1. Unit 2 Positive Psychology
Prepared by: Cicilia Evi GradDiplSc., M. Psi

2. Positive Psychology
The study of features that enrich life, such as happiness, hope, creativity, courage, spirituality, and responsibility (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000)
This movement builds on people’s capacities, creativity, strengths, resilience, and coping skills (Seligman, 2002)  against the pursuing of pathology

3. Positive Psychology (2)
Promotes the pursuit of strengths  solution-focused and narrative therapy
Asset seeking!
The therapy is about recovery and validation of their strengths, dignity and life-affirming struggles
Do you find that in your novel?

4. Emotional Intelligence
Ability to give meaning, to think and to understand the emotions and use the information to make a decision (Mayer & Salovey, 1995, 1997)
Able to recognize someone else’s feeling and act upon that knowledge
Knowing someone else’s feeling  then decide to express or withhold the emotions

5. Six Dimensions of Psych Well-Being
Ryff (1989, 1991)
Self acceptance  having a positive view of oneself; acknowledging and accepting the multiple parts of oneself; and feeling positive about one’s past
Positive relation with others  having warm, satisfying relationships with people; being concerned with their welfare; being emphatic, affectionate, and intimate with them; and understanding the reciprocity of relationships

6. Six Dimensions (2)
Autonomy  being independent and determining one’s own life; being able to resist social pressures to think or behave in a particular way; evaluating one’s life by internal standards
Environmental mastery  being able to manipulate, control, and effectively use resources and opportunities

7. Six Dimensions (3)
Purpose in life  having goals in life and a sense of direction in one’s life; feeling that one’s present and past life has meaning; having a reason for living
Personal growth  feeling a need for continued personal improvement; seeing oneself as getting better and being open to new experiences; growing in self-knowledge and personal effectiveness

8. Relationships Research shows that: Reasons:
Marriage people are happier than unmarried people
College students with close friendships and romantic attachments are usually happier than those with no attachment
Reasons:
Social contacts are helpful in many ways
Happy people are more likely to develop strong attachments to others

9. Goals in Life
Happy people are more likely to have goals in life, compare to unhappy people
The only one not correlated with happiness is making money – because most of them do not succeed!

10. Other Factors
Health and happiness go together  health improves happiness and happiness improves the chances of long-term health
Religious people tend to be happier than nonreligious people (Myers, 2000)
Happy people are more likely to trust others, to be emotionally stable, to be conscientious workers and to enjoy being in control of a situation

11. Change your activities!
First, once a week list 5 things which you feel grateful for …  feeling grateful improve life satisfaction, optimism, health and exercise habits (Emmons & McCullough, 2003)
Second, perform a random act of kindness to a stranger every week (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2004)