Introduction to Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology Introduction

• Positive psychology focuses on studying positive strengths and traits that lead to a fulfilling life.
• Humanistic psychology studies overall life experiences and individual meaning-making.

PERMA Model

• Developed by Martin Seligman, this is a scientific theory identifying five key elements for human well-being and flourishing.
• P: Positive emotions
• E: Engagement
• R: Relationships and connection
• M: Meaning and purpose
• A: Achievement and accomplishment

Hedonic vs. Eudaimonic Happiness

• Hedonic: Short-term pleasure stemming from pleasure-seeking activities (e.g., sex, drugs, splurging).
• Eudaimonic: Long-term happiness derived from a sense of meaning and purpose.

Keyes and Lopez's Classification of Mental Health

• Flourishing: High well-being and low mental illness, characterized by meaning, optimism, and goal achievement.
• Struggling: High well-being but also high levels of mental illness.
• Floundering: Low well-being and high mental illness.
• Languishing: Low well-being and low mental illness, characterized by disconnection and acceptance of difficulties.

Study of Positive Emotions (Alice Isen)

• Positive emotions increase flexibility and creativity in thinking, facilitating divergent and innovative thought processes.
• Positive emotions are enhanced when helping others and solving problems.

Basic Emotions (Ekman)

• Sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, happiness, and contempt are fundamental emotions.
• Each is associated with specific physiological responses.

Core Affect (Russell and Feldman Barrett)

• Core affect is a blend of pleasant/unpleasant and activated/deactivated emotions.
• This is a fundamental aspect of individual experience.
• Driven by biological, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural factors.

Barriers to Awareness

• Emotions are often invalidated or discounted by others.
• Thoughts are sometimes confused with emotions.
• Difficulty expressing and defining emotions.

The Biology of Emotions

• Left prefrontal cortex (LPFC) associated with happiness and the ability to recover from negative emotions.
• Reward system in the brain; dopamine release associated with pleasure
• Endorphins: The body's natural opioid system.
• Oxytocin: Bonding hormone released during sex, love, and breastfeeding.
• Anandamide: A "bliss molecule" that binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
• Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself based on experience leading to development of brain areas by experience, such as learning music and/or meditation.
• Genetic/environmental factors influence emotions (approximately 30-50% genetic).
• Family/environment shapes emotional development and response.

Zimbardo & Boyd's Model on Time Perspective

• Past negative type: Negatively views the past.
• Past positive: Positively views the past.
• Present hedonistic: Focuses on present pleasures.
• Present fatalistic: Perceives a lack of control in the present.
• Future oriented: Concerned with the future.

Virtues, Strengths, and Character

• Strengths and virtues are essential tools for managing stressful situations.
• Four themes of Strengths and Virtues include Executing, Relationship, Influencing, and Strategic Thinking.
• Strategic thinking involves analysis, context, futurism, input, and learning.

Motivation (Intrinsic & Extrinsic)

• Intrinsic motivation: Autonomous engagement in an activity regardless of reward.
• Extrinsic motivation: Engagement in activity when external rewards or incentives present.

Hope Theory

• Pathways: Identify ways to reach desired goals.
• Agency: Confidence in motivation to pursue goals.

Self-Determination Theory

• Autonomy, competence, and relatedness—basic psychological needs that enhance well-being.

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Theories

• Top-down theory: Emphasizes long-term traits, subjective well-being, and meaning.
• Bottom-up theory: Emphases external events and relationships

Psychological Well-being Scale

• Developed by Ryff and Keyes.
• Comprised of six components: self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relationships with others.

Subjective Well-being

• A measurement of individuals' feelings of satisfaction with life and their overall happiness.
• Happiness varies depending on how individuals view internal perceptions to external situations.
• Two assumptions:
  1. Happiness can be quantified.
  2. Individuals who share similar scores have similar degrees of well-being.

Self-Esteem & Self-Compassion

• Self-esteem: Subjective evaluation of the self-concept (e.g., “Do I like myself?”).
• Self-compassion: Kindness and understanding towards oneself (as opposed to self-criticism).
• Mindfulness: Being aware of thoughts and suffering without judgment.

Sense of Control & Self-Efficacy

• Locus of control: Internal attributes outcomes to personal effort while external attributes outcomes to outside forces.
• Self-efficacy: Belief in one's ability to produce desired effects through actions.

Optimism

• Optimistic explanatory style: Externalizing failures and internalizing successes.
• Learned Optimism: Martin Seligman's research focused on the idea of learned helpfulness and attribution style theories.

Cognition & Meaning

• Meaning in life: A predictor of higher subjective well-being, linked to openness to experience, self-reflection, and creativity.