The Classic Wanderer

What Are The Three Pillars Of Positive Psychology?

• Sabrina Sarro
• 05.05.2023
• 0
• 59

The Three Pillars of Positive Psychology

• positive experiences.
• positive traits.
• positive social institutions.

Who proposed 3 pillars of positive psychology?

According to Seligman (2002), the three pillars of study of positive psychology are: positive emotions, positive traits (virtues, personal strengths and skills) and the positive institutions that facilitate the development of these emotions and traits.

What are the 3 main aspects that positive psychology focuses on?

Research topics – According to Seligman and Peterson, positive psychology addresses three issues: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions. Positive emotions are concerned with being content with one’s past, being happy in the present and having hope for the future.

1. Positive individual traits focus on one’s strengths and virtues.
2. Finally, positive institutions are based on strengths to better a community of people.
3. According to Peterson, positive psychologists are concerned with four topics: positive experiences, enduring psychological traits, positive relationships, and positive institutions.

He also states that topics of interest to researchers in the field are states of pleasure or flow, values, strengths, virtues, talents, as well as the ways that these can be promoted by social systems and institutions.

What is the first pillar of positive psychology?

Summary: Positive psychology encourages positive and effective behaviors that help to bring out desired traits, and it applies well to many business and technical situations. Leslie Sachs explains the third pillar of positive psychology, which is related to organizational psychology and is of great interest to anyone who wants to be part of an effective institution.

Positive psychology is an emerging approach developed by leading psychologists, most notably Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The focus of positive psychology is on encouraging positive and effective behaviors that help to bring out desired behaviors and applies well to many business and technical situations.

Dr. Seligman noted in his writings that there are essentially three pillars that make up the scientific endeavor of positive psychology. The first two relate to individual behavior and the third is the study of positive institutions, which Seligman suggested was “beyond the guild of psychology.” This article will focus on that third pillar, which is within the realm of organizational psychology and of great interest to anyone who wants to be part of an effective organization.

1. The first two pillars of positive psychology focus on positive emotion and positive character, each of which contribute to the development of a sense of self-efficacy and personal effectiveness; these are both very important to individual success.
2. Organizations, not unlike the people who comprise them, often have unique and complex personalities.

Individuals who join the army or the police force certainly experience the culture of the organization in a very real way. When people fail in their jobs, it is sometimes due to factors beyond their direct control; perhaps they could not fit into the culture and the expectations of the organization itself or the organization’s culture made success very difficult to attain.

What are the traits that we might want to highlight when looking at an organization from a positive psychology perspective? Organizations that encourage curiosity, interest in the world, and a general love of learning provide an environment that is consistent with what Dr. Seligman had in mind with his first cluster, which he termed wisdom,

Technology professionals could understand these traits in terms of organizations that encourage learning new technologies and frameworks and provide opportunities for professionals to constantly improve their skills. Judiciousness, critical thinking, and open-mindedness along with ingenuity, originality, and practical street smarts are also attributes found among employees in effective organizations.

Social, personal, and emotional intelligence describes organizations that encourage their members to respectfully understand both individual and group differences, including cultural diversity. Organizations that encourage employees to feel safe when speaking up or taking the initiative can be understood to exhibit valor and courage, which is the cluster that Seligman termed bravery,

Integrity and honesty, along with perseverance and diligence, are also grouped with these positive traits. The degree to which these characteristics and their active expression are valued in an organization will significantly impact that firm’s functioning and results.

Positive organizations encourage their employees to take initiative and ensure that employees feel safe, even when reporting a potential problem or issue. Dysfunctional organizations punish the whistleblower, while effective organizations recognize the importance of being able to evaluate the risks or problems that have been brought to their attention and actively solicit such self-monitoring efforts.

The cluster of humanity and love consists of kindness, generosity, and an intrinsic sense of justice. Organizations that encourage a genuine sense of delivering value to customers and also the idea of giving back to their community model these behaviors and are more likely to see employees living these values on a daily basis.

Of paramount importance is good citizenship and teamwork as well as a strong culture of leadership. While many organizations may have individuals who exhibit these strengths, highly effective organizations make these values a cultural norm, which, in turn, becomes the personality of the organization itself.

The cluster of temperance includes self-control, humility, and modesty, all of which can be understood in terms of delivering quality to all stakeholders, including ensuring real value to stock-holders instead of simply advertising and marketing hype.

• Gratitude is a fundamental trait of many successful organizations; this involves modeling positive behaviors and actively participating in helping the communities that support them.
• These are often the same organizations that have a strong sense of hope and optimism and are mindful of the future; again all traits found in Seligman’s view of positive psychology.

Some organizations have a culture that exhibits spirituality, faith, and even religiousness, which aligns with their personality. Most importantly, playfulness and humor, along with passion and enthusiasm, all make for a corporate environment that breeds successful and loyal employees.

What are the key elements of positive psychology?

PERMA – A Positive Psychology Model – The PERMA model is Seligman’s framework for understanding and measuring wellbeing. It is evidence-based and a valuable and powerful tool for further research and application within therapy and our personal and working lives (Seligman, 2011). The PERMA model proposes we can break down wellbeing into five key elements: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.

Each is vital because it can be pursued for its own sake and built upon. When combined, they provide an essential path to flourishing. The individual pursuing these elements becomes more able to deal with life’s challenges. It becomes possible to create more meaningful lives with a powerful positive impact on increasing wellbeing while at the same time reducing psychological distress.

