Positive Psychology
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY — THE SCIENCE OF WELLBEING
Tom Matthews and Alison Ogier-Price
What Is Positive Psychology?
Positive Psychology emerged to redress the imbalance within the field of traditional psychology that was primarily focussed on what was wrong with humanity, using a deficit and medical model of human experience. Many psychologists took up the challenge which was offered by the then president of the American Psychological Association Martin Seligman in an address in 1998, to pay more attention to what makes life worth living, and what is good about humanity and human character, shifting from a focus on pathology, weakness and damage, to studying wellbeing and strengths.
The field of Positive Psychology was thus born. It was a call to the further study of virtue, resilience, hope, wisdom, creativity, flow, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, perseverance and anything else that may elevate the human experience toward flourishing. The intention was to add to the work of pioneers in the field such as Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Victor Frankl, and to do so with scientific rigour. Inherent in the study of elevating the human experience is support for preventing, alleviating and ameliorating conditions of dysfunction.
The goal of Positive Psychology became to scientifically and rigorously study:
- Positive experience
- Positive individual traits
- Positive programs and institutions
Researchers believe that pathways which lead to increasing happiness, well-being and resilience include:
- The Pleasant Life (life of enjoyment). This describes how people optimally experience and savour the positive feelings and positive emotions in their past, present and future (for example, with optimism, hope, forgiveness, gratitude, relationships, hobbies, and interests).
- The Good Life (life of engagement). This considers the beneficial effects of immersion, absorption, and flow that individuals experience when optimally engaged in activities. These states are experienced when there is a positive match between people’s strengths and the challenges of the tasks they are doing, i.e. when they feel confident that they can accomplish the tasks they face.
- The Meaningful Life (life of affiliation). This examines how individuals derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing to something larger and more permanent than themselves (for example through exploring values and alignment, post traumatic growth, participation in social groups and organizations, and volunteerism.)
How the Level of Happiness and Subjective Wellbeing is Determined.
Sonja Lyubomirsky and other researchers have extensively researched the question of what makes up our level of happiness and subjective wellbeing. Their findings are that the happiness level can be described by the formula:
H (Happiness) = S (Set point) 50 % + C (Circumstances) 10 % + V (Voluntary activities) 40 % (In the formula and Figure 1 below, 'Set point' refers to the aspect of well being that seems to be controlled by genetic make up.)
It is particularly empowering to recognise that around 40% of an individual’s wellbeing is determined by chosen and intentional activities – those thoughts and behaviours that require effort and can result in lasting change and increase to long-term happiness and subjective wellbeing.
These intentional activities may include the active practice of optimism, hope, and goal-setting, the identification and engagement of strengths and meaning, the development of relationships, and exercise programmes, and many others.
Figure 1:
Positive Outcomes
Research in the field of Positive Psychology is demonstrating substantial benefits for increasing positive outcomes and decreasing negative outcomes. Examples of these are included in table 1 below. This is followed by descriptions and examples of how the research is applied to schools.
Table 1. Example Outcomes of Positive Psychology research
Strengths, correlations and interventions |
Ý Increased Positive Outcomes |
ß Decreased Negative Outcomes |
State of Happiness |
Performance at work, life expectancy, amount of voluntary work performed, likableness, flexibility, energy, sociability, generosity, helpfulness, creativity, rewarding marriages, money earned, and physical health. |
Divorce, and externalising behaviours. |
Participation in Extracurricular Activities |
Initiative, well-being, perceived quality of life, grade point average, self concept, occupational aspirations, assertiveness, decision making skills, independence, relationship with school, time spent on homework, self esteem, optimism, sense of being in control, satisfaction with friends and family. |
School violence, substance abuse, poor teacher relationships, and anti- social behaviour. |
Strength of Social Competence |
Academic achievement, social competence, commitment to school, coping skills, conflict resolution, and assertiveness. |
Unwanted pregnancy, number of sexual partners, violence, aggression, school misbehaviour, intention to use substances and excessive alcohol abuse and marijuana use. |
Strength of Flow |
Interest, excitement, confidence, performance, persistence, creativity, self-esteem, general well-being, engagement, quality of learning, assimilation with social group, well-being, integrity, and initiative. |
School drop out, depression and anxiety, and psychopathologies. |
Strength of Forgiveness |
Agreeableness, empathy, positive interpersonal relationships, life satisfaction, positivity, optimism emotion, and mental health. |
Anger, vengeful rumination, stress, time spent ruminating, anxiety and hostility, neuroticism, violence, some crime and sexual infidelity. |
Strength of Gratitude |
Coping, well-being, adjustment during stressful events, pro-social behaviour, optimism, life satisfaction, and time spent exercising. |
Frequency of antisocial behaviours like narcissism, and physical complaints |
Strength of Hope |
Alternative pathways of thinking, positive self-talk, self-esteem, confidence, optimistic, life goals, problem solving skills, sense of having a purpose in life, and grade point average. |
Depression |
Strength of Optimism |
Longevity, positive moods, authenticity, skills acquisition, hopefulness, and positive explanatory styles. |
Risks associated with physical and mental disorders, anxiety, depression, and dysfunctional attitudes. |
School-based Positive Psychology Philosophy and a selection of Interventions
The idea of using a positive psychology framework within schools is firstly to build resilience and well-being, and secondly to provide buffers to help prevent delinquency and mental disorders. The programme includes identifying what makes students stronger and more productive, and identifying and nurturing high talent.
