debate-relevance of positive psychology today

• is relevent-Education


  what or how we learn in school can be beneficial to our happiness from such a young age.
• Seligman


  positive psychology curriculum(PPC)

  -promotes skills and encourages strength that are valued by most(signature strengths)

  -improve well-being and behaviour

  -facilitate engagement in learning and achievement.

  (is relevent-Education)
• Gillham et al


  Penn resiliency program(PRP),provides support to seligmans claims

  Program shown reduced symptoms for depression to those in a control group.

  24months after the PRP,only 22% showed symptoms compared to 44% in control group.

  (is relevent-Education)
• is not relevant-Education


  There is lack of empirical evidence for most positive psychology programmes.
• Spence and shortt

  argue research is based on a small scale or in a short period of time-lacks validity

  (is not relevent-Education)
• Seligman


  admitted that not all the research accounts for a variety of cultures or socio-economic backgrounds-no true representation of society.

  (is not relevent-Education)
• Financial Times


  schools have limiting budgets.

  demand for a new curriculum will cost a lot of money and other subjects will have to be gotten rid off

  They suggest society will end up paying for more children to leave school with fewer academic achievements(is school all about grades?)

  (is not relevent-Education)
• is relevant-Work


  if you enjoy your job,you're more likely to be happy and preform better.
• Csikszentmihalyi


  flow theory-when we are challenged and using hard skills,our experiences will be positive because we are learning new skills and increasing our self esteem.

  4Fs to flow-Focus,Freedom,Feedback and 4% challenge.

  showing work can be a major source of happiness

  (is relevant-Work)
• csikszentmihalyi and Lefevre


  people are 3x more as likely to experience a flow situation at work than during a leisure activity

  (is relevant-Work)
• is not relevant-Work


  research usually supports the idea that is you 'choose a job you love,you will never have to work a day in your life'

  This isnt a new idea,society already had evidence to show this.

  It also ignores factors such as money that make people happy at work.
• Diener


  In poorer countries,money is more important to the society,work is only important to them because of they money they gain not the happiness they receive directly from work.

  (not relevant-Work)
• Csikszentmihalyi


  when individuals are challenged through work overload but dont have the skills to cope with it-this causes burn out.This is seen in Japan,'Karoshi'-meaning overwork death in Japanese.1 in 5 workers in japan are at risk of death by overwork.23% of japanese workers logged 80+ hours of overtime a month.

  This means its hard for them to experience flow in the workplace,as work has pushed them out of the flow zone by making the challenge too hard to mirror their skill.

  (not relevant-Work)
• is relevant-Leisure and lifestyle 


  leisure time can increase the experience of flow and the quality of their lives by being more conscious and active in the use of their leisure time-signature strengths.
• Action of happiness


  an online site.

  a movement for positive social change.

  site provides support for those with depression and offers content such as '10 keys to happier living'.

  (is relevant-leisure and lifestyle)
• not relevant-leisure and lifestyle


  activities that enhance flow are not widely available to everyone due to;lack of dedicated time or financial costs
• Action for happiness


  not relevant to todays society as not all variables are controlled for.

  wealthy people are more likely to be attracted to the site eliminating non-wealthy people.

  The outcome may be due to their wealth not the website itself.

  (not relevant-Leisure and lifestyle)
• is relevant-Health


  being happy can improve peoples health.
• Kubzansky and Thurston


  6000 pps aged 25-74

  those with high levels of emotional vitality had a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

  Medical professionals may treat paitents with advice about how to increase happiness along with other lifestyle advice.

  Longitudinal study,guess the purpose of research-social desirability.

  (is relevant-Health)
• Cohen


  he infected pps with a cold,those with a more positive emotional state,had less severe colds and they lasted a shorter period of time.

  (is relevant-Health)
• not relevant-Health


  difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship between happiness and health.Are people happy because they are healthy or healthy because they are happy?

  Isnt taken seriously because of the difficulty in conducting research to find clear cause and effect conclusions.

  (not relevant-Health)
• Cohen


  optimism didnt have any impact on resilience to contracting a cold

  (not relevant-Health)
• Goyal et al


  Meta-analysis of over 3000 pps involved in mindfulness research.

  It only led to moderate improvements in depression,anxiety and pain.

  very small improvements in stress reduction and quality of life

  (not relevant-Health)
• Social implication


  positive schools are a happy place,lead to children getting better jobs due to having better grades
• Economic implication


  changing the education system in costly
• economic implication


  more people are going to enjoy going to work if it promoted as enjoyable place

  Oswald et al -Happy workers found to be 12% more productive
• Economical implication


  staff sickness and staff turnover was costing the UK £26 billion per year
• Social implication


  sites like action of happiness provide a safe place for people so their well-being increases
• Social implication


  leisure activities are not accessable to everyone due to cost or free time