Taking each one in turn (Seligman, 2011, 2019):

Positive emotions refer to the experience of positive feelings and emotions, such as satisfaction, awe, joy, and contentment Engagement relates to our experience of flow and being consumed in an activity and environment Relationships refer to the quality and quantity of social connections inside and outside our immediate group Meaning brings importance to having a sense of purpose or meaning in life. Accomplishment is based on the experience of achievement and progression toward goals.

The PERMA model provides a helpful framework for understanding and measuring psychological wellness. Psychotherapists can use it to help individuals identify areas of their lives where they may lack in wellbeing and work on strategies to increase wellbeing in those areas.

While Seligman’s model did not include ‘health,’ it is now recognized as contributing to overall wellbeing, can be pursued for its own sake, and is measurable. Health can refer to objective wellness, such as being free of disease and illness, adopting healthy lifestyles, and perceived vitality and sufficient energy and mobility to perform daily activities (Allen et al., 2022; Beacham et al., 2020).

As a result, the extended PERMAH model has proven popular and effective, particularly in educational and workplace settings, where it can be predictive of wellness and performance (Allen et al., 2022; Beacham et al., 2020).

Who are the pillars of psychology?

Third revision of APA’s high school curricula standards approved in February 2022. Last updated: April 12, 2022 Date created: March 28, 2022 4 min read Comment: The National Standards for High Schoology Psychology Curricula (the “National Standards”) is a document that has been used by psychology high school teachers across the country for more than 20 years.

• It is a guide for teachers to identify what content needs to be taught in their classes, and also offers curriculum alignment across the nation.
• The National Standards were first approved by APA’s Council of Representatives in 1999, then subsequently revised in 2005 and 2011.
• This newest revision was adopted in February 2022 and is now available online for teachers and other stakeholders.

The drive for this current update was to focus the field of psychology as a science and align with the APA Introductory Psychology Initiative’s (IPI) work. The ultimate goal of this alignment is to have students exposed to the field of psychology in high school continue their studies at the undergraduate level and reiterate the same vocabulary and terminology throughout their education.

The working group members for this current revision strongly believed it was important to focus on scientific inquiry and research methods as a foundation of the class, regardless of where the psychology course is taught at the teacher’s high school. Teachers should teach these topics as a foundation of the course, and not as a single unit or chapter.

This content should also be continuously referred to throughout the curriculum and reviewed so students can understand the importance of science in our field. Psychology is a science and students’ first exposure to the field should be recognized as such.

• The standards website now has a page of vetted teaching resources to support all teachers in teaching psychology as a science.
• In addition to the focus on scientific inquiry and research methods, there are five pillars (previously called Domains in earlier iterations of the National Standards ) represented by each area of psychology which should be a major part of a teacher’s focus.

These five pillars are: Biological; Cognition; Developmental and Learning; Social and Personality; and Mental and Physical Health. There are content standards associated with each unit of study, together with corresponding learning targets. There are also seven integrative themes that teachers should reflect on with their students. The visual of the pillar model, which is also based on the work of IPI, identifies 10 areas of study that should be considered a priority for instruction when such courses are limited in time. Some teachers only have one semester to teach psychology, while others have an entire school year to teach psychology one and two semester courses.

There are endless differences across schools on how psychology is taught at the regular level. There are also many differences with teacher preparation and credentialing. Teachers may have other priorities in their teaching loads throughout the day and psychology may be one of many classes being taught.

The standards working group wanted to identify the units of study that should be a priority to assist teachers in their curriculum planning. The Working Group members and APA TOPSS Committee want to make sure teachers across the nation use these standards to assist them when planning curriculum.

• We plan to have presentations at national and local conferences to help disseminate the standards.
• In order for the standards to reach psychology teachers across the country, we will need assistance from all psychology teachers, especially those involved in APA and TOPSS.
• We encourage all teachers to share the standards with other teachers in their districts, regional networks and across the nation.

Ideally, we would want all 50 states plus the District of Columbia to adopt the national standards for psychology. APA is developing a comprehensive dissemination plan to broadly share the standards with teachers and other important stakeholders. Please let TOPSS know if you want to get involved in advocacy efforts in your state, or if your school district adopts or adapts these standards for schools in your district.

• I have been teaching psychology at both the Advanced Placement and regular levels for the past twenty-five years.
• I vividly recall what it was like to start teaching and not know where to begin.
• I was a novice teacher that relied on the first approved APA standards in 1999.
• At that time, there were no resources available online and regular psychology textbooks were scarce.

Today, there are plenty of such resources. I am excited for these standards to help all teachers inspire a new generation of students to learn about the fascinating field of psychology.

What are the three A’s of psychology?

Codependence and the three A’s: Awareness, Acceptance, and Action I first learned of the three A’s, awareness, acceptance, and action from Alanon which is a wonderful self-help group for the family and friends of the alcoholic. Alanon suggests its members utilize the “Three A’s” in dealing with the problems specifically caused by alcoholism in the family (e.g.

• Page 97, ).
• However, I have found the three A’s immensely useful for coping with a wide variety of problems both personally and also in helping others in my professional practice as a clinical psychologist.
• The purpose of this post is to explain what the three A’s are and how they can be helpful to solve in a wide variety of problems in living.

