From research in the relevant literature, and insight into what exactly is positive psychology, it is evident that positive psychology contributes remarkably to both good health and well-being. Psychology traditionally focused on negatives, what is wrong with people, and how to undo these things, however positive psychology "is primarily concerned with the scientific study of human strengths and happiness" (Carr, 2011, p. xii). It also focuses on trying to build on the best things in life and emphasises positive qualities and experiences. In 1948, the World Health Organisation defined the word health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". This definition is based on …show more content…
By using positive psychology interventions such as focusing on positives instead of negatives and assessing the good in one's life can help to achive optimal psychological health and well-being. While clinical psychology methods such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used to treat numerous psychological disorders such as depression, they only focus on fixing what is wrong. Positive psychology helps to improve mental well-being by focusing on and building upon the positive experiences in one's life. An 8 week web-based study of the effects of a positive psychology programme on a group of young people showed that at the end of the programme the participants reported decreased levels of anxiety and depression and improvements in overall well-being (Manicavasagar et al., 2014). However, the percieved level of mental health can also effect mental well-being of individuals, those who believe that are psychologically healthy show flourishing levels of psychlogical functoning also, while those with languishing mental health proved to be more likely to display depressive symptoms (Keyes, 2002). One of positive psychology's greatest contributions to health and well-being is the powerful, positive effect it can have on psychological health and …show more content…
It has significant power to aid mental health and well-being, assisiting individuals to reach optimal levels of health and allow them to live a longer, healthier life. Positive pschology also contributes to physical health and well-being as discussed above, by aiding individuals to become and maintain healthy, but also assisting recovery from illness and in some cases, increasing life expectancy. Happiness is a topic within positive psychology that is both interesting and has a large effect on health and well-being. Positive psychology literature suggests that those who are aware that they are happy and satisfied with their life, are generally healthier both physically and psychologically. This contribution has lead to developing measures of happiness and allowing individuals to become aware of their own happiness. The area of positive psychology is becoming increasingly poplular due to the fact that it focuses on promoting optimal health and well-being and focuses on what is right rather than what is wrong. The contributions positive psychology has made to overall health and well-being in individuals is significant and these contributions are continuing to improve health regularly due to the powerful effect that it has made
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Show MoreBaumgardner, S. R., & Crothers, M. K. (2009). Positive psychology. (1 ed., pp. 4-8). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Mental wellness is more than the mere absence of mental illness. Mental wellness encompasses positive affect, life satisfaction, psychological and social well-being. (Mitchell, 2011) Seligman postulates that happiness is determined by a combination of set range(50%), intentional activities(40%) and circumstances(10%). (Mitchell, 2011) This show that Amanda can increase her happiness intentionally by as much as 40%. Activity like keeping a gratitude journal can promote happiness. The habit could again be encourage with motivational interviewing (Rollnick and Miller, 1995) and SMART goal
the point where if someone is not happy 100 percent of the time, they are told to seek immediate help. But what is the point of having thousands of other emotionssadness, anger, and fearif a person is only supposed to feel one? Positive psychologists believe that instead of being sad or having neutral feelings, individuals should be happy. From another point of view, Susan David, author of “Don’t Worry Be Gloomy,” and Sharon Begley, author of “Happiness: Enough Already,” both agree that having “negative” emotions is not as defective as people portray them to be. Experiencing other emotions is just as important in life as happiness , and should not be shunned, because these emotions contribute to thinking clearly, encouraging perseverance, and, in the end, making people unintentionally happy.
Levels and definitions of subjective wellbeing differ from person to person, country to country and from culture to culture. It is extremely hard to pinpoint how many and what demographic factors influence subjective wellbeing across the general population as a whole. Though we cannot, given these differences, confirm how much and to what extent our subjective wellbeing is determined by biological factors, we can deduce that a portion is built due to external, non-genetic
“Seligman (1998) noted positive psychology’s focus is to make the lives of all people rewarding and to build positive experiences”(Costello & Stone, 2012). His concern and main focus was to train and support staff, faculty, and administrators of positive psychology approaches and overall, helping their students grow as learn...
