Evaluation

• strength-A shift in focus for psychology


  moves the focus of psychology beyond explaining and treating disorder and illness to celebrating human character and how our authentic strengths can be developed to ensure that we experience greater life contentment

  Sheldon and King-psych traditionally has failed to encourage human growth,has a negative bias-pos finds what is pos about human nature not the neg.

  free will approach-recognises that people want to think about their futures to change their destiny not their past

  Free will-empowering view to individuals-can empower their destiny
• Strength-Applications

  assumptions have been used in many fields.

  US army-improves aspects of resilience and tries to reduce stress.Focuses on building signature strengths-helps soliders return with no mental health problems

  Education-Positive Psychology Curricula(PPCs),intentional activities to increase well-being through the development of positive feelings and behaviours-US department of education,2.8 million grant for positive psych to be taught to 9th graders.
• Strength-Free will

  individuals behaviour is not pre-determined or restricted-they have personal freedom to grow and develop their signature strengths and virtues.

  Humans are self-regulating and are not a victim of their past-they possess character strengths which can be developed to enhance their lives.

  Control over our mental health and well-being,leading to a contented and happy life.

  in order for people to flourish they need to recognise they have free will and have the motivation to use it to develop
• Weakness-Not a new idea

  first celebrated by Maslow and the humanistic psych movement-addressing that people directly fulfil their potential.Positive psychologists often ignore the work of previous people who criticise existing approaches for being negative.

  Its not unique-positive has a desire to be separate on the grounds of methodological terms as it has adopted a scientific way to measure well being.
• Weakness-Can happiness be measured?


  can we define and measure happiness scientifically?

  Every individual will have a different idea about what happiness means to them.

  Neuroscience has allowed researchers to measure the emotional experience of happiness.

  Wager et al-positive emotions activated the 'basal ganglia'

  Questioned if happiness is a discrete emotion that can be measured in a lab or runs as a continuum with other emotions
• Weakness


  Ignoring individual differences
• Approach that ignores individual and cultural differences

  • 'one size fits all' approach
• Christopher and Hickinbottom: 'The approach is ethnocentric based on western ideas'
• America is a culture that considers positive emotions essential for a good life and negative emotions should be avoided
• 70% of the world live in a collectivist country, which eliminates the other 30%
• Danger of ignoring individual differences


  All positive qualities are beneficial and should be universally be developed
• Forcing positive mood onto anxious defensive pessimist

  Can be damaging