4 How do I put critical thinking into action?
Let’s say you were interested in studying the topic of happiness. How might you think about studying happiness?
There are different ways to study the same thing. You might want to study happiness by looking at the influence of one factor on another. For example, does eating chocolate cause happiness? It may be a survey that collects lots of data to see whether there are links between factors. For example, do some personality traits lead to more happiness? Or it may be through detailed interviews capturing the experience of feeling happy.
Activity 2
You’ll now revisit the different psychological disciplines that were introduced in Section 1 and think about how these different areas might shape the type of issue you look at when studying happiness. How will the psychological discipline chosen alter the question you pose?
Complete Table 1 by filling out the second column with examples of specific issues you might explore when approaching the study of happiness from the five different psychological disciplines listed. The first row has been done for you as an example.
| Discipline | Examples of what you might be looking at when studying happiness |
|---|---|
| Cognitive | Are optimistic people happier? |
| Social | |
| Biological | |
| Individual differences | |
| Developmental |
Comment
The completed table below shows examples for each discipline. Of course, you may have come up with other options.
| Discipline | Examples of what you might be looking at when studying happiness |
|---|---|
| Cognitive | Are optimistic people happier? Why are some memories happier than others? |
| Social | How do relationships with others affect happiness? |
| Biological | How do hormones influence happiness? Where does happiness occur in the brain? |
| Individual differences | Does personality type influence happiness? Can being creative improve my levels of happiness? |
| Developmental | Do happy parents have happy children? How does happiness change over the lifespan? |