Let me briefly describe the three A’s and how they are used. When confronted with a problem in life, we may be tempted to try to immediately solve it. However such solutions rarely work because we are trying to force an immediate solution. The three A’s concept suggests that a better approach is to take time to work on the first two A’s, awareness and acceptance, before moving into the action phase of problem solving.

• Hence the initial phase of problem solving is to increase one’s awareness of how the problem arose, its nature, and become conscious of the consequences that the problem has had on us such as losses or restrictions in our life.
• After an appropriate amount of awareness work, we are then ready to move to the acceptance stage which involves emotionally working through these losses.

Only when we have worked through these initial two stages, can we be effective in the action phase of problem solving. The three A’s can be an immensely useful guide as to how to recover from codependence. As I have described in a previous post (Introduction to Codependence), codependence refers to the condition in which we did not receive the nurturing we needed as a child in order to mature into a healthy functioning adult.

1. Abuse, neglect or traumatization, are the usual causes of codependence.
2. Problems in valuing the self, poor boundaries, weak identity, poor negotiation skills and extremes of behaviour and thinking are the consequences (For details see Pia Mellody’s “”).
3. The first step in our recovery is often to move out of denial and become aware of what was missing in our nurturing process, independent of whether it was intentional or not.

At this point some people mistakenly believe that they will recover from their codependence by immediately jumping to the action phase and confronting whoever was responsible for the less than optimal nurturing. However, this is usually not advisable because we may be acting out of anger and those confronted may react negatively to this anger, and the result is more hurt and anger all around.

This is where the second A of acceptance saves the day. Emotionally working through childhood abuse, neglect, or traumatization to achieve acceptance is difficult work and most of us need a support group and/or the assistance of a mental health worker to do so successfully. Often it involves grieving the associated losses not only in our childhood but also in adulthood.

Acceptance leads us to emotional balance and peace of mind which frees us and allows us to move on to the third A, action, in our recovery process from codependence. This phase of personal change is again best done in group or individual psychotherapy, or attendance at workshops.

Confrontation of the perpetrator(s) is not necessary or even possible in most cases. What is necessary is to become actively involved in your own recovery program usually using a variety of approaches from traditional codependence recovery techniques such as inner child work to more recent techniques such Christina Baldwin describes in her recent book “.

This action phase of recovery can be a very rewarding process setting us free for life-long personal growth and development. : Codependence and the three A’s: Awareness, Acceptance, and Action

What are the three pathways to happiness?

New Science Identifies Three Pathways To Happiness — Mattering, Autonomy, And Patience getty We spend much of our lives, consciously and unconsciously, searching for things that make us happy. What actually works? That depends, but psychologists and happiness researchers have identified a few common elements that tend to be found in happy people.

Here are three recent findings from the field of happiness research that may help guide you to a brighter, happier future. Pathway #1: Upgrade your “sense of mattering” Happiness comes in two forms. There is in-the-moment happiness, which is derived from things that give us immediate gratification — for example, eating a chocolate bar or taking a hot shower on a cold day.

There’s also the related idea of life meaning, fulfillment, or reflective happiness. We experience this type of happiness when we reach a milestone or create something we are proud of. It may not be as state-altering as in-the-moment happiness, but its effects can be just as potent, especially in the long run.

• While both types of happiness are important, research suggests that life meaning becomes more important to us over time.
• Fortunately, a recent published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology offers guidance on how to improve it.
• Meaning is the web of connections, understandings, and interpretations that help us comprehend our experience and formulate plans directing our energies to the achievement of our desired future,” state the researchers, led by Vlad Costin of the University of Sussex.

“Meaning provides us with the sense that our lives matter, that they make sense, and that they are more than the sum of our seconds, days, and years.” From this definition, the psychologists extracted three core themes: coherence, purpose, and mattering.

Coherence refers to the process of making sense of the world and one’s experiences in it. Feeling a “sense of order” and “comprehensibility” are key facets of life coherence. Purpose describes the feeling of having a life goal, or multiple life goals, and being able to work toward those goals. It is understood as a future-oriented motivational state — that is, having a vision for how one’s life should be. Mattering refers to the belief that one’s actions are making a difference in the world and that one’s life is significant and worth living.

The researchers tested which of these three factors might be most predictive of life meaning. Using a sample of 126 British adults, they found that mattering was most strongly associated with life meaning. Purpose was also predictive of life meaning but to a lesser extent.

• Coherence, on the other hand, appeared to be more of a symptom of life meaning than a cause.
• The next question, of course, is how one goes about improving one’s sense of mattering.
• While there’s no easy answer, a good place to start is by thinking about the questions that define the concept of mattering.

They are: “my life is inherently valuable,” “even a thousand years from now, it would still matter whether I existed or not,” “whether my life ever existed matters even in the grand scheme of the universe,” and “I am certain that my life is of importance.” Other suggests that mattering is especially important in our professional lives.

My work contributes to my organization’s success. The quality of my work makes a real impact on my organization. My work influences my organization’s functioning. My organization praises my work publicly. My co-workers praise my work. I am well known for the quality of my work in my organization. My work has made me popular at my work place.

“When employees feel like they matter to their organization, they are more satisfied with their jobs and life, more likely to occupy leadership positions, more likely to be rewarded and promoted, and less likely to quit,” state the authors of this research, led by Andrew Reece of the company, BetterUp, and David Yaden of the University of Pennsylvania.