Positive Psychology is the strengths and virtues a person or a community poses that lead to its optimal performance and allow it to thrive.This is a beneficial study that has the chance to improve the lives of many as well as preventing some negative situations. This review looks into what Positive Psychology is and how it impacts our lives. The sources I selected look into a broad overview of Positive Psychology, and it looks into deeper more specific aspects of Positive Psychology. This review has to lead me to believe that if we see ourselves and the future in a positive way it will have a positive effect on our lives.
At the end of the experiment I will complete the last two steps in the scientific process. I will analyze the data gained and will formulate a conclusion. I don’t think much research has been done of the effects of Positive Psychology on those people with a higher than average level of happiness, since the catalyst for this research came from the desire to augment pathological treatment for depression. It will be interesting to see the impact, if any, on my current level of happiness.
Wong, P. T. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. What to do about the negative?, 52(2), 69-70.
Positive health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, but the capacity to withstand challenges and to accomplish life’s activities with pleasure and energy).”
Wellbeing was first discussed as authentic happiness by Seligman. In the concept of authentic happiness he discussed the components of positive emotions, meaning in life and engagement. He had described these components to be very much essential in bringing in authentic happiness which he called as wellbeing. It takes the shape of subjective wellbeing, when it becomes subjective to a person’s experience alone. The concrete aspects of health and wealth may stay away from this, when a person’s subjectivity is concerned (Kammann, 1983). Over the years as we see in other studies, this concept has changed to subjective wellbeing being defined on the basis of all the areas of life, wherein the objective factors of wealth and health, and
In the United States 20% of the adult population report that they are living a flourishing life (Keyes, 2002). However, a high percentage reports feeling as if they are ‘‘stuck’’ or ‘‘want more’’ and are yet not diagnosable with a mental disorder (Fredrickson, 2008). Because happiness has been found to be the source of many desirable life outcomes e.g. career success, marriage, and health, it is of importance to understand, how languishing individuals can reach this ideal state: How can well-being be enhanced and misery reduced (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). Over the past decade, research in the field of positive psychology has emerged to provide evidence-based methods to increase an individual’s psychological well-being, through so called positive psychology interventions (PPI’s). PPI’s are treatment methods or intentional activities used to promote positive feelings or behaviour. PPI’s vary from writing gratitude letters, practicing optimistic thinking and replaying positive experiences. A meta-analysis of 51 independent PPI studies demonstrated significant results in the effectiveness of PPI’s increasing well-being (49 studies; r = .29) (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
In this paper I will look at exercises that focus on increasing happiness. These exercises are the following gratitude visit, three good things in life, you at your best, and identify signature strengths. After looking at these exercises I will evaluate how they affect someone’s happiness and in what ways they can increase someone’s happiness. Finally I will decide which exercise I would use in an intervention setting as well as how to use it in the intervention setting.
In the article “Finding Happiness” the author says, “all of our problems arise from our own mind” (Finding Happiness”). He later goes on to say, “When we can respond to life’s difficulties with a positive and peaceful mind, they suddenly seem to melt away into nothing right before our eyes” (“Finding Happiness”). This statement goes to show that if you have negative thoughts, then you will be negative overall. Whereas if you try to maintain positive thoughts then you will overall be a more positive person. Being positive is going to help you in being happier (“Finding
Subjective well-being is a broad term that encapsulates how a person appraises his or her life and emotional experiences. It has different aspects which includes life satisfaction, positive and negative affect (Diener et al., 2016). Positive affect refers to pleasant feelings such as joy, ecstasy, pride. While negative affect is defined as emotions that are troublesome or that can cause disturbance like anger and guilt. Life satisfaction is the cognitive domain of subjective well-being as it refers to the judgments made by the person about his life as a whole (Suldo and Huebner, 2005). For example, a person evaluates his subjective well-being by looking at his health satisfaction, job satisfaction, and other facets of his life including feelings regarding his life experiences (Diener et al., 2016). People with high subjective well-being are
Emotional health plays a hand in many parts of people’s lives. When you maintain good emotional health it can play an important role in your school, work, relationships and physical health. Researchers used to believe that our happiness came from being successful. To the contrary, research has since shown it is just the opposite. A person with a positive outlook is more likely to set goals and work towards them. People tend to attract people with a like-mined outlook and attitude, therefore a happy person is likely to be surrounded by other happy people. This creates a positive circle of support and healthy relationships. These are key building blocks of success. People with good emotional health have positive coping skills to deal