Positive Psychology as an Important Tool for Personal and Organizational Development - Essay Example

Reflections of Positive Psychology My experience in this course has been one of tremendous introspection. Not only did I learn a lot about others and their ways of relating to life in general, I also learned a great deal about my own journey through life. Most of my life I felt that I had been standing in front of a locked door with no way to open it, yet I knew that the secret of my happiness involved the understanding that was contained inside. As a reasonably intelligent being I have always felt the need to analyze and investigate my path, yet; highly functioning people often experience more angst. Although the roots of Positive Psychology go back to the twentieth century with the development of humanistic psychology involving the holistic approach, the fruit of that development has appeared in a much larger focus since 1998, when Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi put together a comprehensive approach that focuses more on positive human functioning, personal growth and development, and a positive way for humans to relate to their journeys through life. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) Prior to that, most of the psychological theories and approaches had been at finding a way to relate human behavior to mental illness and disease instead of finding a way to encourage and identify personal strength, resilience, and emotional well being. In 1958 Maria Jahoda developed six criteria for mental health, which included: accurate attitudes toward self, growth and self actualization, an integrated personality, autonomy, an accurate perception of reality, and environmental mastery. In 1985, Carol Ryff went on to develop that further to construct six criteria for psychological well-being which include: self acceptance, personal growth, positive relations with others, autonomy, purpose for life, and environmental mastery. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) In general, happiness is relative to many factors, yet I cannot buy happiness; the amount of happiness does not increase with the amount of money I have once my survival needs have been met. The “Hedonic Treadmill” of beauty, fame, and money can never bring me lasting happiness as there is always another goal to conquer if I compare myself to others and continue the rat race. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) This was also discovered to be true for cultures around the world. The greatest indicator of happiness was not wealth, although if survival needs were not being met, wealth certainly played a role; however, the amount of happiness increased to the degree that they were interconnected in positive, healthy relationships, felt they were able to make a contribution to the world around them, and felt confident that they could depend on each other for survival. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) I learned that as I get older, I will relax more and lose the anxiety and anger of youth so that I can focus on improving my personal relationships and pursuing self-fulfillment goals without the added distraction of satisfying the steps of young adulthood and productivity. My social skills will improve; I will have more realistic expectations from life and relationships, and, be more in control of my desires. I will feel a sense of adventure to try new experiences that make sense along my way and have more tolerance for the failings of others, without needing to judge them. As this course progressed, I became aware of my strengths and virtues which are divided into categories and developed over time. We are all continually working along these lines to develop and refine who we’ve become as a result of where we’ve been on our journeys. I have learned that happiness is more associated with a genetic predisposition as well as a combination of my choices, actions, habits, and beliefs. These factors are also integral to my health, well being, and stress management. (Bruce, 2010) Genetic traits influencing personality were discovered by Gordon Allport to be: extroversion, introversion, neuroticism, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and irresponsibility. These factors were used by many social psychologists to create what is known as the “big 5” personality model with an acronym which spells OCEAN; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Relationship therapists use these indicators today in assisting couples with marital issues. Although Seligman maintains that married people are definitely happier than single, divorced, widowed, or separated people, in countries where marriage is no big deal, people who co-habitate also experience a greater degree of happiness in life. Close, personal relationships are an integral part of our happiness; we just weren’t intended to live alone and isolated. This is possibly a kickback to evolutionary makeup in that we needed each other for survival against the elements of life on planet Earth. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) Strong, healthy personal relationships are often considered a more reliable indicator of personal success than wealth. They affect our health and well being, as well as help us to understand, relate to, and deal with life. (Cook, 2004) This is why seniors who don’t have a lot of mobility, or who live alone after the death of a spouse, often choose to get a pet for companionship. They help to reduce stress and the sense of isolation, as well as giving their “person” a sense of being able to contribute to the health and well-being of another. The positive emotions we experience when we are with others help us to broaden our perspective of the world as being a basically good place with our journey being one of personal growth and discovery. They increase our awareness and innovativeness, as well as our anticipation of a positive future. When we experience negative emotions regarding relationships, we become anxious and revert back to narrow-minded fight or flight survival mechanism and behaviors. (Cook, 2004) One of the main goals of people along their path in the circle of life is to find meaningful employment; certainly I am not different. We all have a driving need to find satisfying work based on something we love to do, are good at, and can make a contribution to the world in doing. When we find such employment, our happiness increases; along with our sense of confidence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. No one minds going to work when there is a smooth flow to their work day; they get easily absorbed in what they are accomplishing and feel positively challenged and rewarded from that accomplishment. When people just work for a paycheck, the money is somehow never enough to balance the negative feelings of helplessness, frustration of negative flow, and lack of accomplishment. People need to feel they can make a difference in the world around them; they also need the connectivity to others who are also working toward the same goals, being a part of the team as well as the big picture. They feel they are living the good life when they have a daily purpose to meet the challenges of the day with a sense of mastery, autonomy, and the ability to get the job done, the best way, to provide happiness for others and fulfillment for themselves. (Cook, 2004) This meaningful life approach gives them a sense of PERMA; positive emotions which lead to engagement, that leads to relationships, which provide meaning and purpose, which leads to activities. In 1974, Richard Coan developed five modes of fulfillment: efficiency, creativity, inner harmony, relatedness, and self-transcendence. By engaging life from these viewpoints, positive emotions and relationships develop and cause a person to feel happier and better adjusted. