Looking on the bright side Religion and psychology

Looking on the bright side Religion and psychology

Do positive people have a psychological advantage? Gordon Reid examines the relationship between a positive outlook and personal happiness

Gordon Reid

As the lyrics in Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) say:

‘Always look on the bright side of life…’

Why do some people have a natural tendency to be happy and the ability to emphasise the good in their lives? Why do others always look on the gloomy side, rather like Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh stories? Are there psychological factors that can enable a person to live a happier and healthier life and does this have anything to do with religion?

Many people who seek happiness, health and to fulfil their potential often fail and are unhappy. Abraham Maslow, in A Theory of Human Motivation (1964), talked about ‘selfactualisation’, which he said was the way in which humans may achieve happiness and satisfaction and thus fulfil their potential. He defined it as:

‘the desire for self-fulfilment and to become more and more of what one is and everything that one is capable of becoming’

He believed that very few people ever really achieved self-actualisation, though he cited Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein as good examples. Maslow offered a list of common characteristics found in people who, he suggested, had reached self-actualisation:

■ prepared to face reality and the truth (reality-centred)

■ spontaneous

■ interested in solving problems (problem-centred)

■ accepting of themselves and others

■ lacking in prejudice

■ happy in their own company

■ quite autonomous, but have a few deep personal friendships

■ not likely to ‘follow the crowd’

■ gentle-humoured

■ very original and creative thinkers

The hierarchy of needs

Maslow repeatedly warned that self-actualisation cannot be attained quickly — it takes many years to develop. Before achieving self-actualisation, first a person has to go through and satisfy what Maslow called the hierarchy of needs. These needs are instinctive, often purely biological and basic (for example, food and water) because without them nothing can follow. There are also low-level needs, such as shelter, security and comfort. More difficult to meet are the higherlevel needs, including relationships, recognition and desire for knowledge, which look towards appreciating spiritual and other issues, such as an understanding of beauty and order. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are:

■ psychological — the individual has basic needs and functions, such as food, water, oxygen, rest

■ safety —a sense of security, shelter, employment, comfort

■ belonging and love — personal relationships, sexual intimacy, family, feeling welcome

■ esteem —a sense of recognition, achievement, respect and worth

■ cognitive — the desire for knowledge and understanding of the world

■ aesthetic — an understanding of beauty, order and symmetry In Motivation and Personality (1954) Maslow wrote:

‘Human life will never be understood unless its highest aspirations are taken into account. Growth, self-actualisation, the striving towards health…the yearning for excellence…must be accepted beyond question as a widespread and perhaps universal tendency.’

MASLOW OFFERED A LIST OF COMMON CHARACTERISTICS FOUND IN PEOPLE WHO, HE SUGGESTED, HAD REACHED SELF-ACTUALISATION

Maslow claimed that self-actualisers are peo who have reached the top of their potential — they are achieving what they were ‘born to do’ and they have a sense of humility and respect for others and live by a strong ethical code. In Towards a Psychology of Being (1999) he wrote:

‘Self-actualising people enjoy life in general and practically all its aspects, whilst most other people enjoy only stray moments of triumph.’

Peak experiences

Maslow went on to link self-actualisation to what he called ‘peak experiences’, which he regarded as experiences that take a person out of themselves and make them feel eternal and in touch with God. They feel part of the infinite. This is only available to people who are fully self-actualisers.

In Religions, Values and Peak Experiences (1964), Maslow described peak experiences as sudden feelings of intense happiness and wellbeing, with an awareness of ultimate truth and the unity of all things. He described how those having a peak experience claimed to have a sense of control over the body and emotions, a greater sense of awareness and a feeling of awe and wonder at the oneness with the world. They have encountered what he called the ‘ultimate truth or the essence of all things’. He went on:

‘…feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, the feeling of great ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placing in time and space.’

Maslow identified two types of peak experience:

■ relative — the person still feels an awareness of subjects and objects, like a gentle extension of their own previous experiences

■ absolute —a mystical experience without time and space and a feeling of unity with all things

In Motivation and Personality (2nd edition, 1970), Maslow described peak experiences as a ‘tremendous intensification of any of the sense experiences in which there is a loss of self or transcendence of self’. This is where religion comes in. Maslow found that peak experiences were similar to religious experiences — visions, miracles and so on — because they caused people to change in a profound way. Though fleeting and temporary, they increased feelings of wellbeing and happiness. He described peak experiences as:

‘…a rapturous emotional experience, similar to what religious people might call an ecstatic mystical experience.’

Maslow’s investigations concluded that those who had peak experiences were always positive, never negative or evil, and they were timeless and accompanied by a loss of fear, anxiety and doubt. They felt fortunate to have had such an experience that reaffirmed the worthiness of life and changed their views forever. Was this an experience of God? If so, then religion and happiness may be closely linked. Maslow suggested that everyone was capable of having a peak experience, but many who have had such experiences go on to deny them. Perhaps because of the religious element — peak experiences may, for some, be just one step too close to God.

Gordon Reid is a former head of religious studies at Alleyn’s School, London, and an editor of RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW.