Integrative Practice III

Integrative Practice III

In order to write this assignment , you need the chapter 5 & 6 from the second book which is invitation positive psychology , please go to below the link then you will see that book page from Amazon then you will see ” look inside ” so when you click that one you will see all chapters, so that you can use that chapter 5 & 6 for this assignment , thank you.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwi4kr_Hy5rTAhUE5IMKHfmeBw4QFggrMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FInvitation-Positive-Psychology-Research-Professional%2Fdp%2F1483918246&usg=AFQjCNEMM5JvP_Ql2BPmJcCrUyN0Q5DjQg&sig2=BX0-PrPL1WaqGM60XgNcKQ
Invitation to
Positive Psychology:
Research and Tools for
the Professional
A 6-week Course
Course Author: Robert Biswas-Diener
Programme Director: Robert Biswas-Diener
First published in the United Kingdom in 2008
© Robert Biswas-Diener
ISBN: 978-1-906366-04-9 (paperback)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise), without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or a licence permitting
restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron
House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, EC1N 8TS. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or
otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it
is published, without the prior consent of the Publisher. Requests for permissions should be
directed to the Publisher.
Printed in the United Kingdom
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Week One: What, and why, is positive psychology? 5
Week Two: The power of positive emotion 22
Week Three: Empirically tested interventions 40
Week Four: A strengths focus 67
Week Five: A case for hope and optimism 88
Week Six: Putting it all together 108
About the author 122

Week One: What, and why, is
positive psychology?
Welcome to this course on positive psychology. You may have joined the course
for any number of reasons…. Perhaps you are looking for new tools that will give
you an edge at work, or think that a focus on the positive aspects of human
psychology is a refreshing counterpoint to looking at depression or other
problems. Maybe the course was recommended by a friend, or possibly you read
a popular book on happiness that piqued your interest or helped you in your own
life. Whatever the reason, I am pleased to announce that positive psychology has
a little something for everyone. It is not a self-help movement or a re-packaging of
“the power of positive thinking.” It is not American-style “happy-ology,” and it is
not a passing fad. Nor does understanding this exciting new discipline require a
doctorate in psychology.
Positive psychology is the scientific study of human flourishing, and an applied
approach to optimal functioning. The lessons and applications of positive
psychology research are appropriate to everyone, and I mean literally everyone.
The research that forms the foundation of positive psychology has been drawn
from teenagers and the elderly, executives and tribal people. The measures and
practical applications that make up the toolbox of positive psychology can be
applied across all domains of life. Chances are, you came to this course hoping to
gain knowledge and skills you can use in your professional life, whether you are
an educator, therapist, coach, manager, human resource worker, or medical
programme evaluator. If so, positive psychology in general, and this course in
particular, definitely has something to offer you. Importantly, however, the major
lessons and important points contained in this course can be as applicable to you
personally—in your own life at home—as they are to you professionally. In the
last decade or so, positive psychology research has produced many new
insights—many of them counter-intuitive— into when and how people function
best. In this course, you will be introduced to the foundational studies of positive
psychology, as well as to the newest theories and latest interventions
At its heart, positive psychology is a radical idea. If you are anything like me, you
probably spend at least a portion of each day worrying about what could go
wrong, complaining about what did go wrong, beating yourself up for
opportunities missed, or feeling frustrated with life’s many set-backs and
disappointments. This makes sense…. There is much to worry about and
complain about: housing prices are high, commutes are tiresome, organisational
culture can be frustrating, and our clients, employees, colleagues, and supervisors
can be a challenge. In fact, there is a body of research evidence that shows that
folks are actually “hard-wired” to pay attention to threats and problems.1 From an
evolutionary point of view, being vigilant for all that could go wrong makes sense.
Problems often require an immediate response, and—at least historically
speaking—the people who were better able to adapt quickly and respond to
threats were better able to survive and function. Being alert could have helped
certain people distinguish between sticks and snakes on the ground or given
precious time to escape when seeing a predator approach.
From the long perspective of evolutionary history, this all makes logical sense. But,
what might seem logical in the case of poisonous snakes or sabre toothed tigers
likely does not hold true for your current career. Missed deadlines,
communication difficulties, and problems with productivity are not matters of life
and death, even though they feel pressing. The same vigilance that might be so
important to pre-industrial tribal people living in inhospitable places may not
translate well to the average urban commuter or office worker. It makes sense,
then, to take a step back and ask yourself: How is my vigilance for problems
helping me? And—perhaps more importantly—is paying attention to what does
and could go wrong the best route to accomplishing my goals?
6 Week One
1.1 Reflection
Take a moment to reflect upon and answer these important questions:
What types of problems am I often on the lookout for? At home? At work?
What are the benefits of keeping a keen eye out for things that might go
wrong? How might this tendency affect my ability to prepare for, or respond to,
problems?
What are the costs of a problem focus? What might I be missing while my
attention is otherwise trained on potential problems?
What, and why, is positive psychology? 7
To this last question positive psychology provides a revolutionary answer: try
looking at the positives, and what could go right, and see what this new approach
buys you. Instead of planning for and dealing with problems, positive psychology
suggests that it might be fruitful to look at opportunities, successes, and strengths,
as we go about the business of living. Please do not make the mistake of thinking
that I—or any other positive psychologist—advocates only a positive perspective
approach to life. Indeed not. I see tremendous wisdom in accurately predicting
problems and being aware enough to see troubles in their early stages. Too often,
however, downside risk, setbacks, and pitfalls take up the lion’s share of our
attention. Positive psychology merely makes the suggestion that there is much to
be gained in expanding your focus to include life’s better points. This is more than
a philosophical approach of looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses; there
is strong empirical support that a solutions orientation and strengths focus
actually work, as we will discuss in detail below.
What is Positive Psychology?
In many ways positive psychology is not a new concept. Students of philosophy
will recognise that great thinkers throughout the ages have attended to matters of
the good life and living a moral and virtuous existence. In ancient Greece, for
instance, Aristotle wrote the Nicomachean Ethics, in which he outlined the good life
for the individual and the community. He suggested that happiness included
materially favourable circumstances, pleasant feelings, and living in accord with
one’s virtue. Aristotle also emphasised civic responsibility as an integral part of
individual success. Other philosophers from the classical Greek period
emphasised personal freedom, the pursuit of pleasure, and the development of
self-control as crucial components to the good life.
Religious texts and spiritual leaders throughout history have likewise emphasised
the importance of good living and positive character. Even a cursory look at the
Western monotheistic religions, for example, suggests that certain personal virtues
such as forgiveness, self-sacrifice, faith, and loyalty are commonly prescribed as
being among the most valuable attributes, and those that are likely to lead to
success in this world and—according to scripture—reward in the next. In recent
times thought leaders of the humanistic movement have emphasised the
possibility of individual growth. Humanistic theorists such as Abraham Maslow
discussed basic human needs such as food, shelter, and relationships as
antecedents to the larger human endeavour of self-determination and selfactualisation.2
In each case—philosophy, religion, and humanistic psychology—
8 Week One
there was a basic assumption that people are capable of “goodness” and that they
can “become better.” These intellectual and spiritual forebears paved the way for
the modern advent of positive psychology. What distinguishes positive
psychology from these other approaches—or from self-help books for that
matter— is an emphasis on careful empirical research. Instead of relying on
reasoning, intuition, or folk wisdom, empirical researchers look to the observable
world for testable theories and provable explanations. Positive psychology
represents, in many ways, a shift from faith to evidence.
