Positive illusion has been postulated to contribute to mental well-being, the ability to care and the capacity for productive and creative work. Proponents of positive illusions maintain that mild, and not delusional, levels of distortion are essential for mental health and do not detract from adaptive behaviours bound to objective reality. Opponents note that a distorted appraisal of reality and negative events could lead to misjudgment, risk-taking action, and perhaps longer-term negative consequences. Inline with more contemporary approaches to well-being, such as acceptance and mindfulness, we will propose a theoretical framework to establish appropriate parameters between actual reality vs. realistic appraisal. Moreover, we will argue that the missing link in the well-being research is the external and holistic measurement of optimal functioning; a dependent variable that psychology has tended to steer omit. We contend that while positive illusion contributes to mental health, an illusion-free appraisal can contribute to further well-being through courageous objectivity, and growth mindsets resulting in closer alignment to models of fully-functioning, measured by both external and internal criteria. This was presented at the 2016 International Conference on Well-being in Singapore.

1. Confronting Reality
Beyond Positive
Illusions
Objective Appraisals for a Growth Mindset and
Positive Mental Wellbeing
Dr. Paul Englert
31 October 2016
2016 International Conference on Well-being (Singapore)

2. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
THE CONTEXT:
A Scientist-Practitioner
Pracademic
My role as an executive psychologist
THE PROBLEM:
How to integrate therapeutic models into
a simple framework of wellbeing
The conversation with my colleague

3. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
1. The Replication Crisis
2. Poor Construct Definition
3. Excessive Reliance on Quantification
4. A Widening Scientist-Practitioner Gap
The Four Horsemen for Psychology

4. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
The Replication Crisis

5. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
Nomological network framework
Grounded theory
Poor Construct Definition
“Satisfaction with life, positive affect, and absence of negative affect”
(Diener et. al., 1985)
“Self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose
in life, personal growth” (Ryff, 1989)
“Broad range concept affected in a complex way by the persons’ physical health,
psychological state, level of independence, social relationships and their relationship to
salient features of their environment” (WHOQOL Group, 1998)

6. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• If it’s not measured, it simply does not exist.
• Reliance on population and mean-based statistics as opposed
to the understanding of the individual.
Excessive Reliance on Quantification

7. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
Don’t throw the baby
out with the bath water
just yet!
The Widening Scientist-Practitioner Gap

8. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
Practical Models for the Scientist-Practitioner
5 virtues of psychology in practice:
Ethics
Evidence-based
Continual research
Scientific method
Community

9. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
An Operational Definition for Executive Coaches
Wellbeing
Low High
Connection to reality
Low
High
Wellbeing

10. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
The Underlying Premises
• Wellbeing cannot be divorced from external reality
• The continuum of wellbeing should allow for value judgments
based on external achievement as well as internal states
• Wellbeing is contingent upon the individual, both in terms of
capacity and ideology
• Wellbeing is a journey and a destination
• Supra-wellbeing as well as pseudo-wellbeing need to be
discussed and differentiated in the literature

11. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• Low wellbeing
Low connection to reality
• Absence of positive thinking
about one’s situation that is
not connected to reality
• At the heart of Albert Ellis’
work
Delusional Depression

12. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• Low wellbeing
Connected to reality
• Alloy and Abramson (1988)
• Realistic, undistorted
appraisals about self-
relevant events
• Depression as a mental
adaptation
• A challenge for executive
psychologists
Depressive Realism

13. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• Taylor and Brown (1988)
• Positive appraisal of
situation that has low
connection to reality
• Three types of thinking:
– Unrealistic positive views of
self
– Illusion of control
– Unrealistic optimism
• The Confidence Movement
Positive Illusion

14. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• Realistic appraisal of
situation that is connected
to reality
• We want the same things as
positive illusions, but we
don’t want it to be an
illusion
• Wellbeing as a continuum
• Brings in the external criteria
into the conversation
Supra Wellbeing

15. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore

16. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• People have different goals and definitions of reality
• Key to understanding wellbeing is the congruence between one’s
definition of reality, one’s goals and one’s behaviour, with outcomes and
internal states
• This has to be understood at the individual level and must include an
evaluation of capacity, willingness, and opportunity (Blumberg and
Pringle, 1982)
• Wellbeing is therefore a holistic concept that incorporates internal and
external states, assessed within the individual to form an evaluation of
self-discrepancy and self-actualisation
• The continuum of wellbeing creates a growth mindset that drives internal
and external change
A Growth Mindset and Courageous Objectivity

17. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
The World Of The Executive Psychologist
The Psychologist Advantage To Assist Wellbeing
5 virtues of psychology in practice:
Ethics
Evidence-based
Continual research
Scientific method
Community
BUT, it must result in changes to the internal and external states to be
valued by clients and a discerning public.

18. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• As a researcher, how have I incorporated reality into my
measurement?
• As a researcher, how have I incorporated one’s congruence
with reality into the definition of wellbeing
• As a practitioner, how aware am I of the stages between
delusional depression and positive illusions?
• As a practitioner, have I evaluated my coachee’s capacity,
willingness, and opportunity?
• As an individual, how do I use the concept of supra wellbeing
to operationalise my growth mindset?
Five Key Questions

19. Australia  New Zealand  Singapore
• Blumberg, M., & Pringle, C. D. (1982). The missing opportunity in
organizational research: Some implications for a theory of work
performance. Academy of management Review, 7(4), 560-569.
• Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: The new psychology of success.
Random House Digital, Inc.
• Englert, P. (1997). Eliminating the negative in positive illusions: A
blue print for the maintenance of mental health during
unemployment and redundancy. In P. Howland (Ed.). Voices in
Continuum (pg. 115-126). Victoria Postgraduate Association: New
Zealand.
• Ghate, O., & Locke, E. A. (2003). Objectivism: The proper alternative
to postmodernism. In Post Modernism and Management (pp. 249-
278). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
• Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: a social
psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological
bulletin, 103(2), 193.
References