Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, positive relationships, and positive institutions.
Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. It is a reaction against past practices that tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. It builds on the humanistic movement of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, which encourages an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and purpose.
Positive psychology largely relies on concepts from the Western philosophical tradition, such as the Aristotelian concept of , which is typically rendered in English with the terms "flourishing", "the good life," or "happiness". Positive psychologists study empirically the conditions and processes that contribute to flourishing, subjective well-being, and happiness, often using these terms interchangeably.
Positive psychologists suggest several factors that may contribute to happiness and subjective well-being. These include strong social ties such asː family, friends, colleagues, and wider networks, involvement in clubs or social organization, regular physical exercise, and practices like meditation. Spiritual practice and religious commitment is another possible source for increased well-being. Its key principles focus on the positive aspects of human experience, a strengths-based approach that identifies individual strengths, like optimism, resilience and gratitude. It emphasizes one's overall well-being and promotes engagement and relationships. It also differentiates hedonic (pleasure-seeking) and eudaemonic (purpose and fulfillment) happiness.
Positive psychology has practical applications in various fields, including education, the workplace, community development, and mental healthcare. This domain of psychology aims to enrich individuals' lives by promoting well-being and fostering positive experiences and characteristics, thereby contributing to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
History
Influences from ancient history
Before the first use of the term "positive psychology," researchers focused on topics that would now be included under the umbrella of positive psychology. Some view positive psychology as a meeting of Eastern thought, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and Western psychodynamic approaches.
The historical Western roots of positive psychology are found in the teachings of Aristotle, whose Nicomachean Ethics is a description of the theory and practice of human flourishing—which he referred to as eudaimonia (a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of good spirit, and which is commonly translated as happiness or welfare)—of the tutelage necessary to achieve it, and of the psychological obstacles to its practice. It teaches the cultivation of virtues as the means of attaining happiness and well-being.
Influences from psychological domains and theoretical foundations Scientific research on well-being dates back to the 1950s. Several humanistic psychologists, most notably Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Erich Fromm, developed theories and practices pertaining to human happiness and flourishing. More recently, positive psychologists have found empirical support for the humanistic theories of flourishing.
In 1984, psychologist Ed Diener published his tripartite model of subjective well-being, which posited "three distinct but often related components of wellbeing: frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and cognitive evaluations such as life satisfaction." In this model, cognitive, affective, and contextual factors contribute to subjective well-being. According to Diener and Suh, subjective well-being is "based on the idea that how each person thinks and feels about his or her life is important."
Carol Ryff's six-factor model of psychological well-being was first published in 1989. It postulates that self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others are crucial to well-being.
According to Corey Keyes, who collaborated with Carol Ryff and used the term flourishing as a central concept, mental well-being has three components: hedonic (i.e. subjective or emotional), psychological, and social well-being. Hedonic well-being concerns emotional aspects of well-being, whereas psychological and social well-being, e.g. eudaimonic well-being, concerns skills, abilities, and optimal functioning. This tripartite model of mental well-being has received cross-cultural empirical support.
Key figures The positive psychology movement was first founded in 1998 by Martin Seligman. He was concerned that mainstream psychology focused too much on disease, disorders, and disabilities rather than on well-being, resilience, and recovery. He aimed to apply the methodological, scientific, scholarly, and organizational strengths of mainstream psychology to promote well-being instead of focusing on illness and disease.
The field has been influenced by humanistic and psychodynamic approaches to treatment. Predating the use of the term "positive psychology", researchers within the field of psychology had focused on topics that would now be included under this new denomination.
The term "positive psychology" dates at least to 1954, when Abraham Maslow's Motivation and Personality was published with a final chapter titled "Toward a Positive Psychology." In the second edition published in 1970, he removed that chapter, saying in the preface that "a positive psychology is at least available today though not very widely." There have been indications that psychologists since the 1950s have increasingly focused on promoting mental health rather than merely treating mental illness. From the beginning of psychology, the field addressed the human experience using the "Disease model," studying and identifying the dysfunction of a person.
