Overview of Positive Psychology

What Is Positive Psychology

Positive psychology is a science focused on the study of human happiness and potential strengths. Unlike traditional psychology, which primarily investigates psychological diseases and disorders, positive psychology aims to understand and promote positive qualities and emotions in humans. While traditional psychology strives to restore a troubled mind from -10 to a baseline of 0, positive psychology seeks to elevate the average psychological experience from 0 to +10.

Positive psychology posits that everyone has the capacity to pursue happiness and a fulfilling life. Its core idea is that to become happy, one needs to actively create positive experiences rather than merely reducing pain. For instance, when we are ill, we may feel physical pain, and taking medication can alleviate that pain but won't necessarily make us happy. However, if we choose to take a walk and chat with friends, we can experience a sense of connection and thus feel joy.

Positive emotional experiences, positive personality traits, and positive social organizations constitute the three main areas of research in positive psychology. Research has shown that positive emotions and attitudes can not only enhance individual mental health but also improve physical health, strengthen interpersonal relationships, and boost job performance. Developing resilience can help individuals better cope with life's setbacks and pressures. A positive work environment, such as supportive leadership and good coworker relationships, can enhance employee job satisfaction and productivity.

In summary, positive psychology provides a new perspective, allowing us to re-examine the significance of psychology to humanity. It also offers scientifically grounded methodologies and practical approaches to the age-old question of how to achieve happiness.

History of Positive Psychology

●1954: Abraham Maslow first proposed the concept of "positive psychology" in the last chapter of his book "Motivation and Personality." This chapter was deleted in subsequent versions because Maslow felt that the content, 98% correct in 1954, was only two-thirds correct later on.
●1998: Martin Seligman served as the president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and advocated expanding the focus of psychology research from the study and treatment of pathological psychology to the study of human happiness and virtue to improve the happiness of most people.
●1999: Martin Seligman and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi held a meeting in Mexico and established the three pillars of positive psychology research: positive emotional experience, positive personality, and positive social organization system.
●2000: Martin Seligman and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi published "Introduction to Positive Psychology."

Martin Seligman：The new era of positive psychology

Aims and Scope

The international peer-reviewed Journal of Happiness Studies is devoted to theoretical and applied advancements in all areas of well-being research. It covers topics referring to both the hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives characterizing well-being studies. The former includes the investigation of cognitive dimensions such as satisfaction with life and positive affect and emotions. The latter includes the study of constructs and processes related to optimal psychological functioning, such as meaning and purpose in life, character strengths, personal growth, resilience, optimism, hope, and self-determination. In addition to contributions on appraisal of life-as-a-whole, the journal accepts papers investigating these topics in relation to specific domains, such as family, education, physical and mental health, and work.

The journal welcomes high-quality theoretical and empirical submissions in the fields of economics, psychology, and sociology, as well as contributions from researchers in the domains of education, medicine, philosophy, and other related fields.

The Journal of Happiness Studies provides a forum for three main areas in happiness research:

Theoretical conceptualizations of well-being, happiness, and the good life.
Empirical investigation of well-being and happiness in different populations, contexts, and cultures.
Methodological advancements and development of new assessment instruments.

The journal addresses the conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of happiness and well-being dimensions, as well as the individual, socio-economic, and cultural factors that may interact with them as determinants or outcomes.

Central questions include, but are not limited to:

Conceptualization

What meanings are denoted by terms like happiness and well-being?
How do these fit in with broader conceptions of the good life?

Operationalization and Measurement

Which methods can be used to assess how people feel about life?
How to operationalize a new construct or an understudied dimension in the well-being domain?
What are the best measures for investigating specific well-being related constructs and dimensions?

Prevalence and Causality

Do individuals belonging to different populations and cultures vary in their well-being ratings?
How does individual well-being relate to social and economic phenomena (characteristics, circumstances, behavior, events, and policies)?
What are the personal, social, and economic determinants and causes of individual well-being dimensions?

Evaluation

What are the consequences of well-being for individual development and socio-economic progress?
Are individual happiness and well-being worthwhile goals for governments and policymakers?
Does well-being represent a useful parameter to orient planning in physical and mental healthcare, and in public health?

Interdisciplinary Studies

How has the study of happiness developed within and across disciplines?
Can we link philosophical thought and empirical research?
What are the biological correlates of well-being dimensions?

The Journal of Positive Psychology

The Journal of Positive Psychology provides an interdisciplinary and international forum for the science and application of positive psychology. The Journal is devoted to basic research and professional application on states of optimal human functioning and fulfilment, and the facilitation and promotion of human flourishing in all its forms.
Journal of Happiness Studies is devoted to theoretical and applied advancements in all areas of well-being research. It covers topics referring to both the hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives characterizing well-being studies. The former includes the investigation of cognitive dimensions such as satisfaction with life, and positive affect and emotions. The latter includes the study of constructs and processes related to optimal psychological functioning, such as meaning and purpose in life, character strengths, personal growth, resilience, optimism, hope, and self-determination.
Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being (AP:HWB) is one of the two official journals of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the oldest worldwide association of scholars and practitioners of the discipline of psychology (founded in 1920). AP:HWB is a peer-reviewed outlet for the scholarly dissemination of scientific findings and practical applications in the domains of health and well-being. Articles are encouraged from all areas of applied psychology including clinical, health, counseling, educational, sport, cross-cultural, and environmental psychology.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology is an interdisciplinary forum for contributions, controversies, and diverse statements pertaining to humanistic psychology. It addresses personal growth, interpersonal encounters, social problems, and philosophical issues. An international journal of human potential, self-actualization, the search...
Journal of Well-Being Assessment is now archived and no longer receiving submissions with this publisher. All articles published in the journal during its time with Springer will remain fully searchable through our websites.

