PositivePsychologyinaNutshell

POSITIVEPSYCHOLOGYINANUTSHELL

Abalancedintroductiontothescienceofoptimalfunctioning

IlonaBoniwell

PWBC,London

Publishedin2006byPWBC

CopyrightIlonaBoniwell,2006

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanicalorother

means,withoutthepriorpermissionoftheauthor.

PersonalWellBeingCentre,28HansPlace,LondonSW1X0JY

tel.08454589256 email:info@personalsynthesis.org

ISBN0954838785

Coverdesignandillustrations:AlexanderIzotovsProofreading: DavidMartin

PrintedinGreatBritainbyStephenAustin,Hertford

CONTENTS

1.Whatispositivepsychology? 1

2.Youremotionsandyou 7

3.Optimismandhope 16

4.Livinginflow 24

5.Happinessandsubjectivewellbeing 30

6.Ishappinessnecessaryorsufficient?Theconceptof eudaimonicwellbeing 39

7.Meaninginmaking:values,motivationandlifegoals 49

8.Timeinourlives 56

9.Positivepsychologyandlifecomplexitiesandchallenges 65

10.Thefreedomofchoiceandhowtosurviveit 74

11.Thepositivepsychologyofstrengths 80

12.Love 90

13.Puttingitintopractice 99

14.Thefutureofpositivepsychology 106

Index 114Notes 117

WHYIWROTETHISBOOK

AsafounderoftheEuropeanNetworkofPositivePsychologyanda researcher, I am frequently asked to present an introductorylectureoraworkshoponpositivepsychology.Ihavegiventalkstoundergraduate and postgraduate students, managers, healthprofessionals, educators and the general public. My talk usuallygeneratesalotofexcitementandinterest.HowcanIlearnalittlebitmoreabout it?participantsalwaysask.Atthispoint,Iusuallypickupa829page HandbookofPositivePsychologyandshowittothe audience. It is generally met with silence, broken by anoccasional giggle.Then Ipickupa770pagePositivePsychologyin Practice probably the best major volume on positivepsychology to date. It improves the situation but only slightly.Finally, I introducea388pagePositivePsychologybyAlanCarr,andabouta thirdofmyaudience exhalewithrelief.For theothertwothirds this textbook, aimed at undergraduate psychologystudents,isstill anunlikelyreadinourageofinformationoverload.

Thiswastherationalebehindthebookyouareholdingnowto provide a concise (in under 150 pages) but comprehensiveintroductiontopositivepsychologyforanintelligentreader,whoisnotnecessarilyapsychologist.Althoughithastipsandtools,thisisnotaselfhelpbook,butanattempttoofferabalancedaccountofwhat positive psychology is and what it is not,what its strengthsand what its weaknesses are. It discusses many successes anddiscoveries,butalsocontroversieswithinthefield.

Muchofwhatisinsidethecoverscomesfromreadingbooks,scientificpapers, going to conferences, talking to leading scholarsandcarryingoutresearch.Thebookalsodrawsondiscussionswithfriendsandcolleagues,andquestionsraisedbytheaudience.Ihopethis attempt to marry research findings with conceptual thinkingand common sense produces a light but integrated perspective onpositivepsychology.

Ilona

PERMISSIONS

Theauthorandthepublishergratefullyacknowledgepermissiontoreprintthefollowingscalesinthisbook:

American Psychological Association and Rick Snyder forAdult Dispositional Hope Scale taken fromSnyder, C.R., Harris,C., Anderson, J.R., Helleran, S.A., Inrving, L.M., Sigmon, S.T.,Yoshinobu, L.,Gibb, J., Langelle,C. andHarney, P. (1991).Thewill and the ways: development and validation of an individualdifferences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology,60(4), 570585. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc for SatisfactionWith LifeScale taken from Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larson, R.J. andGriffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal ofPersonalityAssessment,49(1), 7175.

The author and the publisher gratefully acknowledge the VIAInstitutefortheirpermissiontoadaptTable1.1fromPeterson,C.&Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Character strengths and virtues: Ahandbookandclassification.Washington:AmericanPsychologicalAssociationandNewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.

Every effort hasbeenmade to trace copyright owners andanyoneclaiming copyright is advised to contact Personal WellBeingCentre.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IamverygratefultomyfriendandpublisherNashPopovicforhiscontribution to this book through numerous discussions, practicaladviceandinsightfulcommentsonthefirstdraft.SpecialthanksgotoTimLeBonandAlexLinley for their helpful commentson thefinaldraftofthismanuscript.