In the opening sentence of his book Authentic Happiness, Seligman claimed: "For the last half century psychology has been consumed with a single topic only—mental illness," expanding on Maslow's comments half a century earlier. He urged psychologists to continue the earlier missions of psychology of nurturing talent and improving everyday life.
Development The first positive psychology summit took place in 1999. The First International Conference on Positive Psychology took place in 2002. In September 2005, the first master's program in applied positive psychology (MAPP) was launched at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2006, a course on positive psychology at Harvard University was one of the most popular courses on offer. In June 2009, the First World Congress on Positive Psychology took place in Philadelphia.
The field of positive psychology today is most advanced in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia.
Core concepts
Core principles
Positive psychology, as defined by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is "the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life."
Positive psychology aims to complement and extend traditional problem-focused psychology. It concerns positive states (e.g. happiness), positive traits (e.g. talents, interests, strengths of character), positive relationships, and positive institutions and how these apply to physical health.
Seligman proposes that a person can best promote their well-being by nurturing their character strengths. Seligman identifies other possible goals of positive psychology: families and schools that allow children to grow, workplaces that aim for satisfaction and high productivity, and teaching others about positive psychology.
A basic premise of positive psychology is that human actions arise from our anticipations about the future; these anticipations are informed by our past experiences.
Those who practice positive psychology attempt psychological interventions that foster positive attitudes toward one's subjective experiences, individual traits, and life events. The goal is to minimize pathological thoughts that may arise in a hopeless mindset and to develop a sense of optimism toward life. Positive psychologists seek to encourage acceptance of one's past, excitement and optimism about one's future, and a sense of contentment and well-being in the present.
Happiness
Two definitions: Happiness can be understood both as an enjoyable state of mind and the living of an enjoyable, fulfilling life.
Quality of life
Quality of life refers to overall well-being, encompassing not just physical and mental health but also socioeconomic factors. This concept is subjective and may vary across different cultures and regions.
Research topics Positive psychology according to Seligman and Christopher Peterson, addresses three issues:
Positive emotions: These include contentment with the past, happiness with the present, and hope for the future. Positive individual traits: These are strengths and virtues that define individuals. Positive institutions: Organizations, systems, and institutions (schools, families, and communities) that promote better well-being. These things should be creating supportive environments, fairness, engagement, and having a positive environment
According to Peterson, positive psychologists are concerned with four topics: positive experiences, enduring psychological traits, positive relationships, and positive institutions. He also states that topics of interest to researchers in the field are states of pleasure or flow, values, strengths, virtues, talents, as well as the ways that these can be promoted by social systems and institutions.
Theoretical frameworks
There is no accepted "gold standard" theory in positive psychology. The work of Seligman is regularly quoted, as is the work of Csikszentmihalyi, and older models of well-being, such as Ryff's six-factor model of psychological well-being and Diener's tripartite model of subjective well-being.
Later, Paul Wong introduced the concept of second-wave positive psychology.
Initial theory: three paths to happiness In Authentic Happiness (2002) Seligman proposed three kinds of a happy life that can be investigated: Pleasant life: research into the pleasant life, or the "life of enjoyment", examines how people optimally experience, forecast, and savor the positive feelings and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living (e.g. relationships, hobbies, interests, entertainment, etc.). Seligman says this most transient element of happiness may be the least important. Good Life: investigation of the beneficial effects of immersion, absorption, and flow felt by people when optimally engaged with their primary activities, is the study of the Good Life, or the "life of engagement". Flow is experienced when there is a match between a person's strengths and their current task, i.e. when one feels confident of accomplishing a chosen or assigned task. Related concepts include self-efficacy and play. Meaningful Life: inquiry into the meaningful life, or "life of affiliation", questions how people derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing back to something larger and more enduring than themselves (e.g. nature, social groups, organizations, movements, traditions, belief systems).
PERMA
In Flourish (2011), Seligman argued that the last category of his proposed three kinds of a happy life, "meaningful life", can be considered as three different categories. The resulting summary for this theory is the mnemonic acronym PERMA: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and Accomplishments.