,
the momentary thought broaden. When the
momentary thought has broaden, they start to
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10

emotions, engagement, positive relationships,
meaning and accomplishment. All of these life
(Seligman, 2011).
All the components of the PERMA model are
important for well-being. All the components
should be present in a person's life and should be
fulfilled to experience ultimate well-being.
elements contributes to well-being, and people
pursue these elements for the elements own sake
(Seligman, 2011).
build enduring personal resources, which includes
physical, mental and social. This causes the
person to transform and develop an upward spiral
of well-being.
Even though positive emotions have many positive
psychological, social and physical outcomes, it is
important to remember that their effect is relative.
Although we experience a lot of positive emotions,
there will still be negative experiences and life
traumas. Positive emotions won't cure or prevent
this, but may help us.
The PERMA model of well-being:
The PERMA model was developed by Martin
Seligman and is an acronym for positive
Positive emotions refers to the fact that it is
important to enjoy yourself in the here and now, as
long as the other components of PERMA also are
in place. Engagement refers to the state where
someone is completely absorbed in a task. When
this happens, the person experiences flow.
Positive relationships are very important for wellbeing.
People who engage in positive
relationships are healthier and happier that the
people who don't. Meaning can be experienced
when you belong and serve something greater
than the self. Accomplishment refers to
achievement, mastery, success and an achieving
- Carina Meyer
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PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

MEANING
Meaning is central to human life, and research on
meaning in life has proliferated in many divisions in
psychology in recent years. Meaningfulness and
how the experience of meaning in life and wellbeing
are associated as understood from a
eudemonic perspective and also to how meaning
and happiness hang together, differ and overlap.
The will to meaning is a strong motivational force in
human life, and of extreme importance in some
way-important, worthwhile and purposeful. Almond
(1973), who indicated that meaning, has to do with
understanding life, pursuing important goals and
feeling fulfilled
Steger's meaning model
Steger refers to meaning as the catch basin of
consciousness (steger, 2011). He argues that what
is important to people identity, worldview,
relationships flow into their meaning systems, which
motivate and organise their goals and behaviour.
The model
I n t h i s m o d e l , s t e g e r ( 2 0 11 ) d e s c r i b e s
comprehension and purpose as the basic
components informing meaning. Comprehension is
making sense of things, building on the
understanding of oneself (identity), the world (world
and life view), and one's fit into the world.
Empirical studies
Steger and colleagues distinguished between
the presence of meaning and the search for
meaning, showing that the presence of
meaning is related to positive emotions,
optimism, extraversion and agreeableness as
personality traits; positive adjustment and selfregulation,
self-management and constructive
coping.
Wong's meaning model
Wong (2010, 2011) defines personal meaning
as an individually constructed cognitive system
that incorporates motivational and effective
aspects, and which bestows on life a sense of
personal significance
Source of meaning
Wong (2010, 2011) identified the following
sources of meaning: happiness, achievement,
intimacy, relationships, self-transcendence,
self-acceptance and fairness.
The structure and function of meaning
The main structural components of meaning
are purpose (P), understanding (U),
r e s p o n s i b l e a c t i o n ( R ) a n d
enjoyment/evaluation (E) (=PURE).
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needs to accept what life brings. The pathways to
meaning management and well-being are
unconditional acceptance of the self, of others, of
death and the inevitable things in life, of
unavoidable stress, and also of the here and now.
A model of meaning making
Park and Folkman (1997) integrated perspectives
on adaptation to life stressors in a proposed
meaning-making model.
These components contribute functionally to the
experience of meaning.
Purposefulness or purpose directedness in life
Purpose has a central, self-organising function in
life and is a deeper level linked with values and
what really matters in life for an individual.
Understanding and a sense of coherence
The experience of meaning is facilitated by a
sense of coherence – that is, an understanding of
the self, the world in which we live, our place in it
and our ability to cope with it. A meaningful life
requires a sense of self-identity and selfknowledge,
a capacity to appraise situations and
the ability to cope with them, and a view on life and
death and of one's own place in the larger scheme
of things.
Responsible action
Meaning is experienced and expressed in doing
what is considered right or good according to
one's values. To act responsibly, good cognitive
decision that are in line with ethical requirements
need to be made. Responsible action requires
practical wisdom.
Enjoyment and evaluation
Affective evaluation helps to determine whether
one's life is on the right track and in line with one's
highest purpose, understanding and values.in the
sense, discontentment may help an unhappy
person to self-regulate and make changes
towards a more positive life trajectory.
