Which of the following researchers have contributed to the field of positive psychology?
|
Our Mission: The mission of the Positive Psychology Center is to promote research, training, education, and the dissemination of Positive Psychology. Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman is the Director of the Center and Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology. Show
The Rationale: During its first century, psychology justifiably focused most of its attention on human suffering. Marked progress as been made in understanding and treating numerous psychological disorders - depression, anxiety, and phobias, to name a few. While alleviating suffering, however, psychology has not paid much attention to what makes life most worth living. Positive Psychology is founded on the belief that people want more than an end to suffering. People want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. We have the opportunity to create a science and a profession that not only heals psychological damage but also builds strengths to enable people to achieve the best things in life. The Three Pillars: Positive Psychology has three central concerns: positive experiences, positive individual traits, and positive institutions. Understanding positive emotions entails the study of contentment with the past, happiness in the present, and hope for the future. Understanding positive individual traits involves the study of strengths, such as the capacity for love and work, courage, compassion, resilience, creativity, curiosity, integrity, self-knowledge, moderation, self-control, and wisdom. Understanding positive institutions entails the study of the strengths that foster better communities, such as justice, responsibility, civility, parenting, nurturance, work ethic, leadership, teamwork, purpose, and tolerance. Our Goals: Some of the goals of Positive Psychology are to build a science that supports:
Current Activities: Activities at the Center include:
Management and Support: Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., is director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.He is currently Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology and former president of the American Psychological Association. He has written more than 275 articles and 20 books. Peter Schulman is the Executive Director of the Center. Since the 1970s, research at the Center has been funded by the generous support of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the U.S. Department of Education, the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Gates Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Annenberg Foundation, the Mayerson Foundation, the Hovey Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. Contact Us : E-Mail: Phone: 215-898-7173 What Is Positive Psychology?Positive psychology is one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge. This particular area of psychology focuses on how to help human beings prosper and lead healthy, happy lives. While many other branches of psychology tend to focus on dysfunction and abnormal behavior, positive psychology is centered on helping people become happier. Positive psychology is designed to "complement and extend the problem-focused psychology that has been dominant for decades," explained the late Christopher Peterson, author of "A Primer in Positive Psychology" and professor at the University of Michigan, in a 2008 article published in Psychology Today. "Positive psychology is...a call for psychological science and practice to be as concerned with strength as with weakness; as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst; and as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology," Peterson wrote. According to leading authorities in the field, Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, positive psychology will help achieve "scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in individuals, families, and communities." In order to understand the field of positive psychology, it is essential to start by learning more about its major theories, applications, and history. LevelsPositive psychology is often referred to as having three different levels:
Positive Psychology and the PERMA ModelIn order to better explain and define well-being, which is a primary focus in positive psychology, Seligman created the PERMA model. PERMA is an acronym for the following five elements of well-being:
UsesPositive psychology can have a range of real-world applications in areas including education, therapy, self-help, stress management, and workplace issues. Using strategies from positive psychology, teachers, coaches, therapists, and employers can motivate others and help individuals understand and develop their personal strengths. Some of the major topics of interest in positive psychology include:
Press Play for Advice On Thinking More PositivelyHosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to find the positive things in life. Click below to listen now.
Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Impact of Positive PsychologySome of the major findings of positive psychology include:
Potential PitfallsPositive psychology is often confused with positive thinking, and misconstrued as self-help tactics rather than research-backed theories. Positive thinking is a way of thinking ourselves into better behavior and greater resilience, rather than behaving our way into a different frame of mind. Positive psychology, on the other hand, is the scientific study of what makes people thrive. It focuses on behaviors that can lead to a more optimized frame of mind as well as on thought patterns that lead to more functional behaviors. History of Positive Psychology"Before World War II, psychology had three distinct missions: curing mental illness, making the lives of all people more productive and fulfilling, and identifying and nurturing high talent," wrote Seligman and Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi in 2000. Shortly after WWII, the primary focus of psychology shifted to the first priority: treating abnormal behavior and mental illness. In the 1950s, humanist thinkers like Carl Rogers, Erich Fromm, and Abraham Maslow helped renew interest in the other two areas by developing theories that focused on happiness and the positive aspects of human nature. Here are a few more significant dates in the history of positive psychology:
Other important figures in positive psychology have included:
General interest in positive psychology has grown tremendously since the concept was introduced. Today, more and more people are searching for information on how they can become more fulfilled and achieve their full potential. Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
By Kendra Cherry
Thanks for your feedback! What researchers have contributed to the field of positive psychology?It builds on the humanistic movement by Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, James Bugental, and Carl Rogers, which encourages an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and positivity, thus creating the foundation for what is now known as positive psychology.
Who is the main contributor for positive psychology?In 1998, Martin Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological Association and it was then that Positive Psychology became the theme of his term as president. He is widely seen as the father of contemporary positive psychology (About Education, 2013).
|
