Positive psychology
Encyclopedia
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology
whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman
and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving
in individuals, families, and communities." Positive psychologists seek "to find and nurture genius and talent", and "to make normal life more fulfilling", not simply to treat mental illness
.
The field is intended to complement, not to replace traditional psychology. It does not seek to deny the importance of studying how things go wrong, but rather to emphasize the importance of using the scientific method
to determine how things go right. Researchers in the field analyze things like states of pleasure
or flow
, values, strengths, virtues, talents, as well the ways that they can be promoted by social systems and institutions.
psychologists—such as Abraham Maslow
, Carl Rogers
, and Erich Fromm
—developed theories and practices that involved human happiness. Recently the theories of human flourishing developed by these humanistic psychologists have found empirical support from studies by positive psychologists. Positive psychology has also moved ahead in a number of new directions.
Positive psychology began as a new area of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman
, considered the father of the modern positive psychology movement, chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association
, though the term originates with Maslow
, in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality, and there have been indications that psychologists since the 1950s have been increasingly focused on promoting mental health rather than merely treating illness. In the first sentence of his book, "Authentic Happiness," Seligman claimed that "for the last half century psychology has been consumed with a single topic only - mental illness", expanding on Maslow’s comments. He urged psychologists to continue the earlier missions of psychology of nurturing talent and improving normal life.
The first positive psychology summit took place in 1999. The First International Conference on Positive Psychology took place in 2002. More attention was given by the general public in 2006 when, using the same framework, a course at Harvard University
became particularly popular. In June 2009, the First World Congress on Positive Psychology took place.
of the 20th century, which focused heavily on happiness and fulfillment. Earlier influences on positive psychology came primarily from philosophical and religious sources, as scientific psychology did not take its modern form until the late 19th century. (See History of psychology
)
Judaism
promotes a Divine command theory
of happiness: happiness and rewards follow from following the commands of the divine.
The ancient Greeks had many schools of thought. Socrates
advocated self-knowledge as the path to happiness. Plato's
allegory of the cave
influenced western thinkers who believe that happiness is found by finding deeper meaning. Aristotle believed that happiness, or eudaimonia
is constituted by rational activity in accordance with virtue
over a complete life. The Epicureans
believed in reaching happiness through the enjoyment of simple pleasures. The Stoics
believed they could remain happy by being objective and reasonable
, and they describe many "spiritual exercises" that have been compared to the psychological exercises employed in CBT and Positive Psychology.
Christianity
continued to follow the Divine command theory of happiness. In the Middle Ages
, Christianity taught that true happiness would not be found until the afterlife
. The seven deadly sins
are about earthly self-indulgence and narcissism
. On the other hand, the Four Cardinal Virtues and Three Theological Virtues were supposed to keep one from sin.
During the Renaissance
and Age of Enlightenment
, individualism
came to be valued. Simultaneously, creative
individuals gained prestige, as they were now considered to be artists, not just craftsmen. Utilitarian
philosophers such as John Stuart Mill
believed that moral actions are those actions that maximize happiness
for the most number of people, suggesting an empirical
science
of happiness should be used to determine which actions are moral (a science of morality
). Thomas Jefferson
and other proponents of democracy
believed that "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
" are inalienable rights, and that it justifies the overthrow of the government.
The Romantics
valued individual emotional expression and sought their emotional "true selves," which were unhindered by social norms. At the same time, love and intimacy became the main motivations for people to get married
.
's Satisfaction with Life Scale. This 5-question survey corresponds well with impressions from friends and family, and low incidences of depression.
Rather than long-term, big picture appraisals, some methods attempt to identify the amount of positive affect from one activity to the next. Some scientists use beepers to remind volunteers to write down the details of their current situation. Alternatively, volunteers complete detailed diary entries each morning about the day before. An interesting discrepancy arises when researchers compare the results of these short-term "experience sampling" methods, with long-term appraisals. Namely, the latter may not be very accurate; people may not know what makes their life pleasant from one moment to the next. For instance, parents' appraisals mention their children as sources of pleasure, and yet 'experience sampling' indicates that they were not enjoying caring for their children compared to other activities.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman
explains this discrepancy by differentiating between happiness according to the 'Experiencing Self' compared to the 'Remembering Self'. Kahneman explains that, when we are asked to reflect on experiences, memory biases like the Peak-End effect (e.g. we mostly remember the dramatic parts of a vacation, and how it was at the end) play a large role. One of his more striking findings was in a study of colonoscopy patients. By adding 60 seconds to this invasive procedure, Kahneman actually got participants to report the colonoscopy as more pleasant. He accomplished this by making sure that, for the extra 60 seconds, the colonoscopy instrument was not moved, since movement is the source of the most discomfort. Thus, Kahneman was appealing to the Remembering Self's tendency to focus on the end of the experience. Such findings help explain human error in Affective forecasting
- people's ability to predict their future emotional states.
Michael Argyle
developed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This has been criticized as an aggregate of self-esteem
, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness
, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation.
, in his book The Science of Happiness, links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (i.e., dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of positive psychology and social psychology.
Nobel prize winner Eric Kandel and researcher Cynthia Fu describe their findings that depression can be diagnosed very accurately just by looking at fMRI brain scans.
The idea is that, by identifying neural correlate
s for emotions, scientists may be able to use methods like brain scans
to tell us more about all the different ways of being "happy".
in his book Darwinian Happiness
.
may mark the first reliable drop in happiness during the average human's life. Evidence suggests that, with the exception of the years 40 - 50, most people generally get happier as they get older. Researchers specify that people in both their 20s and 70s tend to be happier than during midlife, although the measures of happiness change at different rates (e.g. feelings of stress and anger tend to decline after age 20, worrying drops after age 50, enjoyment had been very slowly declining but finally starts to rise after 50, etc.).
These findings are based on decades of data, and controls for cohort groups; the data avoids the risk that the drops in happiness during midlife are due to populations' unique midlife experiences, like a war. The studies have also controlled for income, job status and parenting (as opposed to childfreedom) to try to isolate the effects of age. Researchers found support for the notion that there are changes inside of the individual with age that affect happiness.
This could be for any number of things. Psychological factors could include a greater awareness of one's self and preferences; an ability to control desires and hold more realistic expectations; getting closer to death may motivate people to pursue more goals; improved social skills, like forgiveness, may take years to develop; or happier people may live longer and are slightly overrepresented in the elderly population. Chemical changes that come with age may also be playing a role.
Other studies have found that older individuals report more health problems, but fewer problems overall. Young adults reported more anger, anxiety, depression, financial problems, troubled relationships and career stress. Researchers also suggest that depression in the elderly is often due largely to passivity and inaction - they recommend that people continue to do the things that bring happiness, even in old age.
, psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes research suggesting that money makes a significant difference to the poor (where basic needs are not yet met), but has a greatly diminished effect once one reaches middle class (i.e. the Easterlin paradox
). Professor of Economics Richard Easterlin
notes that job satisfaction does not depend on salary. In other words, having extra money for luxuries does not increase happiness as much as enjoying one's job or social network. Gilbert is thus adamant that people should go to great lengths in order to figure out which jobs they would enjoy and to find a way to do one of those jobs for a living (that is, provided one is also attentive to social ties).
Studies have routinely showed that nations are happier when people's needs are met.
Some studies suggest, however, that people are happier after spending money on experiences, rather than physical things.
said "Where ignorance is bliss, Tis folly to be wise." Research suggests that neither a good education nor a high IQ reliably increase happiness.
Anders Ericsson
argues that an IQ above 120 has a decreasing influence on success. Presumably, IQs above 120 do not go much further to cause other happiness indicators like success (with the exception of careers like Theoretical physics
, where high IQs are more predictive of success). Above that IQ level, other factors start to matter more, like social skills or a good mentor. One of the main benefits of intelligence and education may simply be that it allows one to reach the middle-class level of need satisfaction (as mentioned above, being richer than this seems to do little for happiness).
Martin Seligman has said that "As a professor, I don't like this, but the cerebral virtues — curiosity, love of learning — are less strongly tied to happiness than interpersonal virtues like kindness, gratitude and capacity for love."
That is not to say that the weather is never a factor for happiness. Some psychologists suggest changing norms of sunlight in particular can cause Seasonal affective disorder
.
.
The human ability of emotional Hedonic Adaptation explains why beauty, fame and money do not generally have lasting effects on happiness (this effect has also been called the Hedonic treadmill
). The tendency to adapt is clearly illustrated by studies showing that lottery winners are not any happier in the years after they've won. Other studies have shown that after equally few years, paraplegics
are almost as happy as control groups that are not paralyzed (p. 48). Daniel Kahneman explains that "they are not paraplegic full time...It has to do with allocation of attention". Contrary to our impact bias
es, lotteries and paraplegia do not change experiences in the ways we think, or even to as great a degree as we would believe. After adaptation, the paraplegics almost returned to their baseline happiness. Adaptation is much slower for other distracting life changes such as the death of a spouse or losing one's job. These events can show measurable changes in happiness levels for several years. Thus, adaptation does mitigate the emotional effects of many life events, but not entirely.
Research indicates that genetics play a very significant role in determining one's baseline happiness levels, according to David Lykken. In her book The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky
similarly argues that people's happiness varies around a genetic set point. Importantly, an individual's base-line happiness is not entirely determined by their genetics, and not even by the early life influences on those genetics. Whether or not a person manages to elevate their base-line to the heights of their genetic possibilities depends partly on factors including actions and habits. Some happiness-boosting habits seem to include gratitude, appreciation, and even altruistic behaviour. Other habits and techniques of increasing happiness have emerged from research and are discussed on this page.