I also gratefully acknowledge many friends and colleaguesfromthefieldofpositivepsychologyfortheirindirectcontributions(friendly discussions, correspondence and support that I havereceived from the Positive Psychology Network in the last fiveyears). Many thanks to: Phillip Zimbardo, Anita Rogers, JaneHenry, IlonaRoth,SusanDavid,VeronikaHuta, JamesPawelski,BarbaraFredrickson,AntonellaDelleFave,FeliciaHuppert,MartinSeligman,ChrisPeterson,GeorgeVaillant,EdwardDiener,MihalyCsikszentmihalyiandSheilaKearney.

NOTES

Asafinalnotebeforewebegin:although inmanyplaces Iuseanexpression he or she when referring to a person/individual, inotherpartsof thebookpersonalpronouns that indicategenderareused randomly. This is not reflective of any bias, but is done forpurelypracticalreasons.

1.WHATISPOSITIVEPSYCHOLOGY?

Youhaveprobablyheardof the termpositivepsychologyonTV,radiooreveninfashionmagazines.Butwhatisitreally?Whatdoesit standfor?Positivepsychology isascienceofpositiveaspectsofhumanlife,suchashappiness,wellbeingandflourishing. Itcanbesummarised in the words of its founder, Martin Seligman, as thescientific study of optimal human functioning [that] aims todiscover and promote the factors that allow individuals andcommunitiestothrive1.

Psychology has more often than not emphasised theshortcomingsof individualsascomparedwith theirpotentials.Thisparticular approach focuses on the potentials. It is not targeted atfixingproblems,but is focusedonresearchingthings thatmake lifeworth living instead. Inshort,positivepsychology is concernednotwithhowtotransform,forexample,8to2butwithhowtobring+2to+8.

This orientation in psychology was established about sevenyearsagoanditisarapidlydevelopingfield.Itsaspirationistobringsolidempiricalresearchintoareassuchaswellbeing,flow,personalstrengths, wisdom, creativity, psychological health andcharacteristics of positive groups and institutions. The map on thenextpageshowsthetopicsofinterestforpositivepsychologists.Thismap is not, by any means, exhaustive, but it provides a goodoverviewofthefieldandthebookyouareabouttoread.

Mindmapofpositivepsychology

Positivecoping

Motivation&goaltheories

Strengths&virtues

Emotions

Happiness&wellbeing

PositivePsychology

Creativity

Emotionalintelligence

Humour

Positiveemotions

Hedonicapproaches Flow

Eudaimonicapproaches

Wisdom&knowledge

Resilience

Love&humanity Temperance

CourageJustice

Copingwithchoice

Posttraumaticgrowth

Transcendence

Positiveageing

Appliedpos.psychology

Positivebusiness

Positiveeducation

Coaching

Positivetherapy

Psychologyoftime

Psychologicalwellbeing

Threelevelsofpositivepsychology

Thescienceofpositivepsychologyoperatesonthreedifferentlevelsthesubjectivelevel,theindividuallevelandthegrouplevel.

The subjective level includes the studyofpositive experiencessuch as joy, wellbeing, satisfaction, contentment, happiness,optimism and flow. This level is about feeling good, rather thandoinggoodorbeingagoodperson.

At the next level, the aim is to identify theconstituents of thegood lifeand thepersonalqualities thatarenecessaryforbeingagoodperson,throughstudyinghumanstrengthsandvirtues,futuremindedness, capacity for love, courage, perseverance, forgiveness,originality,wisdom,interpersonalskillsandgiftedness.

Finally, at the group or community level, the emphasis is oncivic virtues, social responsibilities, nurturance, altruism, civility,tolerance, work ethics, positive institutions and other factors thatcontributetothedevelopmentofcitizenshipandcommunities.

Thisbookwillmainly concentrateonthefirsttwolevels,butthechapter13(Puttingitintopractice)willtouchuponthethirdone.

Whydowehavepositivepsychology?

According topositivepsychologists, formostof its lifemainstreampsychology(sometimesalsoreferredtoaspsychologyasusual)hasbeenconcernedwiththenegativeaspectsofhumanlife.Therehavebeen pockets of interest in topics such as creativity, optimism andwisdom, but these have not been united by any grand theory or abroad, overarching framework. This rather negative state of affairswas not the original intention of the first psychologists, but cameaboutthroughahistoricalaccident.PriortotheSecondWorldWar,psychology had three tasks, which were to: cure mental illness,improvenormallivesandidentifyandnurturehightalent.However,afterthewarthelasttwotaskssomehowgotlost,leavingthefieldtoconcentratepredominantlyonthefirstone2.

