Relevance of positive psychology

• Positive Psychology curriculum promotes skills and strengths
• Positive Psychology curriculum produces measurable improvements in wellbeing and behaviour
• Positive Psychology curriculum helps students engage in learning and achievement
• Seligman randomly assigned 347 9th grade students to PPC or non PPC

  2009
• PPC students


  More cooperative and had better social skills
• Penn resilience program teaches (for ed)

  • Increases ability to handle day to day problems that are common during adolescence. Assertiveness
  • Decision making
  • Relaxation
  • Other coping skills. - -Increases ability to handle day to day problems that are common during adolescence
• Depression is 10x more common now than 50 years ago in young people (for ed)
• Military (FOR)


  Comprehensive soldier fitness program established August 2008 to address challenges face due to multiple deployments in Afghan

  Provides preventative measures to soldiers and families to make them stronger and more able to cope with demand department improving quality of lives of soldiers and their families
• Leisure lifestyle and health


  Increase happiness by being more active in leisure time. Action For Happiness provide help w depression and promote 10 keys to happier living or 12 actions for happiness. Enthusiasm, hopefulness and engagement in life had a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, showing pos psychology improves physical health as well as mental health
• Education (AGAINST)


  There is a lack of empirical evidence to support success of PPC. Further research need so programs are effective for students of all socio economic and cultural backgrounds

  Due to low budgets, adding. PPC means dropping another subject, student therefore leaving school w less academic achievements
• military (AGAINST)


  CSF lacks evidence of effectiveness. Based off of PRP for adolescents and little has been done to adapt to needs of military population
• Leisure Lifestyle and Health (AGAINST)


  Has AFH actually made a difference? Hard to prove cause and effect between happiness and health. Lack of causation means pos psych not taken seriously.
• Social Implications


  Principles of positive psychology improve mental health, so surely worthwhile? especially with mental health issues becoming more common
• Ethical implications


  Projects embedding pos psychology in principles target wealthy people-achieving happiness not accessible fairly
• Economic Implications


  Improving happiness and wellbeing saves businesses money they’d lose in staff sickness due to stress - costing uk economy 2.6 bn yearly

  Happy workers 12% more productive - pos impact on economy

  Pos psych principles of promoting happiness saves NHS money if physical health can be improved w pos outlook on life