scholarly journals Positive Psychology within a Cultural Context

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti ◽  
Lisa M. Edwards ◽  
Shane J. Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diverse Groups

As our workforce, neighborhoods, and country overall becomes more diverse, our interactions with others with different worldviews also becomes more frequent. This exposure to diversity on so many levels requires a better understanding of the multiple contexts in which people from different cultural backgrounds live and the strengths they possess that help them experience well-being. In order to define the characteristics that may be viewed as strengths in different groups, we must make efforts to remember that cultural values and norms often dictate what can be called a strength versus a weakness. It is imperative that we recognize that strengths may look very different in different contexts and that these diverse manifestations may come from a variety of worldviews. More work must be done to develop a better understanding of the way that cultural context plays a role in the operationalization, manifestation, and measurement of strengths in diverse groups. The following chapter provides a history of the connections between culture and positive psychology and discusses current issues regarding the link between cultural context and various personal characteristics. Examples from culturally sensitive positive psychological theory and research are also given in order to illustrate how researchers are better exploring positive psychology within a cultural context.

scholarly journals Positive Psychology Within a Cultural Context

2009 ◽  
pp. 48-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti ◽  
Lisa M. Edwards ◽  
Shane J. Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Cultural Rules

As our capacity for communication with nations across the globe increases through the advances of technology, our interactions with others with different worldviews also become more frequent. This exposure to diversity on so many levels requires a better understanding of the multiple contexts in which people from different cultural backgrounds live and the strengths they possess that help them experience well-being. In order to define the characteristics that may be viewed as strengths in different groups, we must make efforts to remember that cultural rules and norms often dictate what can be called a strength versus a weakness. It is imperative that we are able to recognize that strengths may look very different in different contexts and that these diverse manifestations may come from a variety of worldviews. More work must be done in order to develop a better understanding of the way that cultural context plays a role in the operationalization, manifestation, and measurement of strengths in diverse groups. The following chapter provides a history of the connections between culture and positive psychology and discusses current issues regarding the link between cultural context and various personal characteristics. Examples from culturally sensitive positive psychological theory and research are also given in order to illustrate how researchers are better exploring positive psychology within a cultural context.

Positive Psychology Theory, Research, and Practice: A Primer for Rehabilitation Counseling Professionals

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Chin Chou ◽  
Fong Chan ◽  
Jacob Yui Chung Chan ◽  
Brian Phillips ◽  
Nicole Ditchman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Rehabilitation Counseling ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Counseling Professionals ◽  
Rehabilitation Professionals ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
History Of

Positive psychology is a scientific study that explores what makes life most worth living and applies psychological theory to understand the human strengths that are important for enhancing overall well-being and happiness. The rehabilitation counseling philosophy shares a similar emphasis on personal strengths and the importance of enhancing what is good rather than merely addressing the negative aspects of adversity. The field of rehabilitation counseling provides a solid foundation for the practice of positive psychology and there is great potential for improving services and outcomes for people with disabilities by applying positive psychology approaches in rehabilitation practice and research. The objective of this article is to provide rehabilitation professionals an overview of positive psychology and its application to rehabilitation counseling. Specifically, a brief history of the positive psychology movement, major constructs and research findings, measurement considerations, and empirically supported intervention frameworks will be reviewed.

Studying the Effects of Meditation: The First Fifty Years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Oman
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Physiological Measurement ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Meditative Practices

This chapter traces the history of modern meditation research. Meditation is conceptualized primarily as a seated practice for systematically training attention. Historically present in every major religion, meditation was traditionally used for spiritual purposes and usually accompanied by ancillary practices, such as spiritual fellowship. This chapter traces the dynamics and evolving interplay between dominant conceptions and forms of meditative practices under scientific study, as well as critiques of those conceptions, research questions, study designs, measurement instruments, and public reception and application. It describes how developments in each of these spheres have at different times opened up new lines of research, sometimes transforming other dimensions of ongoing research and practice. For the past fifty years, modern meditation research has progressed through partly overlapping periods that emphasized physiological measurement and secular adaptations; links to numerous health and well-being outcomes; emphasis on a sui generis psychosocial goal (mindfulness); advances in physiological and questionnaire-based empirical measurement; expansion of public, corporate, and governmental interest; increased concerns about abandonment of ethical bases and cultural context; and initial moves toward greater inclusiveness and integration of diverse methods and traditional perspectives.

scholarly journals The problem of the local in philosophical tradition and in modern philosophy of culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
O. V. Borodenko
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Cultural Objects ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
Philosophy Of Culture ◽  
Hierarchical Structuring ◽  
History Of

The present article is concerned with the problem of the local in the history of philosophy and in contemporary philosophy of culture. It emphasizes the relevance and interdisciplinary essence of this problem. The evolution of the concepts “local” and “locality” in classical and contemporary philosophy (by the example of the concepts of individual thinkers) is traced, and the meaning of these concepts for understanding the contemporary cultural context is determined. So, in particular, the development of ideas about the localization of an object in space in ancient philosophy (in Plato) is traced. The problem of the local in non-classical and post-non-classical philosophy is considered in connection with the problem of the crisis of cultural values. An attempt is made to define the concept of “locality” as a cultural phenomenon based on the analysis of the works of P. Sloterdijk, I. Hassan, J. Baudrillard and others, as well as the latest scientific publications. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the problem of the local as a philosophical concept, and at the same time, the phenomenon of culture, in the framework of postmodern ideas, the theory of cultural globalization, in the microspherology of P. Sloterdijk. The principle of “indetermanence” by I. Hassan, which most fully reveals the postmodern rejection of hierarchical structuring of culture and the process of transition from centering to scattering, to peripheral dislocation of cultural objects and phenomena, is considered as a kind of “methodological basis” of the analysis of locality as a cultural phenomenon. Locality is defined by the author of the article as “a certain holistic microworld (microsphere) formed by a person or a group of people as part of his (their) lifeworld and accumulating key values, ideas, symbols, etc., that are particularly significant for these people”. The main features of locality as a cultural phenomenon are considered: a) attachment to a particular place (locus); b) locality is at the same time a fragment of the world, the cosmos and a holistic microworld that lives by its own laws; c) spatiality and temporality, chronotopicity; d) dynamic and historic; e) anthropological, centered around a person or a group of people; f) symbolism.