Positive psychology is not a philosophy of the world. Positive psychology is a
science, and brings the many virtues of science—replication, controlled causal
studies, peer review, representative sampling (to name a few)—to bear on the
question of how and when people flourish. In the late 1990s psychologist Martin
Seligman, then president of the American Psychological Association, noticed that
the vast majority of psychology was problem focused. In the years immediately
following World War II there was an intense amount of attention given to the
pressing problems of trauma and depression, and this period was instrumental in
defining the focal legacy of modern psychology. Most research and intervention
over the last half century has aimed at addressing the important problems of
anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, suicide, and drug abuse. This psychology,
according to Seligman, was really only half a psychology and was more focused
on mental illness than mental health. Seligman is incredibly well read and he was
familiar with the philosophical and religious traditions which asked important
questions about virtue, the good life, moral behaviour, and other positive aspects
of living. Influenced by these traditions, Seligman suggested, as part of his official
presidential platform, that we begin asking “what is going right with people” as
well as what is wrong with people. He used his professional position to establish
a new branch of science called positive psychology.
In its early days, positive psychology was cobbled together from a handful of
maverick yet productive researchers who happened to be working on unusual
questions about positive topics. These were scientists who were studying hope,
happiness, play, creativity, wisdom, and gratitude, among other things. Seligman
used his considerable influence to bring together these pioneers and establish a
loosely organised body of research literature that spoke about people at their best.
Of course, just as Seligman was not the first person in history to attend to thriving,
nor was he the first to coin the phrase “positive psychology.” This term appeared
in print, used by Maslow, as early as 1954, and may even pre-date that time. In
fact, because modern positive psychology, in its nascent days, was based heavily
on a social network in social, personality, and clinical psychology, some important
players were not “invited to join the game,” as it were.
What, and why, is positive psychology? 9
These included researchers in humanistic psychology, philosophers, coaches,
sports psychologists, developmental psychologists, and others—many of whom
have since made important contributions to the evolution and growth of positive
psychology. But, in those early days, Seligman and his pioneering positive
psychology colleagues hoped to earn a place at the table of the historical
discussion of the good life by contributing brand-new insights based on a
specifically scientific understanding of many of these concepts. And it worked. For
a variety of reasons—its empirical foundation, its positive emphasis, Seligman’s
effortful popularisation, the psychological climate in the wake of the September
11th terror attacks—positive psychology caught on. The movement provided a
home for scholars hoping to research meaning in life, character strengths, and
other topics related to optimal functioning. Similarly, businesses were attracted to
the model because it had the potential to provide valuable insights into
motivation, productivity, and high performance. Educators saw the value in using
student assets to improve learning. Counsellors recognised the utility of tapping
strengths to overcome problems. Even the general public took to the topic. For lay
people, positive psychology offered a re-defined approach to self-help and selfgrowth
based on cutting edge science. Although some of the messages coming out
of the movement were common sense, or reiterations of older self-help advice, the
foundation of science upon which positive psychology is built offered the promise
of a trusted method to tell the good advice from the bad, the effective tools from
the fads.
Today, positive psychology has evolved from a hodgepodge group of academics
studying a relatively narrow range of topics in the United States to a burgeoning
movement of professionals from all around the globe. This is an important point
because it is easy to imagine a scenario in which this field could have remained
distinctly American. It will come as a great relief to those who are concerned about
the cultural appropriateness of positive psychology to learn that there are experts
with productive research agendas in societies as diverse as England, Israel, the
Netherlands, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea, to name only a few. A very
real testament to the broad international appeal of positive psychology can be seen
in even the single example of the 1st Applied Positive Psychology Conference that
CAPP organised at the University of Warwick (UK), in April 2007. This meeting
alone was attended by 230 delegates from 24 different countries, including
Australia, Brazil, Iceland, and Japan. There is even a new—as of this writing—
International Positive Psychology Association (see www.ippanetwork.org), which
seeks to facilitate increased global collaboration and cooperation. Positive
psychology has also become more sophisticated in its methods, more applied, and
has a more cohesive identity than in its early days. Positive psychology is now
10 Week One
commonly defined as “The scientific study of optimal functioning.” Occasionally,
you come across a definition such as “positive psychology is the scientific study of
strengths, optimism, and happiness,” or “positive psychology is the scientific
study of what goes right in life.” As you can clearly see, these are all variations on
a theme. In each case the emphases are on the scientific underpinnings of field and
the positive, non-clinical focus of these studies. Thought leaders in the field such
as University of Michigan psychologist Chris Peterson describe positive
psychology as having three major foci. These include a focus on positive
subjective states such as happiness, positive traits such as character strengths, and
positive institutions such as schools or businesses. These broad categories define,
although not officially perhaps, the bulk of the research and application of positive
psychology.
One of the most interesting trends in the evolution of positive psychology is its
transformation from a basic science to an increasingly applied science. If, in its
infancy, positive psychology was about charting the waters so to speak; that is,
establishing research programmes on strengths, optimism, and happiness…. It is
now about how best to use the results of these studies to develop strengths, increase
optimism and happiness, and promote optimal functioning. In short, it has moved
from a fairly descriptive discipline to a more prescriptive discipline. We now know
enough about topics like positive emotion and character strengths to be able to
create effective interventions and apply our learning to a variety of domains ranging
from workplace culture to team building to therapy to designing more effective
educational curricula.
The good news is that positive psychology works! A large body of research evidence
is showing the promise of a strengths-based focus and the power of positive
emotion: students appear to gain more by working with their strengths than
focusing their energies on shoring up weaknesses;2 therapies with a solutions focus
are known to be more brief than long-lasting counselling techniques such as
psychoanalysis;3 businesses seem to profit by attending to workers’ best qualities
and capitalizing on these.4 Positive psychology transcends simple self-help advice
or common sense wisdom by adding a much needed empirical burden of proof to
its claims. As Jim Clifton, the CEO of the Gallup Organization once said, “I use
positive psychology in my organisation because the research shows it works. If the
research showed that yelling at my employees worked better, I would do that
instead.” Whether he meant his words to be taken literally or not, his comments
illustrate that positive psychology has been noticed by leaders in the business world
– as CAPP’s work with leading international organisations such as Unilever and
Norwich Union shows – as they have by coaches, therapists, and educators. Positive
psychology works, and in this course you will learn how to make it work for you.
What, and why, is positive psychology? 11
Why a Positive Focus?
It probably goes without saying that there are many people who are sceptical of
the positive psychology approach. For most folks, it just makes sense to pay
attention to under-performing workers or to try to tackle client problems. And
what of all those things that are going well? The implicit message seems to be,
“Why rock the boat?” Why waste time honing strengths when you could be
undertaking the important work of shoring up weaknesses? An interaction I had
recently with a student of mine at the Portland State University sums up this point
of view nicely: I assigned the students an activity in which they were to choose
one of their top strengths and let it act as a guiding theme for one week. That is,
every time they came upon a difficulty, had to make an important decision, or
needed to perform well they were to think of their strength and ask “How can
using this strength help me in this situation?” At the end of the week the students
turned in a short paper discussing the outcome of this strengths-based
experiment. The very first paper I picked up said the following:
“This week I decided to choose one of my weaknesses and tried to work on it. I know
the assignment was to choose a strength but I figured since my strengths come
naturally to me anyway there is not really any point in working on them.”
