Introduction to Positive Psychology

 

An innovative change is overdue for modern psychology and its tunnel vision which focuses almost singularly on diseases and mental illness. Seeking the good life is a universal goal for humanity, however, due to the difficulty of understanding happiness and its causes, psychology has focused its work on more easily defined challenges. There could be significant benefit if the intense focus on illness, disease, and negative emotion could shift more towards helping people achieve happiness through Positive Psychology techniques. Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build model succinctly sums up the benefit: “positive emotions broaden our awareness and then build upon the resultant learning to create future emotional and intellectual resources.”

One of the primary points in Compton’s Introduction to Positive Psychology is that there is no singular and specific method of developing positive emotions. Focusing on pleasures only or “The pleasurable life” is a short term way of raising temporary happiness, but it has very limited uses. Alternatives are needed such as achieving “flow” (a state where immediate activities are engrossing and pleasant and time seems to pass quickly), healthy coping strategies, and giving and receiving love. Loving relationships provide an opportunity for personal growth. By overcoming obstacles, families and/or friends can build positive inertia for themselves and their relationships toward greater psychological maturity and development.

Another important idea we see in the book is that seeking out and developing positive traits provide an opportunity for a person to create a buffer for dealing with negative stimuli and emotion. For example, creativity is one of the positive traits found in people. Using creativity provides a way for people to derive pleasure, satisfaction and a sense of well being through art, new ideas, and other innovative constructive behaviors. Creative people also tend to have a higher tolerance for frustration, greater independence receptivity, less sensitivity to problems, and more fluency in thinking. All these traits contribute to the accumulation of positive experiences thus helping to form a buffer.

Although individual qualities such as creativity are important, work and community play a major role in our sense of well being as well. Any action we take affects not only ourselves, but the people around us. As we succeed and feel empowered, those feelings combine to form a “Collective Efficacy”. Sampson defines this phenomenon as “a sense of social cohesion in a community that creates local friendship networks and a sense of agency or a willingness to intervene in making the neighborhood a better place to live.”

While many of the ideas presented in the book seemed practical and easy to implement, reading about a topic and applying it to one’s own personal life can be two entirely different experiences. One of the benefits I experienced immediately was the opportunity to improve my work satisfaction. I applied the idea of making work feel more like a calling to me. My line of work already has a great deal going for it with a built in philanthropic direction since I work with mentally disabled adults.

One of the ways I make a difference in the lives of some of these individuals is by serving them through playing a supporting role in teaching methods centered on life goals and accomplishing these goals. I think part of my work satisfaction also comes from a feeling of a valued social position as described in Peter Warr’s qualities of positive work environments. Using some of my signature strengths such as kindness help me have greater happiness and satisfaction with work

One of the ideas from the reading that resonated with me is the importance of a balance between commitment, passion and intimacy in a relationship. My relationship with my partner of over three years is very important to me and as unsettling as our disagreements can be, the section on the use of constructive “repair attempts” was a great comfort. Learning that disagreements and arguments are good opportunities to grow and build resilience was encouraging.

Another section of the book which I found particularly useful and practical was the section on Interventions For Enhanced Well Being . This section teaches that changing the way one thinks about events empowers one to decide how they want to react and feel about difficult events. I feel that enhancing and creating new cognitive coping skills will help me be more satisfied with life.

I initially scoffed at the idea of religion in this book. I consider myself agnostic with a strong aversion to organized religion since I frequently see religion as an opportunity for people to be taken advantage of categorically. On the other hand, nested in the section on religion I found convincing ideas that religion is genuinely helpful for some people; among several benefits, it can give people a sense of spirituality that stems from being part of a purpose greater than themselves and satisfaction from that sense of purpose. Personally, I found the portion on Buddhism fascinating as I was very attracted to the idea of achieving spiritual balance without the need of negative techniques that rely on guilt or fear.

Applying Positive Psychology principles to daily life is as important as eating healthfully or exercising. Almost like a mental vitamin, daily application prevents the likelihood of depression or any other mental illness, helps you live longer and improves happiness. There is no singularly correct way of obtaining the “good life”, but it is obtainable for everyone.

Edited for formating Monday, 1/28/08