Besides training new habits and antidepressants, getting better exercise and a healthier diet
have proven to have strong effects on mood. In fact, exercise is sometimes called the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.
writes that "Unlike money, which has at most a small effect, marriage is robustly related to happiness.... In my opinion, the jury is still out on what causes
the proven fact that married people are happier than unmarried people." (pp. 55–56) There is also little data on alternatives like Polyamory
. On the other hand, at least one large study in Germany found no difference in happiness between married and unmarried people.
) personality
correlates well with happiness. Not only does emotional stability make one less prone to negative emotions, it also predicts higher social intelligence - which helps to manage relationships with others (an important part of being happy, discussed below).
Cultivating an extroverted temperament
may correlate with happiness for the same reason: it builds relationships and support groups. Some people may be lucky, then, that many personality theories
leave room for the idea that individuals have some control over their long term behaviours and cognitions. Genetic studies indicate that it is genes for personality (specifically extraversion, neuroticism
and conscientiousness
) and a general factor linking all 6 traits that account for the heritability of subjective well-being.
A widely publicized study from 2008 in the British Medical Journal
reported that happiness in social network
s may spread from person to person. Researchers followed nearly 5000 individuals for 20 years in the long-standing Framingham Heart Study
and found clusters of happiness and unhappiness that spread up to 3 degrees of separation on average. Happiness tended to spread through close relationships like friends, siblings, spouses, and next-door neighbors, and the researchers reported that happiness spread more consistently than unhappiness through the network. Moreover, the structure of the social network appeared to have an impact on happiness, as people who were very central (with many friends, and friends of friends) were significantly more likely to be happy than those on the periphery of the network. Overall, the results suggest that happiness can spread through a population like a virus.
These categories appear to be neither widely disputed nor adopted by researchers across the 12 years that this academic area has been in existence. Martin Seligman originally proposed these 3 categories, but has since suggested that the last category, "meaningful life", be considered as 3 different categories. The resulting acronym is PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and Accomplishments).
Professor Philip Zimbardo
suggests we might also analyze happiness from a "Time Perspective". Zimbardo suggests sorting people's focus in life by valence (positive or negative) but also by their time perspective (past, present, or future orientation). Doing so may reveal some conflicts between individuals to be conflicts, not over whether an activity is enjoyed, but whether one prefers to risk delaying gratification further. Zimbardo also believes that research reveals an optimal balance of perspectives for a happy life; he says our focus on reliving positive aspects of our past should be high, followed by time spent believing in a positive future, and finally spending a moderate (but not excessive) amount of time enjoying the present.
The broaden-and-build
theory of positive emotions suggests that positive emotions (e.g. happiness
, interest
, anticipation
) broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources. For example, curiosity about a landscape becomes valuable navigational knowledge; pleasant interactions with a stranger become a supportive friendship; aimless physical play becomes exercise and physical excellence.
This is in contrast to negative emotions, which prompt narrow survival-oriented behaviors. For example, the negative emotion of anxiety
leads to the specific fight-or-flight response
for immediate survival.
Below, research is sorted according to which of Seligman's categories it may be most (but not strictly) related (i.e. the "pleasant", "good", or "meaningful" life). Since these are still fuzzy classifications
, research mentioned in one section may be quite relevant in another.
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Abraham Maslow
proposed a hierarchy of needs
in which more primitive desires must be met (basic physiological, sense of safety) before social needs can be met (e.g. intimacy), and certainly before one can effectively pursue more conceptual needs (e.g. morality).
There is evidence suggesting that negative emotions can be damaging. In an article titled "The undoing effect of positive emotions", Barbara Fredrickson
et al. hypothesize that positive emotions undo the cardiovascular effects of negative emotions. When people experience stress
, they show increased heart rate
, higher blood sugar
, immune suppression, and other adaptations optimized for immediate action. If individuals do not regulate these changes once the stress is past, they can lead to illness, coronary heart disease
, and heightened mortality. Both lab research and survey research indicate that positive emotions help people who were previously under stress relax back to their physiological baseline. Other research shows that improved mood is one of the various benefits of physical exercise.
ideas of eudaimonia
. A range of concepts have grown out of this model including self-efficacy, personal effectiveness, flow, mindfulness etc.
Self-efficacy
is one's belief in one's ability to accomplish a task by one's own efforts. Low self-efficacy is associated with depression
; high self-efficacy can help one overcome abuse, overcome eating disorders, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. High self-efficacy also improves the immune system
, aids in stress management, and decreases pain. A related but somewhat differing concept is Personal effectiveness
which is primarily concerned with the methodologies of planning and implementation of accomplishment.
, or a state of absorption in one's work, is characterized by intense concentration, loss of self-awareness, a feeling of being perfectly challenged (neither bored nor overwhelmed), and a sense that "time is flying." Flow is an intrinsically rewarding experience, and it can also help one achieve a goal (e.g. winning a game) or improve skills (e.g. becoming a better chess player). Anyone can experience flow in many different regards, such as play, creativity, and work. To experience flow, one needs to have the correct ratio of challenge for their particular skill set. Therefore, if one is very skilled in a certain regard, they need a lot of challenge or if they are unskilled they need a small amount of challenge. If one is too challenged it results in a state of anxiety and if one is not challenged enough the result is boredom. Being challenged means flow is, of course, temporarily exciting and stressful, but this Eustress
is not harmful because it is not chronic stress
.
Czikszentmihalyi identifies nine elements of flow:
1. There are clear goals every step of the way, 2. There is immediate feedback to one's action, 3. There is a balance between challenges and skills, 4. Action and awareness are merged, 5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness, 6. There is no worry of failure, 7. Self-consciousness disappears, 8. The sense of time becomes distorted, 9. The activity becomes "autotelic" (an end in itself, done for its own sake)
, may be defined as the intentionally-focused awareness of one's immediate experience. The experience is one of a moment-by-moment attention to thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and surroundings. To practice mindfulness is to become grounded in the present moment; one's role is simply as observer of the arising and passing away of experience. One does not judge the experiences and thoughts, nor do they try to 'figure things out' and draw conclusions, or change anything - the challenge during mindfulness is to simply observe. Benefits of mindfulness practice include reduction of stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. See also Reverence (emotion)
.
Advocates of focusing on present experiences also mention research by Psychologist Daniel Gilbert, who suggests that daydreaming, instead of focusing on the present, may impede happiness. Other psychologists (see Zimbardo's "Time Perspectives" above) say that it is still important to spend time recalling past positive experiences, and building positive expectations for the future. A person's focus also matter because other research indicates that thinking too much about happiness can be counter-productive. It may be better to reflect on one's values (e.g. "Do I still have hope?") rather than asking "Am I happy?" - since asking the latter just 4 times a day starts to decrease happiness.
Todd Kashdan, researcher and author of "Designing Positive Psychology", explains that none of this early science's findings should be overgeneralized or adopted too uncritically. Mindfulness to Kashdan is very resource intensive processing, and he warns that it is not simply better at all times. There are many cases where a task is best performed with very little conscious thought (e.g. a paramedic performing practiced, emergency maneuvers).
, University of Virginia
professor Jonathan Haidt
and others studied its opposite, and the term "elevation" was coined. Elevation is a moral emotion and is pleasant. It involves a desire to act morally and do "good"; as an emotion it has a basis in biology, and can sometimes be characterized by a feeling of expansion in the chest or a tingling feeling on the skin.
is the idea that a talent for joy, like any other, can be cultivated. It is contrasted with learned helplessness
, which is when one believes that they have no control over what occurs, rather it is something external that dictates their ability to accomplish a task, succeed, etc. Learning optimism is done by consciously challenging self talk
if it describes a negative event as a personal failure that permanently affects all areas of the person's life. Reports of happiness have also been correlated with the general ability to "rationalize or explain" social and economic inequalities.
Hope
is a learned style of goal-directed thinking in which the person utilizes both pathways thinking (the perceived capacity to find routes to desired goals) and agency thinking (the requisite motivations to use those routes).
Author and journalist J.B. MacKinnon
provides a cognitive tool for avoiding helplessness (e.g. paralysis in the face of earth's many problems) in the form of what he calls "Vertical Agitation". The concept comes from research on denial by sociologist Stanley Cohen
. Cohen explains that, in the face of massive problems, people tend towards learned helplessness rather than confronting the dissonant
facts of the matter. Vertical Agitation, according to MacKinnon, means focusing on only one portion of the problem at a time, and holding oneself accountable for the solving of that problem - all the way to the highest level of government, business and society (e.g. advocating strongly for one thing: eco-friendly lightbulbs
). This allows each individual in society to make the vital "trivial" (read:small) changes, without being intimidated by the work that needs to be done as a whole. Mackinnon adds that this will also keep individuals from getting too 'holier than thou' (harassing friends and family about every possible improvement).
has done more extensive research on what it takes to do good work at one's job. He says young generations (particularly in the United States) have been taught to focus on selfish pursuit of money for its own sake. Gardner's alternatives loosely follow the pleasant/good/meaningful life classifications; he believes young people should be trained to pursue excellence in their field, as well as engagement (see flow, above) in accordance with their moral belief systems.
argues that it is natural (but of course not good) for human beings to suffer a great deal. He says this is because living beings are limited and restrained in many important ways. For this reason, Peterson adopts a Buddhist saying that "Life is suffering". He does not think this view is pessimistic, and asserts that accepting the universe's harsh indifference towards living things can free one from the expectation that they should always be happy. This realization can ultimately help one overcome suffering, which is no longer unexpected. This also means that individuals should be all the more delighted when they flourish, when others flourish, or when they build a society where flourishing is anywhere near the norm at all. To Peterson, virtues are important because they give people the tools to escape suffering (e.g. the strength to admit dissonant
truths to themselves). Peterson thus believes that suffering is sometimes caused by a false philosophy (one that denies how natural suffering is), and sometimes by a lack of strong virtues - on our part or on the part of people that affect us.
