POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

MODULE 1
Positive Psychology: Meaning, Concept & Historical
Overview
Goals of Positive Psychology: Culture and meaning of
good life

MEANING (APA DIVISION- 17)

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living” (Peterson,
2008).

Positive psychology is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior,
with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses, building the good in life instead of repairing the
bad, and taking the lives of average people up to “great” instead of focusing solely on moving
those who are struggling up to “normal” (Peterson, 2008).

According to Martin Seligman—who is seen as the founding father of positive psychology—

Martin Seligman, as the ‘scientific study of optimal human functioning [that] aims to discover
and promote the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive’.

According to Positive Psychology Institute, Positive Psychology is the scientific study of human
flourishing, and an applied approach to optimal functioning. It has also been defined as the study
of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities, and organizations to thrive.”

Sheldon and King (2001) define positive psychology as ―nothing more than the scientific study
of ordinary human strengths and virtues

Gable and Haidt (2005) defined positive psychology is ―the study of the conditions and
processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups and
institutions.
A field of psychological theory and research that focuses on the psychological states (e.g.,
contentment, joy), individual traits or character strengths (e.g., intimacy, integrity, altruism,
wisdom), and social institutions that enhance subjective well-being and make life most worth
living (APA).

A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and institutions promises
to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and
meaningless.

Positive psychology focuses on the positive events and influences in life, including:
1. Positive experiences (like happiness, joy, inspiration, and love).
2. Positive states and traits (like gratitude, resilience, and compassion).
3. Positive institutions (applying positive principles within entire organizations and
institutions).

Nature and Scope of Positive Psychology

Since the subject of positive psychology is relatively vast, its dimensions are essentially aimed at
making one’s life more fulfilling by focusing on three general areas of human experience. There
are three levels to consider:
1. The subjective level includes positive emotions such as happiness, satisfaction with life,
love, intimacy, etc. In addition to these feelings, this level can also include optimism and
hope (regarding oneself and the future) and confidence.
2. The individual level is about positive behaviour patterns that individuals develop over
time. These include courage, honesty and wisdom. The ability to understand one’s own
creative potential and work toward excellence also falls into this category.
3. The societal level focuses on developing, creating, and maintaining positive institutions
and relationships. These can be family, friendship, romantic relationships, and
relationships in your work environment.
From this, we can infer that positive psychology is the study of positive human functioning and
flourishing at the various levels of one’s life and experiences.
Positive psychology is a relatively new form of psychology. It emphasizes the positive influences
in a person’s life. It is the behavioral science which deals with the behavior of an organism.
These might include character strengths, optimistic emotions, and constructive institutions. This
theory is based on the belief that happiness is derived from both emotional and mental factors.
This area of psychology focuses on how to help human beings prosper and lead healthy, happy
lives. However, the goal is to minimize pathological thoughts that may arise in a hopeless
mindset and to develop a sense of optimism toward life.
Positive psychologists seek to encourage acceptance of one’s past. Whereas, excitement and
optimism about one’s future experiences, and a sense of contentment and well-being in the
present.
Positive psychology research is a scientific journal that publishes scientific research about what
make life worth living. It publishes research and applied paper and article in the different sub
disciplines: developmental, clinical, personality, social, mental health, learning, motivational and
emotional, organizational, educational and neurological psychology.
Some of the scopes are: Wisdom, spirituality, virtue, value, morality, meaningful life, happiness,
well-being, vitality, happiness, optimism, mindfulness, hope, positive thinking, resiliency,
forgiveness, empathy, altruism, delight, peace, awe and the other related scopes.
Positive psychology has been incorporated into various aspects of society, such as:
 Education (such as in curriculum, wellbeing policies and workshops such as the Penn
Resilience Program)
 Places of work
 Healthcare (therapies such as mindfulness therapy are widely used)
CONCEPTS
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS
1. The main interventions in positive psychology are aimed to nurture the three routes to
happiness: pleasure, gratification and meaning.
2. Positive emotions can be brought about by increasing gratitude, optimism etc.
Interventions identify participants’ signature strengths and use them in creative new
ways.
3. Positive psychologists have developed a number of techniques (Positive Psychology
Interventions, or PPIs) that can make us happier.
4. PPIs include well-being enhancing activities such as writing a gratitude journal, being
kind to others, and identifying personal strengths.
5. The PPIs are very effective in improving physical and psychological health. They
help by encouraging the development of resilience, sense of purpose, optimism etc.
6. Focusing exclusively on personal weakness and damages, has made science poorly
equipped to do effective prevention.
7. The personality approaches to positive personality see human beings as self-
organizing, self-directed, adaptive entities.
8. Some of these approaches adopt a developmental perspective. People and experiences
are embedded in a social context.
 9. Thus, positive psychology needs to take into account the positive community and
positive institutions.

