Positive Psychology Areas of Focus in Relation to Interpersonal and Prosocial Behavior

During our lives we come across many difficult times in which we learn important skills. However, our actions choose what skills we've gained. For instance, a person who makes rational choices, keeps aware of what these choices do, and never letting the situation over take them have the characteristics of a resilient perosn. People with resilience have a way of dealing with problems in the most effective way possible, like Louie Zamperini, who was lost at sea for months after his plane malfunctioned and crashed. His fight for survival brought forth these traits and caused him to outlive his situation.

Resilience is something that some people would give anything to have, the price however is sometimes steep. The price of resilience can be personality, a relationship with family, or a person's modesty. By hardening themselves against the outside world some people lose a part of their personality and become much different than they were before, such as Allen Wheelis from “Grass”. Other times people sacrifice a relationship with someone they care about to become resilient, shutting them out so that they can not hurt them anymore, Elizabeth from “Jericho”, a short story by Margaret Price, is an example of this. Lastly some people who are resilient get what is called survivor’s pride, and in turn become arrogant, an example

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

Staying Positive When I began doing research for this paper, my first thought was, what exactly is resilience? Resilience is adapting to adversity. It is the ability to roll with the punches that come in life. When stress, adversity, or trauma attacks, a person will still experience anger, grief, and pain, but she is able to keep functioning. “The Blessings of Adversity” is an article written by James E. Faust, published in a magazine called the Ensign.

Researcher define resilience as a broad cluster of personal characteristics that facilitate the ability to manage despite trauma. These characteristics include hardiness, optimism, self-enhancement, repressive coping, positive affect, and a sense of coherence (Agaibi & Wilson,2005; Bonanno, 2004; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Collectively, these characteristics permit such people to emerge from trauma with less psychological wounds and relatively unchanged.

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

Researchers theorize the use of positive psychology in the treatment of cancer patients can diminish or eliminate depression. Researchers determined a structured positive psychotherapy program, designed to address the psychological challenges that cancer patients traverse. Breast cancer patients are taxed with medical, physical, emotional, and psychological stresses, that consume their lives. The natural instinct to survive allows patients to override the emotional and psychological fallout of the disease and focus on the eliminating the physical attack of the cancer, with medical interventions. This time proves to be chaotic, overwhelming and stressful; with patients inundated with fear, medical jargon, choices,

The earliest studies on resiliency were published in the 1970’s, making it a relatively new human growth and social psychology concentration. The definition of resiliency, generally speaking, is overcoming an adverse, stressful or traumatic situation in a positive way. Furthermore, a person characterized as resilient must also be able to function and even prosper within society following that event or situation. Researchers have become more interested in the effects of positive psychology, looking at the potential for growth within an individual’s ability to become resilient.

Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behavior and experiences: A meta-analysis and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 539 to 579

Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behavior and experiences: A meta-analysis and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 539 to 579

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 it is one of the major determinants of resilience. Having personal attributes such as calm, patience and adventurous will facilitate us to become a more resilient person. We will not become panic-stricken and lose control of ourselves when we encounter adversity. Other positive traits such as cheerful and optimistic can also conduce to resiliency. It can help us to find positive meanings in our lives despite adversity. On the contrary, negative traits such as pessimistic, impulsive and emotionally unstable can affect our resiliency and also our well-being.

This field of psychology was named positive psychology its aim was to study happiness and what it is that makes people flourish in life. This essay aims to explore the concepts of positive interventions in the workplace: theories and applications. A brief background of where positive psychology emerged from will be discussed, and the importance of positive psychology’s role in the understanding of human flourishing and wellbeing in personal and work life. One of the main theorists Martin Seligman’s theory PERMA model will also be outlined and a summary of each element in the model will be given. These he believes are fundamental in the Authentic Happiness and flourishing of a person. Applications of positive psychology can be integrated into areas such as therapy, education, stress management and the workplace issues using

According to the American Psychological Association (2014), “Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress” (Para. 4). In addition, biological, psychological, social and cultural factors help shape one’s resilience. There are many different theories that lay a foundation for one to begin shaping oneself. One theory isn’t set in stone because identity is an ongoing process.

Positive psychology (pp) is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. It alms to discover and promote the factor that allow individuals and communities to thrive. The new century challenges psychology to shift more of its