Final LIT REVIEW

Unit 2 Summative

This document will be what you write your lit review on and submit to Schoology. Your literature review
should be 5 total paragraphs (see outline below). Rubric is provided and you will type your review on the 3rd
page.

Introduction (1 paragraph)
- Introduce your research question and why you are asking it
- Provide any overall background information on the topic
- Briefly outline how you have organized the review

Body (3 total paragraphs, 1 for each study/article)

- Topic sentence should give an overview of the study/article
- Describe the relevant parts of each study and explain why it is relevant to the research question (use
your summary sheets to help you)
- Evaluate the findings of the study-- how does it help you answer your research question? What things are
still left unanswered?

Conclusion (1 total paragraph)

Restate your research question
Compare your findings over the 3 studies
Leave reader with a final thought or question to consider in further research

Citations
- Put the links to all of your sources.
RUBRIC
4 3 2 1
Mastery Proficient Some Understanding Little Understanding

Introduction Research question Research question Research question Research question

is introduced and is introduced but is introduced is not introduced
clearly explained not explained vaguely or is confusing
Detailed Vague background Very little No background
background information background information
information provided information provided
provided Review is briefly provided No overview of the
Review is clearly outlined Review is vaguely review provided
and briefly outlined outlined

Body Clear and detailed Topic sentence is Topic sentence is Topic sentence is
Paragraph 1 topic sentence clear but could be vague unclear
All important more detailed Some important Little to no
points of study are Most important points of study are summary of article
summarized in points of study are summarized, Study/article is not
 detail summarized vague evaluated for its’
Study/article is Study/article is Study/article is support of the
evaluated for its’ somewhat vaguely evaluated research question
support of the evaluated for its’ for its’ support of
research question support of the the research
research question question

Body Clear and detailed Topic sentence is Topic sentence is Topic sentence is
Paragraph 2 topic sentence clear but could be vague unclear
All important more detailed Some important Little to no
points of study are Most important points of study are summary of article
summarized in points of study are summarized, Study/article is not
detail summarized vague evaluated for its’
Study/article is Study/article is Study/article is support of the
evaluated for its’ somewhat vaguely evaluated research question
support of the evaluated for its’ for its’ support of
research question support of the the research
research question question

Body Clear and detailed Topic sentence is Topic sentence is Topic sentence is
Paragraph 3 topic sentence clear but could be vague unclear
All important more detailed Some important Little to no
points of study are Most important points of study are summary of article
summarized in points of study are summarized, Study/article is not
detail summarized vague evaluated for its’
Study/article is Study/article is Study/article is support of the
evaluated for its’ somewhat vaguely evaluated research question
support of the evaluated for its’ for its’ support of
research question support of the the research
research question question

Conclusion Research question Research question Research question Research question

clearly restated restated vaguely restated not restated
Detailed General Comparison of Little to no
comparison of comparison of your findings only comparison of the
your findings over your findings over some of your studies
the 3 studies the 3 studies studies Ends abruptly
Leave reader with Leave reader with Leave reader with
a final thought a final thought OR a vague final
AND question to question to thought
consider in further consider in further
research research
Makenzie Page
Positive Psychology
Literature Review

Introduction
The research question being asked is, “Do certain relationships improve happiness?” I chose this
question because I wanted to know and understand if different types of relationships can affect or make you
happier. I wanted to compare romantic relationships, family and friend relationships. Humans are called
ultrasocial species. It’s in our nature to interact and build relationships with others. Other people play a huge
role in our happiness. There’s been a lot of research done showing that social connections make us happier and
even help with our health. I selected three articles that talk about our social relationships and happiness. I will
be summarizing and discussing how they relate to the question being asked.

Good Social Relationships Are The Most Consistent Predictor of a Happy Life
The first article I read really focused on how relationships impact our health and happiness. They used
the word social with many of their descriptions. Not only do relationships have a good impact on our happiness
but on our health as well. Good relationships bring out the good in us and bad relationships bring out the worst
emotions in us. They talked about a Harvard study that was done over 75 years with over 700 people and found
that good relationships are indeed a key factor in our happiness. They said how a bad relationship is worse than
being alone. This article is very good at explaining how relationships can affect happiness and health but it
doesn’t answer the question of how certain relationships affect happiness.

Relationships and Well-being

The second article I read got a lot more in depth on how to measure happiness and how it’s affected by
our relationships. They talked about how the two different ways of measuring happiness and relationships are
done. One way is based on evidence instead of opinions and the other is measured by the quality of
relationships. They are based on personal opinions and feelings rather than facts. The important two key factors
to measure since we can’t look and compare all types of relationships are the presence and quality of
relationships. Then they get into well-being and how everyone defines it differently. Scientists did a study of
comparing the 10% happiest and 10% unhappiest people and concluded it's due to their relationships. The
happier people were more happy because they were most satisfied with their relationships and spent less time
alone. Results have connected close relationships to subjective well-being because even if you have fewer
relationships the closer you are to them can make you happier. It also showed that people losing well-being
happens when social relationships are denied. To improve well-being a relationship has to be good, results have
shown that having a higher relationship quality is associated with the increase of happiness. A study was done
of all types of relationships from family, friends and romance that social support and conflict were associated
with all aspects of well-being: life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect. Good relationships equal
better health. Research shows that having that one person you can confidante in is more important to happiness
than a large social network. This article also did a very good job at explaining how relationships can make us
happier and they also explained how to measure it. It did a better job with the question of whether certain
relationships improve happiness because it talks about the different ones but they all focus on the same things.
 Do Relationships Make Us Healthier and Happier?
The third article I read really focused on how relationships lead to better health, happiness and a longer
life span. They explain how bad relationships diminish health and how a supportive relationship motivates us to
live healthier and happier. There’s a difference with relationships, whether you have a supportive relationship or
a controlling one. A supportive relationship betters mental health and controlling behaviors worsens mental
health. Social support also reduces stress response; being positive and motivating distracts us from stress factors
whereas criticism and unresolved conflicts make us more stressed. This article is really good at explaining
health and happiness but doesn’t talk about or compare how different types of relationships can affect it, like the
question is asking.

Conclusion
The question that was asked was, “Do certain relationships improve happiness?” We looked at three
different articles to see if we could answer this question but first let’s take a look at the differences in them. So
all three did a good job talking about having good relationships and how it increases our happiness and our
health but only one slightly helped us answer our question which was article two. They did talk about the
different relationships you can have and explained that they all focus and mean the same thing. Article two also
got a lot more in depth about how to measure happiness when looking at relationships. In the end we need all
types of close and social relationships whether it’s friends, family or romantic relationships. They all just need
to be good and uplifting in order for us to live a happier and healthier life. The one question I still do have is do
we feel different types of happiness with those certain types of relationships.

Citations
1. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/relationships-happiness-well-being-life-lessons/
2. https://nobaproject.com/modules/relationships-and-well-being
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201612/do-relationships-make-us-healthier-a
nd-happier