POSITIVE PREVENTION
1. In the last decade psychologists have become concerned with prevention, and this was the
theme of the 1998 American Psychological Association meeting in San Francisco.
2. Indeed, the major strides in prevention have largely come from a perspective focused on
systematically building competency, not correcting weakness. We have discovered that
there are human strengths that act as buffers against mental illness: courage, future-
mindedness, optimism, interpersonal skill, faith, work ethic, hope, honesty, and
perseverance, the capacity for flow and insight, to name several.
3. Much of the task of prevention in this new century will be to create a science of human
strength whose mission will be to understand and learn how to foster these virtues in
young people.
4. The job of psychologists is prevention of problems like depression, substance abuse etc.
This goal cannot be achieved by following the disease model. Rather this can be attained
by building competencies and strengths.
5. Prevention in psychology also focuses on building these strengths. Positive psychologists
believe that possessing certain human strengths can provide a buffer against mental
illness.
6. These virtues include courage, optimism, interpersonal skills, hope, perseverance etc.
Positive psychologists believe that by identifying and enhancing these strengths in people
at risk, effective prevention can be done.
7. Theories and practices based on positive psychology are able to prevent many major
emotional disorders.

POSITIVE HEALTH
1. Health is a state of complete positive physical, mental, and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity. (Preamble to the Constitution of the World
Health Organization, 1946).
2. Positive health refers to well-being beyond the mere absence of disease. Positive health
aims to empirically identify health assets by determining factors that predict health and
illness.
 3. The health assets include biological, subjective, functional health assets etc. Positive
Health is patterned after positive psychology which focuses on the presence of specific
psychological assets of PERMA—positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning,
and achievement (Peterson, Park and Seligman, 2005; Seligman, 2011; Seligman and
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000)
4. Positive Health is related to three existing approaches concerned with good health:
disease prevention, health promotion, and wellness.

There are five building blocks that enable flourishing – Positive

Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (hence PERMA™) – and
there are techniques to increase each.
1. 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).

2. 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.

3. 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.’

4. 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.

5. Accomplishment: People pursue achievement, competence, success, and mastery for its
own sake, in a variety of domains, including the workplace, sports, games, hobbies, etc.
People pursue accomplishment even when it does not necessarily lead to positive
emotion, meaning, or relationships.
HISTORY
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.
Abraham Maslow first coined the term “positive psychology” in his 1954 book “Motivation and
Personality.”
The branch of psychology termed positive psychology was championed by Martin Seligman in
1998 when he served as President of the American Psychological Society. The explicit goal was
to further investigate human potential to counter the dominance of psychopathology and
establish a science of human flourishing.
Influential psychologists such as Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Erich Fromm, and Albert
Bandura helped develop ideas and theories about human happiness and productivity
formal discipline of positive psychology has only existed since 2000. subject of empirical study
since at least the 1980s and present in religious and philosophical discourse for thousands of
years.
Positive psychology has progressed substantially in its short 12 year history.
Martin Seligman is often referred to as the father of positive psychology.
The first positive psychology summit was hosted in 1999. In 2002, the First International
Conference on Positive Psychology was held. Positive psychology caught the attention of the
general public in 2006.
In 2009, the University of Pennsylvania hosted the First World Congress on Positive
Psychology.
In India origin of positive psychology is mainly due to efforts of prof Nathawat, who initiated 3
consecutive conferences on positivism in the year 2010, 2011, 2012 at AUR.
Thereafter N.K. Chadha & Prof. Nathawat decided t originate IAPP, first time in india and three
consective conferences were held in Varanasi, Mumbai and Faridabad.
The field launched its signature journal, the journal of positive psychology in 2006 and the
international Positive Psychology Association was founded in 2007 and now has over 3000
members
The publication of Character Strength and virtues: a handbook and classification (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004), also referred to as Un-DSM, is also seen as a milestone.

