Positive Psychology is a field created by Martin Seligman, a psychotherapist, researcher, educator, and former president of the American Psychological Association.
Seligman’s view of psychology is that it has historically been about what is wrong with life (depression, suicide, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, etc) [1]. With that in mind, he decided to create a new approach in which psychology would be as concerned with strength as with weakness.
Positive Psychology is a supplement to what psychology traditionally does. It seeks the answer to a new question: “What makes life worth living, and how can we build it?”. This means that Positive Psychology develops interventions that build the enabling conditions of life, not just interventions that reduce misery as psychology has done so far [2].
The topic of Positive Psychology is “well-being”, which is a multi-dimensional construct that has five measurable elements (PERMA): Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. By increasing these five elements we increase flourishing. This means that a person is flourishing when he or she is functioning well across all the five psychosocial domains of PERMA [3].
- Positive Emotions is the first element of well-being. It can broaden our thoughts and actions to deliver a better result or feelings about life [4]. Some examples of positive emotions are joy, gratitude, interest, serenity, contentment, inspiration, and love.
- Engagement is related to a state of an intense concentration, adsorption, and focus. It is associated with the experience of “flow”: an extreme level of psychological engagement, and an optimal experience in which we feel a sense of enjoyment [5]. According to Seligman, it happens when your highest strengths match your highest challenges, and he suggests two questions to access our level of engagement: “Did time stop for you?”, “Were you completely absorbed by the task?”.
- Relationships are the foundation of human life, and the relationship context strongly influences each individual’s behavior and his or her development throughout life. Social support has been linked to less depression, better physical health, lower mortality risk, healthier behavior, and other positive outcomes [6,7].
- Meaning is achieved when a person feels that he or she belongs to and serves something that he or she believes is bigger than the self. Meaning provides a sense that one’s life matter and has been linked to better physical health and higher life satisfaction [3,7].
- Accomplishment involves a sense of working toward and reaching goals. It is often pursued for its own sake, even when it brings no positive emotions, no meaning, and no positive relationships [3,7].
The goal of the “Well-Being Theory” proposed by Positive Psychology is to increase flourishing by increasing these five different elements (PERMA). When individuals flourish, health and peace follow.
People who are flourishing by PERMA criteria are reported to be physically healthier, more productive at work, and more peaceful than people who are not flourishing. Besides that, individuals who are flourishing are more likely to contribute to their community and have better life expectancy [2,3,8].
With that in mind, Seligman articulated a long mission for Positive Psychology:
By the year 2051, 51% of the people of the world will be flourishing by positive psychology criteria.
This is a huge challenge considering that only 6–33 percent of the European population, one of the wealthiest places in the world, is flourishing today [8].
Seligman knows that this mission won’t be achieved only by psychologists in one-on-one sessions, it requires the involvement of many other people. So, in order to achieve this goal, Seligman is working on creating a global movement toward 51% of the world’s population flourishing starting in South Australia. His vision is to turn this place in the “capital of well-being in the world”, which could spur the global movement [3,9].
We, as individuals, also play an important role in achieving this goal not only by increasing our personal flourishing but also by helping others in doing the same.
Positive Psychology is a strategy for each of us find our own way to well-being and also support others in finding their own ways.
Each of us can encourage people to live happier and have a more meaningful life through PERMA model. It could be in the workplace, in schools, in the health care system, in the companies, in the community center, etc. Several studies have shown, for example, that when 10–12 year-olds learn techniques of Positive Psychology and Resilience the rates of depression and anxiety at puberty are reduced by half [2].
There is a quote by the activist Mahatma Gandhi that states: “The future depends on what we do in the present”, that means we have to act today if we are to change the future.
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References
[1] Seligman, M. E. P. (1991) Learned Optimism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
[2] Seligman, M. E. P. (2010) Flourish: Positive Psychology and Positive Interventions. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, University of Michigan.
[3] Seligman, M. E. P. (2011) Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York, NY, US.
[4] Fredrickson, B. L. (2001) The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions. American Psychologist: Special Issue.
[5] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Claremont Graduate University. California, USA.
[6] Berscheid, E., Collins, W. A., Reis, H. T. (2000) The Relationship Context of Human Behavior and Development. American Psychological Association. Psychological Bulletin.
[7] Butler, J., Kern, M. L. (2016) The PERMA-Profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. International Journal of Wellbeing.
[8] Huppert, F. A, So, T. T. C. (2009) What percentage of people in Europe are flourishing and what characterizes them?, Well-Being Institute, University of Cambridge. The United Kingdom.
[9] Seligman, M. E. P. (2013) Building the State of Wellbeing. A Strategy for South Australia. Adelaide Thinker in Residence. The Government of South Australia. Australia.
