An Empirical Discipline, Positive Psychology Is A Science That Can Be Measured

The question of whether individuals can create their own happiness without the aid of external influences has been raised and researched. However, the answer to the question is unclear. Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that supports the theory that an individual’s happiness is under their personal control, independent of any external influences or validation. Consequently, researchers have uncovered evidence that provides mixed results regarding the effectiveness of positive psychology in increasing individual happiness.

After reviewing the outcomes listed above, do you feel the program prepared you to meet these outcomes? If not, which ones do you feel you did not meet?

The first inventory I took was the flourishing scale. In the beginning of the semester I scored a 46 which was below the average by two points. Based on the questions asked I thought I answered pretty high. The second time I took the exam I scored a 50, it went up four points and was rated as highly flourishing. I was not surprised to have gone up in flourishing this semester I definitely made some changes the biggest being my social life. I made more meaningful relationships with people who I actually trust and enjoy being around all the time. I also tried to be more supportive to those around me and encouraging them in their for the future.

According to the Center, “Positive psychology is the systematic study of human strength, resilience and qualities that empower individuals and group of people to succeed” (Positive Psychology Center, 2014). Positive psychology’s founders learned through study that people usually place more emphasis on what goes wrong in their lives; they focus on their failures. For instance, divorce, financial obligations, or losing a job. It is imperative to comprehend the characteristics of undesirable experiences in an individual’s life. As an alternative to focusing on failure, focus can be placed on the positive situations in life and understand those are the occasions worth living for. Positive psychology emphasizes strengths and weaknesses, magnifying the positive aspects of life, and healing the effects of negative experiences. Positive psychology focuses on a person’s strengths and the hope of something larger then oneself to lead individuals to a more meaningful

In this video, Achor (2011)discusses how instead of simply trying to help or cure individuals with some problem in their life, positive psychology tries to take average people and find ways to reach their full potential. Many people believe that if they change the circumstances in their environment, they can generate greater amounts of happiness and well-being in their lives. Achor (2011) maintains that only about ten percent of long term happiness can be predicted by the external world, a whopping ninety percent is dependent upon what happens within our minds; and by changing the way people process the world around them, it can ultimately change how they perceive reality. Approximately twenty-five percent of job success can be predicted by

Every aspect of psychology excites me. As I take more classes, and my exposure to different theories and perspectives as well as topics and fields increases, I want to know more. The possibilities and applications of psychology are endless. When I wrote about peace and positive psychology for a career paper in an English class, my thoughts on psychology's impact expanded. Influenced by humanistic psychology, positive psychology focuses not only on the health or unhealthiness of an individual, but his or her potential to thrive and live a happy life. The prior theories have opened up the long-neglected opposite side of the spectrum of one’s psychological health. I am inspired by countless psychologists, but notably Abraham Maslow and Martin

However, reviewing the questions, I saw some weaknesses that could be adjusted and revised to make the assessment more effective. For instance, the survey only comprised of two open-ended questions. I feel as they should include more open-ended questions so parents could give a more detailed response instead of a “yes” or “no” basis. If the parents were to put “no” on most of the questions, clinicians would have a difficult time with providing the most effective treatment plan for their

Participant’s self-report measure of the dispositional gratitude will be assessed by GQ-6 (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). Participants will indicate their level of agreement with 6 items using a 7-point Likert scale (where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree) with reverse-scored items of 3 and 6. Sample item will include “I have so much in life to be thankful for.” The scale is positively associated with positive affect, well-being, prosocial behaviors, and religiousness/spirituality, whereas negatively associated with envy, anxiety, depression, and materialistic attitudes (McCullough et al.,

Having gratitude – the quality of being thankful; a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness – is another way people of all cultures cultivate happiness. Instead of

The pursuit of happiness is the universal search for a life an individual can feel content and satisfied with. However, as stated in class, happiness is a fleeting emotion rather than a prolonged state. Once an individual achieves a sense of happiness it is only a matter of time before they return to the starting point of their quest. Therefore, happiness alone is not enough to elicit a good life. On a similar note, in 2004, Professor Martin Seligman gave a TED talk that addressed the current direction of psychology. He believed the extent of psychology had become the ability to “make miserable people feel less miserable” rather than “[making] relatively untroubled people happier.” As a result, he and his colleagues developed positive psychology, a branch of psychology that promotes the components of happiness, well-being, and fulfillment to achieve a satisfactory life. The purpose of this project is to learn about your well-being and discover ways to increase the quality of your life through positive psychology.

Heffernan and Boniwell (2011) illustrate a number of psychological interventions that an individual can adapt in order to enhance the positive affects they encounter in their lives. In their book Heffernan and boniwell state that the latest and clearest definition of positive psychology interventions comes from the meta-analysis by Sin and Lyumbomirsky, who defined PPI as: “Treatment methods or intentional activities that aim to cultivate positive feelings, behaviours or cognitions…programs, interventions or treatments aimed at fixing, remedying, or healing something that is pathological or deficient – as opposed to building strengths – do not fit the definition of a PPI” (Sin and Lymbomirsky, 2009: 468).

In this week’s exploration in history, I watched the Ted Talk on Positive Psychology by Martin Seligman and summarized five main points he makes in the presentation. In this Ted Talk, Seligman talks about why psychology was good, not good, and how it will be good enough. First, let’s pay attention to why psychology is good. Seligman points out that for more than 60 years’ psychology has worked within the disease model and due to this now fourteen disorders are treatable, while two of them are curable. Compare this to sixty years ago when none of the diseases were treatable.

The two articles I read discuss the question “Can Positive Psychology Make Us Happier?” Stephen M. Schueller and Acacia C. Parks wrote the article The Science of Self-Help: Translating Positive Psychology Research into Increased Individual Happiness, in this article the authors state that positive psychology can indeed improve our levels of happiness; in fact, they state that we are responsible for controlling 40% of our happiness. Authors Laurel C. Newman and Randy J. Larsen disagree in their article, How Much of Our Happiness Is Within Our Control? Newman and Larsen state that we have much less control over our happiness than positive psychologists typically advocate, and that the magical 40% is not applicable

Positive psychology, which has emerged recently, is the scientific study of human thriving. Psychology traditionally focuses on dysfunction—on people with mental illness or other psychological problems and how to treat them. Positive psychology, by contrast, is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled. In his 1998 APA presidential address, Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, argued that psychology had become too focused on curing mental illness according to a disease model, and that, for all intents and purposes, it had become a “victimology” (Seligman, 1998). What was needed, he averred, was a new “science of human strengths,” a positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

I believe there are many traits in life that make you a good person and lead you to live a happy life, but being grateful is one of the best traits you could obtain. Being grateful is one thing I feel many people in our society forget to do. One day I learned to always appreciate what I have instead of what I don’t.