The Associations of Positive Psychology

PERMA™ Theory of Well-Being and PERMA™ Workshops

Traditionally, a major focus of psychology has been to relieve human suffering. Since World War II, great strides have been made in the understanding and treatment of mental health disorders. Relieving suffering, however, is not the same as flourishing. People want to thrive, not just survive.

The skills that build flourishing are different from the skills that alleviate suffering. Removing the disabling conditions is not the same as building the enabling conditions that make life most worth living. (The words "flourishing

" and "well-being" are used interchangeably. We do not use the word "happiness" because it means different things to different people.)

Suffering and well-being are both part of the human condition and psychology should care about each. Human strengths, excellence, and flourishing are just as authentic as human distress. People want to cultivate the best version of themselves and live a meaningful life. They want to grow their capacities for love and compassion, creativity and curiosity, work and resilience, and integrity and wisdom.

When Dr. Seligman was president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, one of his presidential initiatives was the building of a field called Positive Psychology. Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the factors that enable individuals and communities to flourish.

PERMA™ Theory of Well-Being

What is human flourishing and what enables it? Dr. Seligman’s PERMA™ theory of well-being is an attempt to answer these fundamental questions. There are five building blocks that enable flourishing – Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (hence PERMA™) – and there are strategies to increase each.

There are many different routes to a flourishing life. People will derive well-being from each of these five building blocks to varying degrees. A good life for one person is not necessarily a good life for another. Positive Psychology is descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, we are not telling people what choices to make or what to value, but research on the factors that enable flourishing can help people make more informed choices to live a more fulfilling life that is aligned with their values and interests.

Positive Emotion

This route to well-being is hedonic – increasing positive emotion. Within limits, we can increase our positive emotion about the past (e.g., by cultivating gratitude and forgiveness), our positive emotion about the present (e.g., by savoring physical pleasures and mindfulness), and our positive emotion about the future (e.g., by building hope and optimism).

Unlike the other routes to well-being described below, this route is limited by how much an individual can experience positive emotions. In other words, the experience of positive emotion is partly heritable and each individual's emotions tend to fluctuate within a range. Some people are, by disposition, low in the extent to which they experience positive emotion. Traditional conceptions of happiness tend to focus on positive emotion, so it can be liberating to know that there are other routes to well-being, described below.

Engagement

Engagement is an experience in which someone fully deploys their skills, strengths, and attention for a challenging task. According to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this produces an experience called "flow" that is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, rather than for what they will get out of it. The activity is its own reward. Flow is experienced when one’s skills are just sufficient for a challenging activity, in the pursuit of a clear goal, with immediate feedback on progress toward the goal.

In such an activity, concentration is fully absorbed in the moment, self-awareness disappears, and the perception of time is distorted in retrospect, e.g., time stops. Flow can be experienced in a wide variety of activities, e.g., a good conversation, a work task, playing a musical instrument, reading a book, writing, building furniture, fixing a bike, gardening, sports training or performance, to name just a few.

Relationships

Relationships are fundamental to well-being. The experiences that contribute to well-being are often amplified through our relationships, for example, great joy, meaning, laughter, a feeling of belonging, and pride in accomplishment. Connections to others can give life purpose and meaning. Support from and connection with others is one of the best antidotes to "the downs" of life and a good way to bounce back. Research shows that doing acts of kindness for others produces an increase in well-being.

From an evolutionary perspective, we are social beings because the drive to connect with and help others promotes our survival. Developing strong relationships is central to adaptation and is enabled by our capacity for love, compassion, kindness, empathy, self-sacrifice, teamwork, and cooperation.

Meaning

A sense of meaning and purpose can be derived from belonging to and serving something bigger than the self. There are various societal institutions that enable a sense of meaning, such as family, religion, science, politics, work organizations, justice, the community, social causes, among others.

Accomplishment

People pursue achievement, competence, success, and mastery for its own sake, in a variety of domains, including the workplace, sports, games, hobbies, among others. People pursue accomplishment even when it does not necessarily lead to positive emotion, meaning, or relationships.

Each of these five building blocks contributes to well-being and:

Is pursued for its own sake, not as a means to an end
Is defined and measured independently of the other elements

The Benefits of Well-Being

Research demonstrates that well-being is not only valuable because it feels good, but also because it has beneficial real-world consequences. Compared to people with low well-being, individuals with higher levels of well-being:

Perform better at work
Have more satisfying relationships
Are more cooperative
Have stronger immune systems
Have better physical health
Live longer
Have reduced cardiovascular mortality
Have fewer sleep problems
Have lower levels of burnout
Have greater self-control
Have better self-regulation and coping abilities
Are more prosocial

Research has identified optimism as one of the key contributors to well-being. Studies show that optimism brings many benefits compared to pessimism, including:

Less depression and anxiety
Better performance at school, sports, and work
Reduced risk of dropping out of school
Better physical health outcomes, including fewer reported illnesses, less coronary heart disease, lower mortality risk, and faster recovery from surgery.