Post WWII psychological wave

The resurgence of interest in ‘living’ a good life apart from just surviving came years after the
second world war with the humanistic approach, introduced by Abraham Maslow and Carl
Rogers. Parting ways from the Freudian concepts, Maslow and Rogers were keen to understand
the innate drive in human beings and emphasised more on self-actualization and thus, brought a
fresh perspective into psychology.
A generation later, positive psychology had started to evolve as an important field within under
Martin Seligman. Considered to be the father of positive psychology, he urged psychologists to
nurture talents and improve the quality of living in their mission.The focus had now shifted from
mental illness to mental health. A fellow colleague and co-author with Seligman, Christopher
Peterson wrote (2006), Positive Psychology has a very short history) and a very long past.

Notable pioneers of positive psychology

William James
He argued that understanding subjective experience is key to the investigation of optimal human
functioning.
He combined pragmatic and functionalist perspectives to link mind and body and investigate the
objective and observable features of inner experience. Many consider James to be America’s first
positive psychologist (Froh, 2004) because of his interest in whole person functioning and the
full range of subjective experience beyond the confines of psychopathology (Froh, 2004).

Abraham Maslow
First to coin the term positive psychology, Maslow put emphasis on growth and development of
a person and introduced the concept of self-actualization. He did not like the fact that psychology
catered only to mental disorders and ignored the importance of human potential.
Carl Rogers
Along with Abraham Maslow, Rogers was one of the founding fathers of humanistic school of
psychology. He gave the concept of ideal self and real self and stated that the congruency
between the two depended on the status of the person’s positive regard.

Martin Seligman
Known as the father of positive psychology, Seligman conducted major work related to positive
psychology, once elected as the President of American Psychological Association. He presented
a positive face to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Later, he
developed a theory of wellbeing in which he listed 5 elements of a happy life, PERMA, an
acronym for Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and purpose, and
Accomplishments.
This classification system formed the backbone of their book Character Strengths and Virtues
(Seligman & Peterson, 2004) and included the following six categories:
 wisdom/knowledge
 courage
 transcendence
 justice
 humanity
 temperance
Professor Seligman is widely celebrated as the founder of the discipline of positive psychology
and became Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania in
2004. To date, he has written over 350 scholarly articles and over 30 books in the field.

ED Diener
In 1984, Diener created a model of subjective well-being. According to him, subjective well-
being is “based on the idea that how each person thinks and feels about his or her life is
important.”

Albert Bandura
Praised for his work in social cognition and modelling theory, Bandura presented a Self-Efficacy
theory which is based on how a person perceives himself of the belief in their ability and
performance to reach a goal.
Even though the past might not seem to be vast, positive psychology has gained immense
importance over the years. Today, it is applied widely not just to fix mental issues but in the day
to day setting of our lives including stress, therapy and in our ways of communication as well.

Barbara Fredrickson
Barbara Fredrickson made her first contribution to positive psychology with her broaden and
build theory, which proposes that positive emotions broaden people’s minds and help develop
the resources required for resilience during times of adversity (Fredrickson, 2004).
Fredrickson currently acts as the Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology
Laboratory, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Criticism
While Positive psychology has made contributions to the field of psychology, several critics have
pointed out that it is not without its faults. For example, the simplistic approach taken by some
psychologists in the application of positive psychology. A "one size fits all" approach may not be
beneficial, suggesting there is a need for individual differences to be incorporated into its
application.
Other causes for concern include the division inside the field of psychology caused by differing
opinions held by psychologists on Positive psychology and the separatist and negative approach
taken by some positive psychologists to ideas or views that run counter to the approach of
Positive psychology; a rejection of negativity and the "tyranny of the positive attitude" which
leads to the unintended consequence of making those who are not able to go beyond their
suffering or fail to achieve optimism to add guilt and a sense to failure to their problems; the
danger of support from the media for Positive psychology enhancing results and leading to a loss
of scientific professionalism.
Critics have also noted that contemporary Positive psychology is not a new approach within
psychology, nor is it a new approach to life—it has many similarities to the spirituality of
Ignatius of Loyola, the sixteenth century Roman Catholic priest who founded the Society of
Jesus.

Positive Psychology Trends

Positive psychology is a science concerning on positive features such as human virtue and
strength that make life worth living.
Current researches mainly focus on : 1) positive emotions and experiences; 2) positive
personality; 3) positive emotions and health; and 4) creativity and talent. In this article, the
history, fields, goals, as well as research advances of positive psychology were reviewed. It
aimed to serve as a reference for the studies in this area in our country.

