Will Misenheimer

Deby Jizi
UWRT 1102-028
17 February 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Getting Off the Hedonic Treadmill. MacMillan Education. n.d. Print. 17 February 2016.

Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

325- People in positive moods have also

been to be more creative problem solvers,
more likely to obtain a mutually favorable
outcome when bargaining, and more willing
to seek variety among positive choices
(Isen, 2000).

I feel that when I am engaged in an activity

during a time in which my mood is positive, I
am more likely to put forth my best work and
maximize my creativity. Also, if I am in a bad
mood, I feel that I am more susceptible to
rushing and working to get things done
quicker, which usually yields poor quality.

326- We suggest that while single major

events may be unlikely to have a lasting
impact, smaller minor behaviors provide
small boosts to well-being that can lead to
real changes in overall being, especially if
they are repeated with sufficient frequency
over time: one cannot win the lottery every
day, but one can exercise or attend religious
services regularly, and these repeated
behaviors may be enough to increase wellbeing over time.

I would agree with this statement, but I would

also go a step further to say that as a
religious man, just the knowing that God is in
my heart creates a very lasting impact. This is
contributed to be the attendance of church
services, reading The Bible, and other events.
Also, exercising is a huge esteem-builder.
After every workout, I feel that I just have
things together. It is a wonderful feeling that is
built by a compilation of boosts.

326- Taken together, these results suggest

that most events have no lasting impact on
our well-being (see Diener, Lucas, &
Scollon, 2006; Frederick & Loewenstein,
1999; Frey & Stutzer, 2002.

This is very interesting. This reminds me of

the research conducted in one of the other
articles in which lottery winners are polled
and their newly adapted spending habits
caused them to feel less happy than they
were before.

327- All of the previously cited research

paints a rather discouraging picture about
peoples ability to increase their own well-

This reminds me of the article that argued

that 10% of our happiness was determined by
set points that were genetically determined. I

being.

would say that my religion is a major life

event and lasting impact; it is also something
that happens over time. Are there any other
major life events that cause a positive
impact?

327-328- Nonetheless, it seems as though

people generally should not even bother to
pursue goals that make them happy (and
not try as hard to avoid many of the
activities that they expect to cause them
unhappiness), as achieving them will not
have any lasting impact.

I would agree with this statement because my

dad would always tell me that one of the
greatest things is having something to look
forward to. I believe that once we accomplish
that goal, we do not have anything left to look
forward to and that can cause unhappiness.

329- We suggest that these behaviors have

a causal effect on well-being because they
give regular and reliable, albeit small, boosts
to well-being each time a member
participates in one of these activities.

I also believe that events such as going to

church and exercising regularly are reliable
sources of happiness and well-being. They
are consistent and never seem to fail in
making me happy.

330- The average well-being reported in

our sample was 81.2 (SD=13.0); in line with
previous research, people in our sample
tended to be happy (Diener & Diener,
1996).

As a Christain man, I would certainly say that

my happiness is around an 82. Thus, this is a
very believable stat to me.

331- As Fig. 5.1 shows, attending a

religious service provided a small and
positive boost to reported well-being, and
this was true across all of the surveyed
religions.

From personal experience, I certainly feel

much better after having been to church
rather than not going. Thus, going to church
gives me much more happiness than not
going.

333- While this result is purely correlational,

there is good reason to believe that
attending services frequently causes higher
levels of well-being, rather than the other
way around.

I could not agree more with the first part of

this statement. I believe that the more I go to
church the happier I will be. But in refutation
to the second part, I believe that given my
current beliefs, if I do not go to church, then it
will cause unhappiness. For example, if I do
not go to church now, I feel disappointed in
myself.

334- Was there an effect of engaging in

physical activity similar to the one we
observed with religious participation?

I would definitely agree that there is a boost

given by exercise, but I do not believe that it
is as long lasting as the boost given by
religious participation.

335- Equally important, frequency of

engaging in these activities was a positive
predictor of peoples baseline well-being,
suggesting that these small boosts have a
cumulative positive effect on well-being.

I would certainly agree. The more I attend

church and the more I work out, the happier I
am and the better I feel about myself. My
experiences certainly lead me to believe that
this is true information.