The paper went on to describe his struggles with tardiness and I went on to give
him very little credit for the assignment. My student missed a very fundamental
point: It turns out, and this may be counter-intuitive to some people, that using
strengths and tapping positivity can provide larger gains than dealing with
weaknesses and focusing on problems. And there is exciting proof for this
position.
One area that has received the largest amounts of attention from positive
psychology researchers is business and organisations. Positive psychology studies
have shown tremendous benefits of positivity in the workplace. The Gallup
Organization reports that “disengaged workers” cost companies billions of dollars
a year in lost customers, healthcare, and turnover cost.5 Happy workers, by
contrast, are more likely to receive high supervisor and customer evaluations, take
fewer sick days, show up to work on time, help their colleagues, make more
money, and solve problems creatively.6 Happiness doesn’t just feel good, it is good
for you (and your clients and your office). Gallup studies also show that top
managers spend quality time with their most productive workers and explicitly
try to match strengths to projects; and that workers are more productive when
they have the opportunity to “do what I do best each and every day.” 7
12 Week One
Of course, the workplace is not the only place where positive psychology is useful.
Educators have turned a keen eye toward examining student strengths, and how
school can be optimally designed to promote learning. Programmes have been geared
toward teaching young people everything from character to leadership, resilience to
gratitude. There is a growing understanding that students respond well to positive
expectations, and that having the opportunity to employ their strengths can boost
their self-esteem. In one study undertaken in the American Midwest, students of all
reading abilities were taught a speed reading method. While a traditional weaknessfocus
approach would suggest that poor readers have much to gain from special
educational programmes, it was the top readers who advanced the most—increasing
from an average of 300 words a minute to 2,900 words!8 Increasingly, top private
schools in Australia and North America are incorporating positive psychology into
every aspect of their curricula, to give their students a competitive edge. At CAPP, our
colleague Jenny Fox Eades is working in partnership with UK schools to enhance the
natural strengths of students in the learning environment.
Coaching and therapy are two other areas that have received a recent boost from
positive psychology. Although these two professions are distinct from one
another, practitioners of both now have a variety of positive interventions and
assessments to draw upon when helping clients. Coaching, with its emphasis on
positive change and optimal functioning, is a natural bed-fellow of positive
psychology, and coaches can find much in the research literature relevant to their
practices. Similarly, psychotherapists and counsellors are beginning to see the
benefit of a solutions-focus approach to their work. New positive coaching and
therapy paradigms, such as Michael Frisch’s Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching,
9
are increasingly receiving empirical support for their effectiveness.
Perhaps one of the best aspects of positive psychology is that it brings with it its
own scientific stamp of approval. Positive psychology is perfect for clients or
supervisors that are wary of new and untested approaches to work. The scientific
angle of positive psychology can also be useful to consultants and others who are
pitching these interventions to sceptical clients. At last, there is hard evidence in
the form of published peer reviewed studies you can point to as you tick off the
virtues and promises of positive psychology.
Further Scepticism about Positive Psychology
Of course, not everyone is swayed by fancy statistical analyses and lofty sounding
professional journals. There are many folks who still wonder—understandably—
What, and why, is positive psychology? 13
whether positive psychology is just a passing fad. Might positive psychology be a
cult, centred on the charismatic figure of Martin Seligman? Might the whole
movement be too…. American? Is happiness really a serious enterprise, and one
worthy of our professional interest? As both a subjective well-being (happiness)
researcher and positive psychology trainer I have heard these concerns voiced
around the globe in workshops, seminars, and panel discussions. I believe they are
valid questions, and I – myself—would be sceptical of a positive psychology that
did not take the time to address them. I am, therefore, pleased to announce that
these are concerns that can largely be put to rest. I would not waste your time here
if I thought positive psychology was a flavour-of-the-month discipline or that it
did not transcend national boundaries.
If you are looking for evidence of positive psychology’s long-lastingness, then it
makes sense to seek out positive psychology institutions—those that have the
promise of outlasting Martin Seligman and enduring long into the future.
Fortunately, there are many examples of these. For example, positive psychology
educational programs have sprung up around the globe:
• In 2005, the University of Pennsylvania established a Master in Applied Positive
Psychology degree: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/cgs/graduate/mapp/
• The University of East London offers the same degree to people on the other
side of the Atlantic Ocean:
http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/programmes/postgraduate/positivemsc.htm.

• More recently, Claremont Graduate University, in California, began offering the
world’s first doctorate degree in positive psychology:
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/4571.asp
• And in addition, courses on positive psychology are now being offered in
dozens of universities around the world.
In addition, there are now journals dedicated to positive psychology and positive
psychology topics, including:
• Journal of Positive Psychology
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17439760.asp
• Journal of Happiness Studies
http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/quality+of+life+research/journal/
10902
14 Week One
There are also international networks of positive psychology, including:
• International Positive Psychology Association – www.ippanetwork.org
• European Network for Positive Psychology – http://www.enpp.org/
• International Society for Quality of Life Studies – www.isqols.org.
In addition, there are now a number of organisations devoted to the dissemination
and application of positive psychology, including:
• Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) – www.cappeu.org
• Centre for Confidence and Well-Being –
http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/index.php
Further, there are also large research prizes (as much as a quarter of a million
dollars!), research grants, regular conferences on at least four continents, and strong
corporate sponsorship for positive psychology. Because professional organisations,
conferences, and scientific journals are dynamic by nature, I recommend you take
the initiative to search for new sources that might have sprung up since the
publication of this text. Regardless of minor revisions the take-home message is
clear: it looks like positive psychology is on the rise, and is here to stay.
Let me reiterate that I believe it is especially in the long term interests of positive
psychology that the discipline now crosses international boundaries. The voices of
researchers, managers, and practitioners from around the globe now offer a crucial
cross-cultural perspective on the topic that might otherwise have gotten lost.
There is a thriving European network of positive psychology enthusiasts, and the
discipline is taking root in Australia, as well as smaller but vibrant groups in South
America, Africa, and Asia. The cross-national discourse on the topic helps ensure
that positive psychology is not simply an American discipline, and that it is
adapted to be locally appropriate to widely different cultures.
One of the most dynamic aspects of positive psychology is the sense of excitement
about this topic. For many people who have seen it work firsthand, positive
psychology is a breath of fresh air. As a student in a distance learning course it
would be a shame for you to miss out on the sense of being plugged into a wider
community of people who share your interest in this topic. I want you to
understand positive psychology as a widespread phenomenon and experience it
as a larger whole. As such, I recommend that you spend some time on-line this
first week getting to understand, firsthand, how large and fascinating positive
psychology is.