GOALS AND ASSUMPTIONS OF POSITIVE

PSYCHOLOGY
1. A major assumption of positive psychology is that the field of psychology has
become unbalanced. (Simonton & Baumeister, 2005).
2. Human goodness and excellence are as authentic as disorders and distress and
therefore deserve equal attention from mental health practitioners. Its time to
challenge the disease model (Maddux,2002)
3. Human beings have the potential for good and that we are motivated to pursue a good
life (Linley & Joseph,2006)
4. most basic assumption of positive psychology is that human goodness and excellence
are as authentic as disorders and distress and therefore deserve equal attention from
mental health practitioners
5. A primary goal of what could be termed as the positive psychology movement is to
be a catalyst for change in the focus of psychology from a preoccupation with
repairing the worst things in life to also building positive qualities (Joseph & Linley,
2006).
6. The discipline of positive psychology is primarily focused on the promotion of the
good life. The good life refers to those factors that contribute most predominately to a
well lived life.
7. Seligman (2002) defines good life as a combination of three elements: Positive
connection to others or positive subjective experience; Positive individual traits and;
Life regulation qualities.
8. Positive Psychology views happiness from both the hedonistic and eudemonic view
in which they define happiness in terms of the pleasant life, the good life and the
meaningful life.
9. the good life is considered to result from the individual cultivating and investing their
signature strengths and virtues into their relationships, work and leisure (Seligman,
2002) thus applying the best of self during challenging activities that results in growth
and a feeling of competence and satisfaction that brings about happiness.
10. According to Martin Seligman’s goal of positive psychology was
 To refocusing the entire field of psychology.
 To find elements of positive psychology represented in so many different areas of
psychology, from physiological to clinical psychology.
 To restore balance within the discipline of Psychology which was too much focused
on negative aspects.
  To catalyze a change in psychology from a preoccupation only with repairing the
worst things in life to also building the best qualities in life.
 To improve understanding of positive human behaviors to balance the negative
focus of much mainstream research & theory (Sheldon & King, 2001).
 To develop an empirically-based conceptual understanding and language for
describing healthy human functioning that parallels our classification and
understanding of mental illness (Keyes, 2003)
 To boost present well being.
 To prevent future problems.
 To make life worthwhile
11. Positive psychology has also placed a significant emphasis on fostering positive self-
esteem and self-image
12. Positive psychology focuses on wellbeing, happiness, flow, personal strengths,
wisdom, creativity, imagination and characteristics of positive groups and institutions.
Furthermore, the focus is not just on how to make individuals happy, thereby
perpetuating a self centred, narcissistic approach, but on happiness and flourishing at
a group level as well.
13. Positive Psychology looks at how individuals and groups thrive and how increasing
the wellbeing of one will have a positive effect on the other, leading to a win-win
situation. Positive psychology is not simply the focus on positive thinking and
positive emotions. It‘s much more than that. Indeed, the area of positive psychology
is focused on what makes individuals and communities flourish, rather than languish.

GOOD LIFE
Dr. Martin Seligman is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of positive psychology.
For Seligman, the good life entails using our character strengths to engage in activities we find
intrinsically fulfilling, during work and play and in our relationships.
For Seligman, ‘the good life’ has three strands,
 Positive emotions
  Eudaimonia and flow
 Meaning.
Dr. Seligman’s work with Christopher Peterson (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) helped to develop
the VIA system of signature strengths. When we invest our strengths in the activities of daily
living, we can develop the virtues required to live ‘the good life’; a life characterized by positive
emotional states, flow, and meaning.
According to Carl Rodgers, The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a
destination. The direction which constitutes the good life is that which is selected by the total
organism, when there is psychological freedom to move in any direction.
Good Life (“Life of engagement”) – Focused on personal strengths, immersion in activities that
have a purpose for us, and accomplishing goals. We derive happiness from being optimally
engaged and from “getting lost” in activities we love. This state of being absorbed in the activity
we enjoy and are skilled at is referred to as a state of “flow”.
 MODULE - 2
Positive Emotional States and Processes
Broaden & Build Theory of Positive Emotions
Positive Emotions: Hope & Optimism, Love,
Empathy
Emotional Intelligence: Mayer and Salovey’ and
Goleman’ concept

The Broaden-and-Build Theory of

Positive Emotions
At the crux of her theory, Fredrickson (1998) argues that while negative emotions narrow
thought-action repertoires, positive emotions broaden these repertoires, enabling us to draw on a
wide array of possible cognitions and behaviors in response to emotional stimuli.
Barbara Fredrickson has proposed the Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions to
explain the mechanism through which positive emotions have a positive impact. The main points
in her theory can be discussed below.
Positive emotions elicit more cognitive responses
When we show negative emotions, it leads to physical reactions involving action tendencies
which are specific and limited, e.g., tendency to flight or fight in case of fear or anger. This has
significance from an evolutionary perspective where survival is the primary focus. positive
emotions lead to momentary thought-action repertoires. That is, it leads to more cognitive
responses rather than more physical reactions as in case of negative emotions. As a result a
variety of possible behavioral options are generated in contrast to the limited behavioral options
as seen in negative emotions.

Broadening effect of positive emotions

As we saw above, positive emotions are associated with momentary thought action repertoires.
This helps broaden the individual’s repertoire of possible immediate/future actions they will
take. Since we are in a cognitive flexible mode after experiencing a positive emotion, we become
more open to creative and diverse thinking and engaging in different actions. For instance, your
friend throws a mini party in the college canteen as she won a first prize in some coveted arts and
painting competition. As she announced this in the canteen, what emotions did you feel and how
it made you jovial, light, and energetic afterwards – a pervasive feeling of good mood. On the
other hand, when you were eating food with your friend in the college canteen, your friend
received a phone call that her father has met with an accident and she has to rush to the hospital
immediately. What were your emotions and the resultant behavioral responses/tendencies in the
latter case? You were sad and did not feel like doing anything. Thus positive emotions broaden
our responses, ideas and actions. Negative emotions limit our thoughts, focusing on the negative
emotion only, and leading to a tunnel vision.

Positive emotions help build resources

Broadening effect of positive emotions can lead to building of resources for enhancing the
individual’s well-being. Positive emotions, of course makes one feel good. But Fredrickson
argued that positive emotions can go beyond this simple outcome and play a crucial role in
building physical, psychological and social resources that help optimal functioning and well-
being. For instance, joy or love will broaden our thoughts, make us less rigid, and more playful.
This in turn will lead us to reach out to others, connect with friends, partners more, do things for
them, show care and affection towards them. Thus relationship with friend/partner gets
strengthened which is a valuable resource. This in turn again leads to experiencing positive
emotions of joy and feeling loved. Thus positive emotions lead to a spiraling effect known as the
upward spiral of positive emotions (Cohn & Fredrickson, 2009).

Positive emotions can undo the negative emotions

According to Fredrickson, positive emotions have the ability to offset or negate the impact of
negative emotions (Fredrickson, Mancuso, Branigan, & Tugade, 2000). Both positive emotions
and negative emotions cannot go together, e.g., when we are joyful, we cannot be sad or when
we are fearful, we cannot be relaxed. Thus engaging in activities that induce positive emotions
can lead to offset of physiological responses induced by negative emotions such as increased
cardiovascular consequences (Fredrickson, 2001). This has implications for consciously
engaging in positive emotions to counter the effects of negative emotions.
Thus Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory states that positive emotions can broaden our
thought and action possibilities, build our resources, and undo the negative emotions. It
emphasizes the value of positive emotions beyond the mere sensory or hedonic pleasures and
highlights the resource-building capacity of positive emotions contributing to our well-being.

POSITIVE EMOTIONS
Emotion refers to a specific feeling and is always associated with an object (Cohn &
Fredrickson, 2009).
Positive emotions refers to an emotional reaction designed to express a positive affect, such as
happiness when one attains a goal, relief when a danger has been avoided, or contentment when
one is satisfied with the present state of affairs.
Positive emotions are emotions that we typically find pleasurable to experience. The Oxford
Handbook of Positive Psychology defines them as “pleasant or desirable situational responses…
distinct from pleasurable sensation and undifferentiated positive affect” (Cohn & Fredrickson,
2009).
The influence of positive emotions on our well-being is mainly through physical, psychological
and social resources. Positive emotions increase the physical resources such as boosting the
immune system, and keeping the physiological functioning in good condition
Positive emotions also lead to resilience and improved coping by removing the effects of
negative emotions created by stressful situations.
positive emotions also build up resources in the form of social support and strengthening our
relationships which have been found to contribute most significantly to our well-being

HOPE
According to Snyder et al. (1991) hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of
successful goal-directed determination and planning to meet these goals. In other words, hope is
like a snap-shot of a person’s current goal-directed thinking, highlighting the motivated pursuit
of goals and the expectation that those goals can be achieved.
Snyder et al. (1991) emphasized the relevance of hope in the context of doing – that is the
capacity to achieve goals.
Hope Therapy is borne from pure positive psychology. Rather than focusing on unpleasant or
distressing factors, Hope Therapy techniques incorporates positive self-talking, hopeful
imagination, and connections with supportive networks (Shekarabi-Ahari, Younesi, Borjali, &
Ansari-Damavandi, 2012).
Hope Therapy is designed to help clients to conceptualize clearer goals, produce multiple
pathways to goal attainment, and reframe barriers as challenges to be overcome (Lopez, Floyd,
Ulven, & Snyder, 2000).
Hope does not necessarily fade in the face of adversity; in fact hope often endures despite
poverty, war and famine. While no one is exempt from experiencing challenging life events,
hope fosters an orientation to life that allows a grounded and optimistic outlook even in the most
challenging of circumstances.
Hope has the potential to enhance wellbeing over time. Erez and Isen (2002) found that
individuals who are more hopeful and expect to be successful in achieving goals are more likely
to experience a state of wellbeing.

OPTIMISM
Learned optimism is a concept from positive psychology’s founding father, Martin Seligman,
that argues that we can cultivate a positive perspective.
optimism is a concept that says we can change our attitude and behaviors by recognizing and
challenging our negative self-talk, among other things.
Carver et al. (2010, p. 879) defined optimism from a dispositional standpoint, as “an individual
difference variable that reflects the extent to which people hold generalized favorable
expectancies for their future.”
According to Seligman’s (2007, p. 52) explanatory style definition, “The basis of optimism does
not lie in positive phrases or images of victory, but in the way you think about causes.”
Optimistic individuals also tend to be more aware of their health status and how to stay that way.
Optimists may also take a more approach-focused method of dealing with health stressors.
Rather than trying to avoid, ignore, or withdraw from a health concern, optimistic people are
more inclined to seek practical support, cognitively restructure, or reinterpret the situation
positively, among other coping methods (Solberg Nes & Segerstrom, 2006).
The positive psychology view of learned optimism is about how we interpret the world, and
according to this premise, it’s not a fixed trait nor part of our disposition. Instead, it can be seen
as more of a strategy – an outlook that we can learn to cultivate when we start by challenging our
automatic negative thoughts.
Some studies suggest that optimism interventions can improve people’s optimism significantly,

LOVE
perhaps the strongest of all positive emotions, love is a feeling of deep and enduring affection for
someone, along with a willingness to put their needs ahead of your own; it can be directed
towards an individual, a group of people, or even all humanity.
The notion of love has been linked to happiness and positive wellbeing as human is group
orientated species that need to belong (Myers and Diener, 1995). The renowned psychologist
Barbara Fredrickson postulates love is a moment in which you experience warmth and
connection with another being naming it Positivity Resonance.

EMPATHY
In psychology, empathy is loosely defined as an ability to understand and experience someone
else’s feelings and to adopt someone else’s viewpoint (Colman, 2015). The term ‘empathy’
comes from the German word Einfuhlung, which means “projecting into” (Ganczarek,
Hünefeldt, & Belardinelli, 2018) and may explain why empathy is considered the ability to place
yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Without empathy, we would struggle to:
 understand other people’s feelings, motivations, and behaviors;
 respond appropriately to someone else’s feelings; and
 understand social interactions that rely on subtle behaviors, cues, and social norms, such
as jokes, faux pas, and sarcasm.
The ability to respond appropriately to someone else’s emotions is extremely important for
forming bonds.
In positive psychology, empathy is defined as the quality of feeling and understanding another
person’s situation in the present moment—their perspectives, emotions, actions (reactions)—and
communicating this to the person. Positive empathy is the ability to share, celebrate, and enjoy
others’ positive emotions.

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and try to understand their feelings
and thoughts just as they do. It is a powerful way to connect with people and care for them.
Psychologists Morelli, Lieberman, Telzer, & Zaki (2015) define the new, emerging concept
of Positive Empathy as the “understanding and vicariously sharing others’ positive emotions.”
The broaden-and-build theory has contributed with a progressive perspective of positive
emotions based on various methodological methods. However, it tends to overestimate the
importance of positive emotions whilst failing to adequately incorporate ‘appropriate negativity’.
A more sophisticated, nuanced view of emotions that breaks away from the ‘black and white’
conceptualization will have to accounts for this in order to fully understand the effects of
emotions.