• These findings lend weight to the basic value of mattering in organizational contexts.” Pathway #2: Strive for more autonomy Wealthy people aren’t necessarily happier.
• But research tends to show a positive relationship between income and happiness.
• What might we learn from high wealth individuals about how to optimize our own happiness? One insight comes from exploring the way wealthy people choose to work.

Researchers at Maastricht University, Harvard Business School, and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam surveyed 863 high net worth individuals and 1,232 non-high net worth individuals, looking for similarities and differences in the way the wealthy spent their time, and how this influenced their happiness.

They found fewer differences between the wealthy and non-wealthy than they expected. For instance, both groups spent approximately the same amount of time engaging in leisure activities, working and commuting, and using their phone and computer. There was one key difference that emerged, however. The researchers found that millionaires were more likely to spend time on work activities that offered more personal autonomy — that is, work they decided to do themselves instead of following the guidance of others.

This was shown to relate to higher life satisfaction. Pathway #3: Be patient, happiness comes with age Youth, they say, is wasted on the young. Fortunately, the same cannot be said about happiness. Most psychological research suggests that happiness and life satisfaction increase gradually from early adulthood to middle age.

• And, recent published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science echoes this finding with respect to optimism.
• To arrive at this conclusion, researchers at the University of California, Davis, analyzed data from a large sample of U.S.
• Adults between the ages of 26 and 71.
• At four time points across a seven-year period, participants were asked to complete the Life Orientation Test, a widely used and validated measure of optimism.

The Life Orientation Test consists of six questions, listed below:

In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. If something can go wrong for me, it probably won’t. I’m always optimistic about my future. I mostly expect things to go my way. I often count on good things happening to me. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad.

The researchers used this data to plot the trajectory of optimism across the lifespan. Consistent with previous research, they found optimism to be lowest in people’s 20s, then rise steadily into people’s 30s and 40s, peaking in people’s 50s, and gradually declining after that.

1. Specifically, it was at age 55 that people experienced the highest level of optimism.
2. We found that the trajectory of optimism from ages 26 to 71 was characterized by normative age-graded increases, at a rate of about,15 standard deviations per decade, before plateauing around age 55,” conclude the researchers.

“Together, these findings suggest that the development of optimism across the adult lifespan follows an inverted U shape, with a peak in late midlife, similar to other positive personality traits such as self-esteem and satisfaction with life.” Conclusion: Emerging research suggests that mattering, autonomy, and age are three important components of happiness.

What are the 3 orientations of happiness according to Seligman?

Instruments – The Authentic Happiness Inventory (AHI, Seligman et al., 2005 ; used in a German version as used by Proyer et al., Submitted) is a self-report measurement for the assessment of global happiness and comprises aspects of subjective and psychological well-being that was especially designed for use in intervention studies.

The AHI consists of 24 sets of five statements from which the participant has to choose the statement that describes his feelings during the past week best. A sample set of statements ranges from 1 = ” I have sorrow in my life ” to 5 = ” My life is filled with joy,” Proyer et al. (Submitted) report good psychometric properties for the AHI and showed that it is sensitive to changes in well-being and also covers the top-end of the well-being continuum.

The AHI has been often used in research (e.g., Ruch et al., 2010b ; Schiffrin and Nelson, 2010 ; Schueller and Seligman, 2010 ; Shapira and Mongrain, 2010 ). The internal consistency in the present study at pretest was high at all measurement time points, ranging from α = 0.94 to α = 0.95.

• The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (ADS, Radloff, 1977 ; in the German adaptation by Hautzinger and Bailer, 1993 ) is a 20-item self-report measurement for the assessment of the frequency and intensity of depressive symptoms in the past week.
• All items use a 4-point Likert-style scale ranging from 0 to 3, and four of the 20 items are negatively keyed.

A sample item is “I thought my life had been a failure.” The CES-D is one of the most frequently used depression measures and was evaluated as a very balanced and representative measure in a meta-analysis that compared different widely used depression measures (Shafer, 2006 ).

The internal consistency in the present study at pretest was high at all measurement time points, ranging from α = 0.90 to α = 0.92. The Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire (OTH; Peterson et al., 2005 ; in the German adaption by Ruch et al., 2010a ) is an 18-item self-report measurement for the assessment of the three orientations pleasure, engagement, and meaning, as proposed by Seligman’s ( 2002 ) Authentic Happiness Theory.

All items are positively keyed and are rated on a 5-point Likert-style from 1 (” very much unlike me “) to 5 (” very much like me “). A sample item is “Life is too short to postpone the pleasures it can provide” (pleasure). Various studies have used the OTH and provided information on its reliability and validity (e.g., Park et al, 2009 ; Vella-Brodrick et al., 2009 ; Ruch et al., 2010a ).

1. As recommended by Gander et al.
2. 2016 ) when using the OTH together with the scales for positive relationships and accomplishment, we shortened each scale by one item to reduce the overlap with positive relationships.
3. In the present study, internal consistencies at pretest were acceptable and comparable to earlier findings (pleasure: α = 0.70, engagement: α = 0.66, meaning: α = 0.76).

The Positive Relationships – and the Accomplishment -scale (Gander et al., 2016 ) are self-report scales for the assessment of positive relationships and accomplishment consisting of five items each. Together with pleasure, engagement, and meaning, they allow for an assessment of the endorsement toward all components of Seligman’s ( 2011 ) Well-Being Theory.