What, and why, is positive psychology? 15
1.2 Exercise
Visit the Positive Psychology Centre website (http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu), joining
the friends of Positive Psychology List Serve (http://lists.apa.org/cgibin/wa.exe?SUBED1=FRIENDS-OF-PP&A=1),
visiting the European Network for
Positive Psychology website (http://www.enpp.org/), or reading the Positive
Psychology News Daily (http://pos-psych.com/).Write brief notes below about what
you found out at each of these resources:
16 Week One
Each of these on-line sources will give you a sense that there are other people as
passionate about the topic as I am (and hopefully you are). It is my great hope that
you become inspired by the enthusiasm for this subject you see in me, other
researchers, and other professionals using this information in their daily work.
Inspiration that I hope you carry forward into the coming weeks.
Review of Main Points from Week 1
1. Positive psychology is a new field that is concerned with mental health, strengths,
positive emotions, positive institutions, and optimal functioning.
2. Positive psychology is a science and is, therefore, built on a foundation of careful
study and empirical evidence.
3. Research results suggest that there is as much, or more, to be gained from
capitalizing on strengths and positivity as there is from trying to overcome
weaknesses. This finding applies to a number of domains ranging from business to
education.
4. Positive psychology is more than a passing fad. A number of lasting institutions
such as graduate education programmes, research grants, and professional
journals suggest that positive psychology is enduring.
What You Will Get Out of this Course
This course will introduce you to a wide range of foundational topics in positive
psychology. First, we will cover positive psychology interventions (Week 2), in
which you will learn about empirically tested interventions and when they work
best. In Week 3 we will address the emotional Holy Grail of happiness, and
discuss how to get it and why it is one of the most important resources your clients
and employers are overlooking. In Week 4 we will move on to strengths, and will
learn about an exciting new assessment for tapping signature strengths, and how
best to employ them at work. In Week 5 we will cover hope and optimism, and
will learn how to promote both, and what that will buy us. Finally, in Week 6, we
What, and why, is positive psychology? 17
will integrate all of these exciting areas, and assess how far you’ve come. You will
be surprised how much you have learned in such a short time!
Specific skills and knowledge you will gain from this course include:
• How to use research evidence to make a case for positive psychology;
• How and when to best apply empirically supported positive psychology
interventions;
• The many benefits of positive emotion;
• How to use a new strengths assessment to guide your work;
• How to increase hope, and why you ought to;
• How to keep abreast of new developments in positive psychology.
18 Week One
1.3 Looking Ahead
As you look ahead to the coming weeks, it makes sense to take some time and set
some educational goals for yourself, so that you have something to work toward, and
something additional by which to measure your progress. Please take a moment and
answer the following questions:
What attracted you to positive psychology?
What, specifically, are you curious about related to positive psychology? That is, what
would you like to learn?
What scepticism or concerns do you harbour about positive psychology?
What, and why, is positive psychology? 19
Please set one specific goal for yourself for this course:
Goal:
Reading for Week 1
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Please read Chapters 1 and 2.
As you read these introductory chapters you should bear in mind that Chris Peterson,
the author, is not merely a reporter on the topic, he is also a member of the positive
psychology steering committee. That means that he has been involved in the inner
circle of some of the most exciting developments in the field from its very beginnings.
There are two points in particular I like from the reading this week. The first is the
section that asks, “Is positive psychology anything more than what my Sunday school
teacher knows?” This is a legitimate question, and one that must be addressed honestly,
openly, and effectively, by anyone hoping to use positive psychology in a professional
capacity. The final answer, as you will see, is that—yes—positive psychology produces
many insights that are counter-intuitive, generalisable, and otherwise beyond the scope
of simple common sense. The other point Peterson makes that I think is particularly
relevant to this course is that “learning about positive psychology is not a spectator
sport.” I would like to disabuse you of the idea that his book, or this course, is best
taken in as passive reading material. In fact, I would argue, as Peterson does, exactly
the opposite. The tools and techniques of positive psychology are so universally
relevant, and often so powerful, that they must be experienced rather than viewed. I
encourage you to approach this course as a highly interactive endeavour; one in which
you will read, reflect, write, wonder, question, challenge, and apply. I firmly believe
that you will benefit the most from this course if you engage with it as a highly
interactive tool, approaching the exercises with seriousness and giving these concepts
the depth of thought they are due.
20 Week One
Key References from Week 1
1. Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenaeur, C., & Vohs, K. (2001). Bad is
stronger than good. General Review of Psychology, 5, 323-370.
2. Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper.
3. Clifton, D. & Harter, J. K. (2003). Investing in strengths. In K. S. Cameron, J. S.
Dutton, & R. E. Quinn, (Eds), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a
new discipline, (pp. 111-121). San Francisco, CA: Berrett- Koehler Publishers.
4. Kim Berg, I. & Szabo, P. (2005). Brief coaching for lasting solutions. New York:
Norton.
5. Linley, A. & Page, N. (2007). Playing to one’s strengths. HR Director (April).
6. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive
affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.
7. As # 3
8. As # 3
9. Frisch, M. (2006). Quality of life therapy: Applying a life satisfaction approach to
positive psychology and cognitive therapy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Further Reading
1. Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the new positive psychology to
realise your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York: Free Press.
2. Rath, T. & Clifton, D. O. (2004). How full is your bucket? Positive strategies for work
and life. New York: Gallup Press.
3. Special Issue of American Psychologist (Vol. 55, Issue 1) on Positive Psychology,
January 2000.
4. Linley, P. A., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive
psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1,
3-16.
What, and why, is positive psychology? 21
Week Two: The Power of Positive
Emotion
Last week you were introduced to the general topic of positive psychology. We
explored some of the historical traditions upon which it is founded and talked
about how it has evolved in modern times. Among the most important take-home
messages from last week are :
1) Positive psychology is a much needed adjunct to traditional psychology
because it asks about happiness, optimism, strengths, and other topics that are
relevant to everyday people;
2) Positive psychology is a science, and is distinguished by its heavy emphasis on
high quality research;
3) There is evidence that shows a strengths-focus and attention to the positive can
produce important gains in education, business, and personal life.
The Power of Emotions
Take a moment and think about the last time you had an intense emotional
experience. Perhaps it was an angry outburst at a spouse, chronic irritation while
stuck in rush hour traffic, or deep feelings of pride for a child’s achievement.
Maybe you felt excited and enthusiastic watching a sporting event, or perhaps you
felt a sense of peace while tending the garden on a weekend afternoon. Our range
of emotion is nothing short of amazing. What’s more, emotions seem to have some
almost magical properties. They are, for example, contagious. You can probably
recall an instance when a friend was startled, and their reaction startled you.
Maybe it is easy to remember a time that one person in a group was tickled by a
funny thought and before long everyone was laughing. Emotions also seem to be
linked to memory, and can be called forth by triggers such as old photographs. It
turns out that feelings play an enormous but often overlooked part in our daily
lives. In fact, emotions are useful, powerful, and beneficial. In short, it is worth
understanding emotions—and especially the power of positive emotions—
because they can be harnessed for success in all walks of life. In fact, I will tell you
now: positive emotion is one of the greatest resources you and your clients,
colleagues, or students are currently overlooking.
