Question

Which of the following most closely represents how psychologists tend to view happiness:

A)Punishing oneself for a greater good.

B)All other options are correct

C)Coming from pleasurable experiences.

D)Having a sense of satisfaction in life.

If a student attends class because they love studying the material in the course, what is motivating them?

A)Extrinsic motivation

B)Intrinsic motivation

C)Instinct

D)Arousal

The fact that humans are motivated to satisfy their curiosity is best explained by which theory?

A)Maslow's hierarchy of needs

B)Self-determination theory

C)Drive reduction theory

D)Arousal theory

The Two-Systems Perspective of emotion is primarily focused on what kinds of emotions?

A)Emotions that go directly to the amygdala

B)All other options are correct

C)"Low road" emotions

D)Emotions that require a rapid response.

If you’re feeling sad and someone tells you to just start smiling in order to feel better, they are basing their advice on which psychological principle?

A)the feel-good, do-good phenomenon

B)the adaptation-level principle

C)the facial feedback effect

D)the spillover effect

Answer 1

1. Which of the following most closely represents how psychologists tend to view happiness:

A)Punishing oneself for a greater good.

B)All other options are correct

C)Coming from pleasurable experiences.

D)Having a sense of satisfaction in life.

ANS: The correct answer is D) Having a sense of satisfaction in life. Research based on Subjective well-being has found three main components of happiness. They are life satisfaction, presence of positive affect and relative absence of negative affect.

Option A) punishing one self for greater good and Option C) Coming from pleasurable experinces are narrower in nature. Option A) is more focussed on altruism, happiness goes beyond that. Happiness being a pursuit of pleasure is a hedonic view. Pleasures in life are short-lived and often physical. Happiness in psychology focuses more on well-being that entails life satisfaction as one of the component.

Option B)All other options is incorrect because option C) is not an appropriate response.

2. If a student attends class because they love studying the material in the course, what is motivating them?

A)Extrinsic motivation

B)Intrinsic motivation

C)Instinct

D)Arousal

ANS. The correct answer for this question is B) intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation means the drive to do something that is based on internal rewards. Internal rewards provide satisfaction from doing the activity alone without any external motivator in place. In this scenario the internal reward is gaining satisfaction because one loves the course. The sole reason for attending the class i.e. love for studying is a reinforcement that naturally occurs. Therefore, intrinsic motivation is the correct answer.

Option A) extrinsic motivation is not the correct answer because extrinsic motivation consists of external rewards like praise from teachers or parents, good marks, avoiding getting scolded and so on.

Option C) Instinct is also not the appropriate answer in this case because instinct is an innate impulse that is common across all animals including humans. It is a biological reaction to a stimulus. Instinct fulfils our physiological needs like hunger, thirst and sex. The current scenario deals with cognitive needs of learning.

Option D) Arousal is also incorrect. Arousal is a psychological state of alertness. It is the underlying biological phenomenon that is important in fulfilling biological needs (sex, fight or flight response) and psychological processes (aggression, attention, information processing).  

3. The fact that humans are motivated to satisfy their curiosity is best explained by which theory?

A)Maslow's hierarchy of needs

B)Self-determination theory

C)Drive reduction theory

D)Arousal theory

ANS The correct answer is A) Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow's theory postulates that human needs are present in a hierarchy form starting from physiological needs to the highest level of self-transcendence. To move forward in the hierarchy, it is important to fulfil the previous level needs.

1) Physiological needs- consists of needs for hunger, thirst and sex. If an individual is hungry, he will be motivated to find home.

2) Safety needs- consists of needs for sense of safety of one’s resources, health, employment etc. For instance, to protect oneself from harsh winter one will be motivated to find shelter in a warm environment.

3) Belonging needs- refers to needs for feeling loved, maintain social ties, bond with others etc. One makes friends to satisfy need for belonging.

4) Esteem needs- There are two esteem needs. First, the desire to be valued and respected by others and second, to desire to respect oneself. For instance, one might seek validation from teachers to fulfil esteem needs. Esteem needs have two levels that were added later by Maslow:

a) Cognitive needs- these are intellectual needs including need to know more, curiosity, exploration and finding meaning and purpose.

b) Aesthetic needs- refers to the need to explore and experience beauty around one. This can be fulfilled by artistic expression, finding beauty in nature etc.

5) Self-actualisation - this includes need to reach one's highest level of potential

6) Self-transcendence - this is highest level of human cognition that can be achieved by altruism.

Option B) Self-determination theory is the incorrect answer because this focuses on 3 psychological needs i.e. need for competence, connection and autonomy. Need for competence is achieved by gaining mastery over a skill. Connection need is the need to feel related to others. Autonomy need consists of feeling in control of one's life outcomes.

Option C) Drive reduction theory is also not correct because it is based on fulfilment of primary needs (physiological needs) and secondary needs (attaining wealth). According to this theory, a physiological need like thirst disbalances the homeostasis or internal balance in an individual. To regain the homeostasis individual is motivated to indulge in an activity that would decrease the drive for instance fetch water.

Option D) Arousal theory is incorrect. Arousal theory is focussed on biological needs of obtaining optimum level of arousal. Arousal differs in each individual. For example, a person with high level of arousal engages more in physical activities. Lower levels of arousal are fulfilled by activities like reading a book, watching a movie etc.

4. If you’re feeling sad and someone tells you to just start smiling in order to feel better, they are basing their advice on which psychological principle?

A)the feel-good, do-good phenomenon

B)the adaptation-level principle

C)the facial feedback effect

D)the spillover effect

ANS. Option C) the facial feedback effect is the correct answer because this according to this theory emotions are affected by our facial expressions. Just like one smile because he/she feels happy, one can start to feel happy even if sad if they smile. Along with conveying to others through facial expressions, they are also necessary to convey to oneself that you are happy. Therefore, smiling even when sad can actually make one happy.

Option A) is incorrect because the feel-good do-good phenomenon refers to an individual’s tendency to help others when in a positive mood.

Option B) the adaptation level phenomenon is incorrect. It is a major theory in happiness that states that adaptation and reaction certain situations are dependent on past experiences of humans.

Option D) the spill over effect is incorrect because this refers to the tendency of one's own feelings affecting feelings of others.

In second last question, by two-system theory of emotions do you mean two-factor theory of emotions?