We conclude our discussion assignments with an examination of a recent trend in psychology called positive psychology. It isn’t necessarily new but it does pose some differ
We conclude our discussion assignments with an examination of a recent trend in psychology called positive psychology. It isn't necessarily new but it does pose some different perceptions on how psychology should be viewed and applied. For this week, answer the following:
Describe the aspects of positive psychology and explain its impact on the study and application of psychology.
Submission Details:
- Post your response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Respond to at least two posts by the end of the week.
· w5discussion
· Contains unread posts
· Melissa Brown posted Jun 27, 2022 1:14 PM
· Subscribe
· Hello All,
· Describe the aspects of positive psychology and explain its impact on the study and application of psychology.
· Positive psychology is not about how there is a positive or a negative side of psychology. It is about how psychology focuses on how to improve a person's life in a positive way (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). By making a person's life more positive they can become more resilient to the stressors in their lives and learn how to deal with them accordingly. Yet, there are many studies and research that focuses on the negative issues of disorders. But if we don't find out the causes of the abnormal issues than we cannot help a person begin to improve their negative issues into a positive. According to the APA ethics code the goal of psychology is to improve the conditions of a person's life (APA, 2010).
· It is important to implement positive psychology because discovering what leads to a more meaningful life for people can determine how to create better strategies for managing their mental illness, correcting negative behaviors, and can also increase a person's happiness and livelihood. This can affect a person in a positive way by helping their self-esteem which can improve their relationships with others and give someone a better outlook on life. It helps in ways to understand how to focus on problem solving instead of just complaining about an issue. It also helps to build better and more quality relationships with others who are supportive and to leave negativity behind. Positive psychology focuses not only on the positive ways of improving someone's life but also the negative parts of it. The negative needs to be addresses so the positive aspects of it can be explored and used to get rid of the negative.
· Melissa Brown
· References:
· American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf
· Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003- 066X.55.1.5
·
,
Positive Psychology in Perspective.html
Positive Psychology in Perspective
To put it into perspective, psychology is, in part, about improving the quality of life of an individual, the cohesiveness of a group, or the effectiveness of an organization. In those situations, the utilization of positive psychology makes sense. On the other hand, positive psychology is not meant to be a one-size-fits-all approach and, like any other theory, has critics. Azar (2011) expounded on the magnitude of articles on positive psychology both supporting and outlining the pitfalls of positive psychology in dealing with issues such as self-esteem or anxiety. Likewise, Aspinwall and Tedeschi (2010) provide a bit more depth into being cautious regarding the stated benefits of positive psychology that have been professed without scientific research to support them.
,
Positive Psychology.html
Positive Psychology
The phrase positive psychology was first explained during the 1998 American Psychological Association convention by Martin Seligman (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Gable and Haidt (2005) bring up a good point that positive psychology doesn't imply that the other side is "negative" psychology. What positive psychology implies is the positive growth of an individual may increase the individual's resilience.
The implication that psychological theories tend to focus heavily on the negative side may not be too out of touch with reality. For example, examine the abundance of research and journal articles on various topics such as addictions, family dysfunction, social problems, and mental disorders. Research can seem to focus almost entirely on abnormal or deviant behaviors rather than normative or positive behaviors. Keep in mind that the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct states that our goal is ”…to improve the condition of individuals, organizations, and society" (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 3). Therefore, we examine the abnormal in order to find ways to restore normal (e.g., through new therapies, etc.).
Additional Materials
View a Pdf Transcript of Positive Psychology
>
media/week5/Wk5_Positive Psychology.pdf
Positive Psychology Trying to understand the positive side of human behavior is not actually new. We can look at the contributions of Alfred Adler, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Albert Bandura to help us understand the positive aspects of psychology. Humanistic psychology emerged in the early 1960s as a reaction to behaviorist and psychodynamic perspectives, which tended to focus on behavior from the abnormal point of view. Fast forward some decades and the new kid on the block is called positive psychology. Could it be that positive psychology is just a reboot of humanistic psychology designed to combat the medical model of mental health treatment (i.e. medications)? If positive psychology is simply déjà vu of humanistic theory 50 years later, then why is it labeled differently? To answer that question, we first have to examine (or reexamine) what positive psychology is and what it is not. Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005) provided an overall definition/explanation of positive psychology.
Positive psychology is an umbrella term for the study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions. Research findings from positive psychology are intended to supplement, not remotely to replace, what is known about human suffering, weakness, and disorder. The intent is to have a more complete and balanced scientific understanding of the human experience—the peaks, the valleys, and everything in between. We believe that a complete science and a complete practice of psychology should include an understanding of suffering and happiness, as well as their interaction, and validated interventions that both relieve suffering and increase happiness—two separable endeavors. (p. 410).
