Positive Psychology

Part 1- About positive psychology. History

Part 2- What are the roots of happiness?

Part 3- Is well-being the same as happiness?

Part 4- How to improve well-being with PERMA?

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Part 1- What is Positive Psychology (PP) ?

Positive psychology is the study of happiness. Martin Seligman is considered the father of the modern

positive psychology movement

Psychology traditionally focused on dysfunction—on people with mental illness or other psychological problems and how to treat them.Positive psychology, by contrast, is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled.

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* Ancient Greeks :

Socrates advocatedself-knowledge as thepath to happiness.

Plato's allegory of thecave: happiness is foundin deeper meaning

Aristotle: happiness or eudaimonia is constituted by rational activity in accordance with virtue over a complete life.

Part 1- Positive Psychology in History 3

Part 1- Positive Psychology in History 4

* Ancient Greeks : Epicureans: happiness by enjoying simple pleasures.

Stoics: happy by being objective and reasonable

* Humanists: emphasized the unique qualities of humans, especially their free will and their potential for personal growth.

We have an innate drive toward personal growth.We exercise free will to control our actions.We are rational beings driven by conscious, not unconscious, needs

Part 1- Positive Psychology in History 5

2 examples of humanists:

Carl Rogers’s (1961) Person-Centered Theory.* Personality = one construct, the self = self-concept = a collection of beliefs * Self-concept is congruent with reality, or incongruent when our ideas about ourselves do not match reality

* Second example of humanist: Abraham Maslow

* First used the phrase positive psychology in 1954

* Theory of Self-Actualization and the pyramid representing the hierarchy of human needs

Part 1- Positive Psychology in History 6

Part 2- The roots of happiness?

Let's look first at what are NOT the roots for happiness, according to the results of Positive Psychology research:

* Money – the correlation between income and happiness is very weak (.13) in U.S.

* Age – age accounts for less than 1% of variation in reported happiness.

* Gender – gender also accounts for less than 1% of variation in reported happiness.

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

A popular misbelief: money does not buy more happiness, often the contrary....

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

Continued, what are NOT the roots for happiness, according to the results of Positive Psychology research

* Parenthood – good and bad aspects of parenthood offset each other.

* Intelligence – there is no association between IQ and happiness.

* Physical attractiveness – attractive people enjoy many advantages in society, but the relationship with happiness is very weak.

Other studies show that health, social activities and religion are somewhat important

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

So what is it that makes us happy?

* Love and marriage – across cultures, for men and women, married people are happier than people who are single or divorced.

* Work – job satisfaction is strongly related to happiness.

* Personality – extraversion (or positive emotionality) is a strong predictor of happiness.

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

What did we learn also from these studies?

* Happiness is about subjective feelings, much more than objective measures.

* Happiness is relative: relative to what others around us have, and relative to our own expectations.

* Happiness is dynamically affected by hedonistic adaptation, i.e. when circumstances improve, such as income, our baseline for happiness increases as well, so we don’t feel happier.

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade summarized what determines happiness in the below model in 2005

Publication: “Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change”

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H = S (50%) + C (10%) + V (40%)

H – happinessS – set pointC – circumstancesV – factors under voluntary control

Part 2- The happiness formula

According to the Positive Psychology model,we can affect 40% of our happiness

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Part 2- The roots of happiness?

How can you do generate more happiness in your life?Focus on the intentional activities under your control.

According to Martin Seligman in 2002/2003, these are:* The Pleasant Life: Pleasure & Positive Emotion* The Good Life: Flow & Engagement* Meaningful Life: Meaning & Purpose

References: “The full life” 2002; “Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment” 2003

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Part 3- Is well-being the same as happiness?

Is happiness the same as well being?

Not exactly... Let's introduce a new dimension:

1- Feeling happy in the now: “Taking all things together, how would you say things are these days — would you say you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?”

2- Thinking life is satisfying: “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?”

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Part 4- The PERMA model

* Positive emotion* Engagement* Positive relationships* Meaning * Accomplishment

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Part 4- The PERMA model 17

PERMA is a model to improve well-being by focusing on our intentional activity

Each element respects the following three properties

1- It contributes directly to well-being2- It is pursued for its own sake, not merely to get something else3- It is defined and measured independently from the other elements.

* In addition to the full life model, it also consider your social life and personal accomplishments

Martin Seligman about Positive Psychology 16

Interviewed by Jeremy Paxman - BBC

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* wikipedia.com

* Youtube: TED talks MartinSeligman 2004 Ideas worth spreading

* Authentic Happiness :: Using the new Positive Psychologywww.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu

* www.psychologytoday.com/basics/positive-psychology

* Seligman, Martin (1990). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

* Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Can Happiness be Taught?. Daedalus journal

* International Positive Psychology Association

Sources and References 18

Participant Notes 17

In the notes section of the slide