2.1 Exercise: Emotion & Memory
Take out a photo album you have not looked at in a long time. Perhaps it is a
childhood album, or a wedding album, or images from a holiday trip. Spend time
looking at the images and pay attention to your feelings. Pay attention to
physiological reactions in your body. Are you smiling? Relaxed? Sitting upright? Pay
attention, also, to the way in which your emotions shift. Do they change rapidly? Are
they relatively constant? Are they easy to identify or do they seem to be a blend of
feelings? Feel free to write down your insights about your feelings:
The power of positive emotion 23
For as prevalent and powerful as emotions are, they have not always enjoyed the
best reputation. For the ancient Greeks, especially the Stoic philosophers, feelings
represented the lower, animalistic side of human nature. It was, according to these
great thinkers, self-control and the ability to override emotion that set humans
apart from other species. The ability to think rationally and overcome emotion
became known as a virtue, and this notion holds sway with many people to this
day. The process of morality itself was viewed as a cognitive intellectual process
in which people weighed rules, norms, and values in their heads before making
decisions or acting out. The intellectual legacy of them can be seen in everyday
life. You have probably counselled friends to “think things through clearly,” “keep
your head,” “be rational,” and to avoid “getting worked up.” These common
phrases betray the underlying assumption that, for many people, feelings are
distractions, obstacles to good decision making, and often lead people astray.
Rationality: one point, Emotions: zero. This same cynical view of emotions can
especially be seen in the case of positive feelings, which are often regarded as
naïve, shallow, or selfish. Gustave Flaubert said “To be stupid, selfish, and have
good health are three requirements for happiness; though, if stupidity is lacking,
all is lost.” Marcel Proust, the famous pessimist, was also sceptical of good
feelings. He wrote, “Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make
unhappiness possible.”
Another place emotions get a bad rap is in psychological mood disorders such as
depression and anxiety. Depression and other such maladies are talked about
openly and frequently featured in the media. Most folks are familiar with the
rising rates of depression and the use of anti-depressant medication. Although
psychological problems are painful, and deserve to be treated, they carry with
them a hidden message: emotions can get out of control. Many people mistakenly
think of depression and anxiety as feelings that have snowballed to unwieldy
proportions. As such, it only makes sense that emotions—especially negative ones
such as guilt and anger—must be guarded against. Most of us, at one time or
another, fall into the trap of being prejudiced against emotion. It is as if feelings
were a type of Pandora’s box, out of which an uncontrollable swarm of emotion
will flow and pollute our lives.
24 Week Two
2.2 Reflection
What do you think about emotions, and where do these beliefs come from?
1. What prejudices might you hold against emotions, or what might you find
appealing about them? Take a moment and think about how “emotional” a person
you are. Where do you think you learned these affective trends? How does the
culture in which you live play in to the way you express feelings? How does your
primary relationship factor in? How might your family of origin have influenced
your emotionality? Feel free to write down your answer:
The power of positive emotion 25
With so much bad press, it might be worth taking a step back and considering the
merits of scepticism about emotion. It makes sense to ask, “Why do we have
feelings?” What benefits could they confer if they are so primal and dangerous, if
they so easily cause us problems? Are emotions like psychological tails, little
pieces of our evolutionary history of which we have yet to rid ourselves? Are they
a type of affective appendix, useless little organs that pose the threat of bursting
at any moment? Or, could emotions be more like thumbs…. Highly adaptive and
useful? It turns out that emotions, for all their potential problems, are useful, and
understanding how best to use them can make them work for you as a resource.
What are Emotions For?
If big toes are for balance, tongues are for tasting, and hands are for grasping, then
what possible use could our feelings have? Emotions, it turns out, serve many
vital purposes. They are linked to our ability to remember, our ability to learn, and
our ability to communicate with others. In fact—although it would dismay the
Stoics – emotions are even implicated in the process of morality, with felt
sentiments offering an affective guide to what we think is right or wrong. One of
the most basic functions of emotion is to act as a tracking system for our lives. As
you go about your daily life the interactions, circumstances, behaviours, and
decisions of your day are accompanied by a wide range of emotional
consequences. Emotions, when looked at this way, can be seen as information, or
feedback. When you are feeling badly, that is your emotional tracking system
alerting you to the fact that something is wrong in your life and needs to be
attended to and perhaps corrected. When you are feeling good, your tracking
system is sounding the all clear, and you are free to relax and enjoy yourself. To
be sure, these tracking systems are not perfect. All of us have experienced misreading
our environment. We occasionally misinterpret what a friend says and get
angry, jump to conclusions about the motives of the driver who cut us off, are
threatened by an empty dark street when there is no real cause, or feel down in the
dumps for no particular reason at all. Yes, moods do not give us flawless feedback,
but they are correct—surprisingly so—the vast majority of the time.
You may also have noticed that emotions also carry motivational consequences.
When you feel badly, for example, it isn’t just that you are aware of something
being amiss, you often feel compelled to deal with it. If you are feeling guilty, for
example, this is your emotional system warning you that you are violating your
own values system, and that unpleasant feeling encourages you to correct your
actions. Stealing out of the office petty cash might leave you a bit richer, but also
feeling awful about yourself (hopefully). In this instance, feelings act like an
26 Week Two
internal judicial system that helps regulate behaviour. Other moods, such as fear
or sadness, have similar motivational consequences. Fear, for example, compels us
to avoid threatening situations, such as dark car parks. “Listening to your
feelings” often means making a change in behaviour in response to them.
The function of emotion is especially easy to see in the case of negative emotions. This
is a term psychologists use to describe those usually unpleasant feelings such as
anger, sadness, guilt, fear, and related emotions. We feel angry when somebody has
trampled on our rights, and we are moved to stand up for ourselves, even if it
sometimes means lashing out. When we are sad, it tells us that we have experienced
a disappointment or loss. When we are fearful, our feelings can be a powerful
motivator to protect ourselves. Can you imagine how dysfunctional a world would
be in which nobody felt anger, guilt, or sadness? It would be terrible! People would
lie, hurt, and steal without remorse. They would let others walk all over them and
tolerate injustice. And they would not be particularly moved if their dream job fell
through or their spouse died. In short, without negative emotions, people would
cease to function effectively. From an evolutionary point of view, negative emotions
narrow our possible thoughts and actions. When we are confronted with a threat or
problem, it is an evolutionary advantage to be able to act quickly, and our emotions
help this process by limiting our possible response options. You have undoubtedly
experienced this for yourself when you have become enraged. Rarely, in these cases,
do most of us consider every possible alternative and consequence. We simply act.
It should be said, that people don’t always make the best choices. Anger often
leads to blurting out hurtful words that cannot be taken back, and fear sometimes
keeps us from taking the kinds of risks that would ultimately lead to success. It is
here, of course, that emotions earn some of their bad reputation. Even so, it is
better to have a working emotional system that leads to occasional mistakes than
to have none at all! Dismissing emotions on the basis of occasional faults is really
a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It should also be said that
emotion systems as a whole (rather than discrete individual emotions) do not
always function properly. For some folks, for a variety of reasons, emotions can be
problematic, and this is usually where we see clinically significant problems with
depression and anxiety. For some people there are biological and genetic factors
that hinder effective functioning. For others the events of their lives are so painful
that the emotion system is simply overwhelmed. Again, these instances are
serious, and should be treated; but not because emotions are inherently dangerous
but because they can be so painful or overwhelming. For the majority of people,
however, emotions work just fine. It is, in part, because our feelings come in so
handy that our families, businesses, and societies can function as well as they do.
