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.

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.

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 The Contribution of Food Consumption to Well-Being

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (Suppl. 2) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Holder
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
The Relationship

The newly emerging field of positive psychology focuses on the positive facets of life, including happiness, life satisfaction, personal strengths, and flourishing. Research in this field has empirically identified many important benefits of enhanced well-being, including improvements in blood pressure, immune competence, longevity, career success, and satisfaction with personal relationships. Recognizing these benefits has motivated researchers to identify the correlates and causes of well-being to inform them in the development and testing of strategies and interventions to elevate well-being. As positive psychology researchers throughout the world have turned their attention toward facets of food intake, a consensus is developing that the consumption of healthy foods can enhance well-being in a dose-response fashion. The link between unhealthy foods and well-being is less clear. Some studies suggest that under certain conditions, fast food may increase happiness, though other studies demonstrate that fast food can indirectly undermine happiness. The positive impact of food consumption on well-being is not limited to what people consume but extends to how they consume it and social factors related to eating. Though the research suggests that our food intake, particularly fruits and vegetables, increases our well-being, this research is in its infancy. Research specifically focused on subpopulations, including infants and pregnant mothers, is mostly lacking, and the mechanisms that underlie the relationship between food consumption and well-being remain to be elucidated.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Peterson ◽  
Tracy A. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Explanatory Style ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
History Of ◽  
Long Life

Research has linked optimism to higher levels of subjective well-being, to positive mood and good morale, to perseverance and effective problem solving, to achievement and success in a variety of domains, to popularity, to good physical health, to reduced suicidal ideation, and even to long life and freedom from trauma. In this chapter, we review what is known about one cognate of optimism—“explanatory style,” how people habitually explain the causes of events that occur to them. We trace the history of explanatory style research, focusing on the neglected question of the origins of explanatory style. Finally, we conclude by addressing issues that need to be considered by positive psychologists doing research on explanatory style. Research still focuses too much on negative outcomes, ignoring the premise of positive psychology: What makes life most worth living needs to be examined in its own right.

scholarly journals Personal strength in the “VIA” model as a predictor of a teacher’s well-being in the professional sphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-388
Author(s):  
Artur Rean ◽  
◽  
Alexey Stavtsev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
Multiplier Effect ◽  
Action Model ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

This article examines the “predictive model of personal well-being of a teacher in the professional sphere” developed by the authors based on a study conducted on a wide sample of teachers in the Russian Federation (N=7946). The presented model is based on the VIA (Values in Action) model, one of the key measures in the scientific direction of positive psychology. In the course of the study, 14 personal strengths out of 24 in the original model, which have the greatest multiplier effect of usefulness for personal well-being in the professional sphere of education were identified. Personal well-being in the professional sphere is described as a set of personal factors, including, first of all, high self-efficacy of the individual and the absence of professional burnout, and secondly, the individual’s general psychological well-being represented by life satisfaction and self-esteem. The authors believe that the resulting model can become an effective tool for the practical application of the concepts of positive psychology. On the one hand, it can be applied in the field of vocational guidance of young people. On the other hand, the model can be used as a tool for the development of professional competence of teachers in the field of personal well-being in the professional sphere, for example, in the form of selecting the most effective positive psychological interventions (PPI). The authors con clude that in the future, it is possible to scale the presented concept to other professional areas.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

2009 ◽  
pp. 312-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Peterson ◽  
Tracy A. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Learned Helplessness ◽  
Explanatory Style ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Long Life

So-called optimism has long given thoughtful people pause because of connotations of naiveté and denial, but optimism has become a more respectable stance, even among the sophisticated. Research has linked optimism to positive mood and good morale, to perseverance and effective problem solving, to achievement in a variety of domains, to popularity, to good health, and even to long life and freedom from trauma. In this chapter, we review what is known about one cognate of optimism—explanatory style, how people habitually explain the causes of events that occur to them. We trace the history of explanatory style research, which originated in studies of learned helplessness and depression as a way to make sense of the range of reactions in the wake of uncontrollable bad events. We focus on the neglected question of the origins of explanatory style, which seem to be multiple. We conclude by addressing issues that need to be considered by positive psychologists doing research on explanatory style. Research still focuses too much on negative outcomes, ignoring the premise of positive psychology that what makes life most worth living needs to be examined in its own right, not simply as the absence of problems.

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.

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.

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.

Introduction to Positive Psychology in Rehabilitation

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Chin Chou ◽  
Fong Chan ◽  
Brian Phillips ◽  
Jacob Yui Chung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Rehabilitation Counseling ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Rehabilitation Research ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
Psychology Theory ◽  
Theory Research

Positive psychology has received increasing attention in rehabilitation counseling research and practice. The rehabilitation counseling philosophy shares a similar emphasis of personal assets and strengths, which provides a solid foundation for the integration of positive psychology into the professional practice of rehabilitation counseling. In this article, the guest editors present their rationale for developing this special issue on positive psychology and rehabilitation research. They highlight some of the exciting findings reported in the articles included in this special issue on positive psychology and rehabilitation research. The goal of this special issue is to stimulate thinking and discussion about applying positive psychology theory, research, assessment, and interventions in rehabilitation counseling for promoting overall well-being, quality of life, and happiness for people with chronic illness and disabilities.

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