Wellbeing - The Focus of Positive Psychology
For Seligman the focus of Positive Psychology is ‘Wellbeing’
rather than ‘Happiness’. He identifies three inadequacies in authentic
happiness theory: 1) happiness is inextricably bound up with being in a
cheerful mood; 2) life satisfaction holds too privileged a place; 3) “positive
emotion, engagement and meaning do not exhaust elements that people choose for
their own sake.” (p.13-14).
Wellbeing is a construct (like ‘weather’ or
‘freedom’) – no single measure defines it exhaustively (“operationalises” it).
The focal topic of positive Psychology is the construct of wellbeing, not the entity of life-satisfaction,
Wellbeing has five measurable elements (PERMA):
(p.24)
1.
P ositive Emotion (of which
happiness and life satisfaction are all elements.
2.
E ngagement
3.
R elationships (Positive
Relationships)
4.
M eaning
5.
A ccomplishment
“The goal of Positive Psychology in wellbeing theory is
measure and build human flourishing.” p.29
Therefore Wellbeing must be buildable.
Exercises that build Wellbeing
- The Gratitude Letter Write a letter of gratitude to someone who did or said something that changed your life for the better(300 words)
- What-Went-Well (Also called “Three Blessings”) Exercise. Every night for a week at the end of the day write down three things that went well and why they went well.
- Signature/ Character Strengths Survey (https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires/survey-character-strengths). Getting people in touch with their strengths, rather than just trying to correct their weaknesses.This focuses on XXX signature/ character strengths, which can be organised into clusters
a)
Wisdom and Knowledge
i.
Curiosity/Interest in the world
ii.
Love of Learning
iii.
Judgement/Critical Thinking/ Open-mindedness
iv.
Ingenuity/Originality/Practical
Intelligence/Street Smarts
v.
Social Intelligence/ Personal Intelligence/
Emotional Intelligence
vi.
Perspective
b)
Courage
i.
Valour and Bravery
ii.
Perseverance/ Industry/ Diligence
iii.
Integrity/Genuineness/Honesty
c)
Humanity and Love
i.
Kindness and Generosity
ii.
Loving and Allowing Oneself to be Loved
d)
Justice
i.
Citizenship/Duty/Teamwork/Loyalty
ii.
Fairness and Equity
iii.
Leadership
e)
Temperance
i.
Self-control
ii.
Prudence/Discretion/Caution
iii.
Humility and Modesty
f)
Transcendence
i.
Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
ii.
Gratitude
iii.
Hope/Optimism/Future-Mindedness
iv.
Spirituality/Sense of
Purpose/Faith/Religiousness
v.
Forgiveness and Mercy
vi.
Playfulness and Humour
vii.
Zest/Passion/Enthusiasm
“Identify which of these
character strengths you have in abundance and then use them as much as possible
in school, in hobbies and with friends and family.” (p.84)
The Dirty Little Secret of Drugs and Therapy (Chapter 3)
- According to the World Health Organisaton (WHO) depression is the most costly disease in the world and the treatments of choice are drugs and psychotherapy.
- Drugs and therapies for depression are not curative but cosmetic – they do not cure, they relieve the symptoms.
- Seligman argues that cure comes through building the enabling conditions for life. Positive Psychology can provide a lasting cure by building ‘positive emotion, meaning, accomplishment and positive relationships’ (p.53).
Positive Education: Teaching Wellbeing to Young People (Chapter 5)
Three reasons for teaching Positive Psychology in Schools:
“Wellbeing should be taught in schools because it would be an antidote to the runaway incidence of depression, a way to increase life satisfaction, and an aid to better learning and more creative thinking.” (p.80)
- Penn Resiliency Program (PRP) Aims
a.
Aims
i.
to increase students’ ability to handle
day-to-day problems that are common during adolescence.
ii.
To promote optimism by teaching students to
think more realistically about the problems they encounter
iii.
To teach key skills (assertiveness, creative
brainstorming, decision-making, relaxation and several other coping skills).
b.
Research findings:
i.
Reduces and prevents symptoms of depression.
ii.
Reduces hopelessness.
iii.
Prevents clinical levels of depression and
anxiety.
iv.
Reduces and prevents anxiety.
v.
Reduces conduct problems.
vi.
PRP works equally well for children of different
racial and ethnic backgrounds.
2. Geelong Grammar School
a. Teaching Positive Education
i.
“The backbone of the course was discovering and
using their own signature strengths.”(p.89)
ii.
How to build more positive emotion (10th
Grade)
1.
Gratitude Journal - What Went Well
2.
ABC Model: How beliefs (B) about an adversity
(A) – and not the adversity itself – cause the consequent (C) feelings.
Development of ‘real-time resilience’.
3.
Active-constructive responding (ACR) with a
friend and the importance of a 3:1 Losada
positive-to-negative ratio.
b. Embedding Positive Education
i.
Geelong teachers embedded positive education
into academic courses, on the sports field, in pastoral counselling, in music
and in the chapel.
c. Living Positive Education
3. Positive Computing p.93
a. “Personal Flourishing Assistant” mobile app that
tags experiences to build a “positive portfolio” – e.g. four peak moments from
the last week.
b.
www.avantgame.com
-games that build character strengths.
4.
A new measure of prosperity
a.
“The aim of wealth should not be to blindly produce
a higher GDP but to produce more wellbeing.” (p.96)
Sociology, Psychology and Positive Character
Social science has highjacked society’s thinking with the philosophy
that the environment, rather than character or heredity is a
better explanation of what people do.
The consequence of this is four-fold:
- Individuals are no longer responsible for their actions, since the causes lie not in the person but in the situation;
- Social science must isolate the situations that shape crime, ignorance, prejudice, failure and all the other ills that befall human beings, so that these situations can be corrected.
- The focus of inquiry must be bad events;
- We are driven by the past rather than drawn to the future.
Positive Psychology has a different approach
- The world can be bettered by identifying and then shaping character, both good and bad.
Elements of Success
Theory: Achievement = skill x effort - Angela
Duckworth
- 1. Speed – of thought, processing
a.
Achievement = skill x effort
b.
The more skilled, the faster you can go
c.
The faster, the more material on automatic, the
more one knows about the task.
- 2. Slowness:
a.
Speed and anxiety go together
b.
Children who process too fast - Tools of the Mind curriculum
c.
The voluntary, heavyweight processes of
achievement, such as planning, refining, checking for errors and creativity.
d.
The faster the speed, the more the knowledge,
and thus the more time left for these executive functions to be used.
- 3. The Rate of Learning
a.
How fast new information can be deposited into
the back account of automatic knowledge, allowing even more time for the slow
executive processes.
- 4. Effort: = time on task *this has a multiplier effect
a.
“Deliberate Practice” = the amount of time and
energy you spend on deliberate practice.
b.
Self-discipline is the character trait that
engenders deliberate practice
c.
Measuring self-discipline – composite measure
i.
Eysenck Junior Impulsiveness scale
ii.
A parent and teacher self-control rating scale
iii.
Delay of gratification
d.
GRIT (the never yielding form of
self-discipline) test p.121
“The real leverage that you have for more achievement is more
effort.” (p.125)
Effort multiplies existing skill and knowledge.
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