Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Louise Penny has noted that Quebec, the setting of her novels, operates almost as a character in its own right. This observation is more than literary flair; it reflects a psychological truth. Environments exert influence. They shape perception, emotion, and behavior. In social psychology, we recognize that human functioning is inseparable from context. Our interactions with others affect our mood, cognition, motivation, and even our physiological health. This is why social context is a core dimension of the SCOPES framework. Yet physical environments — even in the absence of people — also exert measurable effects. Consider how interior spaces communicate safety, warmth, or threat. A familiar chair can regulate stress; a poorly designed one can amplify discomfort. Sensory cues such as scent, sound, and texture influence our emotional states in subtle but powerful ways. Outdoor environments operate similarly. Natural settings often promote restoration, while harsh or polluted environmen...

  Can the practice of gratitude actually improve mental health? Many studies extol the benefits of expressing gratitude. What’s different about this study by Joel Wong and his colleagues are the participants. All of them were psychotherapy patients. The research question: Would gratitude writing add value to psychotherapy?   The patients All 293 volunteers were young adults having an average age of 22 and the youngest were age 18. Most were women (65%). And most identified as “White/European.” They were seeking psychotherapy services at a university. The plan The researchers randomly assigned the patients to one of three groups. 1. Gratitude Letter writing and Psychotherapy . In three gratitude sessions, the participants wrote letters of thanks to people—most wrote to friends, mothers, and fathers. They had the option to send their letters or not—23% sent a letter. 2. Expressive Writing and Psychotherapy . In their sessions, the expressive writing group wrote...

  In the past few decades, psychological scientists have studied gratitude along with other virtues as part of the broad field known as positive psychology, which focuses on well-being in contrast to studies of mental disorders. Expressing gratitude is one of those classic virtues encouraged in many cultures. Short Summary Two psychological scientists studied the effects of expressing gratitude over a period of 10 weeks. Those in the gratitude group felt better and had fewer health symptoms than those in other groups. The Experiment In 2003, two psychological scientists published the results of several studies. Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Michael McCullough of the University of Miami assigned volunteers to one of three groups, which the research team called Gratitude, Hassles, and Events. The study required 10 weekly reports. Here’s what the scientists told each group. Gratitude group The gratitude group were asked to think about their past week...

Journey to a Better Relationship Four Things to Pack Couples often seek counseling to improve their relationship. The general goal is something like satisfaction, which can be quite vague unless you flesh it out with some specifics. But that’s where things can get pretty negative if couples and therapists aren’t careful. Getting to relationship satisfaction can be an arduous and discouraging process of identifying areas where each partner is unhappy. The usual culprits are ways of spending our money, spending enough time together, enjoying sex, sharing responsibilities, and agreeing on parenting strategies. Enter Jen Ripley and Ev Worthington—two experienced couples’ therapists from the Eastern U.S. I’m reading their recent book, Couple Therapy for a book review I’ll be sending off in a few weeks. My focus in this post is on four goals they suggest for couples’ counseling . What I like about these ideas is how they fit with trends ...

5-4 MORALITY, MENTAL DISORDERS, AND IQ   The 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on 27 May 2014 challenged the basis for Florida’s decision ( Hall v. Florida ). Matters of life and death are matters of morality. And the moral judgments of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices make it clear that they do not know the right answer—5 ruled one way, 4 another. Moral judgments are not easy. How do parents decide to punish? Parents are pretty quick to decide when to let their children off the hook for dropping their Sippy cups, throwing a toy, or pulling another child’s hair. Some parents laugh, some yell, some swat, and some use time out. Some do it all in an unpredictable pattern. Parents seem to have some built in sense of when a child knows better . Knowing better is the basis for holding people accountable. Kids will still go to time out for breaking a rule so they’ll learn. But serious penalties are usually reserved for intentional rule breaking th...

OPTIMISM & FAITH When I go to the gym today (or maybe tomorrow), I expect the parking lot to be full. This time of year, a lot of people resolve to improve their lives. We want to get healthy and get rid of bad habits. Unfortunately, within a few weeks or months optimism wanes. And many fall back into old ways. FROM DEPRESSION TO OPTIMISM Years ago, Martin Seligman studied depression in animals. His research seemed to suggest that animals “gave up” as if they learned to be helpless. When Seligman and others examined how people thought about circumstances, they detected pessimistic thinking. And in contrast, researchers found positive thinking in others. Seligman has been instrumental in the development of positive psychology and has become well known for his work on learned optimism. SEVEN FINDINGS ABOUT OPTIMISM What do we know about learned optimism and life? Here’s a summary from Snyder, Lopez, and Pedrotti’s book on Positive Psychology . People wh...