Concept
Positive psychology
Overview
Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, positive relationships, and positive institutions.
Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. It is a reaction against past practices that tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. It builds on the humanistic movement of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, which encourages an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and purpose.
Positive psychology largely relies on concepts from the Western philosophical tradition, such as the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia, which is typically rendered in English with the terms "flourishing", "the good life," or "happiness". Positive psychologists study empirically the conditions and processes that contribute to flourishing, subjective well-being, and happiness, often using these terms interchangeably.
Positive psychologists suggest several factors that may contribute to happiness and subjective well-being. These include strong social ties such asː family, friends, colleagues, and wider networks, involvement in clubs or social organization, regular physical exercise, and practices like meditation. Spiritual practice and religious commitment is another possible source for increased well-being. Its key principles focus on the positive aspects of human experience, a strengths-based approach that identifies individual strengths, like optimism, resilience and gratitude. It emphasizes one's overall well-being and promotes engagement and relationships. It also differentiates hedonic (pleasure-seeking) and eudaemonic (purpose and fulfillment) happiness.
Positive psychology has practical applications in various fields, including education, the workplace, community development, and mental healthcare. This domain of psychology aims to enrich individuals' lives by promoting well-being and fostering positive experiences and characteristics, thereby contributing to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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prevents the acting it out: yet, if the absence be protracted, it is thought to cause a forgetfulness even of the Friendship: and hence it has been said, “many and many a Friendship doth want of intercourse destroy.” Accordingly, neither the old nor the morose appear to be calculated for Friendship, because the pleasurableness in them is small, and no one can spend his days in company with that which is positively…
Aristotle, The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle
States what Positive psychology is; the author is tied to Positive psychology in the knowledge graph.
Here we have in the most express terms the recognition of a final and permanent standard with reference to which the nature of happiness is determined, and the standard is one of social relationships. To be sure it is claimed that the standard is one which results in greatest happiness, but every ethical theory has always claimed that the ideal moral condition would be accompanied by the maximum possible happiness…
John Dewey, Outlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics
States what Positive psychology is.
§ 15. To make clear the meaning of the general argument set forth in this chapter, its successive parts must be briefly summarized. That which in the last chapter we found to be highly-evolved conduct, is that which, in this chapter, we find to be what is called good conduct; and the ideal goal to the natural evolution of conduct there recognized we here recognize as the ideal standard of conduct ethically…
Herbert Spencer, The Data of Ethics
States what Positive psychology is.
Philosophers who discussed Positive psychology
Related ideas
- Educational psychology
- Cognition
- Social system
- Passion (emotion)
- Hedonism
- Hinduism
- Western philosophy
- Creativity
- Eastern philosophy
- Impartiality
- Pleasure
- Happiness
- Love
- Harvard University
- Self-control
- Eudaimonia
- Psychiatry
- Autonomy
- Neuroscience
- Well-being
- Observation
- Psychology
- Humility
- Boredom
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Meaning of life.