POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 1

Reese Kirkland

Positive Psychology in The Greatest Showman

AP Research

4,739
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 2

When watching movies in this day-and-age, many may walk away feeling sad, upset, and

unfulfilled with the life they are living. Movies should be a fun pastime; one should not walk

away with a negative feeling. They should covey positive emotions that leave the audience

feeling happy, motivated, and fulfilled with their life. The study conducted in this paper answers

the question, “How is positive psychology portrayed in The Greatest Showman?” With this

information one will know the content of a positive movie, more positive movies can be created,

and audiences can walk out of a theater with a happy heart and a happy mind. The most

important source in this study is the book Positive Psychology at the Movies by Ryan M Niemiec

and Danny Wedding. Other important sources include, Your Brain on Movies from Glimpse

Journal, and Positive psychology in the Indian film industry: A promising area of research, and

Introducing positive movie psychology in the field of children, adolescents, and media by

Rebecca N. H. de Leeuw and Moniek Bujzen. The movie industry needs to change in a way that

will positively affect all audiences, watching all movies.

Literature Review

Actions of the Brain

In order to understand the study, it is important to have some background information on

the topic. When watching a movie, the brain turns off the sources used for initiating actions. Four

things start to happen in the brain when an audience begins to watch a movie: The brain becomes

unaware of the body and the environment, the brain starts to care, and all doubt goes away.

Taking place in the prefrontal cortex, the brain accepts that one can’t change what’s going on in

the movie (Holland, N. 2001). The prefrontal cortex can be defined as, “the most anterior

(forward) part of the cerebral cortex of each frontal lobe in the brain. Divided into a dorsolateral

region and an orbitofrontal region, the prefrontal cortex functions in attention, planning, working
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 3

memory, and the expression of emotions and appropriate social behaviors” (American

Psychology Association, 2020). The audience starts to become disconnected with reality as “you

devote all of your attention... you don’t have any attention left over for your body or your

environment” (Holland, N. 2001 para. 10). This presents the concept of immersion. “Immersion

into a character in a movie increases empathy and allows the viewer to live the experiences of

the character without having to experience the real-life consequences” (Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 4).

When watching a movie, the audience starts to identify with the characters in the movie. One

may, “recapitulate the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of a movie protagonist, thus experiencing

not only the successes and setbacks of the character but also the emotions associated with these

outcomes” (Oatley, 2011, as cited in Holland, N. 2001 para 17). The audience becomes

completely absorbed in the movie. They feel like the characters, and for a few hours they can

live a different life.

Positive Psychology

Positive psychology, “dates back to the work of William James (1902) on healthy

mindedness and Gordon Allport (1958) and his work with positive human characteristics; this

work eventually led to the humanistic movement in psychology” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 5).

This field of study has been researched and studied for years, however, it is just now beginning to

be brought to light. Positive psychology is defined as, “the study of positive subjective experiences

(positive emotions), positive traits (character strengths), and positive institutions. Put simply,

positive psychology is the scientific study of human strengths and virtues” (Sheldon & King, 2001

as cited in Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 6). This field really tries to understand how elements move

and affect the brain in a way that betters other elements of life. “Positive Psychology uses scientific

understanding and effective intervention to aid in the achievement of a satisfactory life ... to bring
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 4

a stronger emphasis to the scientific study of what makes life worth living” (de Leeuw N H.

Rebecca para. 4). These studies focus on the good things in life. Unfortunately, the field of

psychology, “has predominantly focused on harmful … effects” (de Leeuw N. H. Rebecca para.

1). This research favored towards negative effects causes the way one looks at and values life to

be poor. “A more balanced perspective is needed to fully understand the effects” (de Leeuw N.H.

Rebecca). Without knowing the positives of the situation, everything is seen as negative. This can

be called negativity bias. “In general, negative events seem bigger and more frequent than positive

ones; this is referred to as negativity bias – one is biased in part because of the naturally higher

intensity of the negative events” (Baumeister, Bratlaysky, Finkenauer, & Vohs, 2001 as cited in

Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 4). The negative events presented in films are seen as a much bigger deal than

the positive events and seem to occur more frequently. In movies, “violence, curse words, and

sexual scenes tend to overpower the positive aspects” (Paik & Comstock, 1944; Wilson, 2008 as

cited in Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 5). This can affect everyone, however, it can specifically and greatly

affect children, as they imitate what they see. Bandura’s social cogitative theory explains, “only

one-way children learn is by modeling the behavior of others, whether parents, peers – or

characters in movies” (Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 6). If the movie industry focused on presenting positive

media rather than negative, a major shift could take place in our world. Positive psychology being

brought to the light and researched more, hopefully will better the way of the human perspective.

