Near the door,

Positive
please find Psychology
today’s roster
and handouts.
http://www.canyons.edu/faculty/rafterm

Mark Rafter
Roster: Handouts:
Please put a checkmark Please pick up a copy of today’s
next to your name . handouts for:
or add your name and The History of Positive Psychology
your email address. March 13, 2011
1
 …but first,
one activity
before we begin.
…for Positive Psychology that one man is:
Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.
…from page 29 of Authentic Happiness
Pathogenic Salutogenic

…a focus on the …a focus on the

origins on origins of and
distress and pathways to
treatments that authentic
alleviate the happiness and a
distress fulfilling life
1. Pathogenic: Freudian psychoanalytic theory
we are unconsciously motivated by drives of
Sex & Aggression
2. Hedonistic: Behaviorism
We are passively conditioned.
We learn behaviors to
seek pleasure and avoid pain.
3. Need gratification: Humanism
We have a hierarchy of needs from
basic to transcendent. (Maslow, 1962)
“The (measure of our) gross national product does
not (include) the health of our children, …their
education, or the joy of their play. It does not include
the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our
marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the
integrity of our public officials. It measures neither
wit nor courage; neither our wisdom nor our
teaching; neither our compassion nor our devotion to
our country; it measures everything, in short, except
that which makes life worthwhile.”
- Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
Aquinas
Aristotle
The Bhagavad-Gita
The Bible
The Bushido Samurai code
Confucius
The Koran
The Torah
Courage: emotional strengths that involve the
exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of
opposition, external or internal
Justice: civic strengths that underlie healthy
community life
Humanity: interpersonal strengths that involve
tending to and befriending others
Transcendence: strengths that forge connections to
the larger universe and provide meaning
Temperance: strengths that protect against excess
Wisdom & Knowledge: cognitive strengths that
entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
Each strength is valued
in almost every culture and period of time.
Each strength is valued
in its own right, not just as a means to other ends.
Each strength is malleable.
“I can learn a particular strength and get better at it.”

24 strengths were identified:

 Courage
Bravery: not shrinking from threat, challenge,
difficulty, or pain
Persistence: finishing what one starts,
persisting in a course of action despite obstacles
Integrity: authenticity, honesty, speaking the
truth, and presenting oneself in a genuine way
Vitality: zest, enthusiasm, and energy;
approaching life with excitement and energy;
not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living
life as an adventure, feeling alive and activated
 Justice
Citizenship: social responsibility, loyality,
teamwork; working well as a member of a team;
being loyal to the group; doing one’s share
Fairness: treating all people the same
according to notions of fairness and justice; not
letting personal feelings bias decisions about
others; giving everyone a fair chance
Leadership: encouraging a group of which
one is a member to get things done and at the
same time maintain good relations within the
group; organizing group activities and seeing
that they happen
 Humanity
Kindness: generosity, nurturance, care,
compassion, and altruistic love; doing favors and
good deeds for others; helping others; taking care
of others
Love: valuing close relations with others, in
particular those in which sharing and caring are
reciprocated; being close to people
Social Intelligence: emotional intelligence,
personal intelligence, empathy; being aware of
the motives and feelings of self and others;
knowing what to do to fit into different social
situations; knowing what makes other people tick
 Transcendence (1 of 2)
Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence:
noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and
skilled performance in all domains of life, from
nature to arts to mathematics to science and
everyday experience
Gratitude: being aware of and thankful for the
good things that happen; taking time to express
thanks
 Transcendence (2 of 2)
Hope: optimism, future-mindedness, future
orientation; expecting the best in the future and
working to achieve it; believing that a good
future is something that can be brought about
Humor: playfulness; liking to laugh and tease;
bringing smiles to other people, seeing the light
side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes
Spirituality: religiousness, faith, purpose;
knowing where one fits within the larger
scheme; having coherent beliefs about the higher
purpose and meaning of life that shape conduct
and provide comfort
 Temperance (1 of 2)
Forgiveness and Mercy: forgiving those
who have done wrong; accepting the
shortcomings of others; giving people a second
chance; not being vengeful
Humility and Modesty: letting ones
accomplishments speak for themselves; not
seeking the spotlight; not regarding oneself as
more special than one is
 Temperance (2 of 2)
Prudence: being careful about one’s choices;
not taking undue risks; not saying or doing
things that might later be regretted
Self-Regulation: self-control; regulating
what one feels and does; being disciplined;
controlling one’s appetites and emotions
 Wisdom & Knowledge
Creativity: thinking of novel and productive
ways to do things
Curiosity: taking an interest in all of ongoing
experience
Open-Mindedness: thinking things through
and examining them from all sides
Love of Learning: mastering new skills,
topics, and bodies of knowledge
Perspective: being able to provide wise
counsel to others
 A life bound
by
virtues & strengths.
Humanistic Psychology Positive Psychology

Almost exclusively A strong focus on

focused on the individual interrelationships

Basic needs must be People in impoverished

satisfied before all else situations may flourish

More theoretical and Grounded in empirical

descriptive research – more practical
 A life bound
by
virtues & strengths.
 Authentic Happiness

http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspx
 Values In Action (VIA)

A self-evaluation based on 240 statements.

