Positive Psychology Influencing: The onset of a Positive Lifestyle and Positive Health

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” (Lyubomirsky, 194). There are certain things in life that are uncontrollable and there is nothing anyone can do to change that, however there is a handful of things that are by choice. In her essay, How Happy Are You and Why?, Sonja Lyubomirsky proposes that everyone has a “genetically determined predisposition for happiness (or unhappiness) accounts for the differences between” each person (186). Lyubomirsky theorizes that everyone has a “set point” that is predetermined by genetics which represents the level of happiness a person experiences. In an attempt to offer people a way to gauge their own “set point,” she suggests a questionnaire that she has created to determine this number. The problem with this theory is that the questionnaire is subjective and reliant on circumstances. Her argument is problematic because she does not account for both happiness and

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

I decided to read the entire book (349 pages) titled, Flourish, by Martin E.P. Seligman. He sectioned his book into two parts, “A New Positive Psychology” and “The Ways to Flourish.” The first part of the book, Seligman discusses his journey to discover the concept of “positive psychology.” A man who was a part of an anonymous foundation contacted him and presented Seligman with hefty funds for an opportunity of a lifetime—to study and research any subject he wishes and report on it. He chose the topic, “Positive Psychology” as the subject he would then focus a substantial amount of his time and research on. In doing so, he was able to find scientific reasoning for how people achieve happiness in their lives. Once Seligman takes the time and space to explain his concept of flourishing and positive psychology, he then focuses the second part of his book on how to implement and maintain those concepts in your life.

The field of positive psychology, founded by Martin Seligman (1998), seeks to influence individuals whose lives are “neutral” and increase their psychological well-being. Positive psychology offers a unique perspective on mental health through focusing on individual strengths rather than dysfunction, pathology, and mental illness (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The goal of positive psychology is to assist individuals in creating meaningful lives through the promotion of positive emotions, individual character strengths, as well as, eudemonic happiness, as key components to optimal mental health. Like many other contemporary theories, positive psychology borrows principles and

With all of this negativity we hear in our personal and professional lives, as well as what we hear on television and the Internet, it's hard to maintain a positive mindset. This can lead to us becoming depressed and less productive in our professional and personal lives. This is why it is vital we maintain a positive mindset.

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,

This article presents Seligman’s formula for happiness through the use of the scientific method to explore his ideas. His conclusion involves three dimensions: the pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life. These different stages can be reached through the realization and utilization of character strengths, and then deploying these strength towards a purpose that is greater than oneself. The text relates to Seligman’s PERMA aspect of his well-being theory of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Moreover, the article enhances his own ideas by expanding on the usage of character strengths in regards to achieving a greater sense of happiness. The three stages that are described can be linked to

When considering an individual’s conception of happiness, we must first look at the life they lead to understand what might make that person happy. However, to truly assess what makes an individual happy we must further analyze the individual’s character. Since the life one leads does not necessarily correlate to their happiness. There are several factors that contribute to an individual’s conception of happiness. For example, a person may lead an extravagant life full of money, power, and all the materialistic items that many desire, but that individual is not truly happy because under all that material wealth they feel unhappy and alone. Meanwhile, another individual is living within his means but he is completely happy with that life because

Defining the meaning of life and the conditions, traits and features of a well-lived life is a question that throughout history engrossed theologians, philosophers, artists and, more recently, positive psychologists. This essay outlines findings from a selection of the literature and research to answer this question with the aim of identifying whether happiness is the true sign and the ultimate goal and marker of a well-lived life. This review of the literature has yielded findings that possessing a disposition towards gratitude is not only indicated to be present in a well-lived life, but can enhance and improve mental, physical and spiritual life outcomes.

Positive and negative affects influence how individuals react to their environment and to the different situations they encounter. Stress and anxiety bring self-doubt while optimism and happiness bring self-confidence. As such, one of the sources of self-efficiency is the psychological state (A. Bandura, 1977). Furthermore, according to Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory, when feeling positive emotions, people view situations and problems from a wider perspective. Positive emotions can foster the development of resources leading to better coping and resilience (Fredrickson, 2013).

The new Psychology field of Positive Psychology promotes a “flourishing” life dedicated to individuals looking to expand the pleasant, engagement and meaning in their life. Many Positive Psychologist use Gratitude Practice as a method of therapy to aid individuals with a wealth of positive constructs. Before looking into Gratitude Practice it is important to begin the research by taking a look at what Positive psychology is. Positive Psychology is a newer field in Psychology focused on the study of the strengths that enable humans and organizations to flourish. Gratitude Practice can help individuals become more optimistic and live healthier lives (Emmons, R.E. & McCullough, M. E., 2003) it can lead to greater happiness (Seligman, M. E., 2011) and can lead to improved relationships (Lambert, et. al., 2010). Positive Psychotherapy will also be examined as it pertains to purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups.

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).

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

The research of positive psychology is produced on three principle levels – the individual level, the subjective level, and the group level. The focus of the subjective level is mainly concerned with the measurement of positive experiences such as well-being, happiness, optimism, flow, and joy. At the individual level, the objective is to identify and measure positive human traits and qualities which demonstrate a ‘life of quality’, as, for example, necessary attributes of a ‘good person’. The group level emphasizes the macro-scale of social paradigms.

We began this course with the question “What is happiness? and Can we all achieve authentic Happiness? In our life we are taught many things, but we are not taught how to achieve our own happiness. Over the last five weeks we truly learned what happiness is and I believe we all can achieve authentic happiness in our life. In Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman uses happiness and well being as the terms to describe the goals of Positive Psychology. The desired outcome of Positive Psychology is happiness and well being. We learned from this course how to embrace both our positive feelings and activities to achieve authentic Happiness.