Cinematic Elevation and Admiration

Cinematic elevation plays an important role in positive psychology pertaining to movies.

This concept can be defined as, “an uplifting motion that people feel when they observe a person

helping another person; that is, improving the welfare of another by helping him via a virtuous

act. In return, the observer feels the motivation to do good themselves” (Algoe, S. & Haidt, J.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 5

2009 as cited in Rufer, L. 2014). Through cinematic elevation, audiences are inspired to do the

right thing. This leaves them with a motivation to help the world around them when the movie is

over. Along with elevation, cinematic admiration is a great factor. Cinematic admiration can be

defined as, “the ability of movies to promote self-improvement, or goal setting. Admiration

occurs when a person observes excellence of character or skill, resulting in motivation to

improve the self and peruse goals” (Algoe & Haidt, 2009; Niemiec, 2012d as cited in Rufer, L.

2014 pp. 6). These concepts both change the way the viewer thinks. The audience becomes

motivated to do better in life and be more like the inspiring character, or characters they have

viewed. This greatly impacts positive psychology as cinematic elevation and admiration create a

positive shift in the brain.

Short-and Long-Term Affects

Movies change the emotions of the audience and create short and long-term effects. The

short-term effects of the audience when watching a movie are also known as hedonic states of

happiness. They are, “reflective of subjective well – being, or life satisfaction at that point in

time” (Diener, 2000; Diener, Suh, Luscas & Smith, 1999; Waterman, 1993 as cited in Rufer, L.

2014 pp. 8). An example of a short-term affect is a horror movie as the audience feels, “the

pleasure of release from or resolution of the tension” (Rufer, L. 2014) These effects don’t last for

a long time and give the audience an immediate feeling. However, “movies can also promote

long-term effects and eventual behavior changes” (Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 8). This is derived from

eudaimonia. (Aristotle, 1962; Waterman, 1933 as cited in Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 8). Eudaimonia can

be defined as, “a state of flourishing, a personal expressiveness involving meaning, purpose and

living the virtuous life” (Rufer, L. 2014 pp. 8). An example of this is a movie that changes the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 6

way the audience looks at life. It leaves the audience with a feeling of inspiration and motivation

to better themselves.

Assumptions

I can assume that The Greatest Showman has many positive elements that will yield great

research towards the topic of Positive Psychology in the movie setting. This study will greatly

impact further research in the field of positive psychology as a gateway to creating more movies

that will portray positive psychology to better the world we see today. This will be helpful to

writers and directors in the movie industry to better their work.

Gap

When researching this topic, I found very little research being done on positive

psychology in the movie industry. Most research was being done on the negative affects movies

have on the brain. As I wanted to find the positive effects, the gap in my research appeared to be

that there simply was not enough research on this topic. More needed to be done to form a

reliable conclusion. This led me to conduct a study to further research this topic in order to form

a reliable conclusion, or to provide future steps to do so, to benefit the field of positive

psychology.

Methods

For my study, I decided to base my methods on the book, Positive Psychology in the

Movies. Niemiec provides four points in this book he feels a positive psychology movie should

meet. These four points include,

“Portrayal of a character displaying at least one of the 24 strengths in the VIA

Classification, depiction of obstacles, adversity, and/or the struggle or conflict the

character faces in expressing the strength, a character portrayal that illustrates how to
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 7

overcome these obstacles and build or maintain the strength, and a tone or mood in the

film that is uplifting or that speaks deeply to the human condition” (Niemiec, R &

Wedding D. 2007 pp. 15).

When deciding what movie I wanted to use for my study, I was faced with many options. All of

the options met the requirements to be a positive movie, however, there was one that stood out

from the rest. The Greatest Showman met every single requirement and went above and beyond

when portraying positive psychology. For example, a positive movie must present one of the 24-

character strengths while The Greatest Showman presented all 24. This led me to choose this

movie.