All items are positively keyed and are rated on the same 5-point Likert-style scale as the OTH. A sample item is “Most things I do give me a feeling of accomplishment.” Gander et al. ( 2016 ) reported good factorial validity for the scales when used individually or together with the OTH. They also showed that the scales are able to predict additional variance in life satisfaction and flourishing over and above the influence of the OTH and have high test-retest reliabilities over time periods of 1-, 3-, and 6 months ( r = 0.68–0.71).

In the present study, internal consistencies at pretest were satisfactory (positive relationships: α = 0.75, accomplishment: α = 0.71). Additionally, upon completing the exercise participants reported their liking of the exercise (from 1 = ” not at all ” to 7 = ” very much “), whether they saw a personal benefit from the exercise, and how high they perceived this benefit to be (from 1 = “not at all” to 7 = “very high”).

What are the pillars of Seligman’s theory of positive psychology?

Traditionally, a major focus of psychology has been to relieve human suffering. Since World War II, great strides have been made in the understanding and treatment of mental health disorders. Relieving suffering, however, is not the same as flourishing.

People want to thrive, not just survive. The skills that build flourishing are different from the skills that alleviate suffering. Removing the disabling conditions is not the same as building the enabling conditions that make life most worth living. (The words “flourishing” and “well-being” are used interchangeably.

We do not use the word “happiness” because it means different things to different people.) Suffering and well-being are both part of the human condition and psychology should care about each. Human strengths, excellence, and flourishing are just as authentic as human distress.

People want to cultivate the best version of themselves and live a meaningful life. They want to grow their capacities for love and compassion, creativity and curiosity, work and resilience, and integrity and wisdom. When Dr. Seligman was president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, one of his presidential initiatives was the building of a field called Positive Psychology.

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the factors that enable individuals and communities to flourish. PERMA™ Theory of Well-Being What is human flourishing and what enables it? Dr. Seligman’s PERMA™ theory of well-being is an attempt to answer these fundamental questions.

1. There are five building blocks that enable flourishing – P ositive Emotion, E ngagement, R elationships, M eaning, and A ccomplishment (hence PERMA™ ) – and there are techniques to increase each.
2. Different people will derive well-being from each of these five building blocks to varying degrees.
3. A good life for one person is not necessarily a good life for another.

There are many different routes to a flourishing life. Positive Psychology is descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, we are not telling people what choices to make or what to value, but research on the factors that enable flourishing can help people make more informed choices to live a more fulfilling life that is aligned with their values and interests.

Here is a brief definition of each of the five building blocks: Positive Emotion : This route to well-being is hedonic – increasing positive emotion. Within limits, we can increase our positive emotion about the past (e.g., by cultivating gratitude and forgiveness), our positive emotion about the present (e.g., by savoring physical pleasures and mindfulness) and our positive emotion about the future (e.g., by building hope and optimism).

Unlike the other routes to well-being described below, this route is limited by how much an individual can experience positive emotions. In other words, positive affectivity is partly heritable and our emotions tend to fluctuate within a range. Many people are, by disposition, low in experiencing positive emotion.

Traditional conceptions of happiness tend to focus on positive emotion, so it can be liberating to know that there are other routes to well-being, described below. Engagement : Engagement is an experience in which someone fully deploys their skills, strengths, and attention for a challenging task. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this produces an experience called “flow” that is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, rather than for what they will get out of it.

The activity is its own reward. Flow is experienced when one’s skills are just sufficient for a challenging activity, in the pursuit of a clear goal, with immediate feedback on progress toward the goal. In such an activity, concentration is fully absorbed in the moment, self-awareness disappears, and the perception of time is distorted in retrospect, e.g., time stops.

Flow can be experienced in a wide variety of activities, e.g., a good conversation, a work task, playing a musical instrument, reading a book, writing, building furniture, fixing a bike, gardening, sports training or performance, to name just a few. Relationships : Relationships are fundamental to well-being.

The experiences that contribute to well-being are often amplified through our relationships, for example, great joy, meaning, laughter, a feeling of belonging, and pride in accomplishment. Connections to others can give life purpose and meaning. Support from and connection with others is one of the best antidotes to “the downs” of life and a reliable way to feel up.

Research shows that doing acts of kindness for others produces an increase in well-being. From an evolutionary perspective, we are social beings because the drive to connect with and serve others promotes our survival. Developing strong relationships is central to adaptation and is enabled by our capacity for love, compassion, kindness, empathy, teamwork, cooperation, self-sacrifice, etc.

Meaning : A sense of meaning and purpose can be derived from belonging to and serving something bigger than the self. There are various societal institutions that enable a sense of meaning, such as religion, family, science, politics, work organizations, justice, the community, social causes (e.g., being green), among others.

Is pursued for its own sake, not as a means to an end Is defined and measured independently of the other elements

The Benefits of Well-Being Research demonstrates that well-being is not only valuable because it feels good, but also because it has beneficial real-world consequences. Compared to people with low well-being, individuals with higher levels of well-being:

Perform better at work Have more satisfying relationships Are more cooperative Have stronger immune systems Have better physical health Live longer Have reduced cardiovascular mortality Have fewer sleep problems Have lower levels of burnout Have greater self-control Have better self-regulation and coping abilities Are more prosocial

Research has identified optimism as one of the key contributors to well-being. Studies show that optimism brings many benefits compared to pessimism, including:

Less depression and anxiety Better performance at school, sports, and work Reduced risk of dropping out of school Better physical health outcomes, including fewer reported illnesses, less coronary heart disease, lower mortality risk, and faster recovery from surgery.

