I wish more people knew about Positive Psychology. Most people don’t realize how much power they have to shape their experience. When people believe that things just “are the way they are” they become passive observers in their own lives. This increases susceptibility to depression and other mental illness and creates a victim culture, in which the individual is void of personal responsibility for their actions. People see life as all or nothing, you’re either successful and self-motivated, or you’re not. If not, too bad for you! Despite what we’ve all been taught, the evidence confirms that the valuable life skills necessary to thrive are almost entirely learnable. Positive coping strategies, happiness, optimism, even talent!
William C. Compton’s Introduction to Positive Psychology gives an overview of the skills and qualities that comprise a healthy personality as well a few skill-building techniques. The book details the different traits, emotions, and values that can be developed in order to enhance life satisfaction.
One of the points that I found interesting was the development of talent in chapter seven, “Excellence, Aesthetics, Creativity, and Genius.” The idea of “innate ability” is widely held in western culture. “You either got it, or you don’t, kid,” they say, but evidence to the contrary says that all the elusive “it” is, is commitment to your area of expertise. Several studies (Ericsson & Charness, 1994; Bedard & Chi, 1992; Hernstein, Nickerson, Sanchez, &Swets, 1986; Ericsson, Krampe, &Tesch-Romer, 1993; Gardner, 1993) confirm the idea that, with a whole hell of a lot of deliberate practice and relevant knowledge, you too can be an expert. See you at the 2018 Olympic games, suckers!
Of course, without that oh-so-important strength of strict self-regulation, becoming an elite athlete, mathematician or violinist is probably a little bit more difficult. Once a person has ingrained patterns of poor self-regulation, ineffective coping skills and the millions of other things that contribute to low subjective well-being, it’s hard work to turn that around. Even individuals who “know” what to do may never achieve higher happiness and life satisfaction, let alone excellence, because of this. And, as much as we like to say that it is, hard work is no longer a cultural value. We like the idea of it, but really all we want is a Big Mac and a Xanax.
The more I learn about Positive Psychology, the more I believe that it’s greatest value is in the area of prevention. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (Sorry, Mark!), It’s all well and good to “life coach” people who are already doing well and just “need a little encouragement” but the educational programs and “interventions to increase resilience” mentioned in chapter nine have a much higher potential to do a lot more good. These types of programs are a huge step towards the third pillar of Positive Psychology, Positive Communities and Institutions, which, I think, is pretty central to individual development of positive values and traits. Marybeth Shinn and Siobhan Toohey (2003) seem to agree with me.
Positive Psychology is showing itself to be so much more than just a way for companies to make their employees more productive. Getting it to people at risk for future depression and other mental illness and building positive communities should be the highest priority.