¶ … Canadian Psychology entitled "Expanding Opportunities for Diversity in Positive Psychology" presents the results of a systematic review of literature. The review of literature covers the years between 1998 and 2014, spanning the bulk of the duration of the field of positive psychology. The purpose of the systematic review was to examine how issues related to race, class, and gender were addressed in literature on positive psychology because of what the authors claim to be a widespread perception of the field ignoring these relevant issues. Findings of the systematic review of literature were varied, and included an underrepresentation of female authors of peer-reviewed articles in the field of positive psychology in spite of an over-representation of female participants in empirical research. Additionally, Rao & Donaldson (2015) found that discussions about gender, race, or ethnicity issues are nearly absent from positive psychology literature altogether. The bulk of research in positive psychology is also focused on white subjects. Responding to the results, Rao & Donaldson (2015) note that by redefining and reframing positive psychology, it may be possible to move the field forward to becoming more relevant to a broader community. Positive psychology itself was a...
Instead of focusing on what was wrong with a person or group of people, such as personality disorder, mood disorder, neurosis or dysfunction, positive psychologists offered a way to focus instead on an individual's strengths and how the person can capitalize on those strengths in order to achieve specific goals such as well-being. Positive psychology is a social science but a multidisciplinary one with the potential to be influential in changing the schemas and worldviews dominating different disciplines. This is why Rao & Donaldson (2015) urge positive psychologists to become more inclusive in their approach and to welcome discussions about race, class, gender, and power intersectionality. In fact, it could even be considered ironic that positive psychology has avoided frank discussions of intersectionality given the ability of the field to positively influence public policy in health care, poverty alleviation, and even environmental sustainability (Rao & Donaldson, 2015).
In conclusion, although positive psychology has been accused of naive optimism, the truth is that research in the area can have a real impact upon people's mentalities and lives. Its character is more descriptive than prescriptive. Its purpose is to prevent rather than to heal. In order to achieve this purpose it relies upon strengths, such as optimist, a state of mind which can be learned and measured. Although there
Positive Psychology is a scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive (Positive Psychology Center, 2007). It was founded on the belief that people want to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives, to understand what is best within themselves, and to have better experiences with love, work, and play. Positive psychology is concerned with positive individual traits, emotions, and institutions. It involves the study of
In an introduction study, they set up cross-cultural sameness of fifty daily events. In the chief study, people in the United States, Korea, and Japan filled out day after day surveys on the fifty actions and daily happiness for twenty one days. The multilevel random coefficient model examination showed that the within-person connection between optimistic events and daily happiness was considerably stronger amid Asian-American, Korean, and Japanese participants than
Another near-contemporary of Rogers and Maslow is Albert Bandura, whose social learning theory is more part of the behaviorist school than the humanist, though these are not as dissimilar as is often thought (Bandura 2010; Ricks & Wandersman 1982). Ultimately, though Bandura's work is most famous for explaining aggression and other behavior developments, it is truly concerned with how people develop into functioning and satisfied human beings (Bandura 2010; Bandura
The paper was then set to focus on determining the reach and effectiveness of marriage interventions. This initiative could be used to understand the effectiveness of marriage therapy as a form of marriage intervention. The study was undertaken on 876 couples who had experienced marital conflict at one point in their marriage. The study was quantitative in nature but was vulnerable to the fact that response from correspondents couldn't be
I go on this run religiously, with very little variance. In fact, I never change the route. The only thing I change with respect to the run is whether I start eastwardly up the block or westwardly up the block. In a sense, deciding whether I run the route "forwards" or "backwards." What's interesting is that I don't really enjoy running. I like it, but I don't love it. What
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now