The development of the Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) handbook represents the first attempt on the part of the research community to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. Much like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) of general psychology, the CSV provides a theoretical framework to assist in understanding strengths and virtues and for developing practical applications for positive psychology. This manual identifies six classes of virtue
(i.e., "core virtues"), made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.
The introduction of CSV suggests that these six virtues are considered good by the vast majority of cultures and throughout history and that these traits lead to increased happiness when practiced. Notwithstanding numerous cautions and caveats, this suggestion of universality hints that in addition to trying to broaden the scope of psychological research to include mental wellness, the leaders of the positive psychology movement are challenging moral relativism
and suggesting that we are "evolutionarily predisposed" toward certain virtues, that virtue has a biological basis.
The organization of these virtues and strengths is as follows:
The organization of these virtues into 6 groups is contested. It has been suggested that the 24 strengths identified are more accurately grouped into just 3 or 4 categories: Intellectual Strengths, Interpersonal Strengths, and Temperance Strengths or alternatively Interpersonal Strengths, Fortitude, Vitality, and Cautiousness
These general traits, and even their classifications, have emerged independently elsewhere in literature on values. Some examples have been described by Paul Thagard, including Jeff Shrager's workshops that attempt to discover the habits of highly creative people.
Researcher Dianne Hales described a person as emotionally healthy as someone who exhibited flexibility and adaptability to different circumstances, had a sense of meaning and affirmation in life as well as an "understanding that the self is not the center of the universe", had compassion and the ability to be unselfish, along with increased depth and satisfaction in intimate relationships, and who had a sense of control over the mind and body.
Proponents of replacing Gross domestic product
with Gross national happiness
as the predominant measure of a nation's success often cite positive psychology research.
According to Clifton and Rath ninety nine out of one hundred people would prefer to be around positive people. People believe that they work more productively when they are around positive people. Positive emotions are contagious so having a teacher or student who is positive can help the other students to be positive and work to the best of their abilities. If there is one negative person, it can ruin the entire positive vibe in an environment. Clifton and Rath believe that ‘positive emotions are an essential daily requirement for survival’.
In 2008 a whole-of-school implementation of Positive Psychology was undertaken by Geelong Grammar School (Victoria, Australia) in conjunction with the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. This involved initial training of teaching staff in the principles and skills of positive psychology. Ongoing support was provided by The Positive Psychology Center staff remaining in-residence for the entire year (Seligman et al. 2008).
Staats, Hupp and Hagley (2008) have used positive psychology to explore academic honesty, by identifying positive traits that were displayed by heroes and then determining if the presence of these traits in students could be used to predict their future intent to cheat. Their research has resulted in ‘an effective working model of heroism in the context of the academic environment’ (Staats, Hupp & Hagley, 2008).
In their article The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?, S. Lyubomirsky et al. say: "The cross-sectional evidence reveals that happy workers enjoy multiple advantages over their less happy peers. Individuals high in subjective well-being are more likely to secure job interviews, to be evaluated more positively by supervisors once they obtain a job, to show superior performance and productivity, and to handle managerial jobs better. They are also less likely to show counter-productive workplace behavior and job burnout."
Positive psychology, when applied correctly can provide employees with a greater opportunity to use skills and vary work duties. However, It is important to remember that changing work conditions and roles can lead to stress amongst employees if they are not properly supported by management in their venture. This particularly holds true for employees who must meet the expectations of organisations with unrealistic goals and targets.
So how does an organization implement change? Lewis et al. (2007) have developed Appreciative inquiry
(AI) which is an integrated, organizational-level methodology for approaching organizational development. Appreciative inquiry is based on an understanding of how organizational resourcefulness is generated through accessing many human psychological processes, such as positive emotional states, imagination, social cohesion and the social construction of reality.
An ‘intense affect’ can certainly be considered with cognitive and behavioral change, which is more slight and complex and is becoming a legitimate area of study, specifically with the links in cognition and motivational responses.
For researchers to make further progress there is a need for past theories and methods to be overcome and to encourage the more contemporary research, says Isen (2009).
Chang (2008) believes emotional intelligence is not definitive to positive affect and researchers have a number of paths that allow the enhancement of emotional intelligence; however more study is required to track the gradient of positive affect in psychology.
Another academic program that focuses on training students in Positive Psychology and features both an M.A. and Ph.D. tracts, is offered at the Claremont Graduate University's School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences and is affiliated with the school's Quality of Life Research Center. This program "aim[s] to provide excellent graduate education and to facilitate the production of practical knowledge" and emphasizes "sampling methods as well as more traditional experimental and quasi-experimental designs, surveys, and interviews, our faculty and students focus their research on life-long processes and outcomes of behavior as they affect the quality of life".
in Washington DC, that the study of positive psychology is a reiteration of older ways of thinking in positive psychology.
The uptake of positive psychology by the popular press, primarily promoting among other claims the health benefits of positive psychology. Snyder and Lopez (cited in Held 2004, p. 17) warn of possible damage to the field of positive psychology through the scientific community becoming caught up in the media’s claims of positive psychology. Warning researchers of the field, Snyder and Lopez suggest that they remain within the parameters of scientific professionalism and utilise any research or studies appropriately.
Some negative attributes of positive psychology as described by Held (2004) include the movement’s lack of consistency towards the aspect of negativity. She raised issues with the simplistic approach taken by some psychologists in the application of positive psychology. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is not seen by Held to be beneficial to the advancement of the field of positive psychology, and she suggested a need for individual differences to be incorporated into its application.
Held (2004) argued that while positive psychology makes contributions to the field of psychology
, that it is not without its faults. Her 2004 article in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology
, vol.44, no.1. offered insight into topics including the negative side effects of positive psychology, the negativity that can be found within the positive psychology movement and the current division inside the field of psychology caused by the differing opinions held by psychologists on positive psychology.
Outline of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman
Martin E. P. "Marty" Seligman is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. His theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists....
and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake...
: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving
Thriving
Thriving is the unified synthesis of existing pieces of research that has emerged as a lens through which to view research, theory, and practice in the field of youth development...
in individuals, families, and communities." Positive psychologists seek "to find and nurture genius and talent", and "to make normal life more fulfilling", not simply to treat mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
.
The field is intended to complement, not to replace traditional psychology. It does not seek to deny the importance of studying how things go wrong, but rather to emphasize the importance of using the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
to determine how things go right. Researchers in the field analyze things like states of pleasure
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
or flow
Flow (psychology)
Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of...
, values, strengths, virtues, talents, as well the ways that they can be promoted by social systems and institutions.
Background
Several humanisticHumanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the work of early pioneers like Carl Rogers and the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology...
psychologists—such as Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Harold Maslow was an American professor of psychology at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs...
, Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology...
, and Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm was a Jewish German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory.-Life:Erich Fromm was born on March 23, 1900, at Frankfurt am...
—developed theories and practices that involved human happiness. Recently the theories of human flourishing developed by these humanistic psychologists have found empirical support from studies by positive psychologists. Positive psychology has also moved ahead in a number of new directions.
Positive psychology began as a new area of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman
Martin E. P. "Marty" Seligman is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. His theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists....
, considered the father of the modern positive psychology movement, chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
, though the term originates with Maslow
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Harold Maslow was an American professor of psychology at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs...
, in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality, and there have been indications that psychologists since the 1950s have been increasingly focused on promoting mental health rather than merely treating illness. In the first sentence of his book, "Authentic Happiness," Seligman claimed that "for the last half century psychology has been consumed with a single topic only - mental illness", expanding on Maslow’s comments. He urged psychologists to continue the earlier missions of psychology of nurturing talent and improving normal life.
The first positive psychology summit took place in 1999. The First International Conference on Positive Psychology took place in 2002. More attention was given by the general public in 2006 when, using the same framework, a course at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
became particularly popular. In June 2009, the First World Congress on Positive Psychology took place.
Historical roots
Positive psychology finds its roots in the humanistic psychologyHumanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the work of early pioneers like Carl Rogers and the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology...
of the 20th century, which focused heavily on happiness and fulfillment. Earlier influences on positive psychology came primarily from philosophical and religious sources, as scientific psychology did not take its modern form until the late 19th century. (See History of psychology
History of psychology
The history of psychology as a scholarly study of the mind and behavior dates back to the Ancient Greeks. There is also evidence of psychological thought in ancient Egypt. Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870s, when psychology developed as an independent scientific discipline in...
)
Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
promotes a Divine command theory
Divine command theory
Divine command theory is the meta-ethical view about the semantics or meaning of ethical sentences, which claims that ethical sentences express propositions, some of which are true, about the attitudes of God...
of happiness: happiness and rewards follow from following the commands of the divine.