The power of positive emotion 27
2.3 Reflection: Expressing your feelings
How do you tend to express emotion? Would your friends describe you as
emotional, or stoic? Are there certain types of feelings, like sadness, that you are
comfortable with, and others, such as anger, that you are less comfortable with? Feel
free to take the time to consider these questions in earnest and to write down your
answers:
28 Week Two
But, what about positive emotions? What can they do for us? If negative emotions
are an evolutionary advantage, what use are good feelings? Positive emotions,
interestingly, have been largely overlooked by psychologists. After World War II,
many psychologists were interested in treating the pressing problems of trauma
and other battlefield-related psychological maladies. Psychology then developed
as a largely clinical discipline and emphasis was placed on negative emotions.
Even now, a review of the research on emotions shows that studies on negative
emotions outnumber those on positive emotions by as much as 25 to 1! Surely,
good feelings are no fluke. They ought to be good for something. Or, might they
just be the absence of bad feelings?
Early research on positive emotions by Alice Isen began providing some
interesting new insights into the possible functions of good feelings. In a now
classic study Isen and her colleagues placed coins in telephone booths.1 Then,
when unsuspecting callers had the “good fortune” of finding free money, Isen
recorded how this burst of positive feeling affected them. She had an accomplice
walk by and “drop some books.” Oops! In the instances where callers had found
money they were far more likely to help the stranger pick up the books! Although
only a preliminary test, it appeared that positive emotions might be good for
something, they might be associated with helping behaviours. In a more recent
study, Isen and her colleagues gave small bags of chocolate (or candy, to use the
US term) to medical doctors.2 The physicians, presumably delighted with their
little gift, showed significantly better diagnostic ability, and were more careful in
their approach than their colleagues who had not received chocolate! Isen’s
groundbreaking work set the stage for the idea that positive emotion is functional.
Despite her admirable work, though, it is difficult to see exactly what that function
might be. If anger and guilt have clear motivational and behavioural
consequences, then what might happiness lead to?
It was researcher Barb Fredrickson, now at the University of North Carolina, who
advanced an elegant explanation of the power of positive emotion. If negative
feelings serve to narrow our thoughts and actions, she reasoned, perhaps positive
emotions broaden them. Her subsequent research showed this to be true. In her
“Broaden and Build” theory of positive emotion, Fredrickson argues that feeling
good broadens our interests and helps build our capabilities.3 If negative
emotions, from an evolutionary standpoint, are designed to help us deal with
threats and problems in the present, positive emotions help us to prepare to deal
with them in the future. Good feelings are an indicator that nothing is going
wrong, and that we are free to pursue interests, pleasures, and hobbies.
Interestingly, positive emotions make us more curious and interested, and more
The power of positive emotion 29
likely to try new activities and develop new skills. Positive emotions also make
people more creative and better problem solvers. Positive emotions further make
people more sociable, and it is when we are feeling good that we seek out others,
cultivate relationships, and help people. Finally, positivity appears to “undo” the
effects of negative emotions, such as helping people return more quickly to
normal pulse rates and blood pressure after feeling stressed. Social alliances,
creativity, skills, curiosity, and health would all be tremendous adaptive
advantages.
In addition to Fredrickson’s work on the topic, researcher John Cacioppo has
conducted studies on the electrical impulses in facial muscles.4 His studies show
that many people react to even neutral stimuli—such as a photograph of a chair—
as if they are positive. He describes how this applies to an evolutionary
perspective: if our ancient forebears were inclined to see neutral environments,
such as a forest with no obvious threats, as positive and hospitable then they
would be more likely to explore, giving them a better knowledge of the land and
a healthy advantage when predators eventually arrived. Cacioppo calls the
natural tendency to interpret even neutrality as good the “positivity offset,” and it
provides further evidence for positive emotions being advantageous.
The Broaden and Build theory of positive emotions is, arguably, one of the most
important research findings to emerge from positive psychology. At long last, this
line of research and theory puts positive feelings on the map as a worthwhile topic
of discussion. It is a compelling counterpoint to those sceptics who dismiss
happiness as naïve, selfish, or shallow. This line of cutting edge research suggests
that just the opposite is true: happiness helps us function better at work and in
relationships, in those areas we care about most. What’s more, the promise of
positive emotion is so great that a clear case can be made for their use as a resource
on the road to success in almost every walk of life. That is, the function of positive
emotion is not just an issue of arcane academic interest, the results from these
studies can be put directly to work in the office or at home. These research
findings are not just something university professors chat about in the department
hallways, they are important to you! They are interesting, universally relevant,
understandable, and—ultimately— usable.
Direct Benefits of Positive Emotions
For as helpful as positive emotions may seem for our cave dwelling ancestors, we
must be cautious in our approach to these emotions in modern life. It is all well
30 Week Two
and good that positive emotions lead to curiosity and friendliness, but does that
really justify a place for good feelings in professional life? Can we really
rationalise the idea of positivity interventions for big business? It might sound like
a hard sell, if you are a consultant, manager, or coach, to suggest to a CEO that
what the company needs most is more smiles. And heaven forbid we talk about
“happiness.” Happiness, like emotions in general, has gotten something of a bad
reputation. Happiness, in many people’s minds, can be synonymous with
dopiness, complacency, and naiveté. Critics claim that happy people are mental
simpletons, unaware of the many horrors of the real world, and are basically
unmotivated. Happiness has also, of late, acquired a uniquely American accent:
many people associate upbeat positivity with plucky, cowboy-ish attitudes and
Hollywood happy endings. But, in reality, happiness merely means pleasant
feelings, and can include joy, excitement, flow and engagement, enthusiasm, and
peace. People from every nation feel happy, and there are legions of happy people
who are achievement oriented and well aware of the world’s problems. There is
now a mountain of research data that shows that happiness, and positive
emotions in general, don’t just feel good but are actually good for you.
Positive emotions are beneficial. Highly beneficial. Dozens of studies using a
variety of samples, methods, and analyses all converge on this same point.5 Your
clients, students, or organisation may not immediately see the value of positive
emotion, but it is easy to connect good feelings to outcomes they care about. There
is strong research support, for instance, for positive emotions making people
healthier (fewer sick days at the office!), more creative (new products and
solutions!), and friendlier (more productive teams and more altruism!). Let’s take,
as an example, a single domain associated with the benefits of positive emotion:
health. Studies show that positivity leads to lower rates of cigarette use, drug use,
suicidality, fewer emergency room and hospital visits, fewer automobile fatalities,
lower blood pressure, fewer heart attacks, more physical exercise, better immune
system functioning, better longevity and mortality rates, higher pain thresholds,
better cardiovascular functioning, and better global health! There are similar
benefits to people’s social and work lives as well. Happy folks, just to give a few
examples, tend to be more likely to get married, stay married, have more friends,
feel more social support, help colleagues more, show up to work on time, take
fewer sick days, receive better supervisor and customer evaluations, and make
more money! These findings have shown up in longitudinal, experimental, and
cross-sectional studies conducted by dozens of researchers with extremely varied
samples. The best single source for you to see these is a 2005 article by Sonya
Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener published in Psychological Bulletin. Here
is a brief summary:
The power of positive emotion 31
A sample of the many benefits of
positive emotion
Health
1 Positive people are less likely than negative people to develop a cold, and when
they did the symptoms were far less severe.
