Overview

The purpose of this lesson is to understand how our attitudes and moods affect our overall quality of life.

Directions

Read the text below and watch the two videos.
Then, click next to take the comprehension quiz.

Read

Certain behaviors such as diet, exercise, and substance use can influence our health. Psychological factors (such as behavior, lifestyle, stress, and health beliefs) also influence quality of life.

One psychological factor that influences physical health is one's attitudes. An attitude can be thought of as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, or ideas.

Attitudes are changeable, they can be formed from a person's past and present, and they can influence a person's behavior and well-being. Some attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) while others are implicit (i.e., unconscious or outside of awareness). Implicit and explicit attitudes both affect people's behavior, though in different ways. The kind of attitude we hold about a particular person, event, or idea influences how we behave in relation to it, and, thus, our experience of stress in relation to it. Stress is highly correlated with both physical and mental health, so if we hold a certain attitude toward something that increases our stress level, our health may suffer as a result.

Moods also have important implications for mental and physical health. Negative moods can influence people's behavior by determining how they interpret and translate the world around them. Interpreting an event in a negative way is a risk factor for a host of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, aggression, poor self-esteem, and physiological stress, all of which negatively impact one's health and well-being. Positive moods, on the other hand, are thought to increase the likelihood of physical health and well-being by lowering these risk factors.

Watch

How our emotions Affect Others [1:19]

Summary

Managing health requires understanding the influence of psychological factors (such as attitude and mood) and overall quality of life.

How our emotions affect others by Litmos Heros is licensed under a Standard YouTube license.
Text from Behaviors that Impact Physical and Mental Health by Boundless Learning is licensed under CC BY–SA 4.0