‘If you’re uncomfortable, go outside your comfort zone’: A novel behavioral ‘stretch’ intervention supports the well-being of unhappy people

References

• Anderson, C. J. (2003). The psychology of doing nothing: Forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion. Psychological Bulletin, 129(1), 139–166. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.1.139
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W H Freeman Books/ Henry Holt & Co.
   Google Scholar
• Becker, W. C. (1964). Consequences of different kinds of parental discipline. In M. L. Hoffman & W. W. Hoffman (Eds.), Review of child development research (pp. 162–208). Russell Sage Foundation.
   Google Scholar
• Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1–62). New York: Academic Press.‏.
   Google Scholar
• Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC public health, 13(1), 1–20.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2006). The foundations of posttraumatic growth: An expanded framework. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedeschi (Eds.), The handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research and practice (pp. 1–23). Erlbaum.
   Google Scholar
• Cantor, N. (1990). From thought to behavior:” Having” and” doing” in the study of personality and cognition. American psychologist, 45(6), 735–750.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Carr, A., Cullen, K., Keeney, C., Canning, C., Mooney, O., Chinseallaigh, E., & O’Dowd, A. (2021). Effectiveness of positive psychology interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(6), 749–769.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cohen, G. L., & Garcia, J. (2008). Identity, belonging, and achievement A model, interventions, implications. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(6), 365–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00607.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., & Goyer, J. P. (2017). Turning point: Targeted, tailored, and timely psychological intervention. In A. J. Elliot, C. S. Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and application (2nd ed., pp. 657–686). Guilford Press.
   Google Scholar
• Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual review of psychology 65, 333–371. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137
   Google Scholar
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. HarperCollins.
   Google Scholar
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Diener, E., Emmons, R, Larsen, R., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 1105–1117.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Drozd, F., Mork, L., Nielsen, B., Raeder, S., & Bjørkli, C. A. (2014). Better Days–A randomized controlled trial of an internet-based positive psychology intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(5), 377–388.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687–1688. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150952
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
   Google Scholar
• Eidelman, S., & Crandall, C. S. (2009). On the psychological advantage of the status quo. In J. T. Jost, A. C. Kay, & H. Thorisdottir (Eds.), Social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification (pp. 85–109). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2004). The psychology of gratitude. Oxford University Press.‏.
   Google Scholar
• Epley, N., & Schroeder, J. (2014). Mistakenly seeking solitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 143(5), 1980–1999. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037323
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fiori, K. L., Hays, J. C., & Meador, K. G. (2004). Spiritual turning points and perceived control over the life course. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 59(4), 391–420. https://doi.org/10.2190/KBXL-18W0-FPJ4-F1GY
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fleeson, W., Malanos, A. B., & Achille, N. M. (2002). An intraindividual process approach to the relationship between extraversion and positive affect: Is acting extraverted as” good” as being extraverted? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1409–1422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ford, B. Q., & Mauss, I. B. (2013). The paradoxical effects of pursuing positive emotion: When and why wanting to feel happy backfires. In J. Gruber & J. Moskowitz (Eds.), The light and dark sides of positive emotion (pp. 363–382). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Frankl, V. E. (1963). Man’s search for meaning. WW Publisher.
   Google Scholar
• Frederick, S., & Loewenstein, G. (1999). Hedonic Adaptation. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Life satisfaction. the foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 302–329). Russell Sage Foundation.
   Google Scholar
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Garcia, J., & Cohen, G. L. (2013). A social psychological approach to educational intervention. In E. Shafir (Ed.), The behavioral foundations of public policy (pp. 329–347). Princeton University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Gilbert, D. (2009). Stumbling on happiness. Vintage Canada.‏.
