positive approach

• Positive approach


  Acknowledges the part that external factors can play in behaviour, but suggests a much greater role for free will
• Positive approach


  • Believes that humans have the power to choose how they react to a situation and what they do in the future
  • Suggests that humans have the free will to develop their signature strengths and have control over their own well-being
  • Happiness is accessible to all of us, as we are in control of our lives and have the capacity to make choices
• There is evidence that a belief in free will and personal control is associated with a greater subjective well-being
• The 'good life'


  Engaging in activities that absorb us and help us to reach a state of flow, including focusing on our signature strengths, having positive relationships with others and working towards achieving our goals
• The 'meaningful life'


  The state of fulfilment we get from using our character strengths for a deeper purpose
• Authenticity of goodness and excellence


  • The positive approach suggests that psychology had become too focused on negative aspects of personality such as stress and depression
  • It is just as important to research and support individuals who are 'OK' and wish to develop their own personal sense of well-being
  • Focusing on positive traits and self-improvement, we can view human behaviour in a much more positive way
• Humans are social creatures, programmed to find, build and maintain relationships
• Building relationships with others


  Will help to make us happy
• Forming positive relationships with others can improve our subjective well-being and help us to achieve the 'good life'
• It is often by being with others that we get the most out of positive experiences in our lives, for example when we share good news or personal achievements
• According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, 40% of the variance in happiness is due to intentional activity
• Intentional activity can include a range of activities that people choose to engage in as part of their everyday lives, therefore exercising their free will
• Nurturing social relationships is an intentional activity that can improve happiness
• We can exercise our free will to improve and maintain our relationships, which in turn increases our well-being
• Many of the VIA character strengths are focused on developing and maintaining social relationships
• We can improve our relationships with others by focusing more on what is going right in the relationships than what is going wrong
• Mindfulness


  Awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally
• Mindfulness


  • Uses meditation and breathing techniques to help people focus on the moment and increase their well-being
  • Helps the individual to become more aware of what is happening in the present moment instead of worrying about the past or the future
  • Helps people to be accepting of their thoughts, rather than allowing them to control their behaviour and emotions
  • Helps people to recognise problems before they arise, which should improve their mental health and well-being
• Positive psychologists believe that we should acknowledge the role that free will plays in people's behaviour
• Feeling in control of our thoughts, emotions and behaviour


  Can help individuals to achieve happiness and a sense of well-being
• Individuals who do not feel in control of their thoughts, emotions and behaviour


  May experience psychological problems
• Stress and anxiety


  Might be caused by our perception of the event, not just the event itself
• If an individual has a pessimistic response and feels out of control of the situation


  The stress can create issues
• Mindfulness


  • Encourages people to be more aware of their own thoughts and feelings and be able to self-regulate them
  • Helps people to take control of their thoughts and feelings and use them to increase their level of life satisfaction
• Mindfulness


  Can help people to feel as if they have control over their response to stress
• Mindfulness


  • Increases awareness of bodily sensations to help identify stress responses earlier
  • Helps people to experience thoughts as transient events that will pass, not representations of reality
• When an individual experiences a stressful event

  They should appraise stress more helpfully and any feelings of stress should pass more quickly
• Body scan meditation


  The individual is guided through the process of paying attention to sensations in different parts of the body without reacting to them
• Informal mindfulness practice


  Making a decision to focus our attention on a particular task like eating or brushing our teeth
• The growth in popularity of mindfulness techniques has also led to an abundance of online meditation resources and apps
• MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) was developed in the 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• MBSR


  1. The individual is trained in a series of classes (usually 8 x 2.5 hour classes delivered across eight weeks)

  2. Participants are given educational material (e.g. teaching about the physiology of stress) alongside practising mindfulness meditation and yoga

  3. Individuals are able to practise these techniques in the way that suits them best, but they are encouraged to incorporate them into everyday life and practise them regularly
• Research evidence on effectiveness of mindfulness


  • Kuyken et al. (2013) - Children who were involved in the mindfulness programme reported less stress, greater well-being and fewer depressive symptoms compared to the control group
  • Williams et al. (2014) - MBCT provided protection against relapse in people with a history of childhood trauma, but did not show any significant advantages in other participants
• Mindfulness as a therapy


  • Has few side effects (particularly if compared to biological therapies such as psychosurgery and drugs)
  • Takes a highly positive attitude towards individual well-being
  • Promotes free will, empowering people to make changes in their own lives
• Forms of mindfulness are accessible to all. There are numerous apps, websites and courses running where people can be taught the basics of the process and be given opportunities to practise the techniques
• Methodology


  Literature review, no procedures
• Myers and Diener


  • Selected the topic of happiness
  • Searched the literature for relevant studies (secondary sources)
  • Collated research under different areas
  • Wrote up their review, drawing conclusions about factors affecting happiness
• The studies used a range of methods such as correlations and observations to investigate factors affecting subjective well-being
• Myths of happiness


  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Culture
  • Money
• Age


  No real difference in happiness