Positive - Relevance of positive psychology in today's society Flashcards
Work (For)
Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi’s research has shown that work can be the major source of our happiness. Our working environments generally offer more opportunity for positive experiences. Csikzentmihalyi and LeFevre believe that if workers admit that work can be as/more enjoyable than most of their leisure time.
Work (Against)
Work may make you happy, but the other aspect of work, having more money, does not appear to be relevant to happiness. Diener et al (1993) found a correlation of +.12 between income and happiness. In societies where people are poor money is more important and work may be important for money rather than happiness.
Leisure and lifestyle advice (For)
Csikzentmihalyi and LeFevre (1989) advocate that people increase their experience of flow and the quality of their loves by being more conscious of and more active in their use of leisure time. Websites such as Action for Happiness offers support for those struggling with problems and depression, but also ‘10 keys to a happier living’
Leisure and lifestyle advice (Against)
It is difficult to assess the impact of Action for Happiness in a UK Society. To conduct objective research all variables would need to be controlled, for example wealthier people might be attracted to such website this could be because their wealth may be making them happy instead of the website.
Health (For)
Kubzansky and Thurston (2007) followed more than 6,000 people aged 25 to 74 for 20 years. They found that participants with a sense of enthusiasm had a reduce risk of coronay heart disease. Medical Professionals may treat patients by giving them advice on how to increase their happiness.
Health (Against)
The cause and effect relationship between happiness and health can be difficult to prove. Are people happy because they are happy or is it because they are healthy? It may not be taken as seriously because it is difficult to conduct research that draws clear cause and effect conclusions.
