The Science of Positive Psychology

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The Science of Positive Psychology

• Christopher Peterson
• University of Michigan
• November 7, 2007
• Peterson, C., Park, N. (in press). Positive
  psychology. In B. J. Sadock, V. A. Sadock, P.
  Ruiz (Eds.), Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry
  (9th ed.). Baltimore Lippincott, Williams,
  Wilkins.

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(No Transcript)
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Outline

• Positive psychology Overview
• Positive psychology and therapy
• Examples of positive psychotherapy
• Case example
• Conclusions

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Reframing the Framingham Study

• Obesity spreads through social networks
• But so too does non-obesity!
• The value of positive psychology in reframing the
  human condition
• Do positive health practices spread as well?

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1. Positive Psychology Overview

• The scientific study of what goes right in life
• Signature premise What is good about life is as
  genuine as what is bad and therefore deserves
  equal attention from psychologists
• Life entails more than avoiding or undoing
  problems
• Explanations of the good life must do more than
  reverse accounts of problems

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A Long Past and a Short History

• Seligman (1998)
• Ancestors
• Athenian philosophers
• Lao-Tsu and Confucius
• Witmer
• Rogers and Maslow
• Jahoda
• Empirical research
• Quality of life and subjective well-being
• Primary prevention and wellness promotion
• Agency and self-efficacy
• Giftedness and multiple intelligences
• What happened?
• Positivism got in the way
• Basic versus applied schism
• World War II and clinical psychology

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What is Positive Psychology?

• Again, positive psychology is an umbrella term
  describing the scientific study of what makes
  life most worth living
• Positive psychologists concern themselves with
• Positive experiences
• Positive traits
• Positive relationships
• Positive institutions
• Positive psychology does not replace
  business-as-usual psychology
• Positive psychology intends to complement and
  extend a problem-focused psychology

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Questions, Quarrels, Quibbles and Necessary
Qualifications

• Assumption that people are brittle and broken
• Skepticism about relentless happiness and
  optimism
• Dumbed-down popularizations
• Regardless, positive psychology is not
  indifferent to human suffering

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A Real Quick Summary of Positive Psychology What
Do We Know?

• Most people are happy
• The important correlates of happiness are social
  in nature
• Happiness is causal not epiphenomenal
• Happiness can be increased
• People are terrible at emotional forecasting
• Happiness leads to physical well-being

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(continued)

• Positive emotions and negative emotions are
  distinct
• Positive emotions broaden and build peoples
  psychological and behavioral repertoires
• Positive emotions undo the physiological effects
  of negative emotions
• Engagement matters
• Good days have common features
• A rosy view of matters is associated with
  physical, psychological, and social well-being

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(continued)

• Most people are resilient
• Virtue is more than its own reward
• Meaning and purpose matter
• Other people matter
• Religion matters
• Money makes an ever diminishing contribution to
  happiness
• Work matters
• Eudaimonia trumps hedonism
• The heart matters more than the head
• Happiness, strengths of character, and good
  social relationships are buffers against the
  damaging effects of stressful life events
• Positive institutions have common features

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(continued)

• The good life can be taughtmaybe

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2. Positive Psychology and Therapy

• In the beginning
• Natural homes for positive psychology
• The role of positive psychology in the clinic
• Remediation
• Rehabilitation
• Relapse prevention
• Maintenance
• Promotion
• No consensual theory
• Goals
• Assessments
• Techniques
• And what about positive health psychology?

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Positive Psychologys Vision of the Good Life

• More positive feelings than negative feelings
• Satisfaction with life as it has been lived
• Identification and use of talents and strengths
  on an ongoing basis
• Engagement in activities
• Contributing member of a social community
• Meaning and purpose
• Health and safety

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Positive Psychology Measures

• Positive Affect
• e.g., Positive and Negative Affect Schedule
  (PANAS)
• e.g., Profile of Mood States (POMS)
• Happiness
• e.g., Authentic Happiness Inventory (AHI)
• e.g., Orientations to Happiness Scale Life
  Satisfaction
• e.g., Satisfaction with Life Scale
• e.g., Marital Satisfaction
• e.g., Work Satisfaction
• e.g., Leisure Satisfaction
• Positive Traits
• e.g., Values in Action Inventory of Strengths
  (VIA)
• e.g., Ryff and Singers Psychological Well-Being
  Scales
• e.g., Search Institutes Developmental Assets
  for youth

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(continued)

• Values
• e.g., Values Inventories of Research, Schwartz,
  Scott, and others
• Interests
• e.g., Strong-Campbell Vocational Interest Blank
  (SVIB)
• Abilities
• e.g., multiple intelligences
• Social Support and Attachment
• e.g., The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived
  Social Support
• e.g.., Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire

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Exercise A Positive Intake
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Positive Psychology Techniques

• Exercises to increase positive feelings
• e.g., performing acts of kindness
• e.g., savoring
• e.g., writing a gratitude letter
• Exercises to decrease negative feelings
• e.g., turning ones head to see the positive
• e.g., writing about traumatic events
• Exercises to increase life satisfaction
• e.g., counting ones blessings
• e.g., performing acts of kindness
• Exercises to develop talents and strengths
• e.g., using talents and/or signature strengths of
  character in novel ways

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(continued)

• Exercises to increase engagement
• e.g., finding a challenging hobby
• Exercises to increase social connectedness
• e.g., being a good teammate
• e.g., active-constructive responding
• Exercises to increase meaning and purpose
• e.g., performing secret good deeds
• e.g., writing ones own legacy
• e.g., working for a valued institution
• Exercises to increase health and safety
• e.g., worrying about the right things

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What is Positive Psychotherapy?

• Goal is enhanced happiness, life satisfaction,
  fulfillment, productivitycomponents of positive
  psychologys vision of the good life
• So what about
• European spa tradition?
• Human potential movement?
• After-school programs?
• Character education?
• Wilderness adventures?
• Worksite wellness programs?
• Motivational interviewing?
• Life coaching?
• Appreciative Inquiry?
• Sunday School?
• Disney Channel?

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Therapeutic Alliance

• Focus here is on approaches characterized by an
  explicit therapeutic alliance between the
  positive psychologist and the client
• Collaboration
• Affective bond
• Agreement
• In defining positive psychotherapy, the
  relational context of the intervention is
  critical

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A Taxonomy of Interventions
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3. Examples of Positive Psychotherapy

• Personal Happiness Program
• Internet Positive Psychology Interventions
• Positive Psychotherapy
• Quality of Life Therapy
• Positive Behavioral Support
• Hope Therapy
• Well-Being Therapy
• Penn Resiliency Program
• Action and Commitment Therapy
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
• Positive Therapy
• Day Rearranging

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4. Case Example

• Problem
• Positive psychology reconceptualization
• Identification of strengths
• Use of strengths to recraft tasks
• Resolution

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5. Conclusions

• Family resemblance
• Primary goal to enhance well-being and optimal
  functioning
• Secondary goal to reduce anxiety or depression
• Cognitive-behavioral
• Short-term structured therapies for individual or
  small groups
• Out-of-sessions exercises and assignments
• Journals
• Ongoing assessment
• Anti-medical model
• Empirical support accumulating

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Remaining Questions

• Comparison to business-as-usual therapies?
• Boundary conditions?
• What about weaknesses?
• How light-handed is positive therapy?
• Why do we live as we do?

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Any Final Matters to Clean Up?
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Thank You