The ancient Greeks had many schools of thought. Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
advocated self-knowledge as the path to happiness. Plato's
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
allegory of the cave
Allegory of the cave
The Allegory of the Cave—also known as the Analogy of the Cave, Plato's Cave, or the Parable of the Cave—is an allegory used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate "our nature in its education and want of education"...
influenced western thinkers who believe that happiness is found by finding deeper meaning. Aristotle believed that happiness, or eudaimonia
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia or eudaemonia , sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia , is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation...
is constituted by rational activity in accordance with virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
over a complete life. The Epicureans
Epicureanism
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom...
believed in reaching happiness through the enjoyment of simple pleasures. The Stoics
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
believed they could remain happy by being objective and reasonable
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
, and they describe many "spiritual exercises" that have been compared to the psychological exercises employed in CBT and Positive Psychology.
Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
continued to follow the Divine command theory of happiness. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Christianity taught that true happiness would not be found until the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
. The seven deadly sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
are about earthly self-indulgence and narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
. On the other hand, the Four Cardinal Virtues and Three Theological Virtues were supposed to keep one from sin.
During the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
came to be valued. Simultaneously, creative
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
individuals gained prestige, as they were now considered to be artists, not just craftsmen. Utilitarian
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
philosophers such as John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
believed that moral actions are those actions that maximize happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
for the most number of people, suggesting an empirical
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
of happiness should be used to determine which actions are moral (a science of morality
Science of morality
Science of morality can refer to a number of ethically naturalistic views. Historically, the term was introduced by Jeremy Bentham . In meta-ethics, ethical naturalism bases morality on rational and empirical consideration of the natural world...
). Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and other proponents of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
believed that "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language...
" are inalienable rights, and that it justifies the overthrow of the government.
The Romantics
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
valued individual emotional expression and sought their emotional "true selves," which were unhindered by social norms. At the same time, love and intimacy became the main motivations for people to get married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
.
Methods
"Happiness" encompasses many different emotional and mental phenomena (see below). One method of assessment is Ed DienerEd Diener
Edward Diener is an American psychologist, professor, and author. He is noted for his research over the past twenty-five years on happiness — the measurement of well-being; temperament and personality influences on well-being; theories of well-being; income and well-being; and cultural...
's Satisfaction with Life Scale. This 5-question survey corresponds well with impressions from friends and family, and low incidences of depression.
Rather than long-term, big picture appraisals, some methods attempt to identify the amount of positive affect from one activity to the next. Some scientists use beepers to remind volunteers to write down the details of their current situation. Alternatively, volunteers complete detailed diary entries each morning about the day before. An interesting discrepancy arises when researchers compare the results of these short-term "experience sampling" methods, with long-term appraisals. Namely, the latter may not be very accurate; people may not know what makes their life pleasant from one moment to the next. For instance, parents' appraisals mention their children as sources of pleasure, and yet 'experience sampling' indicates that they were not enjoying caring for their children compared to other activities.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman is an Israeli-American psychologist and Nobel laureate. He is notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, behavioral economics and hedonic psychology....
explains this discrepancy by differentiating between happiness according to the 'Experiencing Self' compared to the 'Remembering Self'. Kahneman explains that, when we are asked to reflect on experiences, memory biases like the Peak-End effect (e.g. we mostly remember the dramatic parts of a vacation, and how it was at the end) play a large role. One of his more striking findings was in a study of colonoscopy patients. By adding 60 seconds to this invasive procedure, Kahneman actually got participants to report the colonoscopy as more pleasant. He accomplished this by making sure that, for the extra 60 seconds, the colonoscopy instrument was not moved, since movement is the source of the most discomfort. Thus, Kahneman was appealing to the Remembering Self's tendency to focus on the end of the experience. Such findings help explain human error in Affective forecasting
Affective forecasting
Affective forecasting is the forecasting of one's affect in the future. This kind of prediction is affected by various kinds of cognitive biases, or systematic errors of thought also known as "empathy gap" and "impact bias"....
- people's ability to predict their future emotional states.
Michael Argyle
Michael Argyle (psychologist)
Michael Argyle was one of the best known English social psychologists of the twentieth century. He spent most of his career at the University of Oxford, and worked on numerous topics...
developed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This has been criticized as an aggregate of self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness
Kindness
Kindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behaviour, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions ....
, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation.
Neuroscientific approach
Neuroscience and brain imaging has shown increasing potential for helping science understand happiness and sadness. Though it may be impossible to achieve any comprehensive measure of happiness objectively, some physiological correlates to happiness can be measured. Stefan KleinStefan Klein
Stefan Klein is a physicist, author and essayist who has specialized in writing on science and its social implications in an accessible manner.He is best known for his books The Science of Happiness and Time: A User's Guide....
, in his book The Science of Happiness, links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (i.e., dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of positive psychology and social psychology.
Nobel prize winner Eric Kandel and researcher Cynthia Fu describe their findings that depression can be diagnosed very accurately just by looking at fMRI brain scans.
The idea is that, by identifying neural correlate
Neural correlate
A neural correlate of a content of experience is any bodily component, such as an electro-neuro-biological state or the state assumed by some biophysical subsystem of the brain, whose presence necessarily and regularly correlates with such a specific content of experience.When the full ontological...
s for emotions, scientists may be able to use methods like brain scans
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI is a type of specialized MRI scan used to measure the hemodynamic response related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging...
to tell us more about all the different ways of being "happy".
Evolutionary approach
The evolutionary perspective offers an alternative approach to understand what happiness or quality of life is about. Briefly, it focuses on the questions: What features are included in the brain that allow humans to distinguish between positive and negative states of mind, and how do these features improve humans' ability to survive and reproduce? It claims that answering these questions points towards an understanding of what happiness is about and how to best exploit the capacities of the brain with which humans are endowed. This perspective is presented formally and in detail by the evolutionary biologist Bjørn GrindeBjørn Grinde
Bjørn Grinde is a biologist working in the fields of genetics and evolution, with a particular interest in human evolution. He studied natural sciences as well as psychology and anthropology at the University of Oslo, resulting in a Dr.scient and a Dr.philos from the same university...
in his book Darwinian Happiness
Darwinian Happiness
Darwinian Happiness: Evolution As a Guide for Living and Understanding Human Behavior, ISBN 0-87850-159-2, is a 2002 book by the Norwegian biologist Bjørn Grinde from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health...
.
General findings by topic
Happiness has become a very popular discussion topic in popular culture, especially in the Western world. There are many studies being done to demystify the factors that play into happiness. Although "happiness" can be used to refer to many things, the following describes research that is generally related.Age
The Midlife crisisMidlife Crisis
"Midlife Crisis" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 26, 1992 as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust...
may mark the first reliable drop in happiness during the average human's life. Evidence suggests that, with the exception of the years 40 - 50, most people generally get happier as they get older. Researchers specify that people in both their 20s and 70s tend to be happier than during midlife, although the measures of happiness change at different rates (e.g. feelings of stress and anger tend to decline after age 20, worrying drops after age 50, enjoyment had been very slowly declining but finally starts to rise after 50, etc.).
These findings are based on decades of data, and controls for cohort groups; the data avoids the risk that the drops in happiness during midlife are due to populations' unique midlife experiences, like a war. The studies have also controlled for income, job status and parenting (as opposed to childfreedom) to try to isolate the effects of age. Researchers found support for the notion that there are changes inside of the individual with age that affect happiness.
This could be for any number of things. Psychological factors could include a greater awareness of one's self and preferences; an ability to control desires and hold more realistic expectations; getting closer to death may motivate people to pursue more goals; improved social skills, like forgiveness, may take years to develop; or happier people may live longer and are slightly overrepresented in the elderly population. Chemical changes that come with age may also be playing a role.
Other studies have found that older individuals report more health problems, but fewer problems overall. Young adults reported more anger, anxiety, depression, financial problems, troubled relationships and career stress. Researchers also suggest that depression in the elderly is often due largely to passivity and inaction - they recommend that people continue to do the things that bring happiness, even in old age.
Buying happiness
In his book Stumbling on HappinessStumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness is a non-fiction book by Daniel Gilbert. It was published in the United States and Canada in 2006 by Knopf, and has been translated into 20 languages. It is a New York Times bestseller.-Summary:...
, psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes research suggesting that money makes a significant difference to the poor (where basic needs are not yet met), but has a greatly diminished effect once one reaches middle class (i.e. the Easterlin paradox
Easterlin paradox
The Easterlin Paradox is a key concept in happiness economics. It is named for economist and USC Professor Richard Easterlin who discussed the factors contributing to happiness in the 1974 paper "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence." Easterlin found that within a...
). Professor of Economics Richard Easterlin
Richard Easterlin
Richard A. Easterlin is University Professor and Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences...
notes that job satisfaction does not depend on salary. In other words, having extra money for luxuries does not increase happiness as much as enjoying one's job or social network. Gilbert is thus adamant that people should go to great lengths in order to figure out which jobs they would enjoy and to find a way to do one of those jobs for a living (that is, provided one is also attentive to social ties).
Studies have routinely showed that nations are happier when people's needs are met.
Some studies suggest, however, that people are happier after spending money on experiences, rather than physical things.
Education and intelligence
English poet Thomas GrayThomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
said "Where ignorance is bliss, Tis folly to be wise." Research suggests that neither a good education nor a high IQ reliably increase happiness.
Anders Ericsson
Anders Ericsson
Dr. K. Anders Ericsson is a Swedish psychologist and Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University who is widely recognized as one of the world's leading theoretical and experimental researchers on expertise....
argues that an IQ above 120 has a decreasing influence on success. Presumably, IQs above 120 do not go much further to cause other happiness indicators like success (with the exception of careers like Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
, where high IQs are more predictive of success). Above that IQ level, other factors start to matter more, like social skills or a good mentor. One of the main benefits of intelligence and education may simply be that it allows one to reach the middle-class level of need satisfaction (as mentioned above, being richer than this seems to do little for happiness).