This explanation puts into perspective that positive psychology provides a balance to the other components of psychology so that the understanding of human behavior can be examined from many different perspectives—not just the negative. Gable and Haidt (2005) expand a bit on the explanation above by including that positive psychology is the study of how individuals, groups, and institutions flourish or function optimally.
Application of positive psychology As previously mentioned, positive psychology is not a new concept. Humanistic psychology seems to have similar parallels, but as Waterman (2013) mentions, there are some philosophical differences. In a clinical setting, identification of presenting issues (such as depression) is one aspect of understanding and effectively treating the individual. The other aspects include improving the individual's quality of life, and if needed, improving skills like social and coping. Another aspect is improving resilience. In
general terms, resilience is the capacity to cope or withstand stressors. All these aspects of applied psychology have been used for some time, so the question is—how does the application of positive psychology differ from prior practice? One example is the use of positive psychology to improve the resilience of military personnel. Matthews (2008) provided some insight on how positive psychology can be utilized to improve an individual's ability to deal with stressors associated with military life. The areas suggested included developing training to build resilience to combat-related stressors and improving the coping strategies to deal with issues related to returning from deployments. Addictions may be another area where positive psychology may flourish. At first it would be difficult to reconcile that addictions, such as substance use disorder, are not directly associated with negative issues. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2012), addiction is "a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences" (para. 1). How can positive psychology provide effective treatment to an individual with an addiction? The key is the concept of the strengths perspective, or in other words, a focus on the well-being of the individual in terms of "strengthening" their ability to improve their quality of life without the addiction. The strengths perspective is in essence grounded in the concepts of positive psychology. Krentzman (2013) conducted a literature review of research on addictions and positive psychology. Her findings indicated that although much research has been done and there have been some positive results, much still needs to be done to gain a better understanding of positive psychology and its impact on the successful treatment of addictions.
,
Life-Long Learning.html
Life-Long Learning
We conclude this course with a question: what exactly does studying the many facets of psychology mean? The study of psychology is a continuum that realistically has no end point. As a science, psychology continues to evolve (as we saw with positive psychology) while growing more and more towards a greater understanding of the behaviors of individuals, groups and society as a whole.
Wise, Sturm, Nutt, Rodolfa, Schaffer, and Webb (2010) provide a rationale for why life-long learning is so important. From their perspective, it is important to maintain competence within one’s respective profession. However, maintaining the appropriate competence in an evolving profession is only one aspect in the dynamics of life-long learning. For a psychology major, there is an "ah-ha" moment when learning moves from something that is required or necessary for success in school to something that is desired for personal fulfillment. It is that desire that promotes an individual to move successfully not only through the bachelor’s degree program but through further education and training such as graduate school and beyond.
Additional Materials
View a Pdf Transcript of References
media/week5/Wk5_References.pdf
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of
conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf
Aspinwall, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2010). The value of positive psychology for health
psychology: Progress and pitfalls in examining the relation of positive phenomena to
health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39(1), 4-15. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12160-
009-9153-0
Azar, B. (2011). Positive psychology advances, with growing pains. Monitor on Psychology,
42(4). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/04/positive-psychology.aspx
Gable, S. L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General
Psychology, 9(2), 103-110.
Krentzman, A. R. (2013). Review of the application of positive psychology to substance use,
addiction, and recovery research. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(1), 151-165.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029897
Matthews, M. D. (2008). Toward a positive military psychology. Military Psychology, 20(4),
289-298. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08995600802345246
National Institute of Drug Abuse. (2012). The science of drug abuse and addiction. Retrieved
from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/media-guide/science-drug-abuse-addiction
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An
introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-
066X.55.1.5
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress:
Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410-421.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410
Silver, J., Levy, M., & Kazanjian, H. (Producers), & Brambilla, M. (Director). (1993).
Demolition man [Motion picture]. U.S.A.: Warner Bros.
Waterman, A. S. (2013). The humanistic psychology–positive psychology divide: Contrasts in
philosophical foundations. American Psychologist, 68(3), 124-133.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032168
Wise, E. H., Sturm, C. A., Nutt, R. L., Rodolfa, E., Schaffer, J. B., & Webb, C. (2010). Life-long
learning for psychologists: Current status and a vision for the future. Professional
Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(4), 288-297.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020424
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
