Chapter 1: An Introduction to Positive Psychology

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. ______, a Former President of American Psychological Association, would best be considered the father of positive psychology.

A. Martin Seligman

B. Henry David Thoreau

C. Sigmund Freud

D. John Watson

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Rising Importance of the Social World

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What is the best description of positive psychology?

A. the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive

B. the science and applications of building positive self-esteem

C. the psychological study of healthy children and adolescents

D. the practice of examining historical accounts of positive events

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Rising Importance of the Social World

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Positive psychology examines positive subjective states and the sense of individual achievement removed from its social context.

B. Positive psychology focuses on positive institutions rather than positive traits of the individual.

C. Positive psychology focuses on positive functioning on a number of levels, such as biological, personal, relational, and cultural.

D. Almost all research in positive psychology examine the effectiveness of positive forms of psychotherapy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Rising Importance of the Social World

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. The Dynamic Model of Affect (DMA) proposes that ______.

A. emotions change so rapidly that it is not possible to measure them reliably

B. having more control over emotions is correlated with greater happiness

C. the independence of positive and negative emotions depends on one’s biological makeup

D. when people are under stress, positive and negative emotions “fuse” and become dependent

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Independence of Positive and Negative Emotions

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Which of the following is FALSE?

A. Positive and negative emotions are relatively independent.

B. Positive and negative emotions are associated with the same biological markers.

C. Interventions that influence one type of emotionality may have no effect or even the opposing impact on the other type of emotionality.

D. Positive and negative emotions can occur at the same time.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Independence of Positive and Negative Emotions

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Interventions to eliminate mental illness do not automatically enhance well-being.

B. It is not possible to be relatively high in both mental illness and mental health at the same time.

C. The search for happiness appears to be largely an American quest.

D. Positive psychology takes the position that only a small percentage of very unique individuals adjust well to life’s stressors and challenges.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Rising Importance of the Social World

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. The oldest approach to well-being and happiness is ______.

A. eudaimonia

B. hedonism

C. flourishing

B. utilitarianism

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. What best describes the term hedonism?

A. being true to one self

B. maximizing of pleasure and minimizing of pain

C. maximizing of pleasure and minimizing of savoring

D. involvement in activities that produce flow

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Loreto scores low on well-being but high on mental illness symptoms (in his case, depression). According to Keyes and Lopez (2002), he would be considered ______.

A. dysthymic

B. floundering

C. languishing

D. struggling

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: People Can Flourish and Thrive

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Based on Keys and Lopez’s (2002) classification, people who score high on well-being and high on mental illness are ______.

A. happy

B. self-actualized

C. languishing

D. struggling

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: People Can Flourish and Thrive

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. According to Robinson (1997), the Greek and Roman philosophers outlined four major theories of the good life. Which of the following is one of them?

A. the fatalistic life

B. the realistic life

C. the accepting life

D. the balanced life

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Summary of Greek Ideas on the Good Life

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Aristotle proposed that there were 12 basic virtues that when cultivated allowed people to grow toward a state of ______.

A. hedonism

B. eudaimonia

C. flourishing

D. existentialism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Aristotle

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. According to ______, happiness is found by living in accord with the commands or rules set down by a supreme being.

A. hedonic calculus

B. flourishing theory

C. divine command theory

D. the Delphic motto

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: The Early Hebrews

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The ancient stoics taught that ______.

A. true happiness is attained only when a person is true to his or her authentic self

B. material wealth, happiness, love, and admiration were all subject to change, therefore people must not base their well-being on these

C. happiness is found by living in accord with the commands or rules set down by a supreme being

D. there were 12 basic virtues that when cultivated allowed us to grow toward a state of eudaimonia

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: The Stoics

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. John Stuart Mill disagreed with Bentham’s belief that all pleasures should be given equal value, a notion that is central to ______.

A. humanism

B. empiricism

C. hedonic calculus

D. stoicism

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: The Rising Importance of the Social World

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Abraham Maslow emphasized that people strive to make the most of their potential in a process called self-actualization within what tradition?

A. humanistic

B. behavioral

C. eudaimonia

D. behaviorism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Humanistic Psychology

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. ______ emphasized our capacity for personality growth in the second half of life. In addition, his ideas have perhaps been most influential in the psychology of religion.

A. Freud

B. Aristotle

C. Jung

D. Terman

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The 20th Century

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Kupperman (2006) outlined several insights about well-being that we can learn from history. Which of the following is FALSE?

A. Simple hedonism is not an adequate path to well-being.

B. A stress-free life is the most desirable life.

C. Happiness should not be the sole criteria for well-being.

D. It is not necessary to be perfect to be an admirable and a good person.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Lessons on Well-Being From History

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. In ______ view, traits such as compassion, friendliness, nurturance, and altruism are innate in every child but are affected by the level of social support they have. His slogan, “Any child can learn anything,” inspired many people in Europe and the United States.

A. Freud’s

B. Aristotle’s

C. the ancient stoics’

D. Adler’s

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The 20th Century

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Given what you’re learned in the introductory chapter of the text, which of the following studies would most likely be included in the reference list for this positive psychology text?

A. childhood and adult cumulative trauma as predictors of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder

B. the Reliability and Validity of the Parental Anxiety Scale

C. capitalizing on human strengths in pursuit of academic success

D. the role of the prefrontal lobe in passive–aggressive interactions

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Positive Psychology Today

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Based on Keyes and Lopez’s classification system, floundering and languishing refer to the same phenomenon.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: People Can Flourish and Thrive

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. A basic assumption of positive psychology is that biology and genetic predispositions are much more influential in determining people’s psychological adjustment than other factors.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: People Can Flourish and Thrive

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Positive and negative emotions are relatively independent.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: Independence of Positive and Negative Emotions

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Before the field of positive psychology existed, case studies of clients in psychotherapy were conducted in the early 20th century in an effort to understand well-being and the good life.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Science of Well-Being

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Both Plato and Socrates believed that changeable sensory experience could not be the basis of true wisdom.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Socrates | Plato

Difficulty Level: Hard

Essay

1. Describe a study that a researcher in the area of positive psychology might conduct? Discuss practical implications of the findings. In other words, why is this research important?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Scope of Positive Psychology

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. The field of positive psychology has been misunderstood to be merely the study of happiness or “happiology.” Explain why is this a misconception? Include two other areas of research that a positive psychologist might study.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Scope of Positive Psychology

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Although the field of positive psychology offers a new approach to the study of positive emotions and behavior, the ideas, theories, research, and motivation to study positive aspects of human behavior are as old as humanity. Drawing upon the ideas of Adler, Jung, Maslow, or James, give an example of one of these areas of research and how it overlaps with areas of contemporary positive psychology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The 20th Century

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain the difference between eudaimonia and hedonism.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Short History of Well-Being in the Western World

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Choose one of the following: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, or the stoics. Explain how their ideas about the good life laid the groundwork for contemporary theories of happiness, well-being, and life satisfaction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Short History of Well-Being in the Western World

Difficulty Level: Medium