Disadvantages Of Positive Psychology

In the video titled “The Happy Secret To Better Work”, Shawn Achor really outlines how being happy and staying positive can really change your life. In other words Achor is referring to positive psychology. When referring to the world around us Achor really believes the majority of people focus on only the negatives and not the positives. He also talks about how that reality might not be what shapes us but in actuality it is our brain that puts a lens on how we perceive things and that may change our happiness. Achor also outlines another trait of our brain, which is that we as humans set progressing goals that never seem to be fulfilled due to human nature. He finishes his presentation by giving the audience some ways to help reverse the way we see the world and help our work and life in general.

Positive psychology serves as a preemptive strategy, helps the development of positive societal institutions, and makes students more successful in life on many levels, both personal and societal. Finally, Seligman would argue that positive education has more of a lasting impact by the way of and constructive changes in student behavior.

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.

In a true clinical setting, a patient is free to express feelings and experiences to facilitate self-healing through positive intervention techniques. With the data available on positive psychology, many clinicians may be tempted to utilize a particular positive intervention with the belief it will make a tremendous impact on the patient. However, this may be unhealthy for the patient who may need to experience negative or difficult emotion to work through the issue they are dealing with. Nonetheless, positive therapy has a definitive useful role in psychological treatment and “adds a deeper dimension to the treatment setting” (p. 404). Therapists who use this type of therapy, however, should remember not to “become a slave to the ‘tyrannies of optimism’” (Seligman, 1990, p. 292; as cited in La Torre, p. 404).

In class on Monday, we had a very engaging presentation on positive psychology and how flourishing shapes our perspective to be the successful young adults we are today. Positive psychology is the study of promotion for successful functioning. Building enabling conditions for a life worth living is vital to being satisfied with our lives and within ourselves. A few enabling conditions for a life worth living for my own perspectives is my resilience, my supportive buffers, and using my signature strength to help others.

The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” (Chuck Palahniuk). The first concept I learned is positive psychology, and unexpectedly I have applied this concept throughout my life for the last sixteen years without realizing it until this course. People who employ positive psychology are those who make people happy throughout the course of their life and are optimistic during difficult times to cope with the challenges (Franzoi, 2014, pg. 8). People who incorporate positive psychology into their life have less stress and are tend to be happier and healthier. Positive psychology brings similar effects to positive emotions like happiness and pleasure as clinical psychology that treats depression and anger (Max, 2007).

The term happiness continues to perplex psychologists. With the recent study of positive psychology or the study of happiness, psychologists have unintentionally attached a negative connotation to all other emotions. However, all emotions, even the ones coined as negative, are valuable to humans. An analysis of human emotions proves that feelings of sadness, anger, fear, and happiness are equally beneficial to human development because they allow for a safer and more open mind-set.

Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) are defined as “Treatment methods or intentional activates aimed at cultivating positive feelings, positive behaviors, or positive cognitions… (Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). The primary goal of PPIs is to “enhance well-being and ameliorate depressive symptoms” (Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). In simpler language, a PPI can be described any activity or daily routine that helps train the mind to have an overall positive attitude towards everyday life. This positive attitude can ultimately help people view a variety of both everyday and stressful situations and scenarios in a more positive light. The beauty of PPIs is the fact that each individual can pursue actions that

Positive psychology is highly applicable with the field of education. The Penn Resiliency Program (PRP) is a program intended to integrate, as its chief goal, deterrence to counter and assist the unhappiness epidemic among children and adolescence. It is founded upon the psychosomatic notion, asserting the highly significant fact, that our beliefs concerning experiences and their construal have an influence not only on our sentiments but also on our behavior format. The hypothetical basis of this program is the perception of optimism-pessimism particularized by Seligman, in which optimism and cynicism, measured as comparatively strong human qualities, have a pivotal influence on the entire working of human beings. They produce action or inactiveness, and regulate inspiration and the choice of approach for achievement, and the outline as well as the behaviors in which life purposes are comprehended. Optimism or pessimism explain the capability to surpass one’s personal restrictions, or for being overwhelmed by one’s emotional state of powerlessness. The two are both cultured dispositions, notwithstanding their moderately perpetual character. Subsequently the Penn Resiliency Program focuses on leaning on the expectations of cognitive-behavioral treatment implements an extensive variety of interventions and tools to encourage an constructive method of individual development (Pluskota,

The pursuit of happiness and being free from suffering has always be the ultimate goals of humanity (Dalai Lama, 2008). The emergence of Positive Psychology made it possible for (positive) psychologists to make a major breakthrough in getting closer to this goal. Through the application of Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI), it is now possible to manage levels of well-being, while also diminishing the risk of depressions. Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) defined PPI as methods or activities other than medical treatment that can improve positive emotions, behaviours, and acknowledgement. A large amount of research with different types PPI activities has been conducted, some meta-analysis journals from these studies (e.g. Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009

Some applications of psychology on people are “mental health treatment, performance enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, and many other areas affecting health and daily life” (Cherry, n.d.). Nevertheless, over the years, psychologists realized that a better way to improve health and welfare is to prevent the issue before it arises. Thus, it would be easier not to let the mental disorder take place and struggle the issue in its roots. Therefore, Positive Psychology was born.

It is argued that the field of positive psychology is relatively new and therefore long term evaluation of applications is not available. Critics suggest that its potential is exaggerated, limiting its relevance in today’s society. However, Seligman argued that psychology was too heavily focused on treating mental illness rather than promoting mental health, and aimed to redress the balance between problem behaviour and mental illness. Using the positive approach, he aimed to use a variety of techniques such as meditation and mindfulness to inoculate individuals against future mental and physical ill health. He argued that positive psychology provides tools which can promote psychological well being and allow the human race to adapt to a range of significant economic, environmental and social challenges. Seligman provided some evidence to support his claims of success. 21 replications of Seligman's schools program found evidence of decreased anxiety and depression in participants.

In conclusion, the Good Life is within reach for me and anyone who hopes for it. Positive psychology provides the blueprint on actions and cognitive thinking which will lead me to happiness and balance. The goals I have established through the course and by focusing on: my signature strengths, knowing my motivational method, establishing goals, achieving flow, being healthy, continued cognitive and emotional growth, wisdom, and spirituality, I will meet “my” Good

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).

[Positive Psychology] takes you through the countryside of pleasure and gratification, up into the high country of strength and virtue, and finally to the peaks of lasting fulfillment: meaning and purpose (Seligman 2002, p. 61).