Martin Seligman has said that "As a professor, I don't like this, but the cerebral virtues — curiosity, love of learning — are less strongly tied to happiness than interpersonal virtues like kindness, gratitude and capacity for love."
Parenting
While parenting is sometimes held as the necessary path of adulthood, studies are actually mixed as to whether parents are more likely to report being happier than non-parents. When quantitatively measured by self-report, researchers have found that parents prefer doing almost anything else to looking after their children. On the other hand, parents in self-reports are happier than non-parents. This may be due to already happy people tending to have more children than already non-happy people or that more long-term having children gives more meaning to life. One study found having up to three children increased happiness among married couples, but not among other groups with children. Proponents of Childfreedom maintain that this is because one can enjoy a happy, productive life without ever being a parent.Weather
There is some evidence that suggests sunnier climates do not predict happiness. In one study both Californians and Midwesterners expected the former's happiness ratings to be higher due to a sunnier environment. In fact, the Californian and Midwestern happiness ratings did not show a significant difference. Other researchers say the minimum daily dose of sunlight is as little as 30 minutes.That is not to say that the weather is never a factor for happiness. Some psychologists suggest changing norms of sunlight in particular can cause Seasonal affective disorder
Seasonal affective disorder
Seasonal affective disorder , also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues, or seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn...
.
Religion
Various studies have examined the relationship between Religion and happinessReligion and happiness
Religion and happiness have been studied by a number of researchers. The science of positive psychology has identified many components of happiness, and religion seems adapted to satisfy many of them...
.
Changes in happiness levels
Hedonic treadmill
The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the supposed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes....
). The tendency to adapt is clearly illustrated by studies showing that lottery winners are not any happier in the years after they've won. Other studies have shown that after equally few years, paraplegics
Paraplegia
Paraplegia is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek: παραπληγίη "half-striking". It is usually the result of spinal cord injury or a congenital condition such as spina bifida that affects the neural elements of the spinal canal...
are almost as happy as control groups that are not paralyzed (p. 48). Daniel Kahneman explains that "they are not paraplegic full time...It has to do with allocation of attention". Contrary to our impact bias
Impact bias
The impact bias, a form of which is the durability bias, in affective forecasting, is the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of future feeling states....
es, lotteries and paraplegia do not change experiences in the ways we think, or even to as great a degree as we would believe. After adaptation, the paraplegics almost returned to their baseline happiness. Adaptation is much slower for other distracting life changes such as the death of a spouse or losing one's job. These events can show measurable changes in happiness levels for several years. Thus, adaptation does mitigate the emotional effects of many life events, but not entirely.
Research indicates that genetics play a very significant role in determining one's baseline happiness levels, according to David Lykken. In her book The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness, a book of strategies backed by scientific research that can be used to increase happiness....
similarly argues that people's happiness varies around a genetic set point. Importantly, an individual's base-line happiness is not entirely determined by their genetics, and not even by the early life influences on those genetics. Whether or not a person manages to elevate their base-line to the heights of their genetic possibilities depends partly on factors including actions and habits. Some happiness-boosting habits seem to include gratitude, appreciation, and even altruistic behaviour. Other habits and techniques of increasing happiness have emerged from research and are discussed on this page.
Besides training new habits and antidepressants, getting better exercise and a healthier diet
Diet (nutrition)
In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...
have proven to have strong effects on mood. In fact, exercise is sometimes called the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.
Gender
Gender effects on wellbeing are paradoxical in that while men report feeling less happy than women , women are more susceptible to depression . Possible explanations include that women may experience more variance (more extremes) in emotion, although women are generally happier.Marriage
Martin SeligmanMartin Seligman
Martin E. P. "Marty" Seligman is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. His theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists....
writes that "Unlike money, which has at most a small effect, marriage is robustly related to happiness.... In my opinion, the jury is still out on what causes
Correlation does not imply causation
"Correlation does not imply causation" is a phrase used in science and statistics to emphasize that correlation between two variables does not automatically imply that one causes the other "Correlation does not imply causation" (related to "ignoring a common cause" and questionable cause) is a...
the proven fact that married people are happier than unmarried people." (pp. 55–56) There is also little data on alternatives like Polyamory
Polyamory
Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved....
. On the other hand, at least one large study in Germany found no difference in happiness between married and unmarried people.
Personality
An emotionally stable (the opposite of NeuroticNeuroticism
Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology. It is an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood...
) personality
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...
correlates well with happiness. Not only does emotional stability make one less prone to negative emotions, it also predicts higher social intelligence - which helps to manage relationships with others (an important part of being happy, discussed below).
Cultivating an extroverted temperament
Temperament
In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned...
may correlate with happiness for the same reason: it builds relationships and support groups. Some people may be lucky, then, that many personality theories
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...
leave room for the idea that individuals have some control over their long term behaviours and cognitions. Genetic studies indicate that it is genes for personality (specifically extraversion, neuroticism
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology. It is an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood...
and conscientiousness
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is the trait of being painstaking and careful, or the quality of acting according to the dictates of one's conscience. It includes such elements as self-discipline, carefulness, thoroughness, organization, deliberation , and need for achievement. It is an aspect of what has...
) and a general factor linking all 6 traits that account for the heritability of subjective well-being.
Social ties
In the article “ Finding Happiness after Harvard” George Vaillant concludes a study on what aspects of life are important for “ successful living”. Back in the 1940s Arlie Bock, who was in charge of the Harvard Health Services, started a study by selecting 268 Harvard students from graduating classes of 1942, 43', and 44'. He wanted to find out what aspects of life create “successful living”. In 1967 psychiatrist, George Vaillant helped continue the study; he did follow up interviews with many of the students to see how their lives were going. In 2000, Vaillant again interviewed these students on the progress of their lives. The characteristics Vaillant was observing were health, close relationships, and how one dealt with their troubles. George Vaillant found that a key aspect to successful living is healthy and strong relationships.A widely publicized study from 2008 in the British Medical Journal
British Medical Journal
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
reported that happiness in social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s may spread from person to person. Researchers followed nearly 5000 individuals for 20 years in the long-standing Framingham Heart Study
Framingham Heart Study
The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term, ongoing cardiovascular study on residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects from Framingham, and is now on its third generation of participants...
and found clusters of happiness and unhappiness that spread up to 3 degrees of separation on average. Happiness tended to spread through close relationships like friends, siblings, spouses, and next-door neighbors, and the researchers reported that happiness spread more consistently than unhappiness through the network. Moreover, the structure of the social network appeared to have an impact on happiness, as people who were very central (with many friends, and friends of friends) were significantly more likely to be happy than those on the periphery of the network. Overall, the results suggest that happiness can spread through a population like a virus.
Culture
One website, Subjective Well-Being Across Cultures, takes an inside look on the differences of happiness on an international level. Eunkook M. Suh, a professor at University of California, and Shigehiro Oishi, a professor at University of Minnesota (now at University of Virginia), discuss key components to different cultures' views on what creates well-being and happiness. An example of how much well-being can vary is illustrated by a study of over 6,000 students in 43 nations to identify their "mean of Subjective Well-Being" on a scale of 1-7.The rate varied wildly, with China coming in at 3.3, and Brazilians at 6.2. Other studies suggested that two of the main factors for this variation are wealth of the country, and whether the country is individualistic or collectivist. They authors go into more detail about how these matter.Political views
Conservatives are happier than liberals. One potential explanation is greater acceptance of income inequalities in society.Broad theories
Some researchers in this field posit that positive psychology can be delineated into three overlapping areas of research:- Research into the Pleasant Life, or the "life of enjoyment", examines how people optimally experience, forecastAffective forecastingAffective forecasting is the forecasting of one's affect in the future. This kind of prediction is affected by various kinds of cognitive biases, or systematic errors of thought also known as "empathy gap" and "impact bias"....
, and savor the positive feelings and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living (e.g. relationships, hobbies, interests, entertainment, etc.). Martin Seligman says that this most transient element of happiness may be the least important, despite the attention it is given. - The study of the Good Life, or the "life of engagement", investigates the beneficial effects of immersion, absorption, and flowFlow (psychology)Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of...
that individuals feel when optimally engaged with their primary activities. These states are experienced when there is a positive match between a person's strength and the task they are doing, i.e. when they feel confident that they can accomplish the tasks they face. (See related concepts, Self-efficacySelf-efficacySelf-efficacy is a term used in psychology, roughly corresponding to a person's belief in their own competence.It has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain set of goals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect...
and playPlay (activity)Play is a term employed in ethology and psychology to describe to a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment...
) - Inquiry into the Meaningful Life, or "life of affiliation", questions how individuals derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing back to something larger and more permanent than themselves (e.g. nature, social groups, organizations, movements, traditions, belief systems).
These categories appear to be neither widely disputed nor adopted by researchers across the 12 years that this academic area has been in existence. Martin Seligman originally proposed these 3 categories, but has since suggested that the last category, "meaningful life", be considered as 3 different categories. The resulting acronym is PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and Accomplishments).