Some references for the above research: Alarcon et al., 2013; Diener & Seligman, 2004; Brand et al., 2010; Chida & Steptoe 2008; Nes et al., 2009; Chemers, Hu, Garcia, 2001; Seligman & Schulman, 1986; Seligman, Nolen-Hoeksema, Thornton, & Thornton, 1990; Helgeson & Fritz, 1999; Kubzansky, Sparrow, Vokonas & Kawachi, 2001; Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen 2001; Dillon, Minchoff, & Baker 1985; Fredrickson & Joiner 2002; Fry & Debats, 2009; Haar & Roche 2010; Howell, Kern, & Lyubomirsky, 2007; Kasser & Ryan 1996; Johnson & Fredrickson, 2005; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005; Ostir, Markides, Black, & Goodwin 2000; Pressman & Cohen, 2005; Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, & Steward, 2000; Segerstrom, 2007; Shen, McCreary, & Myers, 2004; Stone et al., 1994; Williams & Shiaw, 1999.

Schools can educate students for flourishing as well as for workplace success. The skills of well-being can be taught. Parents can cultivate their children’s strengths, grit, and resilience. Workplaces can improve performance as well as raise employee well-being. Therapists can nurture their patients’ strengths to prevent mental illness and enhance flourishing, as well as heal damage. Communities can encourage public service and civic engagement.

PERMA™ Workshops Interventions have been empirically shown to increase well-being. To learn about these programs, click here. These programs have demonstrated effectiveness in improving well-being and optimism and in preventing and reducing anxiety and depression.

Dr. Seligman Video on PERMA and Flourishing in the Classroom, 2016 Implications for Public Policy The science of well-being also has important implications for policy decisions by governments and other organizations. Countries have relied largely on economic measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of national progress.

There is growing awareness, however, that economic measures alone do not fully reflect a nation’s well-being. During the industrial revolution, economic indicators were a good approximation of how well a nation was doing, when the fulfillment of basic human needs for food, clothing, and shelter was the primary goal.

The more prosperous a nation becomes, however, these economic indicators are less effective as an approximation of how well a society is doing. Basic needs are largely satisfied in developed nations. As societies meet these basic needs, differences in well-being are less frequently due to income and are more frequently due to factors such as social relationships, work satisfaction, and meaning.

Research shows that making more money has rapidly diminishing returns on life satisfaction. Below the safety net, increases in money and increases in life satisfaction go up hand in hand. Above the safety net, increases in money produce smaller and smaller increases in happiness (Diener & Seligman, 2004).

1. Research indicates that people need supportive, positive relationships and social belonging to sustain well-being (Diener & Seligman, 2004).
2. Economic indicators, however, do not measure the quality of social relationships and therefore omit this key contribution to well-being.
3. The fact that strong social relationships are essential for well-being has many policy implications.

For instance, school curricula can explicitly educate students about the importance of long-lasting social relationships, as well as teach the social skills that nurture supportive and intimate relationships. Organizations should carefully consider relocating employees because doing so can sever relationships and might be detrimental to well-being.

Economic indicators are out of sync with national well-being in developed nations. For example, since the 1950s, GDP in the U.S. has tripled per capita but life satisfaction has been virtually unchanged. There is a similar pattern in other nations. Over this same period, depression rates have increased 10-fold, and rates of anxiety have also risen (Diener & Seligman, 2004; Twenge, 2000).

Paradoxically, higher rates of mental illness can increase GDP due to increased spending on hospitalization, crime prevention, and imprisonment of people with disorders. Assessing the well-being of individuals with psychological disorders could lead to government and business policies that yield benefits to the individual, the organization, and the nation.

• Psychological disorders cause widespread suffering.
• Many disorders can be effectively treated yet a large proportion of people with disorders go untreated.
• Failure to treat these individuals can be costly in terms of well-being and lost productivity.
• More rigorous and systematic national well-being surveys could help shape the provision of mental health resources.

The science of well-being is theoretically, metrically, and empirically advanced enough to supplement economic indicators with well-being indicators. The precursors of national well-being measures are well underway. Since the early 2000s, there have been several nascent international initiatives to measure national well-being, including the OECD’s Better Life Index (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the United Nation’s World Happiness Report (Adler & Seligman, 2016).

• If well-being is the overarching goal of a nation, multi-dimensional measures of well-being should therefore supplement economic indicators to more accurately represent how a nation is doing and to better inform policy.
• Public policy follows only from what we measure.
• If a society makes a great effort to measure economic output, people are likely to focus more attention on economic output, sometimes to the detriment of other values.

If a society assesses well-being, people will focus more of their attention on well-being. We measure what we value, and we value what we measure. To learn more, see the book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being, by Dr. Martin E.P.

What are the pillars of positivity?

Three Pillars of Positive Emotion – Narrative, passion and platforms are his three pillars of positive emotion, and while everyone’s journey is unique, we all need these three pillars to reach our destination.

What are the roots of positive psychology?

The History of Positive Psychology – The roots of positive psychology stretch back to the ancient Greeks and Aristotle’s concern with eudaimonia (often translated from Greek as happiness), intellectual and moral virtues, and the good life, Also, some of the core elements of positive psychology such as mindfulness, have roots in ancient Eastern spiritual practices.

