Positive Assumptions Flashcards
What is Positive Psychology?
-The newest of the approaches
-Developed by Seligman in the 90’s
-He and others felt that traditional psychology focused too much on mental illness, and not enough on how humans can flourish and succeed
What are the aims of Positive Psychology?
-Look at people’s strengths as much as their weaknesses
-Focus on how to build the best of things
-Repairing the worst
-Examine how people can lead a fulfilling life
-Enhancing people’s lives
-To make their lives more meaningful + increase their levels of happiness to achieve greater fulfilment
What is the PERMA model?
Positive - emotion distinction between pleasure and enjoyment
Engagement - flow a sense of total immersion into a task
Relationships - we are rarely alone during our happiest times
Meaning - more important for fulfilment than the pursuit of pleasure
Accomplishment - achieving goals gives us a sense of accomplishment
What are the 3 Positive Assumptions?
- The Acknowledgment of Free Will
- Authenticity of Goodness and Excellence
- Focus on ‘The Good Life’
What is the 1st Positive Assumption?
-The Acknowledgment of Free Will
What is Free Will?
-The view that we respond actively to events around us.
-Individuals choose their own course of action + have responsibility for their behaviour.
-They are free from coercion to choose any course of action, and are not determined by internal and external pressures.
What is an example for Free Will?
Diener and Seligman Study (2002)
What was the Diener and Seligman Study (2002)?
-Looked at the ties that students had to friends and family; measured in terms of the amount of time they invested in these relationships.
What did they find in the Deiner and Seligman Study?
-They found that the students who had the strongest ties to friends and family were happier and there was a negative correlation between levels of happiness and depression.
How were the participants in the Deiner and Seligman study responsible for their own emotions?
-Study highlights that we are in control of our happiness in that we can choose to engage in activities that we know make us happy and which relieve feelings of low mood.
-Our emotional state is within our control
What is the 2nd Positive Assumption?
-Authenticity of Goodness and Excellence
What did the 2nd Positive Assumption originate from?
-Positive psychologists argue that because of the typical negative outlook on behaviour, our view of psychology may be unbalanced.
-This led Seligman (2002) to argue positive behaviours are every bit as authentic as negative ones
What is the Authenticity of Goodness and Excellence?
-Positive Psychology argues that our behaviour can be explained by the fact that we are good and we are capable of goodness and we are motivated to be good.
-Feelings of happiness and goodness are as natural as feelings of anxiety and stress.
-We should celebrate the positive of human behaviour
What is the meaning of ‘signature strengths’?
-Seligman believes we have innate behaviours he refers to as ‘signature strengths’ that are essential to who we are
-Most satisfied, upbeat people = those who had discovered + exploited their ‘signature strengths’
What are the names of ‘signature strengths’?
-Kindness, generosity, humour, persistence, creativity
What is the 3rd Positive Assumption?
-Focus on ‘The Good Life’
What are the three types of lives?
- Pleasant Life
- Good Life
- Meaningful Life
What is the ‘Pleasant Life’?
-Positive emotions and daily satisfaction from activities
EG: Good food, drink, shopping, friends, holidays, houses, cars, travelling
What is the ‘Good Life’?
-The good life: determining and developing character strengths to enhance our lives. They will help us when we face difficult times.
-Balanced focus on 3 areas- work, play and love
EG: Marriage, children, promotion-achieving confidence and building core strengths
What is the ‘Meaningful Life’?
-Using our strengths for a greater purpose
EG: Doctor, researcher, listener, teaching
What is the ‘Good Life’ summed up to be?
Positive connection to others
-The ability to love, forgive, develop spiritual connections, happiness + life satisfaction
Positive individual traits
-Personal qualities such as a sense of integrity and morality, the ability to be creative and to possess virtues such as bravery, courage and humility
Life regulation qualities
-Qualities that allow us to regulate our day to day behaviour in order to accomplish our goals.
-Independence, self-control, faith in our decision making + wisdom to guide our behaviour
