What Is Meant By The Term Positive Psychology?

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 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 according to Gable and Haidt (2005) can be defined as “the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing of people, groups and institutions” (p. 103). Similarly, it can be described as the study of human strength and virtue to understand positive and emotionally fulfilling behaviour (Sheldon & King, 2001). There are three dimensions or levels of positive psychology which are based on aspects of our life experiences. Our positive subjective experiences are involved at the subjective level of positive psychology and they can be thoughts of the past such as satisfaction, the present such as happiness or the future such as optimism. At the individual level positive psychology focuses on positive individual traits such as the ability to forgive and love. Whilst at the group level it is about ensuring that groups care for the people involved such as establishing a positive work environment, creating healthy families and communities (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). A person is said to be flourishing when all three levels are working optimally (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).

Physically, an individual may lower his blood pressure and heart risk, may heal from illness, and may live longer. It also helps the brain to function better by learning new skills and behavior. In terms of relationship, people become more cooperative and starts to appreciate and collaborate with other people. Positive emotion also broaden the possibilities in perceiving experiences beyond the narrow range of survival. It allows the individual to open their mind and heart to new ideas so that they could see the bigger picture more accurately to create a better strategies in coping. It makes the individual more optimistic, confident and creative in creating a decision that promotes a win-win

These events can lead to people showing their emotions through happiness or sadness. Emotions that are generally perceived as positive are mostly associated with good and pleasant thoughts. Emotions help us develop our personality as well as our outlook on life. Experiencing emotions can be perceived differently based on age.

Positive thinking alone is not going to effectively help out the world to become better, thus people need to take actual support for the society. To put it differently, being happy for one’s own life is not enough, above all, one should take his or her happiness and use it to inspire others and to give back to the society. Actions that contains positivity can be small, but influential. Namely, it could be a smile; it could be being thankful and thoughtful for others; it could be generously giving and many more. Individual can do small action every single day and the accumulation of it could turn into something bigger and further powerful that one could not imagine. It takes someone to put themselves out there that will be a real

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.

While being happy is an important aspect of life, it is not the only emotion one should experience. A person that is happy tends to be more optimistic, but does this optimism truly help him or her? In the article, “Don’t Worry. Be Gloomy.,” Susan David brings to the

Growing up we learned that in order to be happy we had to indulge in positive emotions, and avoid negative emotions. The problem with this approach is

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.

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,

In Martin Seligman’s TED talk, he explains the values of positive psychology’s impact on creating happier lives. In 2000, Martin Seligman created a new field of psychology called Positive Psychology. This field of positive psychology is the study of positive traits and behaviors that can contribute to a positive “happier” life. In Seligman’s TED talk, The New Positive Era of Psychology, he categorizes positive lives into three categories. The Pleasant life, the life of engagement, and the meaningful life. But before he begins his speech, he explains the negative actions taken by psychology when treating people.

What is positive psychology? Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describe positive psychology in the following way: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise that achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in individuals, families, and communities" (Seligman M. E., 2000).

Positive Psychology is a scientific study that focuses on the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive, through the belief that people want to lead meaning and fulfilling lives (UPenn, 2008). Positive Psychology focuses on cultivating what is best within yourself, and works to enhance your experiences of love, work and play (UPenn, 2008). Happiness and well-being are the desired result, and optimizing and strengthening these can be achieved with different approaches; approaches geared towards positive emotions of your past, your future, and your present (Seligman, 2002). Positive Psychology has three pillars: the study of the positive emotion, positive traits, and positive institutions. Positive Psychology is focused on strength and weakness, equally as concerned on building the best things in life as it is repairing the worst; and just as concerned as making the lives of normal people

The movement of positive psychology is a reminder that our field and study has been focusing on things like anxiety, disease, weakness, and damage. This movement urged us to shift our focus to include the study of strength and virtue as well. Positive psychology is stating that the field of psychology is more than just the study of illness or health but rather it is also about “work, education, insight, love, growth, and play” (Seligman, 2002). Positive psychology is the study of strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive and it is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.