1. However, this article will focus on the origins of positive psychology in modern psychology, which emerged as a science during the late nineteenth century from roots in the philosophy of mind.
2. Originally, psychology developed from the investigation of the functions of the brain, neurological system, cognition, and behavior and their role in the causation and mitigation of psychopathology and mental illness.

This is often referred to as the disease model, Many of the twentieth-century psychological treatments for mental health problems had roots in the treatment of traumatic psychological injury of military personnel following the First and Second World Wars (Pols & Oak, 2007).

1. Yet some psychologists became concerned about these treatment modalities, which required the therapist to act as an aloof expert, rather than conveying empathy and compassion for their patient.
2. During the 1950s and 60s humanistic psychology developed in response to what the pioneers saw as the reductionist, positivist view of the mind as a complex mechanism likened to a machine- a stimulus-response mechanism in behaviorism or an economy of sexual and aggressive drives in psychoanalysis (Mahoney, 1984).

Humanistic psychology championed the holistic study of persons as bio-psycho-social beings. Abraham Maslow first coined the term “positive psychology” in his 1954 book ” Motivation and Personality,” He proposed that psychology’s preoccupation with disorder and dysfunction lacked an accurate understanding of human potential (Maslow, 1954).

What are the phases of positive psychology?

Three Levels of Positive Psychology – The science of positive psychology operates on three different levels – the subjective level, the individual level and the group level.

1. The subjective level includes the study of positive experiences such as joy, well-being, satisfaction, contentment, happiness, and flow. This level is about feeling good, rather than doing good or being a good person.
2. At the next level, the aim is to identify the constituents of the ‘good life’ and the personal qualities that are necessary for being a ‘good person’, through studying human and virtues, future-mindedness, capacity for love, courage, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, wisdom, interpersonal skills and giftedness.
3. Finally, at the group or community level, the emphasis is on civic virtues, social responsibilities, nurturance, altruism, civility, tolerance, work ethics, positive institutions and other factors that contribute to the development of citizenship and communities.

What are the 5 domains of positive psychology?

This well- being theory therefore suggests that integrated well- being linked to human flourishing and living a good life is comprised of five PERMA domains, namely positive emotions, engagement, relationships, mean- ing, and accomplishment.

What are the 4 pillars of human happiness?

Happiness versus meaning – Emily Esfahani Smith is a journalist and author whose writing is almost entirely focused on what it is to live a meaningful life, Watch her TEDtalk here for a glimpse into her work. In this talk and her published works, Smith highlights the difference between happiness and meaning,

Many believe that a life without happiness is not a meaningful life, which Smith doesn’t disagree on, but she claims it is not that simple. Simply put, “Happiness comes and goes” (Smith, 2017). Happiness is loosely defined as the subjective feeling of various positive feelings, like joy, excitement, satisfaction, contentment, and so on.

Smith found in her studies that the more people tried to be happy, the less happy they actually are, Her research indicated that searching for meaning in life is often more rewarding and better linked to overall happiness. Meaning in life is professionally described as the sense made of, and the significance behind this sense, the nature of one’s existence (Chu & Fung, 2020).

On a more personal level, meaning in life is one’s degree of evaluating their life as significant and judging what is or is not significant. When making the judgement on whether or not our lives are meaningful, we consider what Smith calls “pillars.” Meaning in life features four pillars, or fundamental components, that work together to make every day, even the unhappy ones, worth living.

These four pillars are belonging, purpose, transcendence, and storytelling, LIFE Intelligence: Invest in Yourself

What are the 4 core of psychology?

Clinical psychology – Clinical psychology is a specialty that provides counseling services for mental and behavioral health care for individuals and families. Clinical psychologists evaluate, diagnose, and treat many different types of mental illness. Many practitioners are also involved in research and teaching. Clinical psychology applications can include:

• Adult counseling
• Childhood counseling
• School psychologists
• Family therapy
• Neuropsychology

Clinical psychologists may have a general practice, or they may specialize in certain age groups such as children or the elderly, or certain mental health disorders such as eating disorders, chronic illness, depression, or phobias,

What are the 4 pillars of personality?

The Four Pillars — Charlotte Therapy Center Self-discovery is often a complicated and evolutionary journey. Yet, the principles that guide your journey are simple and sound. Mastering life is accomplished by focusing on four foundational areas, or what we call pillars,

These pillars are assertiveness, character, frame, and confidence. Individually, these pillars are self-reinforcing, which means the more you practice them, the more proficient you become in your interactions with others. In turn, others will improve their responses to you and harmony will begin. Collectively, these pillars reinforce the others, meaning the more you practice one, the more proficient you become with the others.

Self-discovery will be a rewarding experience if your qualities and values are developed appropriately. Mastering the four pillars is how we come to fully understand the purpose of our lives as well as how to transform our experiences into gifts for the world. Assertiveness is the foundation on which you build success in your relationships. Assertiveness has two primary functions in relationships: managing conflict and establishing boundaries. Without assertiveness, there is little to no order. Without order, there will be chaos and everything required of a successful relationship will be ill-managed. Character is the second pillar of the four fundamental areas on which we improve our self-discovery. The quality of your character often determines the quality of your responses and, in turn, the quality of your relationships. Your responses to people are a direct reflection of your character.

