Presentation for usage of everyone

1. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Autumn 2015

2. INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
• Positive psychology aims to:
• look at people’s strengths as much
as their weaknesses
• focus on how to build the best of
things as well as repairing the worst
• examine how people lead a fulfilling
life that can nurture high talent
• All of this is being done whilst still
embracing the need for scientific rigour.
Positive Psychology Page number
‘I thought, when I first became a
therapist 30 years ago, that if I was
good enough to make someone not
depressed, not anxious, not angry,
that I'd make them happy. And I never
found that. I found the best you could
ever do was to get to zero. But they
were empty.’
Martin Seligman
‘Positive psychology
is the scientific study of what
goes right in life.’
Christopher Peterson

3. LINKS TO ALL CORE AREAS OF
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology Page number
Taken from presentation
delivered by Catherine
Fritz at BPS Conference
– full version will be
available on WJEC
website
Positive
Psychology
Cognitive

4. AND ALL APPLIED AREAS OF
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology Page number
Taken from presentation
delivered by Catherine
Fritz at BPS Conference
– full version will be
available on WJEC
website
Positive
Psychology
Educational
Forensic

5. KEY TOPICS AND KEY NAMES
• Mindset - Carol Dweck
• Hardiness & creativity - Salvatore Maddi
• Self-control - Roy Baumeister; Kathleen Vohs
• Post-traumatic flourishing - Kate Hefferon
• Well-being - Ed Diener; Shigehiro Oishi; Richard Ryan
• Hope - Rick Snyder
• Optimism - Michael Scheier & Charles Carver
• Resilience - Michael Ungar; Ann Masten; George Bonanno
• Meditation - Shauna Shapiro
• Temperament – Mary Rothbart
Positive Psychology Page number
Taken from presentation
delivered by Catherine
Fritz at BPS Conference
– full version will be
available on WJEC
website

6. EVALUATION
Criticisms from the humanist view
1) It’s nothing more than Maslow
• “Maslow rejected science and science rejected Maslow” (Seligman, 2001)
• “ . . . the marginalisation of humanistic psychology within the academic world has left it
without a voice, no matter whether we, as individuals, subscribe to and support its
central tenets.” (Linley & Harrington, 2005)
2) Humanist emphasis on people finding their own answers
• Quantitative methods are inappropriate: “terrifying devotion to empiricist methods”
(Rowan, 2005, p.20)
• “There is a place for quantitative, statistical analysis, even based on self-report
questionnaires. ... An appropriate combination may enhance productive and practically
applicable research ...” (Linley & Harrington, 2005)
Positive Psychology Page number
Taken from presentation
delivered by Catherine
Fritz at BPS Conference
– full version will be
available on WJEC
website

7. EVALUATION
Criticisms from within
1) It ignores its roots
• Does it? Perhaps less than some areas?
2) It lacks an overarching unifying theory
• Need clear variables; causal relations; longitudinal studies (Maddi, 2006)
3) It places too much emphasis on correlational findings and sometimes interprets them as
causal relationships
• Probably, but it is an easier approach and useful for suggesting relationships for further
examination; some exceptions exist
4) It has become an ideological movement, rejecting results that don’t fit and resenting
criticism
• Every area of psychology can and does sometimes fall prey to these errors. It is
important to examine results and ideas critically.
Positive Psychology Page number
Taken from presentation
delivered by Catherine
Fritz at BPS Conference
– full version will be
available on WJEC
website

8. WEB LINKS
TED Talks
• www.ted.com
• Martin Seligman on the state of psychology
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow
Positive Psychology Centre
• www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu
• FAQ’s section useful
• www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu
• Various questionnaires, video clips and articles
Chris Peterson Blog
• www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-good-life
• Published in book form: Pursuing the Good Life
Positive Psychology Page number

9. BOOKS
• Seligman (2002) Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize
Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
• Carr (2011) Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths
• Lomas and Hefferon (2104) Applied Positive Psychology
• Peterson (2006) A Primer in Positive Psychology
• Boniwell (2012) Positive Psychology in a Nutshell
• Hefferon (2011) Positive Psychology: Theory, Research and Applications
• Froh and Parks (2012) Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology Page number

10. TEACHING RESOURCES
• The American Psychological Association has a division for teachers (TOPPS)
that can be joined for $50 (about £32)
• On this website are resource packs for a number of topics including positive
psychology.
• www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/
Positive Psychology Page number

11. DVD
• ‘Happy’ Documentary (2011)
• Includes case studies and interviews with psychologists (including Diener).
• Only available in USA but can be bought as an import from Amazon.
• Educational edition can be purchased and clips are available at
www.thehappymovie.com
Positive Psychology Page number

12. LESSON IDEAS
• Eating one raisin: A first taste of mindfulness (sheet in resource pack – could also be
done with chocolate or popping candy!).
• VIA Classification of Character Strengths (sheet in resource pack).
• Sit Up Straight! (sheet in resource pack).
Positive Psychology Page number