Positive Psychology - Essay Example

Positive psychology Positive psychology is a new branch of psychology that has recently developed. This branch of psychology mainly focuses on human prosperity (Burton, 2010). As opposed to other branches of psychology that mainly deals with the dysfunctionality of human behavior, this new branch of psychology is focusing on helping people to become happy. The branch seeks to develop necessary interventions that will allow for the development and thriving of happier individuals, families, and communities (Boniwell & zimbardo, 2003). The branch of positive psychology has been motivated by the long-term search of ways through which humanity can become happy. Thus, it seeks to cultivate the exploitation of the talents in people and thus make their normal lives more satisfying. The intention of this new branch of psychology is to fill in the gaps and complete the traditional psychology, through introducing the portion that traditional psychology did not focus on. Since most of the theories of traditional psychology studies the failures of human behavior and seeks to explain and indentify the causative agents, this new branch seeks to evaluate the ways through which man can live a fulfilling life. Positive psychology seeks to heal mental illnesses caused by stress and depressions that are experienced by people, by seeking for ways through which people can find happiness in their daily lives and thus become less stressful (Lazarus, 2003). The new branch of psychology does not mean to undermine the focus on negative aspects of human behavior, but rather to complement this with the positive aspects, through the scientific methods (Burton, 2010). The new branch of psychology seeks to open avenues through which new discoveries pertaining to human happiness can be discovered. The theories of positive psychology focus on the positives of the human behavior, to seek an understanding of how happiness can be promoted in peoples’ lives. Such positive aspects under the study of the theories include talents, virtues, strengths, and pleasure. Positive psychology seeks to create ways through which the elements that promote happiness in peoples’ lives can be integrated into systems and institutions and thus to be accessed by all (Seligman & Sikszentmihalyi, 2000). The new branch of psychology mainly focuses on four elements that are positive experiences, where the best experiences that individuals, families, and communities have experienced are focused to create happiness. Enduring psychological traits are an interest in this new branch, where the personal traits that allow the individuals to endure forces are underlined. Another aspect of the new branch of psychology is positive relationships, where the elements necessary for building and fostering positive relationships are addressed, in that positive relationships is key to the attainment of happiness by people. The final element of interest under the new branch of psychology is positive institutions, where the characteristics of institutions that can create a fulfilling environment for the people, thus promote their happiness is in focus (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). According to the positive psychologists, nurturing talents and virtues in individuals and the whole community can go a long way in creating a happier society. Thus, positive human character, talents, and virtues are a core element of the new branch of psychology (Boniwell & zimbardo, 2003). The history of Positive psychology dates back to 1998 when the then president of the American Psychology Association, Martin Seligman chose to use positive psychology as the theme during his term (Lazarus, 2003). However, the actual roots of this new branch can be traced to the 1950s, where most of the psychologists were observed to focus on promoting the attainment of mental health, at the expense of concentrating on treating such illnesses (Seligman & Sikszentmihalyi, 2000). Considering that for decades the focus of psychologists have been on treating mental illnesses, Seligman, considered the father of positive psychology movement, urged psychologists to start focusing on nurturing and improving normal lives, an aspect that can create happiness and serve to reduce mental illnesses (Lazarus, 2003). The roots of this new branch can be traced to the philosophical and religious sources of the 19th century, which majorly focused on happiness and fulfillment. Such sources are the Judaism religion, which promotes the theme of happiness through its Divine command theory of happiness, which postulates that happiness and rewards are obtained through the active following of the divine commands (Burton, 2010). Christianity also advanced this theory of happiness, through its teachings in the Middle Ages, that happiness is only obtainable in the afterlife. Thus, it promoted the theological virtues, which were meant to keep people away from sin, since sins are the barriers to the achievement of happiness in the afterlife (Seligman & Sikszentmihalyi, 2000). The Romantics philosophy also advanced this theme of happiness, through valuing individual emotional expressions, without allowing the social norms to hinder this. Consequently, love and intimacy became established as the basis for people to get married (Boniwell & zimbardo, 2003). The chronological events that have seen the emergence of positive psychology are in 1999, when the first summit on positive psychology was held. This was followed by an International conference on positive psychology that took place in 2002. The popularity of a course of positive psychology at Harvard University in 2006 also served to elicit a great interest in this area (Limey, Joseph, Harrington & Wood, 2006). Most recently, a world congress on positive psychology took place in 2009. Notable of the history of the positive psychology movement is the fact that during the Second World War, there were some underlined missions under psychology. They included curing mental illnesses, making the lives of all people more satisfying and fulfilling, as well as identifying and nurturing talents (Burton, 2010). However, the psychology that followed there after seemed to concentrate more on curing mental illnesses and undermined the other two missions of the then traditional psychology. These missions of the world war psychology have been identified as relevant towards promoting happiness in the lives of individuals and the community as a whole. These new interest in those traditional themes was elicited by Seligman, and has subsequently become the focus of this branch of psychology (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). Thus, the positive psychology movement seeks to retrace and restore these major themes of traditional psychology back then, and create a happier society, through scientific methods. Positive psychology is a relevant area of study. This is because; happiness is core for the wellbeing of any individual and the society as whole. Considering that positive psychology seeks to focus on the ways through which happiness can be created in the lives of the individuals, and that this serves to avoid mental illnesses, then this becomes a very important area of study. Most significant is the fact that this new branch of psychology seeks ways through which positive relationships as well as positive institutions can be created. This is very vital for the society, in that positive relationships serve to create peace and harmony in the society, thus avoiding the chances of human conflicts (Boniwell & zimbardo, 2003). Since the focus of this new branch of psychology is on nurturing talent and creating fulfilling and happy lives for individuals, families and the community, then the area is important, as the outcome of such studies will serve to create a better society (Limey, Joseph, Harrington & Wood, 2006). One of the findings of positive psychology is that people can learn to be happy by developing optimism and gratitude (Burton, 2010). Such a finding is crucial in promoting the positivity of human thinking, which creates optimism and hope, thus serving to avoid fears and anxiety, which are some of the causes of mental illnesses. Most significantly, studying positive psychology can go along way in enhancing the creation of a healthy society, as many illnesses and disorders associated with stress and depressions will be eliminated. Works Cited Boniwell, I., & zimbardo P. (2003). Time to find the right balance. The psychologist 16,129-131. Burton, L .J. (2010). An interactive approach to writing essay and research reports in psychology 3rd Ed Lazarus, R.S. (2003) does the positive psychology movement have legs? Psychological inquiry 14, 93-109 Limey, P.A, Joesph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A.M. (2006) positive psychology: Past, present, and possible future. Journal of positive psychology 1, 3-16. Seligman, M.E.P., & Sikszentmihalyi, M. (2000) positive psychology: an introduction American psychologist 55, 5,-14. Seligman, M.E.P, Steen, T.A., Park, N., Peterson. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American psychologist, 60,410-421. Read More