It displays a ranking of all 24 strengths
based on your responses.

Authentic happiness is increased when

people employ their top 5 strengths in their
work, love, play, and in their service of
others.
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspx
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspx
 A life bound
by
virtues & strengths.
Let’s take a look at the
relationship between these
strengths and three
different paths to a Fulfilling
Pleasure = positive emotions (happiness)
Engagement = using one’s personal
strengths in the pursuit of one’s own work,
love & play
Meaning = using one’s personal strengths
in the service of others
 Pleasure

1 minute 15 seconds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUulGkLu4I
1. The Pleasant Life
• Positive affect is 50% heritable and not very
modifiable. Positive emotions habituate quickly.
Peaks of happiness are not sustainable.
• Eating ice cream or even winning “the car” results
in a short-term increase in happiness.
• Happiness appears to increase with annual income
up to $75,000. Above that, there is no significant
increase in happiness.
• Positive affect, alone, contributes almost nothing to
one’s sense of a fulfilling life.
“…that’s why positive psychology is not happy-ology.”
Engagement
FLOW (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
2. The Good Life
• Irrespective of positive emotions –FLOW is more
often engaged – if the person’s top five strengths
are employed in the pursuit of
one’s love, work, and play.
• Pursue a hobby
• Work in a fulfilling vocation that uses personally
enjoyed talents, skills, expertise
• Living an engaged, good-life, adds significantly to
one’s sense of a fulfilling life.
Meaning
3. The Meaningful Life
• Using one’s strengths in the service of others.

• Altruistic philanthropy

• Living a meaningful life, in the service of others,

adds most significantly to one’s sense of a fulfilling
life.
Pleasure = positive emotions
Hedonistic – “Here is $20.00 for you!”
Happy for a little bit of time.
Engagement = using one’s personal strengths in
the pursuit of one’s own work, love & play
Meaning = using one’s personal strengths in the
service of others
Altruistic – “Here is $20.00 for you to give to
charity!” Happy for a longer period of time.
“That’s why Positive Psychology
is not Happy-ology.”

The pursuit of happiness

for its own sake
does not contribute to a
fulfilling life.
Watching laughing babies on YouTube
The red line marks
the last moment of
the colonoscopy.
…a best moments review at the end of the day
What did you enjoy today?
Name and count these memories of the day.
These are the good thoughts
What didn’t you like today?
Name and count these memories of the day.
These are the bad thoughts.
Depressed individuals have a
1:1 ratio of good thoughts-to-bad thoughts
Non-depressed individuals have a
2:1 ratio of good thoughts-to-bad thoughts
This activity helps to end the day well.
“What do you joyfully look forward to
tomorrow?”
(…for people 5 years old and older.)

This activity also helps to end the day well and begin tomorrow
with a happy sense of anticipation.
…Dreamland.
Conjuring up sweet dreams at bedtime.

Visualize a really happy picture in your mind

Give the image a name in words
Describe the image, and concentrate on it
This affects the dreams of children and adults,
alike, and adds a great ending to the day.
…Have a beautiful day!
Design a beautiful day that draws upon
your top five strengths.
…and then actually live it!
…Have a “strengths” date.
Both people identify their top five strengths.

…and then they arrange an evening in which

both persons use their strengths.
…do something altruistic.
There is a happiness difference between
“fun” and “philanthropy”

With “fun” the happiness peaks and fades

rapidly.
With “philanthropy” the positive emotions and
happiness last and last.
…the gratitude visit.
Recall someone who did something enormously
important in your life that had a profound
positive effect in your life.

Write a testimonial of gratitude to that person

describing what they did and the impact in your
life for which you are grateful.

Read your letter to the person, face-to-face.

The Fulfilling Life is a function of
1. Pleasure (happiness), and
2. Engagement (FLOW), and
3. Meaning (in the service of others)

Meaning adds the most sense of fulfillment, and

Engagement adds the second highest fulfillment, and
Pleasure contributes almost nothing to fulfillment by
itself .
“…that’s why positive psychology is not happy-ology.”
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best
day in the year.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

…and another

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish

I’d realized it sooner.”
Colette
 The PowerPoint presentation for today’s class is
available on this website:
http://www.canyons.edu/faculty/rafterm
(This website address is printed on our syllabus.)

Martin Seligman’s website for Authentic Happiness

which features the assessment of
VIA Character Strengths
is available on this website:
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspx
The End.