2 Positive nuns survived longer than their negative counterparts.
3 Depression linked to smoking, drinking, drug abuse, suicide, stroke, slower recovery
rates from illnesses, and more emergency room visits.
4 Positivity linked to less pain, physical symptoms, fewer hospital visits.
5 People in a good mood have faster cardiovascular recovery times.
Social
1 Good relationships associated with better health and mental health.
2 Happiest 10% are more sociable, have stronger friendships, and romantic
relationships.
3 Positive people volunteer more and are more willing to help others.
4 Positive people are more extroverted, have better club attendance, and are less
selfish.
Work
1 Positivity is associated with:
• higher salaries;
• better supervisor evaluations;
• better customer evaluations;
• less absenteeism;
• less employee turnover;
• better organisational behaviour;
• better relationship with colleagues.
2 Negativity costs the US economy between 250-300 billion dollars a year in lost
productivity from disengaged workers.
Personal
1 Positive emotions increase interest and curiosity.
2 Positive emotions are associated with feeling more meaning in life.
3 Positive emotion leads to more creativity.
32 Week Two
One of the great advantages of positive psychology being a science— rather than
a philosophy, cult, or fad— is that it provides empirical support for longstanding
claims. It is one thing to walk into the board room and suggest a happiness
intervention on the factory floor, and quite another to be able to point to the 2005
article written by Sonja Lyubomirsky and her colleagues that reviews this vast
body of research literature. In fact, you can tie positivity directly to outcomes that
executives and managers really care about: productivity, turnover, and
organisational citizenship. The science of positive psychology tells us that
understanding and harnessing positive emotions is worthwhile. In fact, and I will
repeat myself here: positive emotions are so widely beneficial that they may be the
greatest single resource you and your clients (or students, etc.) are overlooking. If
the old conceptualization of happiness is that it is a blissful emotional state that
we achieve, a kind of affective finish line, then the new way of thinking can be
summarized as follows: happiness is a resource, a type of emotional currency that
can be spent on the other outcomes in life we care about.
Despite the strong support for this conclusion it still makes sense to tailor the
language you use when talking about this topic so that it is appropriate to your
profession. The word “happiness” might not fly in an organisational setting, but
“better team productivity,” “lower turnover,” and “better conflict resolution
ability” will get the attention of nearly all managers and executives. If happy faces,
smiling, and laughter sound like dubious board room topics then consider
“sustained cold calling capacity for the sales team,” “enhanced team creativity,” or
“increased customer loyalty.” It is important that you know your market or your
client so that you can understand their values and needs and modify your
language accordingly. If you work in coaching, psychotherapy, education, or
human resources the fact that positive emotions are beneficial can be equally
useful to you. Because good relationships, creativity, engagement, and health are
universally important, the idea of harnessing the power of good feelings is
relevant to all professions.
The Fundamental Question: How do We Increase Positivity?
It is a simple matter to point at good moods and say they are good for you. It is
much more difficult to put practices, routines, and culture in place that support
positivity. Psychotherapy clients come to us precisely because they have difficulty
with positivity, coaching clients are often stymied by setbacks, classroom culture
can turn competitive, and organisational culture can be a breeding ground of
anxiety and despair. No doubt, promoting positivity is no simple task. Still, it can
The power of positive emotion 33
be done, and done well. Organisations have long made attempts at infusing a bit
of positivity around the edges. Take the example of motivational posters that hang
prominently on walls proudly announcing “Teamwork!” or “Success!” Picture the
idea of “casual dress Fridays.” Think, “Employee of the Month” programmes or
special recognition dinners. These are all interventions aimed at making
organisational culture positive and appealing. Although well-intentioned, these
approaches do not always work.
It is worth considering how you already make your life more positive, both at
home and at work. There are a variety of “natural” ways to increase positivity. The
most obvious example is humour. Humour is not idle; it is a wonderful tonic and
actually serves many purposes. Humour can dispel tense situations, bring people
closer together, address difficult subjects, and be pleasurable. Engaging in
humour—everything from jokes to “ice-breakers” at meetings—has long been
used to get groups to cooperate and be open to learning new things. But being
funny is not natural to everyone, and it might be difficult to put out an office
memo to laugh more (in fact, it is just these types of well-intentioned and poorly
thought through memos that are the butt of some very funny jokes!).
34 Week Two
2.4 Reflection:
Your Past Positivity Successes
A) Take a moment and consider your home life. How do you increase the positivity
at home, or within your family? Do you use praise? Recreation? Gifts? Humour?
What about the physical layout of your house? Have you made changes to your
décor or furniture arrangement that you feel have made a difference to how
positive the atmosphere is? How do plants and lighting affect your mood? Feel
free to jot down some of your answers here:
B) Now, consider your work environment and ask yourself the same types of
questions. How have you contributed to a more positive culture at the office?
How have your co-workers done the same? Can you think of ill-fated attempts to
instil positivity? What went wrong? Where do you see a need or opportunity to
make things lighter or more upbeat? Feel free to write down your answers:
The power of positive emotion 35
The truth is, promoting positivity is complex, and success in doing it will be
dependent on the particular environment in which you work. There is no cookiecutter
solution to creating a positive culture. There are, however, some basic steps
that will help you along the way. First, cultural change nearly always has to begin
with leadership. If you are a therapist you must model positivity for your clients,
if you are a manager you must be positive in your interactions with your
employees. In addition, there are empirically tested interventions that have come
out of positive psychology that can be of help. So, too, can the positive psychology
research on strengths, and hope and optimism be of use. These topics will all be
covered in the coming weeks. Taken together, a belief in the power of positivity,
the effectiveness of positive interventions, a strengths-based focus, and increasing
optimism will offer you the best shot at inspiring, motivating, and engaging the
people you work with. Before we rush to the how-to of increasing positivity, let’s
take a moment this week to understand what emotions are for, what they can do
for us, and how positive emotions can work to our advantage.
Review of Main Points from Week 2
• Emotions serve a specific purpose. They help us function by providing useful
feedback about our lives.
• Positive emotions, in particular, serve to broaden and build many of our resources.
• Happiness is a worthwhile topic: positivity is directly linked to social, personal,
health, and work benefits.
• Positivity can be increased.
Reading for Week 2
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Please read Chapters 3 and 4.
In this week’s reading, Chris Peterson presents a broad discussion of pleasure and
positive emotion, as well as theories of happiness and scientific research on
happiness. I would like to point out two items that might be of particular interest
36 Week Two
to you. First, Peterson’s discussion of the research on peak-end theory. This theory
says, essentially, that when we remember past emotional experiences we do not
mentally tally up every moment of that experience. Instead, we give extra weight
to the most intense (peak) moment and the last (end) moment. What this means is
that people virtually ignore the duration of an event (called duration neglect). In
real world terms what this means is that you ultimately don’t care if an enjoyable
film is one hour or two hours; you will make your judgment based on an average
of the most intense scene and the ending. To take a different, and perhaps more
compelling example, it does not matter whether your painful colonoscopy is 45
minutes rather than 15, so long as the final moments are not very painful. This has
direct implications for customer service, customer-product interface, and decision
making (one week in Hawaii ought to be roughly as good as two). How might this
fascinating psychological phenomenon apply to your work?