Acceptance and well-being
Wong (2012) also developed a meaning
management model in which acceptance is the
cornerstone. He suggested that in order to
experience meaning and well-being in life, one
A relationality-meaning model
The relationality meaning model (Wissing, 2014;
Wissing and Delle Fave, 2013) is based on
theories and empirical findings which show that
meaning, at its core, is about connections and
relations, and that both the experience of meaning
and positive relationship are core components of
(eudemonic) well-being. Empirical research has
established that relationships are the most
important source of meaning in life, and that
positive relationship and meaning are strongly
associated with many indices of well-being in
various cultural contexts.
T h e o r e t i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e s o n m e a n i n g ,
relationships and well-being
In general, “meaning” refers to people's sense that
their lives and the world in which they live are more
or less coherent and that there are possibilities to
experience fulfilment in line with important values
and opportunities for connectedness
Empirical findings on meaning, relationships,
well-being and context
The experience of meaningfulness in life buffers
stress and promotes psychological and social
well-being attesting to the centrality of the
experience of meaningfulness in human
functioning. Empirically found that daily
eudaimonic activities such as “volunteered my
time”, “expressed my gratitude”, “listened
carefully to another's point of view” – predicted
well-being more strongly than hedonic activities
Core assumption of the relationality-meaning
Relationship and connectedness are at the heart
of meaning in life- positive relationships are a core
source for the experience of meaningfulness.
Horizontal and vertical relationship are deeply
intertwined, meaning of life (ultimate values),
meaning in life (harmonious intra-, inter and
transpersonal relation in all domain of life) and
meaning to life (active to realise values in
relational context). Meaning and positive
relationship are core defining features of wellsocial
and contextual, and love and work.
13
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eing. Meaning making, relationships and
manifestations of well-being are influenced by
context.
The relational meaning model of well-being
Meaning of life –ultimate meaning: connectedness
to a higher power/deity/the sacred
Meaning in life –relational well-being as source of
meaning in various domains of life, e.g. family
friends, work, society, and harmony within the self
Meaning to life –living values as expressed in
behaviour to fulfil needs for self-worth and
belongingness, to the realisation of value-guided
purpose, and in giving to others
General psychology well-being: a hierarchical
model
You may wander what well-being in South Africa
looks like, and how it is conceptualised in models
developed in a multicultural context. Wissing and
Temane(2008), which was based on empirical
findings in South African context and which also
links to earlier findings by Wissing and Van Eeden
(2002) on a general well-being component. They
identified a general psychological well-being factor,
and concluded y that psychological well-being is
multidimensional in nature and includes
components of affect, cognition and behaviour
manifesting in various domains of life such as intra
and interpersonal.
Self-awareness, self-knowledge, authentic self
and identity
A positive relationship of an individual with him-or
herself begins with self-awareness and selfknowledge,
and the development of an authentic
self and identity. Awareness refers to the degree of
self-knowledge while trusting in one's own selfrelevant
aspects such as likes and dislikes, and
personal standards. Unbiased processing
represents the extent to which people objectively
process internal and external self-relevant
information. Behaviour as an authenticity
component refers to free and natural engagement
in actions arising from their being aligned to core
values, beliefs and self-aspects
Self-awareness and self-knowledge are ongoing
threads in conversation with the self.to become
aware of and know our true self, we need to reflect
on own feelings, cognitions, motives and
behaviours as experienced within various context.
Schlegel, Hirsch and Smith (2013) define the true
self as a description of who a person really is –the
genuine self is not unduly influenced by social and
external factors.
Authentic self, true self and identity
Erik Erikson (1968). He theorised that an individual
goes through different developmental stages and
has basic psychological and social tasks to
accomplish in each stage. During these stages, we
learn new aspects of ourselves, other s and the
world. Hurter (2002) and Seligman (2002) indicate
that authenticity can be described as owing our
personal experiences, which are needs, thoughts,
emotions, aspirations, values, preferences and
beliefs. Authenticity is about acting in accordance
with our true self, expressing what really feel, think
and believe (Harter, 2002).
Self-esteem and self-efficacy
Self-esteem is traditionally used to describe a
person's relationship with him-or herself. According
to Kernis (2003), most contemporary theorists see
high self-esteem as global feelings of self-liking,
self-worth, respect and acceptance.
Self-esteem
William James defines self-esteem as a feeling of
self-worth that derives from the ratio of our actual
successes to our potential ones. Self-esteem is
hierarchically organised with subtypes of selfesteem,
social self-esteem and personal selfesteem.
Those with high self-esteem process new
information about themselves in a biased, selfenhancing
way, while those with low self-esteem
will attend selectively to the negative information
that confirms it (Carr, 2004).
