Positive Psychology Honors Psychology Mr. Tumino

Foundations of Positive Psychology n The attempt to understand and classify human strengths and virtues n Involved making normal peoples’ lives more meaningful and fulfilling

Definition of Positive Psychology n The scientific study of what goes right in life, from birth to death, and at all steps in between. –Chris Peterson, University of Michigan

The 3 Pillars of Positive Psychology n Positive Emotion Happiness, pleasuresHappiness, pleasures n Positive Traits Strengths, virtuesStrengths, virtues n Positive Institutions Family, school, etc.Family, school, etc.

Key Figures in Positive Psychology n Martin Seligman – “Father of Positive Psychology” coined term in 1998 n Chris Peterson – 24 Core Strengths n Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Flow n Sonya Lyubominski – individual differences in happiness, relationship between happiness and success

Positive Emotion leads to… n Greater creativity in problem-solving n Increased ability to learn new tasks n Longevity and better health n Greater work performance n Happier marriages n Less social isolation n Greater resilience n Greater efficiency

The Three Happy Lives n The Pleasant Life –Having many pleasures and the skills to amplify them n The Good Life –Pleasure vs. flow n The Meaningful Life –Knowing your strengths and using them for something better

Pleasure n Delights that have clear sensory and strong emotional components Bodily pleasures – come through the senses, momentary, need little interpretationBodily pleasures – come through the senses, momentary, need little interpretation Higher pleasures – momentary, more cognitiveHigher pleasures – momentary, more cognitive

Gratifications n Activities we very much like doing, but are not necessarily accompanied by sensory feelings n Engage us fully n Lose self-consciousness n Tied to a noble purpose n About enacting strength and virtue

Flow n Mental state of operation in which a person in a particular activity is fully immersed n Achieving Flow ChallengingChallenging Goal-orientedGoal-oriented Immediate feedbackImmediate feedback Deep, effortless involvementDeep, effortless involvement Sense of controlSense of control Time seems to stopTime seems to stop Sense of self-vanishesSense of self-vanishes

Happiness Formula n Devised by Sonya Lyubominsky n H = S + C + V n H = Enduring level of happiness (general state, not momentary) n S = Set range of happiness n C = circumstances that impact happiness n V = variables we control that impact happiness

External Circumstances n Money – small effect; extreme poverty does influence; if basic needs met, wealth has little correlation n Marriage status – married people are happier than singles or divorced people n Social Life – sociable people are happier n Negative emotion – most people with negative emotions also have positive emotions; slight negative correlation

External Circumstances – Continued n Health – little correlation unless several major health issues are present n Education, climate, race, gender – little effect n Religion – strong correlation regardless of the type of religion; sense of hope n Age – little correlation but the young and women have greater highs and lows

Misc. notes n 50% of our personality traits and 50% of our happiness factors are genetic n Major events lose their impact in less than three months n Severe events may never be fully accepted (death of a spouse/child) n Happier people are more likely than not to be left brain dominant