   Google Scholar
• Gilovich, T., & Medvec, V. H. (1995). The experience of regret: What, when, and why. Psychological Review, 102(2), 379–395. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.2.379
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gordon, K. (2003). The impermanence of being: Toward a psychology of uncertainty. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 43(2), 96–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167802250731
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Greenfield, E. A., & Marks, N. F. (2004). Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adults’ psychological life satisfaction. Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59(5), S258–S264. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/59.5.S258
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hampson, S. E. (2012). Personality processes: Mechanisms by which personality traits “get outside the skin”. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(1), 315–339‏. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100419
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Heine, S. J., Proulx, T., & Vohs, K. D. (2006). The meaning maintenance model: On the coherence of social motivations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(2), 88–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1002_1
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hovland, C. I., Harvey, O. J., & Sherif, M. (1957). Assimilation and contrast effects in reactions to communication and attitude change. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 55(2), 244–252. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0048480
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Huta, V. (2016). Eudaimonic and hedonic orientations: Theoretical considerations and research findings. In J. Vitterso (Ed.), Handbook of eudaimonic life satisfaction (pp. 215–231). Springer.
   Google Scholar
• Huta, V., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Pursuing pleasure or virtue: The differential and overlapping life satisfaction benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic motives. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 735–762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-009-9171-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Judd, C. M., McClelland, G. H., & Ryan, C. S. (2011). Data analysis: A model. comparison approach. Routledge.‏.
   Google Scholar
• Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1991). Anomalies the endowment effect, loss aversion, and status quo bias. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1), 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.5.1.193
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798–807. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201277003
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• King, L. A., Scollon, C. K., Ramsey, C., & Williams, T. (2000). Stories of life transition: Subjective life satisfaction and ego development in parents of children with down syndrome. Journal of Research in Personality, 34(4), 509–536. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2000.2285
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ko, K., Margolis, S., Revord, J., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2021). Comparing the effects of performing and recalling acts of kindness. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(1), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1663252
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kruse, E., Chancellor, J., Ruberton, P. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). An upward spiral between gratitude and humility. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(7), 805–814. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614534700
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Layous, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The how, why, what, when, and who of happiness: Mechanisms underlying the success of positive activity interventions. In J. Gruber & J. T. Moskowitz (Eds.), Positive emotion: Integrating the light sides and dark sides (pp. 473–495). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Layous, K., Nelson, S. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). What is the optimal way to deliver a positive activity intervention? The case of writing about one’s best possible selves. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(2), 635–654‏. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9346-2
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Layous, K., Nelson, S. K., Oberle, E., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Lyubomirsky, S., & Krueger, F. (2012). Kindness counts: Prompting prosocial behavior in preadolescents boosts peer acceptance and life satisfaction. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e51380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051380
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lepper, M. R. (1973). Dissonance, self-perception, and honesty in children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25(1), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034269
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lepper, M. R., & Woolverton, M. (2002). The wisdom of practice: Lessons learned from the study of highly effective tutors. - PsycNET. In J. Aronson (Ed.), Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp. 135–158). Academic Press.
   Google Scholar
• Luckner, J. L., & Nadler, R. S. (1997). Processing the experience: Strategies to enhance and generalize learning (2nd ed.). Kendall Hunt.
   Google Scholar
• Lyubomirsky, S. (2011). Hedonic adaptation to positive and negative experiences. In S. Folkman (Ed.), Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 200–224). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Lyubomirsky, S., Dickerhoof, R., Boehm, J., & Sheldon, K. (2011). Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost life satisfaction. Emotion, 11(2), 391–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022575
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lyubomirsky, S., & Layous, K. (2013). How do simple positive activities increase life satisfaction? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(1), 57–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412469809
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sousa, L., & Dickerhoof, R. (2006). The costs and benefits of writing, talking, and thinking about life’s triumphs and defeats. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(4), 692–708. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.4.692
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Margolis, S., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2020). Experimental manipulation of extraverted and introverted behavior and its effects on life satisfaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 149(4), 719–731. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000668
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Maslow, A. H. (1966). The psychology of science: A reconnaissance (Gateway Editions ed.). Harper & Row.