How did that happen? Given that psychology as a sciencedependsheavilyon the fundingofgovernmentalbodies,itisnothardto guess what happened to the resources after World War II.

Understandably,facing ahumancrisisonsuchanenormousscale,allavailable resources were poured into learning about and thetreatmentofpsychologicalillnessandpsychopathology.

This is how psychology as a field learnt to operate within adisease model. This model has proven very useful. Seligmanhighlightsthevictoriesofthediseasemodel,whichare,forexample,that 14 previously incurable mental illnesses (such as depression,personality disorder, or anxiety attacks) can now be successfullytreated. However,thecostsofadoptingthisdiseasemodelincludedthe negative view of psychologists as victimologists andpathologisers, the failure to address the improvement of normallives and the identification and nurturance of high talent. Just toillustrate, if youwere tosay toyourfriends thatyouweregoing toseeapsychologist,what is themost likelyresponse thatyouwouldget? Whats wrong with you? How likely are you to hearsomething along the lines of: Great! Are you planning toconcentrateonselfimprovement?

Manypsychologistsadmitthatwehavelittleknowledgeofwhatmakes life worth living or of how normal people flourish underusual, rather than extreme, conditions. In fact,we often have littlemore to say about the good life than selfhelp gurus.But shouldntwe know better? The Western world has long overgrown therationale for an exclusively disease model of psychology. Perhapsnow is the time to readdress the balance by using psychologyresources to learn about normal and flourishing lives, rather thanlives that are in need of help. Perhaps now is the time to gatherknowledge about strengths and talents, high achievement (in everysense of thisword), thebestways andmeansof selfimprovement,fulfilling work and relationships, and a great art of ordinary livingcarriedoutineverycorneroftheplanet.Thisistherationalebehindthecreationofpositivepsychology.

However, positive psychology is still nothing else butpsychology, adopting the same scientificmethod. It simply studiesdifferent (and often far more interesting) topics and asks slightlydifferent questions, such as what works? rather than whatdoesnt? or what is right with this person? rather than what iswrong?

Arent we rediscovering the wheel?Historical roots of positivepsychology.

Positive psychology places a lot of emphasis on being a new andforward thinkingdiscipline.Whilst thesecondclaimmightbe true,theideaassuchishardlynew.Therootsofpositivepsychologycanbe traced to the thoughts of ancient Greek philosophers. Aristotlebelieved that there was a unique daimon, or spirit within eachindividual,thatguidesustopursuethingsthatarerightforus.Actinginaccordancewiththisdaimonleadsonetohappiness.Thequestionofhappinesshassincebeenpickedupbyhundreds,ifnotthousands,of prominent thinkers, and gave rise to many theories, includingHedonism,withitsemphasisonpleasureandUtilitarianism,seekingthegreatesthappinessforthegreatestnumber.

In the 20th century,many prominent psychologists focused onwhat later became the subject matter of positive psychology.AmongstthemwereCarlJungwithhis individuation,or becomingallthatonecanbeconcept3,MariaJahoda,concernedwithdefiningpositivementalhealth4 andGordonAllport, interested in individualmaturity5.Sincethen,themattersofflourishingandwellbeingwereraised in thework on prevention6 andwellness enhancement7. Themost notable of positive psychologys predecessors, however, wasthehumanisticpsychologymovement,whichoriginatedinthe1950sand reached its peak in the 60s and 70s. This movement placedcentral emphasis on the growthandauthentic self of an individual.Humanistic psychologists were critical of pathology orientedapproaches to a human being. The most famous ones were CarlRogers,whointroducedtheconceptofthefullyfunctioningperson,andAbrahamMaslow,whoemphasisedselfactualisation. Infact itwas Maslow who was the very first to use the term positivepsychology.

Humanistic psychologists, however, did not only reject thedominant negativeparadigm ofpsychology, theyalsobelieved thatsocalled scientific method (good for studying molecules andatoms) helps little in understanding the human being in itscomplexity and called for more qualitative rather than quantitative(statistical, number crunching) research. This is where positivepsychology disagrees with its major predecessor. Positive

psychology believes that humanistic psychology, because of itsscepticism of an empirical method, is not very groundedscientifically. Contrary to the humanists, whilst rejecting themainstreampsychologypreoccupationwithnegativetopics,positivepsychology embraces the dominant scientific paradigm. Positivepsychology thusdistinguishes itself fromhumanisticpsychologyonthebasis ofmethods8,whereas thesubstanceand the topicsstudiedare remarkably similar. Rightly or wrongly, positive psychologytends to present itself as a new movement, often attempting todistanceitselffromitsorigins.

