Chapter 16 Positive Psychology Positive Psych is a social and intellectual movement within the discipline of psych that focuses on human strengths and how people can flourish and be successful Identified in 1998 by Martin Seligman Field had had a largely negative orientation o Since WWII psych has adhered to the disease model to treat stress and disorders associated with the modern world o Should learn to see life as fulfilling rather than stress ridden and dysfunctional Pos Psych turning point for the field Shares some ideas with humanistic psych which has been present since the 50 s History Scope Has three lines of inquiries Three main Legs on which the field stands o Positive subjective experiences good moods happiness and love o Positive individual traits character strengths and virtues o Positive institutions families schools and supportive work environments o READ MORE IN THE BOOK PSE Positive moods o Moods global pervasive responses to experiences o Being in a good mood effects Making people more agreeable Making people more helpful Making people better decision makers Making people more creative o Positive moods are linked to faster thinking Slow thinking is associated with bad moods o Variability of thought also affects moods Varied thought positive moods Repetitive thought negative moods Positive Emotions changes o Emotions powerful largely uncontrollable feelings accompanied by physiological o Positive emotions consist of pleasant responses to events that promote connections with others including subjective states like happiness joy euphoria gratitude and contentment o Negative emotions consist of unpleasant responses to potential threats or dangers including subjective states like sadness fear disgust anger guilt shame embarrassment o Historically negative emotions have been studied more than negative ones o Broaden and build model Developed to explain how positive emotions benefit us Positive emotions broaden peoples outlook Build on subsequent learning in order to develop future emotional and intellectual resources o Undoing hypothesis Positive emotions aid the mind and the body by recovering a sense of balance and flexibility following an episode experiencing negative emotion o Flow the state of being wherein a person becomes fully involved and engaged in the resent time by some interesting challenging and intrinsically rewarding activity Less self aware and loss track of time Focus all their energies and attention on an activity where skill and challenge are in balance Activity itself becomes intrinsically rewarding produces positive emotions and promotes goal attaining and achievement psychology of optimal experience 20 report experiencing flow multiple times a day 15 have never experienced flow o Refers to a cultivated perspective wherein people are sensitive to context and focused Mindfulness on the present o When mindful we Resist the impulse to control uncertainty Are less prone to evaluate ourselves Are in a more flexible state of mind o Can become more mindful through meditation and awareness of natural surroundings Positive individual traits Refer to dispositional qualities that account for why people are happier and psychologically healthier than other people 4 traits that have been the focus of much study o Hope o Resilience o Gratitude o Spirituality Hope people s expectations that their goals can be achieved in the future Resilience a person s ability to recover and often prosper following some sort of consequential life event Gratitude entails recognizing and concentrating on the good things in one s life and being thankful for them Spirituality seeking deeper meaning Are those organizations that cultivate civic virtue encouraging people to behave like good citizens while promoting the collective good Positive institutions o Workplaces o Schools o Families