Positive Approach

• Acknowledgement of free will- humans are in charge of their own emotions and we have free will to change how they direct our emotions. Diener and Seligman (2002) found that people who reported having more positive emotions were closer to family.
• Authenticity of Goodness and Excellence- feelings of happiness and goodness should be studied, happiness is less authentic than negative traits (Seligman 2002). Quality of Life Therapy can be used.
• Focus on the good life- someone living a "good life" would be someone who shows good positive connections to others. Seligman (2003): the pleasant life- happiness comes from enjoyable experiences, the good life- happiness comes from activities that are positive, the meaningful life- happiness comes from a deep sense of fulfilment.
• Relationships- focus on the good life can be linked with romantic relationships. One of the elements of a good life is 'positive connections to others', this encompasses our ability to love, trust, enjoy happiness and forgive.
• Quality of Life Therapy- developed by Michael Frisch (2006), it advocated a whole life/goal achievement perspective. The quality of life inventory identifies problems in the clients life and help them improve it. The CASIO model encourages clients to follow the model of circumstances, attitude, standards, importance and overall satisfaction. The three pillars, helping the client foster feelings of strength, finding a meaning of life and quality time.
• QoLT strengths- Tonghyani et al(2011) found everyone showed significant improvement in well-being. Grant et al(1995) found QoLT effective in increasing quality of life. Aghayousefi and Yasin Seifi(2013) found a decrease in depression and anxiety.
• QoLT weaknesses- no evidence that its anymore effective than adopting positive psychology principles and values. Emmons and McCullogh(2003) found that keeping a daily gratitude journal helps with alertness, enthusiasm and determination.
• Negative(QoLT)- Julien Norem(2001) found optimism and positivity may not benefit everyone. Isaacowitz(2001) found that pessimists were less prone to depression that optimists.
• Positive(QoLT)- it focuses on the future and how to improve wellbeing resulting in a lower risk of psychological harm. QoLT also focuses on positive thoughts rather than negative ones (CBT).
• Method- the literature review looks at a range of studies which use different research methods like interviews, questionnaires, observation, correlations and meta-analysis.
• Sample- there was no sample in this case as this study did not gather data although 108 different studies were reviewed.
• What did they do- Myers and Diner's research are presented in response to common 'myths' of happiness. Each myth is listed and then evidence is presented to challenge/ support the myth.
• Findings- a survey of 170,000 people found no difference in happiness at different ages. Inglehart found 80% of men and women were 'fairly satisfied' with their life. Diener et al(1993)- African Americans were 2x happier than white Americans. 75% of American college students said being rich was an essential life goal.
• Conclusions- the effects of positive&negative events fade over time, cultural attitudes mean some people interpret life events differently. People with a high sense of SWB have goals and ambitions they are striving to achieve. A persons happiness is not predictable from their age, gender or affluence.
• Method- the data collected about subjective well-being is one of course subjective, when someone says they are happy there's no way or confirming or challenging this. On questionnaires social desirability bias can occur, where people answer questions in a way that they think the researcher wants to hear.
• Reliability- the review study has low internal validity because Myers & Diener used a review method, each study may have measured happiness in very different ways.
• Sample- a lot of the data is based on Western samples as researchers are American. Causes of happiness may be different in other cultures, there are differences when you compare individualist cultures and collective cultures.
• Validity- external validity is high due to the large sample size(108). The studies are all Western samples so its not very representative.
• Ethical issues- there is little risk of harm. Asking sad people about their happiness might damage their mental health, ethical guidelines advise psychologists to not help people with their mental health.
• Social implications- Myers & Diener 1995 found 10% of people in Portugal reported they were happy compared to 40% in the Netherlands, these findings could result in cultural stereotypes.
• Its a strength because its not deterministic- QoLT empowers clients to change their own experiences and attitudes in a positive way.
• Its a strength because it considers nature and nurture- the approach is interactionist since it considers multiple facts in our well-being, avoiding reductionism.
• Its a weakness because its not scientific- wellbeing can be a very difficult concept to operationalise so using self-reporting methods lowers external validity.
• Its a weakness because it has limited positive applications- Norem(2001) shows that not all individuals benefit from the techniques of the positive approach.