Beginning my analysis process, I started by watching the movie all the way through to

get a rough idea of it and then I printed out the script. I took each of the 6 key character

strengths, as the other 18 were sub strengths therefore not needed, and identified them in the

script-color-coding each one. This allowed me to identify the key character strengths in the

dialogue. I then watched the movie all the way through again and identified each of the key

character strengths and color coded them. This allowed me to identify the key character strengths

in the movements and actions of the characters. I then created a thematic analysis of my findings

in one document. This let me see every character strength presented in the movie and how many

times they occurred. I then found the frequency of each strength. This let me know how often

each character strength was presented in this movie.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 8

Figure 1 The VIA classification of character strengths and virtues (Peterson & Seligman,
2004)
Wisdom and Knowledge – cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
• Creativity (originality, ingenuity): Thinking of novel and productive ways to
conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it
• Curiosity (interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience): Taking an interest in
ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring
and discovering
• Judgement (critical thinking, open-mindedness): Thinking things through and examining
them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light
of evidence; weighting all evidence fairly
• Love of Learning: Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on
one’s own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe
the tendency to add systematically to what one knows
• Perspective (wisdom): Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of
looking at the world that make sense to oneself/others
Courage - emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of
opposition external or internal
• Bravery (valor): Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking up for
what’s right even if there’s opposition; acting on convictions even if unpopular; includes
physical bravery but is not limited to it
• Perseverance (persistence, industriousness): Finishing what one starts; preserving in a
course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting in out the door”; taking pleasure in
completing tasks
• Honesty (integrity, authenticity): Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself
in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking
responsibility for one’s feelings and actions
• Zest (vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, energy): Approaching life with excitement and energy;
not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and
activated
Humanity – interpersonal strengths that involve tending to and befriending others
• Love (capacity to love and be loved): Valuing close relations with others, in particular
those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people
• Kindness (generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, “niceness”): Doing
favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them
• Social Intelligence (emotional intelligence, personal intelligence): Being ware of the
motives/feelings of others and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social
situations; knowing what makes other people tick
Justice – civic strengths that underlie healthy community life
• Teamwork (citizenship, social responsibility, loyalty): Working well as a member of a
group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one’s share
• Fairness: Treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice; not
letting feelings bias decisions about others; giving everyone a fair chance
• Leadership: Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done and at the
same time maintain good relations within the group; organizing group activities and
seeing they happen
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 9

Temperance – strengths that protect against excess

• Forgiveness (mercy): Forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting others’
shortcomings; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful
• Humility (modesty): Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not regarding
oneself as more special than one is
• Prudence: Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing
things that might later be regretted
• Self-Regulation (self-control): Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined;
controlling one’s appetites and emotions
Transcendence – strengths that forge connections to the universe and provide meaning
• Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence (awe, wonder, elevation): Noticing and
appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life,
from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience
• Gratitude: Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to
express thanks
• Hope (optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation): Expecting the best in the future
and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought
about
• Humor (playfulness): Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing
the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes
• Spirituality (religiousness, faith, purpose): Having coherent beliefs about the higher
purpose and meaning of the universe; knowing where one fits within the larger scheme;
having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and provide comfort

Figure 1 shows the key character strengths presented in positive movies. Each of the 6 have sub

character strengths to further explain the main character strengths.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 10

After finding all of the character strengths in the movie, I moved on to finding where “depiction

of obstacles, adversity, and/or the struggle or conflict the character faces in expressing the

strength” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 15). Next, I found, “a character portrayal that illustrates how

to overcome these obstacles and build or maintain the strength” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007). Once

this was found, I searched for, “a tone or mood in the film that is uplifting or that speaks deeply

to the human condition” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 15). After all of this was collected and I had

formed a rationale for each, I had all of the data I needed to discuss how positive psychology is

portrayed in The Greatest Showman.

Rationale

In this study, I decided to use a mixed methods content analysis to analyze The Greatest

Showman. Content analysis is defined as, “a detailed and systematic examination of the contents

of a particular body of material” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001 as cited in Williams, C. 2007 pp. 5). I

needed to completely understand the contents of this movie to successfully conduct my study and

get my results. To do this, I watched the movie multiple times and analyzed it in different ways

to collect my information. For the first area of analysis, I counted a total number of times

character strengths were presented and found the frequency. This gave me my quantitative data

for the mixed methods. I then found other elements that classified the movie as positive. These

elements are my qualitative data for my mixed methods. My ultimate goal was to find out how

this movie positively affects its audience. This is important as there does not seem to be enough

information on positive movies and how they affect their audience.

Results

Positive Psychology is portrayed in The Greatest Showman based on the following results

and findings: the character strength, wisdom, and knowledge were presented a total of 75 times
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 11

throughout the entire movie with a frequency of .201. Justice was presented a total of 44 times

with a frequency of .118. Courage was presented a total of 71 times with a frequency of .190.