Also of particular interest is the section on flow. Flow is the state of total
absorption that comes when skills and challenge are optimally balanced. Workers
often experience flow when they are fully engaged in tasks. You may consider
what bearing flow has on your work. Can you use this theory diagnostically? That
is, if a client complains of a lack of engagement might you look to assessing the
amount of challenge or skill they have? Are there ways you can help usher clients
toward more flow?
Key References from Week 2
1. Isen, A. M., & Levin, P. F. (1972). The effect of feeling good on helping: cookies
and kindness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17, 107-112.
2. Isen, A., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates
creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21, 384-
388.
3. Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive
psychology: The Broaden-and-Build theory of positive emotions. American
Psychologist, 58, 218-226.
4. Ito, T. A., & Cacioppo, J. (2001). The psychophysiology of utility appraisals. In
D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of
hedonic psychology (pp. 470-488). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
5. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent
positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131,
803-855.
The power of positive emotion 37
Further Reading
Frisch, M. B. (2006). Quality of life therapy: Applying a life satisfaction approach to
positive psychology and cognitive therapy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A practical guide to getting the life you
want. New York: Penguin Press.
38 Week Two
2.5 An Experiential Exercise for Week 2
Emotions are felt in the moment. As psychological experiences, a good way to gain
a deeper understanding of emotion is to actually experience them! Use the exercises
below to trigger your emotions and gain all new insight!
Pay attention this week to the social aspects of emotion. When you are in group
situations, try to be aware of if the group is all united in their feeling or if there are
multiple feelings. How do you know? What do cues such as facial expression and
posture tell you? Try to pay attention to when and how humour, positivity,
compliments, pride, and joy are used socially. How do you use them in a group
situation? How do other people use them, if they use them in a way different from
yours?
The power of positive emotion 39
Week Three: Empirically tested
interventions
Stop me if you’ve heard this one:
A woman holding a baby gets onto a bus and the driver says, “Lady, that is the
ugliest thing I have ever seen!” The woman, obviously, is taken aback. Speechless
and flustered, she pays her fare and takes her seat. The man in the seat next to her
leans over and says, “I heard what the bus driver just said and I think it was
incredibly rude! You should go up there and give him a piece of your mind. Here,
I’ll hold your monkey…..”
Although this is far from the funniest joke in the world (but my kids love it) it is a
nice example of how easy creating positivity can be. Jokes, witty banter, cartoons,
friendly teasing, comedies at the theatre and cinema, our world is naturally full of
feel-good interventions. If you need further proof just smile at someone as you
walk down the street. Of course, they won’t always smile back, but often they do.
Want a bigger emotional pay-off? Try paying the toll of the person in the car
behind you on your daily commute! It can take surprisingly little to boost a
person’s mood, including your own.
Positive psychology has produced good theory and practical applications about
positive interventions. That is, the profession has now extended beyond the “easy
steps,” “secrets,” and peppy talk of the self-help movement. Admittedly, some of
the advice given in self-growth seminars and self-help books is sound and
effective, but positive psychology brings a new level of rigor to the enterprise of
increasing positivity. Scientists are able to test interventions to see which ones
appear to be most effective, for whom, and why. In addition, positive psychology
interventions are not solely about making individuals happier….while I hope last
week’s content went a long way toward convincing you that individual happiness
is incredibly important to functioning families, workplaces, and societies, it is
short sighted to only look at the individual. Positive psychology interventions
have also focused on group and organisational strategies. I hope that both
individual and organisation level interventions will help you work with students
and clients to enable them to function even better.
What is a Positive Intervention?
James Pawelski, who administers the landmark Master of Applied Positive
Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania, teaches a course
called “Positive Interventions,” in which he asks the basic question: what are they?
Are positive interventions practices we engage in to achieve desirable outcomes?
In that case therapy for depression could be considered a positive intervention. Or
physical exercise could be a positive intervention. In fact, nearly every activity
from attending a language class to learning a new computer program to cheering
up a friend would be a positive intervention under this definition. Alternately,
could we define positive interventions as tools that use only distinctly positive
methods? Here we might distinguish between a coach yelling at his players by
way of encouragement versus praising them in an effort to motivate. In this
instance, there is something positive, something friendly, warm, or values
consistent that is the hallmark of positive interventions. As you can see, the
answer to the question of what constitutes such interventions is not immediately
clear, and discussion of an accurate definition can be helpful.
Pawelski suggests that positive interventions are unique in that they are aimed
at optimal functioning rather than just functioning. He uses a metaphor to
explain: imagine a person recovering from surgery and visiting a physical
therapist. This therapist has the client engage in physical activity with the goal of
recovering “normal” functioning. In other words, taking the patient from a
negative to a zero point. Now, think about a person visiting a personal trainer at a
gym. The trainer engages in many of the same activities, running the client
through repetitive physical exercise, but this time with the aim of taking an
already healthy body and making it perform even better. In this case the emphasis
is on shifting from a zero point, or mildly positive point to an even more extreme
positive point. Positive interventions, according to Pawelski, are defined more by
their focus than their method. Positive interventions are those that focus on
optimal, rather than normal functioning.
Pawelski offers another interesting insight into using techniques to promote
positivity. This second point relates to a problem versus solution focus. Again, he
uses a metaphor to clarify the issue: If you were magically granted super powers
like a hero in a comic book, but could have only one of two kinds, which would
you choose? The first type would be the power to fight problems such as battling
crime and saving people from earthquakes. The second type would be the power
to promote positives. Here you would have the power to keep kids in school, keep
families happy, and keep workers engaged. Take a minute and really try to
Empirically tested interventions 41
appreciate the difference between these two sets of powers. Which would you
choose? If you are anything like me you would lean toward dealing with
problems, you would want to directly address the suffering associated with
problems and you can see immediate benefit. There is no shame in this choice…..
it turns out that problems are more immediate and feel more pressing. They tend
to attract our attention. Interestingly, the second type of power has longer term
benefits and will help equip people with the ability to deal with their own
problems as they arise. Pawelski’s thought experiment exposes two points: First,
that dealing with both problems and solutions are superior to focusing on either
one alone; and second, that promoting positivity is highly worthwhile.
Fortunately, positive psychologists have begun testing various techniques and
now have a preliminary toolbox for increasing positivity. We now have, if you
will, a whole new set of super powers.
42 Week Three
Empirically tested interventions 43
3.1 Reflection: Positivity in Your Own Life
Consider a time when you felt helped by another person. Perhaps it was during a
troubled period or when you had experienced a frustration or set-back. Maybe it was
related to a personal issue such as a friendship problem or a health concern. Possibly
it was related to the workplace…..perhaps you felt you had failed at an important
objective or were having difficulty with a co-worker. Maybe it was something
seemingly minor provided for you by a stranger. Regardless of the specific helper or
type of help what was it that gave you the boost you needed to power through that
difficult time? Feel free to write down your initial thoughts here:

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