We must consciously choose what part of our character to exhibit in our responses, deliberately practicing our best qualities. It is important to act purposefully and mindfully with your character. Exploring innovative ideas and different philosophies can bolster your character and create a degree of complexity of your personality, making you more appealing to others.

The intent of showing good character is to display remarkable traits in valuable ways according to the given situation. Frame is the mindset we create for ourselves which enables us to overcome objections to achieving an outcome by utilizing particular skills and knowledge. Frame is the mental structure we create for ourselves to achieve a goal, whether short term or long term.

Frame control is the practice of maintaining a strong, positive frame when getting what we want becomes difficult. Frame is as equally vital to improving the quality of your responses as character building. Although the concept of frame is relatively abstract, it must be learned if you are to elevate yourself.

When we have any type of goal, and we formulate a plan to achieve that goal, we are preparing to manage objections and distractions to meeting that goal. Frame allows us to mitigate circumstances which might cause us to deviate from the plan of achieving that goal. Confidence is the result of becoming proficient at something and being assured of one’s abilities and qualities with reliable certainty. It comes as a result of practice. This could be practicing a sport, such as baseball, practicing a philosophy, such as stoicism, practicing a hobby, such as woodworking or crafts, or practicing any sort of behavior or way of thinking.

Confidence plays a significant role in attraction because it signifies a person’s trustworthiness in his or her own abilities. When others are experiencing a degree of uncertainty, being around someone who is self-assured creates a calming effect. A person’s confidence, combined with assertiveness, character, and frame, displays emotional and mental stability.

Everyone experiences chaos in their lives and oftentimes a person’s confidence can inject order into that chaos. When someone emanates an air of confidence and walks into a room full of disorder, it is as though you can feel the chaos dissipating almost instantaneously.

Who are the founders of positive psychology?

Positive Psychology – Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi are widely regarded as the co-founders of positive psychology and the scientific study of human flourishing. The next section outlines the conceptual lineage of positive psychology with a brief description of the work of the five founding fathers.

Who is the father of positive psychology?

12.8.2022 | 1127 visits Martin Seligman is known as the “father of positive psychology” for good reason. His many years of work and contributions to psychology have made him one of the most respected and influential researchers in the field. Seligman was born in New York City on August 12, 1942, and is now a leading educator, researcher, and author of several bestselling books that make the ideas of positive psychology accessible.

• For fourteen years he served as director of the clinical education program at the University of Pennsylvania.
• His work includes topics such as learned helplessness, positive psychology, depression, resilience, optimism, and pessimism.
• What is positive psychology, anyway? Positive psychology has been described in many ways, but a generally accepted definition of the field goes like this: “Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worthwhile”.

Taking this brief description a little further, positive psychology is a scientific approach that focuses on the study of human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, focusing on the strong aspects instead of the weak aspects. Positive psychology aims at building the good in life instead of correcting the bad, and shifting the lives of “average” people to “great and fulfilled” instead of focusing solely on transforming “troubled” people into “normal” ones.

Positive psychology focuses on positive events and influences in life, including: positive experiences (such as happiness, joy, inspiration and love), positive states and qualities (such as gratitude, resilience and compassion) and positive institutions (the application of positive principles throughout organisations and institutions).

Seligman was the first researcher to bring the positive psychology movement to life. The first step was his research in the 1960s and 1970s, which laid the foundations for the well-known psychological theory of “learned helplessness.” This theory, now supported by decades of research, explains how humans (and animals) can learn helplessness and the feeling that they have lost control over what happens to them.

1. Seligman linked this phenomenon to depression, noting that many people suffering from depression also feel powerless.
2. His work on this topic has provided inspiration, ideas, and evidence to support many treatments for depressive symptoms, as well as strategies to prevent depression.
3. After his initial success, Seligman knew he had more to offer the psychological community and the public-especially his ideas about being positive, uplifting, and inspiring.

After becoming famous for learned helplessness, he turned his attention to other traits, characteristics, and perspectives that could be learned. He began to look at resilience and learned optimism – so he used his findings and turned them into a positive counterpart.

1. His idea that optimism (like helplessness) can be cultivated and trained in a systematic way became the basis of his widely implemented resilience programs for children and members of the military, among others.
2. Seligman disagreed with psychology’s overly narrow focus on negative phenomena-psychologists paid a great deal of attention to mental illness, abnormal psychology, trauma, and pain, and neglected concepts such as happiness, well-being, exceptionalism, and flourishing.

When he was elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, he decided to seize the opportunity to change the direction of psychology. He proposed a new field of psychology focusing on what is good. The foundational paper for this new field, positive psychology, was published by Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 2000.

Since 2000, thousands of researchers around the world have responded to Seligman’s call for a greater focus on positive phenomena in life, resulting in tens of thousands of studies on positive phenomena and laying the foundation for the application of positive principles in coaching, teaching, relationships, the workplace, and every other area of life.

Finally, a few quotes from Martin Seligman: “Although you cannot control your experiences, you can control your explanations.” “Healing the negative does not bring about the positive.” “Authentic happiness comes from raising the bar for yourself, not from comparing yourself to others.” Edited by Alexander Loziak, CSPV SAV, v.v.i.

Who created the perma model of positive psychology?

The PERMA Model is a well-being theory developed by positive psychologist Martin Seligman. It identifies five essential elements to well-being. These are: Positive Emotions (P).

Who is the founder father of positive psychology?

Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) – EMPOWER COMMUNITY HEALTH, LLC.