Transcendence was presented a total of 64 times with a frequency of .172. Humanity was

presented a total of 70 times with a frequency of .188. Temperance was presented a total of 35

times with a frequency of .094 times.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 12

Figure 2 Quantitative Data Portrayed in The Greatest Showman

Character Strength Total Amount of Times Frequency

Occurred
Wisdom and Knowledge 75 .201
Justice 44 .118
Courage 71 .190
Transcendence 64 .172
Humanity 70 .188
Temperance 35 .094
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 13

Figure 3 Character Strengths

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 14

Figure 4 Qualitative Data Portrayed in The Greatest Showman

Character Strength Definition Example Example

Wisdom and “cognitive strengths
Knowledge that entail the "Hey, sweetie, who is “I don’t have an act.
acquisition and use that young man over Everyone has got an
of knowledge” there” (Gracey, 2017, act” (Gracey, 2017,
(Peterson & 00:33:56)? 00:41:10).
Seligman, 2004).
Courage
“emotional P.T. and Charity look P.T. picks up the
strengths that sad and disappointed apple the lady gave to
involve the exercise when Caroline him when he was a
of will to wished for ballet little boy with
accomplish goals in slippers because she nothing. This gave
the face of didn’t get them for him hope to keep
opposition external her birthday, and they going. He had made
or internal” can’t afford them it so far since then
(Peterson & (Gracey, 2017, (Gracey, 2017,
Seligman, 2004). 00:15:02). 00:20:40).

Humanity
“interpersonal Ann and Phillip “This is the life I
strengths that throughout the entire promised you … It’s
involve tending to movie are faced with beautiful but we
and befriending a forbidden love they don’t need all of this.
others” (Peterson & conquer in the end It took me 25 years,
Seligman, 2004). (Gracey, 2017, but … Welcome
01:35:59). home, Charity
Barnum” (Gracey,
2017, 00:32:54).

Justice
“civic strengths that “I own 10% of the Lettie yells “Charge!”
underlie healthy show. Knowing who as the leader. The rest
community life” I was working for I of the group works as
(Peterson & had the good sense to a team to stand up for
Seligman, 2004). take my cut weekly. themselves (Gracey,
Phillip, I can’t let you 2017, 01:15:26).
gamble it one me …
Sure you can. Don’t
turn sensible on us
now. Partners. Fifty
fify. Partners, The
only things is.. I don’t
know how we're
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 15

gonna afford a
building. Right. We
don’t need a building.
Real estate in
Manhattan is a
terrible investment. I
can get land down by
the docs for almost
nothing. All we need
is a tent” (Gracey,
2017, 01:31:46).

Temperance “strengths that

protect against P.T. looks around to P.T. hired a man as a
excess” (Peterson & see this show and magician. He uses
Seligman, 2004). audience he has built. temperance when he
After so many years gives him this jobs as
of dreaming his har he says, “I caught
work had finally paid him taking my
off. He looks over at watch” (Gracey,
Charity and Charity 2017, 00:17:58).
looks back at him.
After falling down so
many times they had
finally succeeded
(Gracey, 2017,
00:30:18).

Transcendence
“strengths that forge When P.T. looks in "I wish to marry
connections to the the window and Santa Clause”
universe and imagines himself as a (Gracey, 2017,
provide meaning” ringmaster and 00:14:55).
(Peterson & dreams about the
Seligman, 2004). future (Gracey, 2017,
00:02:51).

Figures 2, 3, and 4 present the data of character strengths in the form of charts and graphs. Figure

2 presents the character strengths, the total amount of times they occurred, and their frequency.

Figure 3 presents the same data in the form of a pie chart to show the relationship between each
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 16

strength. Figure 4 presents the key character strengths with their definition and provides two

examples for reference.

“Depiction of obstacles, adversity and/or the struggle, or conflict the character faces in

expressing the strength” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 15) is seen when P.T. Barnum starts the

movie with nothing and repeatedly gets knocked down. He hits rock bottom many times, over

and over again. “A character portrayal that illustrates how to overcome these obstacles and build

or maintain the strength” (Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 15) is presented when P.T. Barnum never

gave up. No matter how hard his life or situation got he persevered. He kept believing and one

day he achieved his dreams. Although key character strengths were presented in Barnum at the

beginning of the movie, one will see they are much stronger at the end, concluding the hardships.

