In this important, entertaining book, one of the world's most celebrated psychologists, Martin Seligman, asserts that happiness can be learned and cultivated, and that everyone has the power to inject real joy into their lives. In Authentic Happiness, he describes the 24 strengths and virtues unique to the human psyche. Each of us, it seems, has at least five of these attributes, and can build on them to identify and develop to our maximum potential. By incorporating these strengths - which include kindness, originality, humour, optimism, curiosity, enthusiasm and generosity -- into our everyday lives, he tells us, we can reach new levels of optimism, happiness and productivity. Authentic Happiness provides a variety of tests and unique assessment tools to enable readers to discover and deploy those strengths at work, in love and in raising children. By accessing the very best in ourselves, we can improve the world around us and achieve new and lasting levels of authentic contentment and joy.
This volume describes a culture-fair perspective on positive psychology research and practice in Latin America. It provides a deep understanding of the ways in which context can affect practice, intervention and research results. The development of Positive Psychology in areas such as test adaptation and construction, prediction of academic achievement and empowerment of children at risk is presented. Furthermore, topics related to positive communities and citizenship behaviors are included. The volume is organized into four sections. The first section presents the importance of test adaption and construction in order to assess Positive Psychology constructs, with a special focus on well-being as a core construct. The second section summarizes a group of research studies carefully designed to predict academic achievement applying Positive Psychology constructs. The third section outlines a set of studies intended to develop flow, resilience, social skills and positive emotions in children at risk. And finally the fourth and last section introduces two points of view focused on communities in order to assess positive dimensions and to promote positive behaviors. This volume, aimed at researchers and Psychology, Education, Health and the Social Sciences students, is a useful tool for people interested in the development of Positive Psychology in Latin American countries.
This handbook discusses the latest findings from different fields of positive psychology from a global perspective by providing a coherent framework to get a better understanding of the development and practice of positive psychology. It starts with the parameters of positive psychology and a summary of the historical rise of positive psychology (both first wave and second wave of positive psychology) in the US, and its slow but steady growth on a global scale. This handbook highlights the major contributions of positive psychologists across 17 major regions of the world on theory, research, assessment and Practice. It discusses how positive psychology can progress human living in different countries and it shows the reasons why positive psychology has become an important source in research and education around the world.
How do we thrive in our behaviors and experiences? Positive neuroscience research illuminates the brain mechanisms that enable human flourishing. Supported by the John Templeton Foundation's Positive Neuroscience Project, which Martin E. P. Seligman established in 2008, Positive Neuroscience provides an intersection between neuroscience and positive psychology. In this edited volume, leading researchers describe the neuroscience of social bonding, altruism, and the capacities for resilience and creativity. Part I (Social Bonds) describes the mechanisms that enable humans to connect with one another. Part II (Altruism) focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the human ability and willingness to confer costly benefits on others. Part III (Resilience and Creativity) examines the mechanisms by which human brains overcome adversity, create, and discover. Specific topics include: a newly discovered nerve type that appears to be specialized for emotional communication; the effects of parenting on the male brain; how human altruism differs from that of other primates; the neural features of extraordinary altruists who have donated kidneys to strangers; and distinctive patterns of brain wiring that endow some people with exceptional musical abilities. Accessible to a broad academic audience, from advanced undergraduates to senior scholars, these subjects have generated a fascinating and highly convergent set of ideas and results, shaping our understanding of human nature.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Bringing together today’s most prominent positive psychology researchers to discuss current themes and issues in the field Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths, rather than the weaknesses, in human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For much of its history, psychology has focused on the negative, completely overlooking the positive attributes that allow individuals and communities to thrive. Positive Psychology is a collection of essays that together constitutes a much-needed theoretical rationale and critical assessment of the field. This book reassesses what we already know and provides directions for the future. Contributors are leading international authors, including Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Robert Sternberg, Vittorio Caprara, C. Daniel Batson, and Illona Boniwell, among others. These luminaries write in a way that is rigorous enough for academic use but accessible to professionals, policymakers, and lay audiences as well. The content of Positive Psychology include both theoretical applied contributions focusing on a range of areas including altruism, positive creativity, science of well-being, forgiveness, coaching for leadership, cyberpsychology, intelligence, responding to catastrophes like COVID-19, time perspective, physiological and epigenetic, youth civic engagement, ups and downs of love, flow and good life, global perspectives on positive psychology, self and collective efficacy, positive psychology interventions and positive orientation. The book is pitched to senior undergraduates, graduates, academics and researchers and provides insights and perspectives into neglected and unresolved questions. Brings together the latest viewpoints and research findings on positive psychology, from the leading thinkers in the field Offers both theoretical and applied insights, for a well-rounded reference on this new and fast growing field Contains contributions from well known authors like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Robert Sternberg, and Vittorio Caprara Appeals to academic, professional, and lay audiences with an interest in acquiring a profound knowledge of positive psychology No other book currently on the market addresses such a breadth of issues in positive psychology. Positive Psychology represents a significant theoretical boost to this exciting field.