Self-efficacy
According to this theory, people have self-efficacy
beliefs about their capacity to organise and perform
task within a specific domain to lead to a successful
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
14

outcome. Self-efficacy differs from self-esteem in
that self-esteem is concerned with judgements
about personal worth, while self-efficacy is
concerned with judgement about personal abilities.
Self-acceptance, self-forgiveness, and selfverification
Self-acceptance plays a pivotal role in the
promotion and maintenance of well-being at intraand
interpersonal levels (Joseph & Linley, 2006;
Ryff, 1989).
Self-forgiveness has been defined as “a process of
releasing resentment toward oneself for a
perceived transgression or wrongdoing” (Snyder,
Lopez, & Pedrotti, 2011, p.286)
Self-verification theory assumes that people work
to preserve their idea of themselves by seeking to
confirm it (North & Swann, 2009). Self-verification
striving are associated with intimacy, trust and
harmonious social interactions.it is also a process
that encourage people to accept themselves.
Compassion can be described as an “aspects of
humanity that involves looking outside oneself and
thinking about others as we care for and identify
with them (Snyder et al. 2011, p. 35). Cassell
(2009) states that from a positive psychology
perspective, compassion requires three
conditions: a serious problem, one that is not selfinflicted,
and the observer must be able to identify
with the sufferer. Self-compassion is a positive,
proactive attitude toward oneself. In difficult
circumstances, self-compassion people give
themselves warmth and non-judgemental
understanding rather than self-criticism.
Flourishing in couple relationships: lovers and
spouses
A person when entering a relationship they provide
a secure attachment style and healthy personality
functioning are associated with positive ship
relationship experience in adulthood. A love map
refers to the cognitive space that one individual in
the relationship has for other one - that is, paying
attention to and knowing the other with his or her
unique experiences in life, likes and dislikes, needs
and dreams, stress and joys.
Flourishing in family relationships
When individual are asked what happiness means
to them or what the most important things in their
lives are, answer most often include references to
close interpersonal relations, and specifically
family. Flourishing families shows the same family
strenths in various cultural contexts, including the
South African one (DeFrain & Asay, 2007; Fincham
&Beach, 2010; Greeff, 2013; Mberengwa &Johson,
2003)
Flourishing in close friendship
Friendship is reciprocal relations in which there is
mutual liking and in which each other's campany is
enjoyed (Majors, 2012) – it is different from just
being acquaintances.
- Thobedi Sithole
I truly believe that everything
that we do and everyone that
we meet is put in our path for
a purpose. There are no
accidents; we're all teachers -
if we're willing to pay
attention to the lessons we
learn, trust our positive
instincts and not be afraid to
take risks or wait for some
miracle to come knocking at
our door.
Marla Gibbs
15
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

MYSELF AND OTHERS
Community refers to a group of individuals who
share a geographical location, common
knowledge, values and understanding. Positive
relations are based on respect, giving, mutual
support, trust etc which strengthen a community.
Sense of community is an imperative factor to
individual psychological well-being and quality of
life.
Membership refers to the sense of having the
right that the individual has earned from
investing a part of their selves to a specific
community. Influence is that sense of substance
where integration of fulfillment of needs is a
sense and expectation that one's needs will be
met by the community's resources by merits of
being a member. Shared emotional connection
is the commitment and belief that individuals or
members of the community have shared and will
share history, common places, and time together
and similar experiences.
The well-being of any person is dependent on
the well-being of his/her relationships and
community in which he or she lives.
According to Dodge et el. (2012). Well-being is
when an individual has the psychological, social
and physical resources they need to meet a
particular psychological, social or physical
challenge.
Well-being in a community context according to
Wissing, et el. (2014)
Sites of WB are the location of well-being or
where well-being resides.
Signs of well-being refer to those determinants
and characteristics of well-being at each site.
Strategies of well-being are interventions that
promote and enhance WB at different sites.
Social well-being:
Social well-being can broadly be defined
According to Dodge et el. (2012) as the way a
person thinks and feels about themselves and
others. It includes being able to adapt and deal
with daily challenges (resilience and coping
skills) while leading a fulfilling life. Hence, there is
an emphasis on the behavioral and emotional
strengths of individuals.
Social integration
This is characterized by the quality of an
individual's relationship to society and the
community.
Religiousness and religion is considered to be
strongly established and community focused
and implies involvement with specific rituals ad
faith communities. Two orientations are found to
characterized the practice of religion namely
instinct and extinct preciousness. Instinct
religious orientation can be described as “an
internalized attitude focused on the unification
with the sacred and the living an unselfish and
compassionate life”. It allows an individual to
invest in his or her spiritual development
through religion. The latter on the other hand
describes religiousness as the use of religion to
provide security, comfort, status and social
support, instinct religiousness is always
positively associated with well-being.
