Positive

• Applications:


  Help people, organisations & communities flourish e.g, education, stress management, occupational psychology & therapy. Resilience training US army. Aim= improve different aspects of resilience (emotional, spiritual) & try reduce incidence of stress symptoms & suicide. Positive psychology techniques- focuses on building mental toughness by identifying & developing signature strengths (humour, courage) as well as preventing pathology, so soldiers can return home without serious mental health issues.
• Applications (education):


  USA schools embracing positive psychology curricula (PPCs)-activities increase well-being through development of positive cognitions, feelings & behaviours. 2002, US department of education awarded 2.8 million dollar grant for positive psychology to be taught to 9th graders.
• UK department for children, schools & families (2007):


  Set 10 new targets to improve kid's well-being by 2020, so it's anticipated that schools in UK will start to implement positive psychology strategies into curriculum-following footsteps of Wellington college, Berkshire (in 2006, they timetabled positive psychology & happiness lessons in core curriculum).
• Sheldon & King (2001):

  Note psychology has traditionally failed to encourage human growth. Has negative bias. 'When stranger helps another person, psychologists quick to find selfish benefit in the act'. Instead of studying weakness & damage & trying to fix what's wrong, psychology needed to build on what's right about human nature.
• Positive shift in focus for psychology:

  Beyond explaining & treating disorder & illness to celebrating human character & how our authentic strengths can be developed to ensure we experience greater life contentment. Shifts attention from interest in negative states (e.g, anxiety) to positive states (e.g, happiness). Focus is underpinned by belief that focusing on only disorder & disease results in limited understanding of human condition.
• Positive shift in focus for psychology:

  Traditional psychological approaches involved determinist view of abnormality, looking at past instead of person's future. Positive psychology recognises people want to think about their future, to become proactive in changing their destiny & understanding they have free will over their emotions to achieve this.
• Seligman (2000):

  Keen to bring about shift in thinking. 'Aim of positive psychology is to begin to catalyse a change in focus of psychology from preoccupation only with repairing worst things in life to also building positive qualities'.
• Free will:

  Individuals neither pre-determined nor restricted. Personal freedom to grow & develop their natural signature strength & virtues. Questions validity of some traditional approaches which are determinist (treat individual as victim of their own biological & environmental characteristics). Traditional approaches postulated view that past determines present & future-Seligman says such pessimism obstructs proper development.
• What do positive psychologists recognise?

  Humans are self-regulating & not 'victims' of past. Instead, possess character strengths & virtues- can be developed to enhance life & result in greater fulfilment. Control of developing authentic strengths results in control over mental health & well-being, leading to contented happy life. Free will necessity for leading contented life. Humans must have motivation to develop authentic strengths to flourish-only achieve this when they recognise they have free will to elicit change.
• Ignores individual & cultural differences:


  '1 size fits all' philosophy. Christopher & Hickinbottom (2008) suggest approach is ethnocentric (based on culture-bound Western ideas centred on individual autonomy & fulfilment). Claim American is culture preoccupied with idea that positive emotions, attitudes & thoughts are obligatory for 'good life' where negative emotions generally considered to be something avoided or controlled. Collectivism as opposed to individualism is dominant outlook in 70% world's population & cultural context should not be overlooked when determining positive qualities
• Norem (2001):


  Highlights danger in ignoring individual differences in assumption all positive qualities beneficial & should be universally developed. She studies 'defensive pessimists' who deal with anxiety by thinking of everything that could go wrong in situation. By processing all realistic possibilities, defensive pessimists deal with their anxiety & work harder to avoid anticipated pitfalls. Forcing optimism or positive mood on anxious defensive pessimist can actually damage performance.
• Can we define & measure happiness scientifically?


  Defining challenging as it's subjective. When 2 people say they're happy, could be referring to 2 different states of mind. Problem when it comes to measuring happiness & developing 'scientific' measurements for subjective state of mind. Advances in neuroscience allowed to objectively measure emotional experience of happiness.
• Wager et al (2003):


  Meta-analysis: positive emotions found to be more likely to activate basal ganglia than negative emotions.
• Not a new idea:


  Positive potential of humans first celebrated by Maslow & humanistic psychology movement in late 50s & early 60s. Figures like Seligman ignore work of Maslow, Carl Rogers & Carl Jung who were among 1st to criticise existing approaches in psychology being rooted in negativity. Maslow urged people to address their higher needs & recognise people are internally directed & motivated to fulfil their human potential. Positive has roots in humanistic & we need to understand this.