Thought-provoking resource on how the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's ideas can help us navigate our increasingly complex lives and world Flow 2.0 honors the legacy of the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, showing how some of his major contributions can be extended to improve our lives in 2024 and beyond. Csikszentmihalyi is best known for his work on the concept of “Flow,” which describes a state of optimal experience in which one's skills match the challenges of a situation, and for his role as a founder of positive psychology. Underlying much of this work was his innovative and groundbreaking use of pagers and questionnaires to produce a database based on people's self-reports of their ordinary experiences. His first book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience became a bestseller in 1990, which presented his conclusions based on that database in a warm, humanistic prose style. His other books, The Evolving Self (1993), Creativity (1996), and Good Business (2003), expanded on his theories in a variety of directions. Written by a close colleague and former student, Flow 2.0 includes discussion on: PERMA+4, a framework for work-related wellbeing, performance, and positive organizational psychology What Mihaly taught us about flow, including the basics of flow and optimal experience as well as flowing together as a collective Flow 2.0 across life contexts, such as in the new hybrid world of work, sports, leisure, and the future of digital society What Mihaly's insights mean for our lives, human flourishing, wellbeing, and positive functioning in the years ahead Flow 2.0 is an essential read for all individuals who followed Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and wish to continue building on his work to improve their own lives and the lives of those closest to them.
This handbook examines the wide-ranging applications of positive psychology in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. It discusses the change in perceptions of disability and the shifting use of traditional deficit-based treatments. It presents evidence-based approaches and strategies that promote individuals’ strengths and capacities and as well as provide supports and services to enhance quality of life. Chapters address medical and psychological aspects in intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as mindfulness, motivation, physical well-being, and self-regulation. The book also discusses uses of assessment practices in evaluating interventions and client outcomes. In addition, it explores ways practitioners, with positive psychology, can focus on what a person is capable of achieving, thereby leading to more effective approaches to care and treatment. Topics featured in the Handbook include: Translating the quality of life concept into practice. The Casual Agency Theory and its implications for understanding self-determination. The Mindfulness-Based Individualized Support Plan (MBISP) and its use in providing support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The unique role that friendship plays to people’s lives and social well-being. Supported Decision-Making (SDM) as an alternative to guardianship. A positive psychology approach to aging and retirement. The Handbook of Positive Psychology in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and related professionals in clinical child and school psychology, behavioral therapy, social work, applied behavioral analysis, recreational therapy, occupational therapy, education, speech and language pathology, psychiatry, clinical medicine, and nursing.
Personal psychological growth Why are some people able to promote their own psychological growth and change toward complexity while others not? Is it possible to propose simple methodologies and instruments that would allow selection of positive experiences and hence develop a stronger and richer Self? This book describes the way to promote and foster positive psychological growth in everyday life, through simple instruments accessible to anyone. Positive psychological experience The focal point of the approach is the concept of Flow of Consciousness, an experience of subjective psychological wellbeing that nourishes and complexifies the Self. The authors propose a wide overview of positive psychological experience considering individual characteristics and experiences, as well as the influence of context, culture and social relationship, and the effects of the immersion in a globalized world, like the increasing daily use of mediated communication technologies. In the various chapters, this conceptual frame is declined in different areas of research, either consolidated ones or new fields. Self-development tips In a fresh and engaging style, the book transports the readers in a world of situations and opportunities through which they can identify themselves in a positive and stable self-development process. In the first two chapters the authors describe the impact of positive psychological experience in social and individual life. In the following chapters the reader discovers, accompanied by the exposition of concrete research results, the specific characteristics that may promote flow experience in several field of experience: the use of communication technology; the experience of social-networks; clinical settings and Psychotherapy; the psychological relation with environment, politics and social participation, school, sports, family business, mentor's influence, and the perception of quality of life in daytime. Everyday opportunities This opportunity of interacting with different and various kinds of experiences, that may appear dispersive, will on the contrary bring the reader - who may choose this book both for professional or personal reasons - to understand the concept of personal psychological growth in the wider and more concrete perspective, and to comprehend which personal skills he may bring into play in order to improve his personality and his daily experience.
This volume provides updates and informs the reader about the development of the current empirical research on the flow experience. It opens up some new research questions at the frontiers of the field. The book offers an overview on the latest findings in flow research in several fields such as social psychology, neuropsychology, performing arts and sport, education, work and everyday experiences. It integrates the latest knowledge on experimental studies of optimal experience with the theoretical foundation of psychological flow that was laid down in the last decades.