Some references for the above research: Alarcon et al., 2013; Diener & Seligman, 2004; Brand et al., 2010; Chida & Steptoe 2008; Nes et al., 2009; Chemers, Hu, Garcia, 2001; Seligman & Schulman, 1986; Seligman, Nolen-Hoeksema, Thornton, & Thornton, 1990; Helgeson & Fritz, 1999; Kubzansky, Sparrow, Vokonas & Kawachi, 2001; Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen 2001; Dillon, Minchoff, & Baker 1985; Fredrickson & Joiner 2002; Fry & Debats, 2009; Haar & Roche 2010; Howell, Kern, & Lyubomirsky, 2007; Kasser & Ryan 1996; Johnson & Fredrickson, 2005; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005; Ostir, Markides, Black, & Goodwin 2000; Pressman & Cohen, 2005; Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, & Steward, 2000; Segerstrom, 2007; Shen, McCreary, & Myers, 2004; Stone et al., 1994; Williams & Shiaw, 1999.

Institutional Applications

The science of well-being has important implications for institutional applications:

Schools can educate students for flourishing as well as for workplace success. The skills of well-being can be taught.
Parents can cultivate their children’s strengths, grit, and resilience.
Workplaces can improve performance as well as raise employee well-being.
Therapists can nurture their patients’ strengths to prevent mental illness and enhance flourishing, as well as heal damage.
Communities can encourage public service and civic engagement.

PERMA™ Workshops

Interventions have been empirically shown to increase well-being. To learn about these programs, click here. These programs have demonstrated effectiveness in improving well-being and optimism and in preventing and reducing anxiety and depression.

Dr. Seligman Video on Positive Education, 2016

Martin Seligman - Highlights from Grit and Imagination Summit, 2016

from

Character Lab

Vimeo

Dr. Seligman Video On Well-Being and Flourishing, 2016

Implications for Public Policy

The science of well-being also has important implications for policy decisions by governments and other organizations.

Countries have relied largely on economic measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of national progress. There is growing awareness, however, that economic measures alone do not fully reflect a nation’s well-being.

During the industrial revolution, economic indicators were a good approximation of how well a nation was doing, when the fulfillment of basic human needs for food, clothing, and shelter was the primary goal. The more prosperous a nation becomes, however, these economic indicators are less effective as an approximation of how well a society is doing. Basic needs are largely satisfied in developed nations.

As societies meet these basic needs, differences in well-being are less frequently due to income and are more frequently due to factors such as social relationships, work satisfaction, and meaning. Research shows that making more money has rapidly diminishing returns on life satisfaction. Below the safety net, increases in money and increases in life satisfaction go up hand in hand. Above the safety net, increases in income have less impact on well-being.

Another: There's more to life than being happy - Emily Esfahani Smith

Differences in Positive Psychology

While many people endorse the teachings of positive psychology, there are also many reasons to criticize it, with some even considering it a pseudoscience. Under high stress, it can be challenging to uplift oneself. Clinical studies also show that while positive psychology is beneficial for alleviating anxiety and depression, it does not have a direct impact on stress. The more optimistic a person's outlook on life, the harder it may be for them to accept harsh truths.
Whether to use motivational psychology techniques is entirely up to you.
Maintaining a consistently positive attitude is difficult; everything must be balanced. You should not reject unpleasant emotions; however, you must be prepared to face them rather than trying to eliminate them from your existence completely. In terms of positive psychology, it teaches you many things. Of course, its main benefit is that it shows you how to change your perspective on life – breaking deadlocks and bringing positive change.

Commercialization and Bias

Seligman's books have been sold, and many coaches have emerged to spread his theories. This movement has continued to evolve, bringing with it influences akin to religious beliefs and even sectarianism.

Without capital, there is no satisfaction. Seligman's assertion that fulfillment cannot be achieved without financial well-being and prosperity is questionable. Moreover, the philosophy of imparting belief does not address how to deal with those who are mentally unable to achieve their intended goals. Often, commitment and willingness are not enough to change external conditions. The beliefs of positive psychology imply an inherent ability to blame those who are not truly excellent because they haven't spent enough time on it, even though this may not necessarily be effective.

Motivation May Weaken

Negative emotions, even if temporary, can motivate positive changes in life: frustration with a low-paying job can drive you to seek a more prestigious position. However, this is not always possible, or the demands may be too high. When a person realizes they cannot achieve their desired goals, their desire for progress almost disappears.

Inefficiency

Positive psychology methods lack standardization. It is not easy to artificially evoke optimism; this is especially difficult after particularly painful experiences. In fact, ignoring unpleasant feelings is not a truly rational idea; it is more important to understand how to manage them appropriately.

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