Question

1. Happiness doesn't mean just to feel good. A review of hundreds of studies have found compellingevidence that happier people have better overall health and live longer than their less happy peers. Anxiety, depression, pessimism and a lack of enjoyment of daily activities have all been found to be associated with higher rates of disease and shorter lifespans
2. Having a network of social connections or high levels of social support has been shown to increaseour immunity to infection, lower our risk of heart disease and reduce mental decline as we get older. Our emotions affect our long- term wellbeing. Research shows that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative onesleadsto a tipping point beyond which we naturally become more resilient to adversity and better able to achieve things.
3. Harvard School of Public Health examined 200 separate research studies on psychological well being and cardiovascular health. Optimism and positive emotion were found to provide protection againstcardiovascular disease, to slow progression of heart disease and reduce risk, by around 50%, of experiencing a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack.
4. Recent research has shown that an 8-week mindfulness meditation class can lead to structural brain changes including increased grey-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion and introspection-People who are optimistic tend to be happier, healthier and cope belter in tough times.Our happiness influences the people we know and the people they know.
5. Western neuroscience has now confirmed what Eastern wisdom has known for a long time. Happiness is a skill we can learn. Happiness, compassion and kindness are the products of skills that can be learned and enhanced through training, thanks to the neuroplasticity of our brains.
6. When we give to others it activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust. Altruistic behaviour releases endorphins in the brain and boosts happiness for us as well as the people we help. Studies have shown that giving money away tends to make people happier than spending it on themselves.
7. Most people think that if they become successful, then they'll be happy. But recent
discoveries in psychology and neuroscience show that this formula is backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we're positive, our brains are more motivated, engaged, creative, energetic,resilient, and productive.

Questions

1. On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option. (1 × 6 = 6 marks)

1.1 Experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones increases:
a. our ability to withstand adversities
b. mental decline
c. heart diseases
d. depression

1.2 Our happiness influences
a. only ourselves
b. only others
c. the people we know.
d. no one.

1.3 Cardiovascular disease and heart attacks can be reduced by around 50%
through:a.optimism
b. positive emotions
c. psychological wellbeing
d. all above

1.4 Which of the following is NOT true:
a. happiness fuels success
b. health fuels happiness
c. happiness is not a skill
d. success fuels happiness

1.5 Which of the following is NOT true when we engage our brain in positive act.
a. motivated
b. creative
c. resilient
d. unproductive

1.6 Studies show people are happier when they
a. Spend money on themselves
b. giving money away
c. have no money
d. have money

2. Answer the following questions briefly: (1 × 4 = 4 Marks)

1. What are things that are associated with higher rates of disease and shorter lifespans?

2. How does our social connections or high levels of social support help us ?

3. How does 8 week of mindfulness meditation can help us ?

4. What is the importance of Altruistic behaviour?

5. Find the word in the passage which means the same as (2 × 1 = 2 Marks)
(i) a person able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions, (para 2)
(ii) Sympathetic (para 4)

Answer 1

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3) Meditation can reduce stress levels, which translates to less anxiety. ... Also, one study found that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation helped reduce anxiety symptoms in people with generalized anxiety disorder, along with increasing positive self-statements and improving stress reactivity and coping ( 7 ).