While doing more research for my research project on gratitude and well-being, I thought it would be interesting to find out what occurs in the brain during moments of gratitude. When I began writing a week of “Three Good Things”, I was a little skeptical of the outcome. From reading other classmates blogs, I have read and discovered that this process hasn’t worked for them. When finding sources that backup their statement, it was a little difficult, but I know that this experiment couldn’t have worked for everyone. I find psychology very interesting, and wanted to know the science behind this research.
After a week of recording “Three Good Things”, I found myself happier. Whenever I would experience a gratitude moment, I would look back and think in the moment on how much I appreciated and cherished that moment which I had never done before. According to neuroscientist and a 2009 National Institute of Health study, practicing gratitude can cause the brain to improve mood and trigger a blood flow to the hypothalamus which controls sleep patterns and stress levels (Emmons, Medibank.com). Gratitude can activate the neurotransmitter dopamine to the brain as well which can improve mood (Emmons, Medibank.com). Feeling happier after the experiment would explain why I felt an impact on my well-being. It is so easy to focus on the negative, but by participating in this process, I was able to recognize and focus on the positive and reflect on the goodness in my life. In my earlier blog post, I used my sociology class as a source to this project. After doing a thorough editing session with my teacher, I realized that I didn’t want to use that information in my research. It included the cause of suicide which I don’t want to get to deep into because I want to focus mainly on me. Although, I may do more research on why college-aged students are so unhappy and how the three good things could be a process to improve their well-being.
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Continuing on the topic of my research project on the “Three Good Things” I began relating some of my findings to my Sociology course here at Delaware County Community College. After writing the blog post A Week of Three Good Things, I wrote in the comments using Dr. Martin Seligman’s model PERMA for happiness. I found from that blog post that relationships and positive emotion are large factors in the improvement on my well-being. I believe that doing a week of three good things made me happier, especially because of the relationship aspect of it. I am typically a shy and quiet person, and social interactions are an important aspect to help one grow and be a part of society.
After experimenting with the “Three Good Things” project, I believe that this process improved my well-being. I wrote for one of my days for the blog post A Week of Three Good Things on Friday November 2nd that I asked my friend if we could hangout at West Chester University because I knew it was homecoming. When it comes to relationships and friendships, I always overthink situations because I can sometimes have a low-self esteem about what others think about me. But after I realized that it is not a big deal, I definitely know that my friend loves having me hangout with her. I was always nervous about annoying her because I sometimes initiate the invitation. The more we spend time together, our friendship strengthens and we are both kind of the same person so it is fun to experience the same moments for the first time. In Dr. Seligman’s PERMA model, relationships are one of the key elements. Social relationships are what humans thrive on and I definitely agree with that statement. I went out of my comfort zone and just asked to visit her and I was really happy with the outcome. Most of my days for that assignment had to do with relationships and social interactions and what I have learned from my sociology class as well, is that those who have a higher level of social integration are bound to be more mentally stable and happier. This project relates partially to my sociology class because of the social science aspects of it. Social science is the study of human behavior, interactions, and change. This can relate to Sociologist Emile Durkheim based on his study on suicide. He found that the suicide rate of a society reflects the extent to which people are not integrated into the group life of the society. More young people are finding it difficult to integrate into society and if one has a low level of social integration, he concluded that this will mean they will have a higher chance of committing suicide and being unhappy. Social interactions are important for humans. It is a reciprocal exchange in which two or more people read, react, and respond to each other. When I began writing “A Week of Three Good Things” for my research project, I was a little skeptical of the outcome. After that week of recording “Three Good Things”, I really found myself happier. The purpose of last weeks blog post is to see if my well-being improves based on positive psychology. Positive psychology studies thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with a focus on strengths rather than weaknesses. Positive psychology does not focus solely on happiness, but instead on well-being.
Well-being can be measured through positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments. This assignment is to help improve my well-being by focusing on gratitude moments, which is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful in oneself and represents a general state of thankfulness or appreciation. It was easy for me to remember everyday to write a moment I was grateful for because I was eager to know what or how my day was going to turn out. Whenever a moment would occur, I would really think about it in the moment and afterwards appreciate it. I never really did that before this experiment and it makes the moment more special and thoughtful. This article speaks to how I felt, “By focusing on what we are grateful for, and looking toward what is going right in our lives, it can help reframe our thinking processes”. It has been a week later and even though I haven’t continued writing grateful moments, I still find myself stopping and feeling more appreciative. Before this research project, I was feeling down and almost lonely. In my opinion, I do believe that the ‘Three Good Things” has made me feel so much better and it can be proven from Martin Seligman’s, the father of psychology, PERMA elements. PERMA stands for positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments. I always overthink situations and my relationships with friends, but I have tried to not worry so much. As I had written on one of my days from last week's blog post, I just asked to hangout with my friend at West Chester University and although we were already close friends, I feel that the more effort I put in with people, it strengthens the relationship and friendship which is very important to me. In the PERMA model, relationships are one of the elements because social relationships and connections are what humans thrive on. |
Chrissie FackenthallI will use this blog to write and post weekly assignments for my English Composition I course at Delaware County Community College Archives
December 2018
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