Positive Psychology: Past, Present, and Future

2009 ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Diener
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Human Functioning ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

This chapter briefly reviews the history of positive psychology, and the endeavor by scientists to answer the classic question posed by philosophers: What is the good life? One piece of evidence for the growth of positive psychology is the proliferation of measures to assess concepts such as happiness, well-being, and virtue. The chapter briefly reviews the importance of C. R. Snyder to the field of positive psychology. Several critiques of positive psychology are discussed. One valid critique is that there is too much emphasis within positive psychology on the individual, and too little focus on positive societies, institutions, and situations. We can profit from considering the various critiques because they will help us to improve the field. Positive psychology has important strengths, such as the number of young scholars and practitioners who are entering the field. The Handbook of Positive Psychology is an outstanding resource for all those who are working in this discipline, and also for others outside of the area, to gain broad knowledge of the important developments that are occurring in our understanding of positive human functioning.

scholarly journals The Significance of Time, Place and Traumatic Experience on at-Risk Youths’ View of their Well-Being: A Preliminary Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 2157-2180
Author(s):  
Silvia Exenberger ◽  
Stefanie Reiber
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Allocation Process ◽  
Preliminary Study

Abstract This preliminary study explores the perspectives of at-risk youths from different cultural backgrounds on their well-being. We propose that youths’ “well-being awareness” – i.e. what sources of well-being adolescents spontaneously become aware of when they are asked about – is strongly related to their socio-cultural context, their life experiences, and the time when they reflect about it. This study focused on the meaning of well-being sources, which were constructed by youths from different cultural backgrounds who faced different traumatic life experiences. We developed and applied a theoretical framework to understand youths’ well-being awareness. Focus group discussions were analyzed of 48 male youths aged 12–18 years. They either faced the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 (11 boys from South India), or severe intra-familial conflicts (17 European boys), or were unaccompanied minor refugees (20 boys of Asian and African origin). Youths were asked what makes them happy and sad and about their coping strategies, only followed by questions for clarification. First, the data were analyzed inductively based on grounded theory. Second, the gained well-being descriptions were deductively allocated to the most basic elements of human well-being according to White (2008): material, subjective and relational dimension. Through this allocation process the influence of the socio-cultural context (place), life-experience, and time on the meaning of well-being of each youth group became clear. Well-being should be viewed as a process: on the one hand youths conceptions of well-being are deeply rooted in their culture of origin, on the other hand the importance of well-being and its indicators change depending on youths’ traumatic experience and the time of asking about it.

Speculation, Conceptualization, or Evidence?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina A. Downey ◽  
Reggie E. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Positive Functioning ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Behavior

This chapter traces the history of examinations of well-being since the founding of psychology in 1879. Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) asserted that positive psychology as a scientific discipline was to focus on empirical examinations of valued individual experiences and traits, as well as group and institutional characteristics that mark positive functioning. Positive psychology set parameters on the types of evidence that would be given credence in the field. Many scholars had described well-being prior to 2000, but much of this work could not counted as within the bounds of the new positive psychology because of how the different movements approached gathering evidence. Therefore, the founding of positive psychology represented another step in an ongoing debate in psychology regarding the conduct of scientific research on human characteristics and behavior, and its accomplishments can be viewed as a paradigm shift in the study of well-being.

scholarly journals Conduct in Dementia: Video Analysis of Arts Interventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-540
Author(s):  
Christian Morgner ◽  
Spencer Hazel ◽  
Justine Schneider ◽  
Victoria Tischler
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Video Analysis ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Art Exhibition ◽  
People With Dementia

This study applies video analysis to an investigation of interactions among people with dementia in a cultural context, specifically a visual art exhibition in a gallery. The study adopts a sociologically informed approach to explore the role of artworks and how these may be beneficial to dementia care, by focusing on meaning-making conversational practices among people living with dementia. The interactions of different individuals with various forms of dementia were recorded during three gallery visits, including their engagement with gallery attendants and artworks. The findings reveal the socially empowering impact of interactions related to artwork, with complex patterns in bodily behaviour and facial expressions meaning that orientation to dementia became negligible. The article makes a contribution to the growing field of sociology of ageing and well-being from an interaction analytic perspective, indicating that cultural values can play a greater role in the care of people living with dementia.

Positive Psychology and Humanistic Psychology: Evil Twins, Sibling Rivals, Distant Cousins, or Something Else?

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant J. Rich
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Humanistic Psychology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Positivity Ratio ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

This article builds on earlier work by Rich in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology on relations between positive psychology and humanistic psychology and examines both developments and challenges over the past 15 years, including discussion of leading critics of positive psychology such as Brown, Friedman, Held, Kagan, Waterman, and Wong. The discipline of positive psychology is contextualized with respect to the history of psychology in general, and humanistic psychology in particular, and several notable examples of well-being research are examined critically, including work by Fredrickson on the positivity ratio, and mixed-methods research by anthropologists. The article explores some limitations of the use of quantitative methods in positive psychology, notes some advantages of the use of qualitative methods for positive psychology, and discusses issues regarding the relationship between positive psychology and humanistic psychology, including how, whether, if, and when scholars from the two disciplines could collaborate in meaningful and effective ways.

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