Therootsofpositivepsychology

2.YOUREMOTIONSANDYOU

The term emotion is notoriously difficult to define. As Fehr andRussellputit:everyoneknowswhatemotionisuntilaskedtogiveadefinition9.Yetweallusethistermandseemtoeasilyunderstandtowhat, in our experience, it relates. Psychologists often employ thenotion of affect* as an umbrella term for various positive andnegativeemotions,feelingsandmoodswefrequentlyexperienceandeasilyrecognise.Inthischapter,Illconsidertwoaffectivetopics,popular within positive psychology positive emotions andemotionalintelligence.

Thevalueofpositiveemotions

For years, psychology turned its attention to the study of negativeemotions or negative affect, including: depression, sadness, anger,stress and anxiety. Not surprisingly, psychologists found theminterestingbecausetheymayoftenleadto,orsignalthepresenceof,psychological disorders. However, positive emotions are no lessfascinating, ifonlybecauseofmanycommonsensemisconceptionsthat exist about positive affect.We tend to think, for example, thatpositive affect typically, by its very nature, distorts or disruptsorderly, effective thinking, that positive emotions are somehowsimpleorthat,becausetheseemotionsareshortlived,theycannothavealongtermimpact.Researchhasshowntheabovenottobethecasebutittookitawhiletogetthere10.Itisonlyrelativelyrecentlythat psychologists realised that positive emotions can be seen asvaluable intheirownright,andstartedstudyingthem.

The person behind that realisation was Barbara Fredrickson,whodevotedmostofheracademiccareertotryingtounderstandthebenefitsofthepositiveemotions.Thefunctionsofnegativeemotionshavebeenclearforawhile.Negativeemotions,likeanxietyoranger,are associated with tendencies to act in specific ways, which areadaptive in evolutionary terms, i.e. the fight and flight response.

*Someresearchersmakeadistinctionbetweenemotionsandaffect,treatingaffectasbroaderand longerlasting,but in thisbook Iwillbeusing thesenotionsinterchangeably.

Thus, fear contributes to a tendency to escape and anger to atendency to attack. If our ancestors were not equipped with sucheffective emotional tools, our own existence could have beendoubtful. Moreover, negative emotions seem to narrow our actionrepertoires (or actual behaviours) when running from danger weare unlikely to appreciate a beautiful sunset. This function ofnegative emotions can help minimise distractions in an acutesituation. Positive emotions, on the other hand, are not associatedwithspecificactions.Sowhatgoodarethey,apartfromthefactthattheymerelyfeelgood?Whatisthepointinfeelinghappyorjoyful,affectionateorecstatic?

Thebroadenandbuildtheoryofpositiveemotions,developedby Barbara Fredrickson, shows that positive affective experiencescontributeandhavealonglastingeffectonourpersonalgrowthanddevelopment11.Andthisishowtheydoit:

(a)PositiveemotionsbroadenourthoughtactionrepertoiresFirst of all, positive emotions broaden our attention and thinking,which means that we have more positive and a greater variety ofthoughts.Whenwe are experiencing positive emotions, like joy orinterest,wearemorelikelytobecreative,toseemoreopportunities,tobeopen torelationshipswithothers, toplay, tobemore flexibleandopenminded.

(b)PositiveemotionsundonegativeemotionsIts hard to experience both positive and negative emotionssimultaneously, thusadeliberate experienceofpositive emotionsattimeswhennegativeemotionsaredominantcanservetoundotheirlingeringeffects.Mild joyandcontentmentcaneliminate thestressexperiencedataphysiologicallevel.

(c)PositiveemotionsenhanceresilienceEnjoyment, happy playfulness, contentment, satisfaction, warmfriendship, love,andaffectionall enhanceresilience and theabilitytocope,whilenegativeemotions,incontrast,decreasethem.Positiveemotionscanenhanceproblemfocusedcoping,positivereappraisal,or infusing negative events with positive meaning, all of whichfacilitatefastbouncingbackafteranunpleasantevent.