   Google Scholar
• Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2011). Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. Emotion, 11(4), 807–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022010
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Miller, W. R., & C’de Baca, J. (2001). Quantum change: When sudden insights and epiphanies transform ordinary lives. Guilford Press.
   Google Scholar
• Moshinsky, A., & Bar-Hillel, M. (2010). Loss aversion and status quo label bias. Social Cognition, 28(2), 191–204. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2010.28.2.191
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• O’Brien, E., & Kassirer, S. (2019). People are slow to adapt to the warm glow of giving. Psychological Science, 30(2), 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618814145
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology 56, 365–392. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070141
   Google Scholar
• Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6(1), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-004-1278-z
   Google Scholar
• Prochaska, J. O. (1999). How do people change, and how can we change to help many more people? In M. A. Hubble, B. L. Duncan, & S. D. Miller (Eds.), The heart and soul of change (pp. 227–255). American Psychological Association.
   Google Scholar
• Proulx, T., & Heine, S. J. (2008). The case of the transmogrifying experimenter affirmation of a moral schema following implicit change detection. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1294–1300.
   Google Scholar
• Russo-Netzer, P., & Davidov, J. (2020). Transformative life experience as a glimpse into potentiality. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 002216782093748. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167820937487
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.‏.
   Google Scholar
• Samuelson, W., & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1(1), 7–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055564
   Google Scholar
• Schneider, T. R. (2004). The role of neuroticism on psychological and physiological stress responses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(6), 795–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2004.04.005
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Schooler, J. W., Ariely, D., & Loewenstein, G. (2003). The pursuit and assessment of happiness can be self-defeating. In J. C. I. Brocas (Ed.), The psychology of economic decisions (pp. 41–70). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Seligman, M. E. (2002). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3–9). Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sheldon, K. M., Corcoran, M., & Prentice, M. (2019). Pursuing eudaimonic functioning versus pursuing hedonic life satisfaction: The first goal succeeds in its aim, whereas the second does not. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(3), 919–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9980-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2004). Achieving sustainable new happiness: Prospects, practices, and prescriptions. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Practice (pp. 127–145). Wiley & Sons, Inc.
   Google Scholar
• Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). Achieving sustainable gains in happiness: Change your actions, not your circumstances. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(1), 55–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-005-0868-8
   Google Scholar
• Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). Is it possible to become happier? (and if so, how?). Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1), 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00002.x
   Google Scholar
• Sheldon, F., & Lyubomirsky, K. L. (2020). Revisiting the sustainable happiness model and pie chart: Can happiness be successfully pursued? Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(2), 145–154.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing life satisfaction and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20593
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Steele, C. M. (1988). The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 21(2), 261–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60229-4
   Google Scholar
• Steger, M. F., Oishi, S., & Kesebir, S. (2011). Is a life without meaning satisfying? The moderating role of the search for meaning in satisfaction with life judgments. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(3), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.569171
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Van Den Bos, K. (2001). Uncertainty management: The influence of uncertainty salience on reactions to perceived procedural fairness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(6), 931–941. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.6.931
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Vitterso, J., Overwien, P., & Martinsen, E. (2009). Pleasure and interest are differentially affected by replaying versus analyzing a happy life moment. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802060602
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.), Mind and Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes (pp. 79-91). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Walton, G. M., & Wilson, T. D. (2018). Wise interventions: Psychological remedies for social and personal problems. Psychological Review, 125(5), 617–655. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000115
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on life satisfaction for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016984
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Williamson, G. M., & Clark, M. S. (1989). Providing help and desired relationship type as determinants of changes in moods and self-evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(5), 722–734. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.56.5.722
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wilson, T. D., Centerbar, D. B., Kermer, D. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2005). The pleasures of uncertainty: Prolonging positive moods in ways people do not anticipate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.1.5
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zinnbauer, B. J., & Pargament, K. I. (1998). Spiritual conversion: A study of religious change among college students. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(1), 161–180. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388035
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar