PSYCH243:

Introduction

Sadness is the opposite of happiness, right? You may be surprised to learn that sadness is not the opposite of happiness. Rather, the opposite of sadness is the absence of sadness. As such, removing what is making you sad won’t automatically result in you experiencing happiness. In addition to having tools for reducing sadness, you also need to know how to generate positive feelings. Positive psychology focuses on increasing the “goods” in life, including your happiness.

Lesson 1 will introduce you to positive psychology. You will learn that positive psychology encompasses much more than the study of happiness. It embraces strengths, fosters personal growth, and enhances well-being. You will learn how positive psychology is a unique discipline within the field of psychology and a bit about its history. You will be introduced to areas of your life that you can improve and personal qualities that you can cultivate to result in a better way of living.

The goal of this course is for you to develop a better understanding of the field of positive psychology and the key areas of study within that field. Ideally, not only will you familiarize yourself with new concepts and principles, but you will also learn how to apply theories to your own life. Many of the activities assigned in the course are designed to help you do just that.

Lesson Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following things:

Assessed This Lesson

• Define positive psychology and understand how it is a unique discipline within the field of psychology.
• Understand the value of scientific research.

Assessed on the Midterm

• Define positive psychology and understand how it is a unique discipline within the field of psychology.
• Compare and contrast positive psychology and humanistic psychology. 
• Define the three pillars of positive psychology.
• Understand the value of scientific research. 

Lesson Readings and Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 1 Course Schedule.

 

The History of PSYCH 243

As noted by Peterson (2006), when psychology emerged as a field, there tended to be a focus on negative issues. (For example, I imagine you are quite familiar with many of the psychological disorders explored by clinical psychologists.) Although not all areas of psychology focused on the negative, many of the applied psychologies focused on such issues as overcoming traumas, surviving difficult childhoods, and so on. While these areas of study have merit, this weakness-oriented approach often neglected ways to promote positive well-being. Positive psychology emerged when some psychologists became disheartened with the emphasis on negatives and weaknesses and were determined to further explore the positives in life.

In reality, the human experience involves both positive and negative events, so to focus on one at the exclusion of the other does not accurately reflect the entire human experience. As such, while positive psychology focuses on the positives, it is important to maintain a balanced approach. So, rather than decide whether you want to embrace positive psychology or the weakness model, understand that it doesn’t have to be an either/or consideration. It is important to have a good understanding of an individual's strengths, weaknesses, negatives, and positives.

While this course focuses on the positives, there are a few course activities that are designed to alleviate negative emotions and thoughts. It is often necessary to alleviate negative emotions before you can focus on strengthening positive ones.

The History of Positive Psychology

Peterson defines positive psychology as the “scientific study of what goes right in life" (2006, p. 4). Although positive psychology did not emerge as a field until the 1990s, many of the concepts studied under this umbrella term were not new to the field of psychology or to history more broadly.

As we explore positive psychology topics, you will see that some of the areas have foundations dating back to ancient times. For instance, various religions have debated what should be considered valuable in life, and philosophers have long been asking, “What is the meaning of life?” In more recent history, some positive psychology concepts were studied under the umbrella term of humanistic psychology. We will soon explore the relationship between these two subareas of psychology.

As positive psychology was emerging onto the scene, one of the founding fathers of the field, Dr. Martin Seligman, wrote Positive Psychology: An Introduction.

This article may give you a better sense of the field's foundation and goals. Because the article was published in 2000, a lot of the questions/theories proposed have since been studied and answered, but the article gives you a nice sense of the starting place of positive psychology. As we proceed through the course, many of the topics highlighted in the article will be addressed in the lessons. At the close of the course, we will conclude with the direction in which the field is heading and with future areas of research.

The Relationship of Positive Psychology to Humanistic Psychology

As you learn about positive psychology, you may find that you’re already familiar with some of the concepts being introduced as “new.” Perhaps you’ve already learned about humanistic psychology in your Introduction to Psychology course. Humanistic psychology is a subarea within the field that came about in the 1950s; well-known researchers Maslow and Rogers were among the founding fathers. This subarea is focused on such concepts as self-actualizing (reaching one’s potential), reaching goals, and achieving awareness. 

When comparing positive psychology and humanistic psychology, you will find many similarities between the two (e.g., both emphasize positive growth). When Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) were introducing the field of positive psychology, they attempted to distance the field from humanistic psychology. These researchers suggested that positive psychology takes a more balanced approach (i.e., positive psychology looks at both the good and bad in life, whereas humanistic psychology focuses almost exclusively on people being inherently good). Also, it was suggested that positive psychology places more emphasis on scientific research compared to humanistic psychology. Humanistic psychologists would likely have something to say about these proposed differences. 

The takeaway from this topic should be that there are more similarities than differences between positive psychology and humanistic psychology, and, while there are possibly some differences between the two subareas, the differences are generally quite subtle.

The Three Pillars of Positive Psychology

Peterson (2006, p. 7) asks, “Is positive psychology just happiology?” Is the field’s focus on making people happier? Well, in part, yes. Happiness is studied under the umbrella term positive psychology, but to say that it is the focus of positive psychology would be misleading. The research in this subarea is much more diverse than you may have initially realized.

The field of positive psychology can be divided into three areas of study: 

• positive experiences (happiness, pleasure, gratification, and fulfillment),
• positive traits (strengths of character, talents, interests, and values), and
• positive social institutions (families, schools, businesses, communities, and societies).

As you can see, the field focuses on quite a bit more than happiness. Yes, happiness is one of the core areas studied within the field, but it is only a small slice of the pie. The course will begin with an exploration of the concept of happiness, but the remaining topics covered are quite diverse.

Do Positive Psychologists Know More Than Sunday-School Teachers?

A goal of positive psychology is to provide concrete evidence regarding how best to pursue “the good life.” As emphasized by Peterson (2006), is important that you understand the value of researching positive psychology topics as opposed to just making assumptions. There tends to be a focus on research that yields counterintuitive results, because the findings are more shocking and perhaps more interesting. Research that tells us something we already knew is of just as much importance, however, because our preconceived ideas are confirmed by science. In other words, it is important to do some investigative work even when the research is suspected to confirm conventional wisdom.

Active Learning

Peterson (2006) emphasizes the importance of a hands-on approach when learning about positive psychology. Rather than simply reading the required material and moving on to the next topic, it is important that you actively think about the material. In order to reinforce the theories, you will often be participating in activities designed to be experiential. In other words, not only are the activities designed to get you thinking about the new material, but they will also help you focus on enhancing your own strengths and improving your life. Chapter 2 in Peterson’s textbook will start to give you ideas of how some of the concepts introduced can be applied to your own life.

References

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.