Resiliencehypothesis

(d)PositiveemotionsbuildpsychologicalrepertoireFarfromhavingonlyamomentaryeffect,positiveemotionshelptobuild important physical, intellectual, social and psychologicalresourcesthatareenduring,eventhoughtheemotionsthemselvesaretemporary.Forexample, thepositive emotionsassociatedwithplaycan build physical abilities and selfmastery, enjoyable times withfriendsincreasesocialskills.

(e)PositiveemotionscantriggeranupwarddevelopmentalspiralMore than that, just as negative emotions can lead one intodownward spirals of depression, positive emotions can triggerupward developmental spirals towards improved emotional wellbeingandtransformpeopleintobetterversionsofthemselves.

Thebroadenandbuildtheoryurgesustoconsiderpositiveemotionsnotasanendinthemselvesbutasameansofleadingabetterlife*.

12

A lot of interesting research highlights the benefits of positiveemotions. In one study with people who had lost their partners,researchers found that laughter andDuchenne smiling predicts thedurationofgrief.ADuchennesmileisagenuinesmilecharacterisedbythecornersofthemouthturningupandthecrinklingoftheskinaround the corners of the eyes. People who laughed and smiledgenuinely weremore likely to be engaged in life and dating againtwoandahalfyearslater,comparedtothosewhofeltangry13.

AfamousYearbookStudytracedthelivesofwomenwhowereattendinganallwomenscollege in1965.Thefacesofthewomenin their college photographswere coded for smiling behaviour andresults showed that Duchenne smiles related to less negativity,greater competence, more positive ratings from others and greaterwellbeing in their later lives14. Another study demonstrated thatphysicians experiencing positive emotions seemed to make moreaccuratediagnoses15.

* Positive emotions are distinguished from temporary pleasant sensationssuchaseatingchocolateicecream,drinkingbeer,doingdrugs,orgettingamassage.Thesesensationsarenotthesameaspositiveemotionsastheydonotleadtotheaccumulationofdurablepersonalresources.ForacomprehensivelistofrelaxationandmeditationrelatedexercisesseePopovic,N.(2005). PersonalSynthesis. London:PWBC.

Tips & Tools How can we increase positive emotions?

The emotion of contentment can be enhanced by engaging in relaxation practices, such as progressive muscle relaxation, yoga and imagery exercises. Meditation exercises help achieve a state of mindfulness, which brings many other benefits 11 .

SOMEPAGESARE HEREOMITTED

NOTES

1 Seligman,M.E.P.&Csikszentmihalyi,M. (2000). Positive Psychology:Anintroduction. AmericanPsychologist,55,514.2 Ibid3Jung,C.G.(1933). ModernManinSearchofaSoul.NewYork:Harcourt,BraceandWorld.4Jahoda,M.(1958).Currentconceptsofpositivementalhealth.NewYork:BasicBooks.5Allport,G.W.(1955). Becoming.NewHaven,CT:YaleUniversityPress.6 See forexample,Cowen,E.I.,Gardner,E.A.,&Zax,M.(Eds.), (1967).Emergent Approaches to Mental Health problems: An overview anddirectionsforfuturework.NewYork:AppletonCenturyCrofts.7 Cowen, E. I. (1994). The enhancement of psychological wellness:Challengesandopportunities.AmericanJournalofCommunityPsychology,22, 149179.8 Peterson,C.&Seligman,M.E.P.(2004). Characterstrengthsandvirtues:A handbookand classification.Washington,DC:AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.9 Oatley, K. & Jenkins, J. (1996). Understanding Emotions. Oxford:Blackwell,p.96.10 Isen,A.M.(2002).Positiveaffectasasourceofhumanstrength.InL.G.Aspinwall&U.M. Staudinger (Eds.), A Psychology of Human Strengths,Washington:AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.11 Fredrickson, B.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positivepsychology:Thebroadenandbuildtheoryofpositiveemotions.AmericanPsychologist,56, 218226.12 Ibid13 Keltner, D. & Bonanno, G.A. (1997). A study of laughter anddissociation: The distinct correlates of laughter and smiling duringbereavement. JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,73, 687702.14 Harker, L. & Keltner, D. (2001). Expressions of positive emotion inwomenscollegeyearbookpicturesandtheirrelationshiptopersonalityandlife outcomes across adulthood. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology,80, 112124.15 Isen, A., Rozentzweig, A.S. & Young, M.J. (1991). The influence ofpositiveaffectonclinicalproblemsolving.MedicalDecisionMaking,11,221227.