- Identification and Nurturing of Character Strengths and Virtues that enable students to thrive. Research (led by Christopher Peterson) discovered 6 universally valued virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Justice, Humanity, Temperance, and Spirituality. These virtues were found to be expressed through 24 character strengths (which can be identified for individuals using an online questionnaire at www.viastrengths.org. Researchers have since found that the greatest area of growth can be found from working within top ‘signature’ strengths (rather than on ‘weaknesses’), and that by actively engaging top strengths, wellbeing is increased, along with experiences of flow and optimal learning and skill acquisition.
- Participation in Extra Curricular Activities to develop initiative, exploration, emotional self-regulation, peer relationships, team work, social skills, and learning about community, along with an increase in wellbeing and perceived quality of life.
- Development of Social Competence through communication and social skills, listening, empathy, cooperating, understanding, and assertiveness training.
- Building Optimism to promote holding a view of life events and situations that is characterised by positive thinking and maintaining a positive attitude towards the future. It involves identifying thought processes and replacing inaccurate, unhelpful thoughts with more accurate ones. Schools can effectively model optimism with the way reports are written (highlighting strengths), setting and adjusting tasks and goals (making them flexible and orientated to students skills and interest), and counselling students (encouraging thinking that attributes negative events to external rather than internal influences).
- Encouraging Flow as an optimal psychological state of engagement that typically occurs when a person perceives a balance between the challenge associated with a situation and his/her capabilities to meet the demands. It inspires extraordinary concentration, commitment, effort, interest and enjoyment, while being somewhat void of time, emotion and effort.
Figure 2 alongside, shows Csikszentmihalyi’s model where flow occurs between the boundaries of anxiety and boredom, when the optimal balance of skill and challenge is reached. The model also shows the progressive nature of flow, wherein, in order to maintain flow, skill level and challenge should increase, hence reinforcing learning.
Flow may be interrupted where there are experiences of threat, tangible rewards, deadlines, directives, and pressured evaluations, which may serves to diminish intrinsic motivation.
- Practicing Gratitude to shift attention to what is good and right about one’s self and one’s circumstances. The process of looking for, noticing and acknowledging one’s own contribution to the good things in life has a dramatic effect on wellbeing, while also lowering symptoms of anxiety and depression. This practice fosters pro-social behaviour and coping with stress. Gratitude within school provides can provide an underpinning philosophy that enables learners and educators alike to engage with each other with an appreciative eye, and in so doing, amplify returns on effort and experiences.
In Summary
If the philosophies of positive psychology and the initial findings of research in the field are correct, and the aims are to bear fruit, then much should change within schools, communities, and families, driven in large part by teachers, parents, counsellors and other individuals.
This change is not just about programmes and interventions but is about testing and adopting positive psychological principles as an underlying philosophy. Demonstrated effects might include teachers utilising student curiosity by increasing topic choice, increasing intrinsic motivation and cooperative learning, and building social skills. The current curriculum would become infused with messages of hope and optimism, and social development skills.
English teachers would include practice tasks involving writing about gratitude and strengths. Programmes would emerge to foster extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and practices of gratitude and forgiveness, and so much more.
For decades educators have focused on content, content and more content, and psychologists on problems, problems and more problems. Positive psychology provides a vehicle for people to learn more about positive aspects of humanity and to change existing mindsets. The aim is to follow the evidence that points towards the benefits of focusing on a positive core sense of wellbeing.
As we support people in flourishing, and living and appreciating the pleasant life, rich with experiences of engagement and connected with genuine meaning, we increase the capacity to learn, and absorb 'content', we build resilience, help buffer against 'problems' and most importantly, help enable people to live closer to their own potential.
Tom Matthews and Alison Ogier-Price are founding members of the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology (NZAPP at www.nzapp.co.nz).
For references and other information, consultancy, courses or presentations, please make contact by email with either:
Tom » tom@leadershipconsulting.co.nz
Alison » alison.ogier-price@pg.canterbury.ac.nz