Positive Psychology the Science of Wellbeing

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Positive Psychology The Science of Wellbeing

Instructor: Adam Siler Group Brainstorm

What do you most want for your loved ones? Course Overview

Class Topic Key Questions

Class #1 Overview What is positive psychology?

Class #2 Positive Interventions How do you define/measure/increase wellbeing?

Class #3 Positive Emotions How can you authentically change your mood?

Class #4 Engagement/Meaning What is your profile of character strengths?

Class #5 Resilience How can you think more optimistically?

Class #6 Positive Health How can meditation/exercise help you? Brief History of Psychology

Psychology: scientific study of behavior & mental processes Brief History of Psychology

Sigmund Freud • genius + nut • right + wrong • incalculable impact • medical doctor • secularized psychology • invented “the unconscious” • Invented “defense mechanisms” • invented “talk therapy” • invented “modern psychiatry” Brief History of Psychology

How would Dr. Freud diagnose you? • You are basically bad • You are crazier than you know • Your mind has structure • Your mind reacts predictably • Your mind is full of conflict • You can be helped scientifically • You need psychoanalysis • You need drug prescriptions Brief History of Psychology

Therapy Approach #1 Therapy Approach #2 ?

Combat disease by “putting out fires” Brief History of Psychology

Therapy Approach #1 Therapy Approach #2

Combat disease by Promote health by “putting out fires” “growing gardens” Brief History of Psychology

“Wellbeing is more than the absence of disease .”

- Dr. Martin Seligman Brief History of Psychology

“Psychology is half-baked, literally half-baked. We have baked the part about mental illness. We have baked the part about repair and damage. But the other side is unbaked. The side of strengths, the side of what we are good at, the side… of what makes life worth living.”

- Dr. Martin Seligman (1990) What is positive psychology?

• Psychology: scientific study of behavior and mental processes

• Positive Psychology: scientific study of the behavior and mental processes associated with human flourishing What is positive psychology?

Positive Psychology • A new discipline of psychology • Still under construction • Definition: scientific study of how to theoretically define, empirically measure, and practically grow wellbeing • Definition: scientific study of the what and the how of positive experiences, positive traits, and positive institutions • Definition: scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive Comparative Analysis

Traditional Psychology Positive Psychology Focus on illbeing Focus on wellbeing Psychiatry Using positive interventions Psychoanalysis Humanistic therapy ------Fight disease Promote thriving Reduce suffering Make life worth living Identify problems Identify strengths Comparative Analysis

Traditional Psychology Positive Psychology Comparative Analysis

Traditional Psychology Positive Psychology Topics in Traditional Psychology

1. History 9. Development 2. Research methods 10. Personality 3. Psychobiology 11. Intelligence 4. Perception 12. Illbeing 5. Consciousness 13. Therapy for illbeing 6. Learning 14. Social psychology 7. Cognition 8. Emotion/Motivation Topics in Modern Psychology

Key Theories – Ideal mental health (Jahoda, 1958) – Psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1996) – Social wellbeing (Keyes, 1998) – Subjective wellbeing (Diener, 2000) – P.E.R.M.A. (Seligman, 2011) – Wellbeing (Huppert & So, 2013) – Multi-dimensional wellbeing (Prilleltensky, 2015) What is wellbeing?

According to Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, wellbeing involves: 1. Positive Emotion 2. Engagement 3. Relationships P.E.R.M.A. 4. Meaning 5. Accomplishment What is wellbeing? PERMA

1. Wellbeing involves positive emotions • Positive emotions can be defined • e.g. joy, gratitude, serenity, contentment

• Positive emotions can be measured PERMA-profiler (Kern & Butler, 2013) Optimism Test (Seligman, 1991) PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) Gratitude Survey (McCullough & Emmons, 2003)

• Positive emotions can be grown “Three good things” exercise “Gratitude letters What is wellbeing? PERMA

2. Wellbeing involves engagement • Engagement can be defined • Being absorbed, interested, involved • Extreme engagement = FLOW

• Engagement can be measured PERMA-profiler (Kern & Butler, 2013)

• Engagement can be grown Using character strengths (Park et al., 2004) What is wellbeing? PERMA

3. Wellbeing involves relationships • Relationships can be defined • Feeling loved, supported, valued • Loving, supporting, valuing others

• Relationships can be measured PERMA-profiler (Kern & Butler, 2013)

• Relationships can be grown Active-constructive responding (Gable et al., 2004) What is wellbeing? PERMA

4. Wellbeing involves meaning • Meaning can be defined • Purpose, direction, connection beyond

• Meaning can be measured PERMA-profiler (Kern & Butler, 2013) “Meaning in Life” survey (Steager et al., 2006)

• Meaning can be grown Composing positive visions for future Writing obituaries through eyes of grandchildren Leveraging character strengths on behalf of your community What is wellbeing? PERMA

5. Wellbeing involves accomplishment • Accomplishment can be defined • Achievement, mastery, competence

• Accomplishment can be measured PERMA-profiler (Kern & Butler, 2013) “Grit” scale (Duckworth et al., 2009) “Growth mindset” scale (Dweck, 2008)

• Accomplishment can be grown Self-discipline > IQ/talent Resources

www.AuthenticHappiness.sas.upenn.edu Resources Resources

Adam Siler

804.310.7222

[email protected] www.ThePositiveEducator.com Group Brainstorm

Consider the state of the world. Poverty. Sanitation. Access to food. Access to water. Violence. Literacy. Life expectancy. Freedom. Equality. a. The world is getting better b. The world is getting worse c. The world is staying about the same Global Progress

• “Despite what we hear on the news, the great story of our era is that we are witnessing the greatest improvement in global living standards ever to take place.”

-Johan Norberg Global Progress

• Food access, sanitation, life expectancy, income, peace, literacy, freedom, and equality have all steadily and massively improved over the past several hundred years.

• But so too has pessimism. Progress: Global Wealth

Source: Maddison, 2003 Progress: Food

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2003, 2015 Progress: Sanitation

Source: World Health Organization 1995, 2015 Progress: Life Expectancy

Source: Roser, 2016 Progress: Extreme Poverty

Source: Bourguignon and Morrisson, 2002; Cruz, Foster, Quillin, and Schellekens 2015 Progress: Violence

Source: Eisner, 2003 Progress: The Environment

Air Pollutant Reduction between 1980 2014

Volatile Organics -53%

Nitrogen Dioxide -55%

Direct Particle Matter -58%

Carbon Monoxide -69%

Sulfur Dioxide -81%

Lead -99%

Source: Environmental Protection Agency, 2016 Progress: Literacy

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2014 Progress: Freedom

Source: Wikipedia, 2016 Progress: Equality

Source: Schermer, 2015 (my) Conclusion

Today is the greatest day in human history. Data suggests that tomorrow will be even better. What you do with this is up to you!