Professor Philip Zimbardo
Philip Zimbardo
Philip George Zimbardo is an American psychologist and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is president of the Heroic Imagination Project...
suggests we might also analyze happiness from a "Time Perspective". Zimbardo suggests sorting people's focus in life by valence (positive or negative) but also by their time perspective (past, present, or future orientation). Doing so may reveal some conflicts between individuals to be conflicts, not over whether an activity is enjoyed, but whether one prefers to risk delaying gratification further. Zimbardo also believes that research reveals an optimal balance of perspectives for a happy life; he says our focus on reliving positive aspects of our past should be high, followed by time spent believing in a positive future, and finally spending a moderate (but not excessive) amount of time enjoying the present.
The broaden-and-build
Broaden-and-build
The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions suggests that positive emotions broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources...
theory of positive emotions suggests that positive emotions (e.g. happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
, interest
Interest (emotion)
Interest is a feeling or emotion that causes attention to focus on an object or an event or a process. In contemporary psychology of interest, the term is used as a general concept that may encompass other more specific psychological terms, such as curiosity and to a much lesser degree surprise.The...
, anticipation
Anticipation (emotion)
Anticipation, or being enthusiastic, is an emotion involving pleasure, excitement, and sometimes anxiety in considering some expected or longed-for good event.-As defence mechanism:...
) broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources. For example, curiosity about a landscape becomes valuable navigational knowledge; pleasant interactions with a stranger become a supportive friendship; aimless physical play becomes exercise and physical excellence.
This is in contrast to negative emotions, which prompt narrow survival-oriented behaviors. For example, the negative emotion of anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
leads to the specific fight-or-flight response
Fight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon....
for immediate survival.
Below, research is sorted according to which of Seligman's categories it may be most (but not strictly) related (i.e. the "pleasant", "good", or "meaningful" life). Since these are still fuzzy classifications
Fuzzy concept
A fuzzy concept is a concept of which the content, value, or boundaries of application can vary according to context or conditions, instead of being fixed once and for all....
, research mentioned in one section may be quite relevant in another.
The pleasant life
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Harold Maslow was an American professor of psychology at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs...
proposed a hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity...
in which more primitive desires must be met (basic physiological, sense of safety) before social needs can be met (e.g. intimacy), and certainly before one can effectively pursue more conceptual needs (e.g. morality).
There is evidence suggesting that negative emotions can be damaging. In an article titled "The undoing effect of positive emotions", Barbara Fredrickson
Barbara Fredrickson
Barbara L. Fredrickson is a professor in the department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology....
et al. hypothesize that positive emotions undo the cardiovascular effects of negative emotions. When people experience stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
, they show increased heart rate
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
, higher blood sugar
Blood sugar
The blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally in mammals, the body maintains the blood glucose level at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM , or 64.8 and 104.4 mg/dL...
, immune suppression, and other adaptations optimized for immediate action. If individuals do not regulate these changes once the stress is past, they can lead to illness, coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease
Coronary artery disease is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the coronary arteries that supply the myocardium with oxygen and nutrients. It is sometimes also called coronary heart disease...
, and heightened mortality. Both lab research and survey research indicate that positive emotions help people who were previously under stress relax back to their physiological baseline. Other research shows that improved mood is one of the various benefits of physical exercise.
The good life
Ideas of well-being as a good life trace their origins to AristotelianAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
ideas of eudaimonia
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia or eudaemonia , sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia , is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation...
. A range of concepts have grown out of this model including self-efficacy, personal effectiveness, flow, mindfulness etc.
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is a term used in psychology, roughly corresponding to a person's belief in their own competence.It has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain set of goals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect...
is one's belief in one's ability to accomplish a task by one's own efforts. Low self-efficacy is associated with depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
; high self-efficacy can help one overcome abuse, overcome eating disorders, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. High self-efficacy also improves the immune system
Immune system
An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
, aids in stress management, and decreases pain. A related but somewhat differing concept is Personal effectiveness
Personal effectiveness
Personal effectiveness is a branch of the self help movement dealing with success, goals, and related concepts. Personal effectiveness integrates some ideas from “the power of positive thinking” and Positive Psychology but in general it is distinct from the New Thought Movement...
which is primarily concerned with the methodologies of planning and implementation of accomplishment.
Flow
FlowFlow (psychology)
Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of...
, or a state of absorption in one's work, is characterized by intense concentration, loss of self-awareness, a feeling of being perfectly challenged (neither bored nor overwhelmed), and a sense that "time is flying." Flow is an intrinsically rewarding experience, and it can also help one achieve a goal (e.g. winning a game) or improve skills (e.g. becoming a better chess player). Anyone can experience flow in many different regards, such as play, creativity, and work. To experience flow, one needs to have the correct ratio of challenge for their particular skill set. Therefore, if one is very skilled in a certain regard, they need a lot of challenge or if they are unskilled they need a small amount of challenge. If one is too challenged it results in a state of anxiety and if one is not challenged enough the result is boredom. Being challenged means flow is, of course, temporarily exciting and stressful, but this Eustress
Eustress
Eustress is a term coined by endocrinologist Hans Selye which is defined in the model of Richard Lazarus as stress that is healthy, or gives one a feeling of fulfillment or other positive feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential gains....
is not harmful because it is not chronic stress
Chronic stress
Chronic stress is the response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period over which an individual perceives he or she has no control. It involves an endocrine system response in which occurs a release of corticosteroids...
.
Czikszentmihalyi identifies nine elements of flow:
1. There are clear goals every step of the way, 2. There is immediate feedback to one's action, 3. There is a balance between challenges and skills, 4. Action and awareness are merged, 5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness, 6. There is no worry of failure, 7. Self-consciousness disappears, 8. The sense of time becomes distorted, 9. The activity becomes "autotelic" (an end in itself, done for its own sake)
Mindfulness
MindfulnessMindfulness (psychology)
Modern clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation.-Definitions:...
, may be defined as the intentionally-focused awareness of one's immediate experience. The experience is one of a moment-by-moment attention to thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and surroundings. To practice mindfulness is to become grounded in the present moment; one's role is simply as observer of the arising and passing away of experience. One does not judge the experiences and thoughts, nor do they try to 'figure things out' and draw conclusions, or change anything - the challenge during mindfulness is to simply observe. Benefits of mindfulness practice include reduction of stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. See also Reverence (emotion)
Reverence (emotion)
Reverence [rev-er-uh ns, rev-ruh ns] is defined by as, "A feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.". The word comes from the late 13th century Old French term reverence which derives from the Latin "reverentia 'awe, respect,' from revereri 'to revere,' from re- ,...
.
Advocates of focusing on present experiences also mention research by Psychologist Daniel Gilbert, who suggests that daydreaming, instead of focusing on the present, may impede happiness. Other psychologists (see Zimbardo's "Time Perspectives" above) say that it is still important to spend time recalling past positive experiences, and building positive expectations for the future. A person's focus also matter because other research indicates that thinking too much about happiness can be counter-productive. It may be better to reflect on one's values (e.g. "Do I still have hope?") rather than asking "Am I happy?" - since asking the latter just 4 times a day starts to decrease happiness.
Todd Kashdan, researcher and author of "Designing Positive Psychology", explains that none of this early science's findings should be overgeneralized or adopted too uncritically. Mindfulness to Kashdan is very resource intensive processing, and he warns that it is not simply better at all times. There are many cases where a task is best performed with very little conscious thought (e.g. a paramedic performing practiced, emergency maneuvers).
The meaningful life
After several years of researching disgustDisgust
Disgust is a type of aversion that involves withdrawing from a person or object with strong expressions of revulsion whether real or pretended. It is one of the basic emotions and is typically associated with things that are regarded as unclean, inedible, infectious, gory or otherwise offensive...
, University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
professor Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the psychological bases of morality across different cultures and political ideology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He was awarded the Templeton Prize in Positive...
and others studied its opposite, and the term "elevation" was coined. Elevation is a moral emotion and is pleasant. It involves a desire to act morally and do "good"; as an emotion it has a basis in biology, and can sometimes be characterized by a feeling of expansion in the chest or a tingling feeling on the skin.
Optimism and helplessness
Learned optimismLearned optimism
Learned optimism is the idea in positive psychology that a talent for joy, like any other, can be cultivated. It is contrasted with learned helplessness. Learning optimism is done by consciously challenging any negative self talk.- Overview :...
is the idea that a talent for joy, like any other, can be cultivated. It is contrasted with learned helplessness
Learned helplessness
Learned helplessness, as a technical term in animal psychology and related human psychology, means a condition of a human person or an animal in which it has learned to behave helplessly, even when the opportunity is restored for it to help itself by avoiding an unpleasant or harmful circumstance...
, which is when one believes that they have no control over what occurs, rather it is something external that dictates their ability to accomplish a task, succeed, etc. Learning optimism is done by consciously challenging self talk
Intrapersonal communication
Intrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to the communicator. It can be useful to envision intrapersonal communication occurring in the mind of the individual in a model which contains a sender, receiver, and feedback loop.-Definitions:...
if it describes a negative event as a personal failure that permanently affects all areas of the person's life. Reports of happiness have also been correlated with the general ability to "rationalize or explain" social and economic inequalities.
Hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
is a learned style of goal-directed thinking in which the person utilizes both pathways thinking (the perceived capacity to find routes to desired goals) and agency thinking (the requisite motivations to use those routes).
