Positive Psychology Is

Positive Psychology Is Not

Describing Positive Psychology

“The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present). At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perserverance, forgiveness, originality, future-mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom. At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: moderation, tolerance, and work ethic.”

“Is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions.”

“Nothing more than the scientific study of ordinary human strengths and virtues,” one that revisits the ‘average person.’

“The scientific study of what goes right in life, from birth to death and at all stops in between. It is a newly christened approach within psychology that takes seriously the examination of that which makes life most worth living.”

“The parts of psychology that deal with (positive) experiences, dispositions, contexts, and processes, in individuals and groups, that facilitate well-being, achievement, and harmony.”

How Do We Know That Something Is Positive?

This deep, central question has received less attention than you might think
Many refer than you might think
May refer to Diener & Suh (1997) who addressed it RE ‘quality of life’ indicators
And they adapted the ideas from philosophers who were not thinking of PP

o Psychological lists, but not the purview of science

These do not always agree

How Are These Positive?

Giving to charity

What Might Positive Refer To?

Good intentions o Not unique to positive psychology
Ideology: people are good o Seems odd position for science to take o We should test this; need to know how it works
Appreciation: people are kinda neat o Less extreme, but similar to ideology o Slippery slope? o Says more about researcher than content o Maybe still useful in guiding work
Topics

It is probably impossible to define necessary and sufficient conditions for positive psychology
And expansive view of ‘positive topics’ may work best, yet relies on complex/competing definitions of ‘positive’
Considering what makes something positive probably a good positive psychology topic itself

Obvious overlap with other sub-disciplines
Humanistic & health psych have particularly similar perspectives and themes
Positive Psychology as a science o Method; skepticism vs. cynicism
Tension between research and practice o Similar to other areas, e.g., clinical psych