Spirituality and religion
According to Hill et el. (2000) spirituality refers to
the feelings, thoughts, experiences and
behaviors that arise from the search for the
sacred. The main differences between
religiousness and spirituality are that religion is
seen as to be more institutional, dogmatic and
restrictive, whereas spiritual.ity is more
personal, subjective ad life enhancing.
Global beliefs refer to core schemas through
which people interpret the world and their
experience, Global goals are the ideals and
objectives considered important ad which
people want to achieve and maintain. Sense of
purpose is created by beliefs and goals, and
represents the subjective experience that life
h a s a p u r p o s e . Tw o c o m p o n e n t s i n
religiousness and spirituality that contribute to a
reduced responsiveness to stressors are a
sense of meaning and social relationships.
- Bianca Davids
PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015
16

6 ways to become
more positive
1
Practice Gratitude.
One of the quickest ways to shift your focus
away from negativity, judgment, and
disappointment is to list the things in your life for
which you are grateful. Be grateful to be
gainfully employed, to sleep in a bed each night,
for the sun that comes up each morning, for the
waiter who greets you with a smile, for the
people that love and care for you, and for a body
that lets you experience life each day.
Practicing gratefulness can cause almost an
immediate shift in your perspective. Keeping a
daily gratitude journal, even digitally (link is
external), can help remind you to keep life’s
blessings at the forefront of your mind. Another
s t r a t e g y i s t o h a v e a g r a t i t u d e
partner—someone who can support you in your
journey to positive thinking. Each day, text,
email or tell each other three things for which
you are grateful. Think of this person as your
accountability partner for your path to healthy
thinking.
2Two Steps Forward.
Initially, it might be hard to stop the negative
flow of thoughts. This shift takes time. Be
patient with yourself, and first just try to observe
your thought patterns. See if you can catch
yourself judging others, focusing on failures,
complaining about work, or criticizing yourself
or your body. When you observe these
thoughts, take a moment to counter each
negative thought with two positive observations
or gratitudes. Think of it as taking two steps
forward after your one step back.
Positive Posture.
3The mind and the body have an intrinsic
connection—each has a profound impact on
the other (link is external). If you are struggling
to move your mind into a more positive
perspective, try moving your body there first.
Try standing up straight, shoulders back, chin
held high, stretching your arms out as wide as
they can go. Feel powerful. Feel positive.
Carrying yourself with “positive posture” will
encourage your mind to feel more positive as
well.
Smile.
4
Another way for your body to “trick” your mind
into being more positive is through smiling. The
simple act of smiling, even if you don’t
necessarily have anything to smile about, can
instantly change the way you feel internally.
Whether you are sitting at your desk, driving in
your car, or walking down the street, smile. You
will be amazed how your mind reacts. Even
better, try smiling at a co-worker or stranger you
pass in the hallway or on the sidewalk. Did they
smile back?
Ditch the Crabs.
5If you put a crab in a bucket, it will easily climb
out. But if you put a second crab in the bucket,
neither of them will escape. Once one starts to
escape, the other will pull it back down into the
bucket. In other words, surround yourself with
positive people. It's hard to maintain a positive
perspective if you are constantly pulled down
by the negativity of friends, family, or coworkers.
If you get trapped in a negative
conversation, gracefully try to change the
subject to something more positive. However, if
you are surrounded by a bucketful of negative
crabs, it may be time to reevaluate your circle of
friends in an effort to be surrounded by uplifting
individuals.
Do Something Kind.
6
It’s easy to get absorbed by our own
world of misfortune and to forget about the
people around us. Stepping outside of your
daily routine to help someone else can
provide amazing perspective and fill you
with positivity. Strive to do one nice thing for
someone else each day. Call a family
member or friend in need of a kind word,
compliment a stranger, go out of your way
to help a co-worker complete a task, or join
the thousands of caffeinated people
“paying it forward (link is external)” in the
Starbucks line.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hope-relationships/201409/6-ways-become-more-positive-today
17 PSYCzine Your guide on the road to wellness issue 01/2015

PSYC group assignment
Arina Potgieter - 21769508- editing & composition
Kgothatso Pooe - 25172077 - Study unit 1 & 2
Tshepang Seobi - 25150928 - Study unit 3 & 4
Fahrin Delawala - 24965480 - Study unit 5 & 6
Carina Meyer - 24156825 - Study unit 7 & 8
Thobedi Sithole - 25268937 - Study unit 9 & 10
Bianca Davids - 24162167 - Study unit 11