Author and journalist J.B. MacKinnon
J.B. MacKinnon
James Bernard MacKinnon, commonly cited as J.B. MacKinnon, is a Canadian independent journalist, contributing editor and book author. Mackinnon is best known for co-authoring with Alisa Smith the bestselling book The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating, encouraging readers to focus on local...
provides a cognitive tool for avoiding helplessness (e.g. paralysis in the face of earth's many problems) in the form of what he calls "Vertical Agitation". The concept comes from research on denial by sociologist Stanley Cohen
Stanley Cohen (sociologist)
Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
. Cohen explains that, in the face of massive problems, people tend towards learned helplessness rather than confronting the dissonant
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying,...
facts of the matter. Vertical Agitation, according to MacKinnon, means focusing on only one portion of the problem at a time, and holding oneself accountable for the solving of that problem - all the way to the highest level of government, business and society (e.g. advocating strongly for one thing: eco-friendly lightbulbs
Compact fluorescent lamp
A compact fluorescent lamp , also called compact fluorescent light, energy-saving light, and compact fluorescent tube, is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent lamp; some types fit into light fixtures formerly used for incandescent lamps...
). This allows each individual in society to make the vital "trivial" (read:small) changes, without being intimidated by the work that needs to be done as a whole. Mackinnon adds that this will also keep individuals from getting too 'holier than thou' (harassing friends and family about every possible improvement).
Good work
As mentioned above, having more money does not reliably cause more happiness. Psychologist Howard GardnerHoward Gardner
Howard Earl Gardner is an American developmental psychologist who is a professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero and author of over twenty books translated into thirty languages. Since 1995, he has...
has done more extensive research on what it takes to do good work at one's job. He says young generations (particularly in the United States) have been taught to focus on selfish pursuit of money for its own sake. Gardner's alternatives loosely follow the pleasant/good/meaningful life classifications; he believes young people should be trained to pursue excellence in their field, as well as engagement (see flow, above) in accordance with their moral belief systems.
Strengths and virtues
Research and clinical psychologist Jordan PetersonJordan Peterson
Jordan B. Peterson is a tenured research and clinical Ph.D psychologist who currently teaches at the University of Toronto. He frequently appears on TVO on various topics. His research interests include self-deception, mythology, religion, narrative, neuroscience, personality, deception,...
argues that it is natural (but of course not good) for human beings to suffer a great deal. He says this is because living beings are limited and restrained in many important ways. For this reason, Peterson adopts a Buddhist saying that "Life is suffering". He does not think this view is pessimistic, and asserts that accepting the universe's harsh indifference towards living things can free one from the expectation that they should always be happy. This realization can ultimately help one overcome suffering, which is no longer unexpected. This also means that individuals should be all the more delighted when they flourish, when others flourish, or when they build a society where flourishing is anywhere near the norm at all. To Peterson, virtues are important because they give people the tools to escape suffering (e.g. the strength to admit dissonant
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying,...
truths to themselves). Peterson thus believes that suffering is sometimes caused by a false philosophy (one that denies how natural suffering is), and sometimes by a lack of strong virtues - on our part or on the part of people that affect us.
The development of the Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) handbook represents the first attempt on the part of the research community to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. Much like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
(DSM) of general psychology, the CSV provides a theoretical framework to assist in understanding strengths and virtues and for developing practical applications for positive psychology. This manual identifies six classes of virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
(i.e., "core virtues"), made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.
The introduction of CSV suggests that these six virtues are considered good by the vast majority of cultures and throughout history and that these traits lead to increased happiness when practiced. Notwithstanding numerous cautions and caveats, this suggestion of universality hints that in addition to trying to broaden the scope of psychological research to include mental wellness, the leaders of the positive psychology movement are challenging moral relativism
Moral relativism
Moral relativism may be any of several descriptive, meta-ethical, or normative positions. Each of them is concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different people and cultures:...
and suggesting that we are "evolutionarily predisposed" toward certain virtues, that virtue has a biological basis.
The organization of these virtues and strengths is as follows:
- Wisdom and Knowledge: creativityCreativityCreativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
, curiosityCuriosityCuriosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity...
, open-mindednessTolerationToleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
, love of learning, perspectiveWisdomWisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
, innovationInnovationInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society... - Courage: bravery, persistencePersistence (psychology)In psychology, persistence is a personality trait.It is measured in the Temperament and Character Inventory.The subscales of PS in TCI-R consist of# Eagerness of effort # Work hardened # Ambitious # Perfectionist...
, integrityIntegrityIntegrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
, vitalityVitality-Vitality:Etymology: From Latin vita , which means life.Outside of its own existence or source, life is only recognized through some form of expression or dynamic... - Humanity: loveLoveLove is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, kindnessKindnessKindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behaviour, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions ....
, social intelligenceSocial intelligenceSocial intelligence describes the exclusively human capacity to use very large brains to effectively navigate and negotiate complex social relationships and environments.... - Justice: citizenshipActive citizenshipActive citizenship refers to a philosophy espoused by organizations and educational institutions which advocates that members of companies or nation-states have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment, although those members may not have specific governing roles.Active...
, fairness, leadershipLeadershipLeadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:... - Temperance: forgivenessForgivenessForgiveness is typically defined as the process of concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all...
and mercyMercyMercy is broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social and legal contexts.The concept of a "Merciful God" appears in various religions from Christianity to...
, humilityHumilityHumility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
, prudencePrudencePrudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues .The word comes from Old French prudence , from Latin...
, self control - Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellenceExcellenceExcellence is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. It is also an aimed for standard of performance.-History:...
, gratitudeGratitudeGratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling, emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions, and has been considered extensively by moral...
, hopeHopeHope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
, humor, spiritualitySpiritualitySpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
The organization of these virtues into 6 groups is contested. It has been suggested that the 24 strengths identified are more accurately grouped into just 3 or 4 categories: Intellectual Strengths, Interpersonal Strengths, and Temperance Strengths or alternatively Interpersonal Strengths, Fortitude, Vitality, and Cautiousness
These general traits, and even their classifications, have emerged independently elsewhere in literature on values. Some examples have been described by Paul Thagard, including Jeff Shrager's workshops that attempt to discover the habits of highly creative people.
Application
Practical applications of positive psychology include helping individuals and organizations identify their strengths and use them to increase and sustain their respective levels of well-being. Therapists, counselors, coaches, and various psychological professionals, as well as HR departments, business strategists, and others are using these new methods and techniques to broaden and build upon the strengths of individuals who are not necessarily suffering from mental illness or disorder.Researcher Dianne Hales described a person as emotionally healthy as someone who exhibited flexibility and adaptability to different circumstances, had a sense of meaning and affirmation in life as well as an "understanding that the self is not the center of the universe", had compassion and the ability to be unselfish, along with increased depth and satisfaction in intimate relationships, and who had a sense of control over the mind and body.
Proponents of replacing Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
with Gross national happiness
Gross national happiness
The assessment of gross national happiness was designed in an attempt to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product .-Origins and meaning:The term...
as the predominant measure of a nation's success often cite positive psychology research.
In education
Positive psychology is beneficial to schools and students as it encourages individuals to strive to do the best they can whereas scolding has the opposite effect. Clifton and Rath discuss the research conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Hurlock in 1925, who designed a study where fourth, fifth and sixth graders were either praised, criticized or ignored based on their work on math problems. The study found that students who had been praised improved by 71%, those who were criticized improved only by 19%, and those who had been given no feedback improved only by 5%. This early study illustrates that praise is the most effective method of fostering improvement.According to Clifton and Rath ninety nine out of one hundred people would prefer to be around positive people. People believe that they work more productively when they are around positive people. Positive emotions are contagious so having a teacher or student who is positive can help the other students to be positive and work to the best of their abilities. If there is one negative person, it can ruin the entire positive vibe in an environment. Clifton and Rath believe that ‘positive emotions are an essential daily requirement for survival’.
In 2008 a whole-of-school implementation of Positive Psychology was undertaken by Geelong Grammar School (Victoria, Australia) in conjunction with the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. This involved initial training of teaching staff in the principles and skills of positive psychology. Ongoing support was provided by The Positive Psychology Center staff remaining in-residence for the entire year (Seligman et al. 2008).
Staats, Hupp and Hagley (2008) have used positive psychology to explore academic honesty, by identifying positive traits that were displayed by heroes and then determining if the presence of these traits in students could be used to predict their future intent to cheat. Their research has resulted in ‘an effective working model of heroism in the context of the academic environment’ (Staats, Hupp & Hagley, 2008).
Clinical psychology
A strengths-based approach aims to change clinical psychology to have an equally weighted focus on both positive and negative functioning when attempting to understand and treat distress. The rationale is based on several empirical findings. Positive characteristics interact with negative life events to predict disorder (so studying only negative life events would produce misleading results). Interventions that focus on strengths and positive emotions can be as effective in treating disorder as other more commonly used approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy. The terms positive clinical psychology and other terms are a bit odd as this field has always had scientists and clinicians that address quality of life outcomes. While positive psychology can inform clinical psychology, it is not helpful to stretch beyond this point. This is about changing priorities to address the breadth and depth of the human experience in clinical settings.In the workplace
Positive psychology has also been implemented in business management practice, but Wong & Davey (2007) acknowledges that although managers can introduce this concept to a workplace, they don't always have the ability to apply it to employees in a positive way. Furthermore, positive psychology must be applied to an organisation with transparency if it is to be welcomed and committed to by employees. Managers must also understand that the sheer implementation of positive psychology will not combat any commitment challenges they may face. However, it may help employees to be more optimistic to new concepts or management practices.In their article The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?, S. Lyubomirsky et al. say: "The cross-sectional evidence reveals that happy workers enjoy multiple advantages over their less happy peers. Individuals high in subjective well-being are more likely to secure job interviews, to be evaluated more positively by supervisors once they obtain a job, to show superior performance and productivity, and to handle managerial jobs better. They are also less likely to show counter-productive workplace behavior and job burnout."