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) The good life is a combination of flow and mindfulness. The ancient eastern philosophers have long advocated this; however it wasn’t until the focus was on health and living well that these concepts began to be incorporated in therapies. Mindfulness, being intentionally focused and aware of this exact moment and experience at this time, being present as an observer with no internalization of the present stimuli is a very freeing event. There is no need to fix or change anything, judge, analyze or develop any kind of conclusion; just ride the wave and experience the moment. This approach helps to restore balance to the body, soul, and spirit, as well as reduce stress, anxiety, chronic pain, and depression. (Scott, 2011) It was thought that religion was closely related to happiness; however that was not supported in the evidence. Many cultures that don’t ascribe to a high degree of religion also experience a high degree of happiness. There is a close correlation between spirituality, a sense of being part of a large whole, which is positively associated with happiness. As people learn to be satisfied with and grateful for what they have, not practicing consumerism and competition, their quality of life increases. This is probably easier for people that have already crested midlife, though, as the angst of youth is solidly built on the Hedonism Treadmill. This inner ability to feel satisfied and happy relates positively to stress reduction, a healthier immune system, increased mental health and well being, and an over all sense of peace and contentment with all that is. (Scott, 2011) There have been many avenues of therapy built on the premises of Positive Psychology. They are balanced and whole person oriented aimed at restoring inner and outer equilibrium. They involve every area of human functioning and are comprehensively focused to maximize the happiness and well being of the people involved. Therapy has moved away from the rumination approach of long ago where people talked ad infinitum about what was disturbing them; what didn’t work in their lives and belief systems. The therapy today is focused on moving away from the victim stance into a seat of personal empowerment, helping the individual to realize that his or her happiness is directly related to their personal choices, habits, beliefs, and actions. It also includes accountability for those choices and actions as a means of further reinforcing the empowerment associated with autonomy, creativity, innovativeness, and self-efficacy. It clearly places the individual in the driver’s seat of his or her own life with the power to create their own destiny. This type of therapy helps individuals overcome anger, anxiety, repression, eating disorders, addictions, and a number of other maladaptive behaviors that are self-destructive and counter productive to personal goals. From these therapy designs, lifestyle reinvention or personal coaching has emerged in order to help people remain positive while effectively learning to make healthy choices for their futures. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) The workplace has benefitted tremendously from this pro-active approach to life. As individuals experience high subjective well being, they experience more networking opportunities; they are given more interviews which result in them being hired. At work, they tend to have higher evaluations with their managers and supervisors, increased productivity and performance, and experience a much higher ability to handle the stress of multi-tasking positions in today’s hectic workplace. Emotionally healthy individuals engage in less counter productive behavior, experience less burn out, and remain stable on the job much longer than those who do not take care of their emotional health. Many workplace environments seek to promote organizational development and environmental health through therapies aimed at team building and validating the individual; positive psychology concepts. They hope to reduce burn out and work place violence, as well as encourage quality employees to stay on the team. (Lyon, 2009) Positive psychology principles have been used in the workplace as a way to increase active behavior and productivity. As personal initiative emerges among employees, they feel a greater sense of empowerment and control over their working environment. This heightens the employment experience causing them to feel more satisfied and fulfilled at what they are doing. In turn, they become more innovative, team supportive, and take ownership for performing their tasks with excellence. This again increases personal initiative and drive to positively impact the global mission of the company, creating a win-win situation for all. (Lyon, 2009) It has been recognized that there are three major types of behavior which positive psychology affects in the workplace: self-starting behavior, pro-active behavior, and persistence. Emotionally healthy employees are ones who feel a sense of self-efficacy; they see a need and fill it. Success in and encouragement for self-starting behavior inspires employees to become pro-active, projecting anticipatory needs to the future, and, innovatively planning and preparing to meet them. The success in these activities gives the employees the sense of autonomy and mastery needed to persevere in overcoming obstacles; they feel supported and well equipped to take on the tasks. Positive psychology is also an important tool for organizational development; the most successful professional and personnel development programs make excellent and widespread use of its benefits to maintain a healthy working environment for their companies. (Lyon, 2009) While I cannot speak for my classmates, I can say that I feel as though I have received a lifetime of information which I can fully apply to my life. Many areas that were fuzzy are now much clearer with regards to why I do the things I do, and more importantly, why I should do things differently if I want to feel a sense of mastery and direction in my life, as well as a sense of peace. In many ways I am looking forward to the time when I will experience the relaxed approach that comes with having crested middle adulthood, yet I realize the choices, even now, are mine to make as to what my daily experience will be. Even in the worst case scenarios, I still have choices; at least now I can see that. It’s not about living my life in denial of what is, but rather in realizing that all is never truly lost and that I am the captain of my own ship, even if it’s currently sinking. There will always be two ways to view every situation, positively and negatively. There will never be any benefit in taking the negative approach; my personal power and ability to make changes lies in my decision to remain positive and see the opportunities in front of me, instead of focusing on what is lost. I am glad I took this course; I gained so much! References Bruce, Shadra. Using Positive Psychology to Control Stress. Mental Health News Organization. September 19, 2010. Web. April 24, 2011. http://mentalhealthnews.org/using-positive-psychology-to-control-stress/841952/ Cook, Elaine. Positive Psychology: Making the Most of Our Lives. Aphroweb. November 21, 2004. Web. April 24, 2011. http://aphroweb.net/papers/positive-psych.htm Lyon, Lindsay. Positive Psychology: Power of Positive Thinking Is Psychology's Latest Focus. US News and World Report. June 24, 2009. Web. April 24, 2011. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/06/24/positive-psychology-power-of-positive-thinking-is-psychologys-latest-focus Scott, Elizabeth. Positive Psychology – Using Positive Psychology for Stress Management. About.com Stress Management. February 21, 2011. Web. April 24, 2011. http://stress.about.com/od/happinessandpositivity/a/positive_psychology.htm Seligman, Martin E.P., and Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Positive Psychology: An Introduction. Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania. 2007. Web. April 24, 2011. http://www.positivepsychology.org/apintro.htm Read More