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When Dr Martin Seligman made his inaugural speech as President of the American Psychological Association, he talked about a need for the field of psychology to not just to look at illness, deficit and pathology and instead to look at what is the best in people and how people thrive. It was at this point that the field of positive psychology was born, with it’s focus on what is right with people instead of what is wrong with them. The field of positive psychology then spawned a plethora of research studies into how people fulfill their potential, how people can discover their strengths and then apply them, how people can experience more positive emotions and how people can be happy. It was this last point about happiness that has often led to people misinterpreting positive psychology as being the science of happiness, with the image of the yellow, smiling face. Positive psychology is so much more than this though.
Other misconceptions about positive psychology are that it is simply ‘positive thinking’, whereby repeating a positive thought pattern or positive words will result in a desired outcome or that positive psychology is merely the Pollyanna Principle, where there is an unrelenting focus on the optimistic view. This isn’t to say that positive thoughts shouldn’t be encouraged, more that this hasn’t been scientifically validated, whereas positive psychology reports have been.
Additionally, people often haven’t heard of positive psychology.
Professor David Cooperrider describes it thus, “the towering and timeless contribution of positive psychology is the transformation in the world’s central question – the appreciative search or inquiry into what gives life to human systems when they are most alive.”
A new, second wave of positive psychology is emerging, which acknowledges that whilst it is more beneficial for our physical and mental wellbeing to focus on the positive, there is the realistic appreciation that life isn’t always going to always be a bed of roses and that in fact, it is an accurate assumption to realise that there will be setbacks, disappointments and bad days as we travel on this journey which is our lives. The second wave of positive psychology is researching into ways that these setbacks, disappointments and bad days can be mitigated or overcome, so that people are able to lead flourishing lives.
Positive psychology researcher and lecturer, Dr Tim Lomas, from the University of East London, describes positive psychology as “the art and science to improve wellbeing” and his colleague, Dr Itai Ivtzan defines the field as being “about anything we go through in life and anything we feel within us that allows positive transformation”.
Dr Paul Wong has acknowledged the need to address misconceptions of positive psychology and talks of the field as being “the scientific study of how to bring out the best in people and organisations in spite of the dark side of life.”
It is as a consequence of these misconceptions of positive psychology and the potential for the important research and interventions, that can positively influence people’s lives, to be dismissed that myself and my colleague, Lesley Lyle, decided to approach some of the leading experts in the field of positive psychology, who are carrying out imperative research into how people can lead fulfilling lives, as well as those positive psychology practitioners who are pioneers in implementing a positive psychology approach for individuals, communities, educational establishments and organisations.
The result of this is a video of interviews with these leading names in positive psychology, where they each give a different and also insightful explanation of what exactly is positive psychology.
http://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/what-exactly-is-positive-psy…