Positive psychology, when applied correctly can provide employees with a greater opportunity to use skills and vary work duties. However, It is important to remember that changing work conditions and roles can lead to stress amongst employees if they are not properly supported by management in their venture. This particularly holds true for employees who must meet the expectations of organisations with unrealistic goals and targets.
So how does an organization implement change? Lewis et al. (2007) have developed Appreciative inquiry
Appreciative inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is primarily an organisational development method which seeks to engage all levels of an organisation to renew, change and improved performance. Its exponents view it as being applicable to organisations facing rapid change or growth...
(AI) which is an integrated, organizational-level methodology for approaching organizational development. Appreciative inquiry is based on an understanding of how organizational resourcefulness is generated through accessing many human psychological processes, such as positive emotional states, imagination, social cohesion and the social construction of reality.
In offender rehabilitation
Traditionally, working with offenders has focused on their deficits (with respect to socialization, schooling etc.) and other "criminogenic" risk-factors. Rehabilitation more often than not takes the form of forced treatment or training for the good of the community. The experience with this approach has not been very rewarding. Positive psychology has made some inroads recently with the advent of the "Good Lives Model", developed by Tony Ward, Shadd Maruna and others with respect to rehabilitation: "Individuals take part ... because they think that such activities might either improve the quality of their life (an intrinsic goal) or at least look good to judges, parole boards and family members (an extrinsic goal)."Other future research
Positive psychology research and practice is also currently being conducted and developed in various countries throughout the world. In Canada, for example, Charles Hackney of Briercrest College applies positive psychology to the topic of personal growth through martial arts training, and Paul Wong, president of the International Network on Personal Meaning, is developing an existential approach to positive psychology.An ‘intense affect’ can certainly be considered with cognitive and behavioral change, which is more slight and complex and is becoming a legitimate area of study, specifically with the links in cognition and motivational responses.
For researchers to make further progress there is a need for past theories and methods to be overcome and to encourage the more contemporary research, says Isen (2009).
Chang (2008) believes emotional intelligence is not definitive to positive affect and researchers have a number of paths that allow the enhancement of emotional intelligence; however more study is required to track the gradient of positive affect in psychology.
Academic programs
The University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center has developed a masters degree program in positive psychology (MAPP) which is described which they designate "the world's first degree program in positive psychology". This relatively new degree program is under the direction of The Center for Applied Psychology's "senior scholar," James Pawelski, Ph.D. In addition to his work as administrator of the program, Pawelski also teaches courses on "positive intervention" in the program. In a lecture presented at the John C. Dalton Institute of College Student values, Pawelski describes the degree as consisting of monthly intensives coupled with online course work which can be "pursued without interupting your career." The degree "explores the history, theory, and basic research methods of positive psychology", "focuses on such issues as the empirical study of positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions", and mentors the student in using "these aspects of positive psychology in" their "particular professional setting."Another academic program that focuses on training students in Positive Psychology and features both an M.A. and Ph.D. tracts, is offered at the Claremont Graduate University's School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences and is affiliated with the school's Quality of Life Research Center. This program "aim[s] to provide excellent graduate education and to facilitate the production of practical knowledge" and emphasizes "sampling methods as well as more traditional experimental and quasi-experimental designs, surveys, and interviews, our faculty and students focus their research on life-long processes and outcomes of behavior as they affect the quality of life".
Criticism
Sample (2003) notes that it is argued by Steven Wolin, a clinical psychiatrist at George Washington UniversityGeorge Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington DC, that the study of positive psychology is a reiteration of older ways of thinking in positive psychology.
The uptake of positive psychology by the popular press, primarily promoting among other claims the health benefits of positive psychology. Snyder and Lopez (cited in Held 2004, p. 17) warn of possible damage to the field of positive psychology through the scientific community becoming caught up in the media’s claims of positive psychology. Warning researchers of the field, Snyder and Lopez suggest that they remain within the parameters of scientific professionalism and utilise any research or studies appropriately.
Some negative attributes of positive psychology as described by Held (2004) include the movement’s lack of consistency towards the aspect of negativity. She raised issues with the simplistic approach taken by some psychologists in the application of positive psychology. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is not seen by Held to be beneficial to the advancement of the field of positive psychology, and she suggested a need for individual differences to be incorporated into its application.
Held (2004) argued that while positive psychology makes contributions to the field of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, that it is not without its faults. Her 2004 article in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the work of early pioneers like Carl Rogers and the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology...
, vol.44, no.1. offered insight into topics including the negative side effects of positive psychology, the negativity that can be found within the positive psychology movement and the current division inside the field of psychology caused by the differing opinions held by psychologists on positive psychology.
See also
- HappinessHappinessHappiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
- Emotional intelligenceEmotional intelligenceEmotional intelligence is a skill or ability in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Various models and definitions have been proposed of which the ability and trait EI models are the most...
- EudaimoniaEudaimoniaEudaimonia or eudaemonia , sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia , is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation...
- Gross national happinessGross national happinessThe assessment of gross national happiness was designed in an attempt to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product .-Origins and meaning:The term...
- Happiness economicsHappiness economicsHappiness economics is the quantitative study of happiness, positive and negative affect, well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction and related concepts, typically combining economics with other fields such as psychology and sociology. It typically treats such happiness-related measures,...
- Meaning of lifeMeaning of lifeThe meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...
- Psychological resiliencePsychological resilienceResilience in psychology refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function...
- Positive educationPositive educationPositive education is an approach to education that draws on positive psychology's emphasis of individual strengths and personal motivation to promote learning...
- Positive Psychology in the WorkplacePositive Psychology in the WorkplaceImplementing positive psychology in the workplace means creating an environment that is relatively enjoyable and productive. This also means creating a work schedule that does not lead to emotional and physical distress.-Background:...
- Reverence (emotion)Reverence (emotion)Reverence [rev-er-uh ns, rev-ruh ns] is defined by as, "A feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.". The word comes from the late 13th century Old French term reverence which derives from the Latin "reverentia 'awe, respect,' from revereri 'to revere,' from re- ,...
- Theory of humor
Precursors to positive psychology
- Humanistic psychologyHumanistic psychologyHumanistic psychology is a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the work of early pioneers like Carl Rogers and the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology...
- Maslow's hierarchy of needsMaslow's hierarchy of needsMaslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity...
- Needs and Motives Henry MurrayHenry MurrayHenry Alexander Murray was an American psychologist who taught for over 30 years at Harvard University. He was Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic in the School of Arts and Sciences after 1930 and colluded with Stanley Cobb, Bullard Professor of Neuropathology at the Medical School to...
Further reading
- Gable, S. L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General PsychologyReview of General Psychology, is the quarterly scientific journal of the American Psychological Association Division 1: The Society for General Psychology. Review of General Psychology publishes cross-disciplinary psychological articles that are conceptual, theoretical, and methodological in nature...
, 9, 103-110. Full text - Economic Downturn: Can Money Buy Happiness? WhyFiles.org
- Niemiec, R., & Wedding D. (2008). Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build Virtues and Character Strengths. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe. http://www.hogrefe.com/program/positive-psychology-at-the-movies.html
- Eric Fromm, The anatomy of human destructiveness (New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston [1973]) ISBN 0030075963
External links
- SearchHappiness.com Articles about Positive Psychology and Mindfulness
- APA Division 17, Section on Positive Psychology American Psychological Association Division 17, Society of Counseling Psychology, Section on Positive Psychology - dedicated to the study and promotion of positive psychology.
- Ed Diener, Positive Psychology, University of Illinois site.
- Positive Psychology Center at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
- Positive Psychology at Claremont Graduate UniversityClaremont Graduate UniversityClaremont Graduate University is a private, all-graduate research university located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
- Martin Seligman presentation on positive psychology (Video) at TED conferenceTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
- Authentic Happiness: A commentary on Martin Seligman's book
- Debating Human Happiness - a conversation between Martin SeligmanMartin SeligmanMartin E. P. "Marty" Seligman is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. His theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists....
, Steven PinkerSteven PinkerSteven Arthur Pinker is a Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, linguist and popular science author...
, and Robert WrightRobert Wright (journalist)Robert Wright is an American journalist, scholar, and prize-winning author of best-selling books about science, evolutionary psychology, history, religion, and game theory, including The Evolution of God, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, The Moral Animal, and Three Scientists and Their Gods:... - Publications on elevation and other subjects within positive psychology, such as "What (and Why) Is Positive Psychology?" (pdf)
- Meaning and Happiness - Research on meaning and happiness from the perspective of positive psychology
- Centre for Confidence - Resources for positive psychology including information on Professor Carol Dweck'sCarol DweckCarol S. Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1972...
work on 'mindsets' - Life Coach Access - A directory of life coaches to help increase quality of life using the principles of positive psychology
- International Positive Psychology Association - to promote the science and practice of positive psychology and to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers and practitioners around the world who are interested in positive psychology
- Zone Positive - Created to help people thrive in their personal and professional life using the tenets of positive psychology
- A course in happiness An authentic happiness formula for well-being, meaning and flourishing - ISBN 9781456374136
- Author Gretchen RubinGretchen RubinGretchen Craft Rubin is an American author and attorney. She is author of Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, along with Forty Ways to Look at JFK...
's exploration: The Happiness Project
Outline of psychology