“Positive approach is more relevant in todays society” (24)

• Para 1: relevant - education

  • P: Positive psychology has shown clear relevance in modern education through interventions that improve student well-being and engagement.

  • E: Seligman et al. (2009) implemented the Positive Psychology Curriculum (PPC), finding that students displayed better cooperation and social skills, while the Penn Resiliency Program (Gillham et al., 1995) significantly reduced depression symptoms over a 24-month period.

  • E: These findings suggest that positive psychology can complement academic goals by promoting emotional resilience and mental health in students. However, critics like Spence and Short (2007) argue that more long-term, diverse research is needed to justify widespread application.

  • L: Despite these concerns, evidence so far indicates that positive psychology offers practical and psychological benefits in school settings, making it highly relevant in today’s education systems.
• Para 2: relevant - work and leisure

  • P: Positive psychology is also highly applicable in the workplace and leisure time, areas central to modern life satisfaction.

  • E: Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of ‘flow’ demonstrates that people often find deeper satisfaction at work than during leisure, as shown in his research with LeFevre (1989), suggesting that structured activity enhances well-being. Movements like Action for Happiness also promote practical lifestyle changes.

  • E: While some argue that these ideas are not new (e.g., "love what you do" is an ancient sentiment), positive psychology provides scientific validation and structured application of such ideas in modern life. However, access to flow experiences may be limited by time and socio-economic constraints.

  • L: Nonetheless, positive psychology offers accessible strategies for improving life quality, supporting its relevance across work and lifestyle domains.
• Para 3: relevant - health

  • P:The relevance of positive psychology in health care is increasingly supported by empirical research linking emotional vitality to physical well-being.

  • E: Kubzansky and Thurston (2007) found that individuals with higher emotional vitality had a significantly reduced risk of coronary heart disease over a 20-year period.

  • E: This implies that interventions promoting happiness could play a preventative role in health. However, the direction of causality remains unclear – happiness might be a byproduct of good health rather than its cause, limiting the scientific weight of these claims

  • L: Even so, the integration of well-being advice into medical settings reflects a growing recognition of the mind-body connection, enhancing the relevance of positive psychology in modern health care
• Para 4 - challenges to relevance

  • P: Despite its benefits, positive psychology's overall relevance is limited by issues of accessibility, generalisability, and causality

  • E: Critics argue that many positive psychology interventions are based on small-scale or Western-centric studies, limiting their application in diverse or under-resourced contexts. Financial Times (2007) highlighted concerns about the trade-off between teaching happiness and core academic subjects.

  • E: Furthermore, outcomes may be confounded by external factors such as socioeconomic status, making it difficult to isolate the effectiveness of positive interventions. Additionally, cause and effect in health-related findings remain unproven.

  • L: These criticisms underscore that while positive psychology has potential, its universal relevance is still hindered by methodological and practical challenges.
• Conclusion

  In conclusion, positive psychology is clearly relevant in many sectors of today’s society, particularly education, work, and health, offering empirical and practical strategies to enhance well-being. However, concerns around generalisability, causation, and resource limitations mean it cannot yet fully replace or surpass traditional psychological approaches. Its relevance is growing, but its scope and application must be carefully and critically expanded.