“A tone or mood in the film that is uplifting or that speaks deeply to the human condition”

(Niemiec, R. M, 2007 pp. 15) is presented as well. The tone is insightful, determined, and

encouraging as the mood is to never give up. If you believe in something and yourself, you can

do anything you put your mind to. With this information one can see exact elements, their

frequency, and how they were portrayed in this particular movie, along with other aspects of the

movie that pertain to positive psychology.

Discussion

Movie Summary

The Greatest Showman, released on December 20, 2017, is based on the true story of

Phineas Taylor Barnum. It is a story of a ringmaster living out his childhood dreams and ideas.

However, it is not always as easy as he had hoped. P. T. Barnum continuously gets knocked

down and pushed back to square one. He is left with nothing and must find a way to rebuild
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 17

often. After being set back yet another time, his creative mind craves to do something bigger and

better. Instead of getting a normal job, he decides to start P.T. Barnum’s Circus. He finds the

most unusual people: a bearded lady, a dwarf man, trapeze artists, and many others to create a

show you could not find anywhere else. The show was a success and pulled Barnum and his

family out of the low place they had been. After some convincing, P.T. Barnum hires Phillip

Carlyle as his junior partner, giving him 10% of the show. When meeting the queen, Barnum

also meets Jenny Lind, a famous singer. She then becomes one of Barnum's acts in his show.

P.T. Barnum schedules a tour for her. While on tour with her, he becomes involved in a scandal.

Jenny decided to kiss Barnum in front of cameras that captured the moment. When he returns

home, he finds his circus to be on fire. When Charity, his wife, finds out about the scandal she

takes their daughters and leaves. P.T. Barnum is left again with nothing. He goes and apologizes

to Charity and they are able to find a resolution. Phillip Carlyle gambles the money he had made

off the show to buy land by the docks to start the show up again. In the end, P.T. Barnum

bequeaths the show to Carlyle to focus on more important things, like “watching his girls grow

up.” He had persevered and created the life he had dreamed of since he was a kid. Now it was

time to change his priorities.

Positive Psychology in The Greatest Showman

Looking at the four areas of criteria that positive psychology must meet, we see this

movie meeting all four. Every character strength is portrayed several times throughout the

movie. Portrayal of a character struggling and facing conflict, a character overcoming obstacles

while building or maintaining these strengths, and a strong tone and mood are also portrayed as

well.

Character Strengths in The Greatest Showman

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 18

Part of the criteria that The Greatest Showman needs to meet is character strengths. To

qualify, each movie needs to portray at least 1 of the 24. The Greatest Showman portrays all of

the 24-character strengths making it a great example of a positive movie. This study specifically

focused on the key 6-character strengths. These strengths include wisdom and knowledge,

courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Wisdom and knowledge are

presented at time stamp 00:41:10 when Ann Wheeler tells Phillip Cartyle, “Everyone has got an

act” (Gracey, 2017, 00:41:10). She uses perspective and judgement here. She considers every

variable and “provides wise counsel to others” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004 as cited in Niemiec,

R. M, 2007 pp. 8). Courage is presented at timestamp, 00:20:40 when Barnum picks up the apple

the lady gave to him when he was a little boy left with nothing. This memory seems to give him

hope and courage to keep going. He had made it so far since then (Gracey, 2017, 00:20:40). P.T.

Barnum is reminded of this memory and starts “approaching life with excitement and energy; not

doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated”

(Peterson & Seligman, 2004 as cited in Niemiec, R. M. 2007 pp. 8). Humanity is presented as

Ann and Phillip have a forbidden love throughout the movie. We see them try to be together

many times, but society does not accept their relationship. We see this character strength at

timestamp 01:35:59 when they finally overcome this through love (Gracey, 2017, 01:35:59). We

see justice as Phillip Cartyle decides to gamble the money he has made on the show. He says, “I

own 10% of the show. Knowing who I was working for I had the good sense to take my cut

weekly” (Gracey, 2017, 01:31:46). He uses leadership and teamwork to put the show back

together. Temperance is shown at timestamp 00:30:18 when Barnum looks around to see the

show and audience he had built. After so many years of dreaming, his hard work had finally paid

off. He looks over at Charity and she looks back at him. After falling down so many times they
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 19

had finally succeeded (Gracey, 2017, 00:30:18). They portray this strength through humility and

self-regulation. Finally, transcendence is presented when Helen makes her wish on the wishing

machine. She says, “I wish to marry Santa Clause” (Gracey, 2017, 00:14:55). She presents

transcendence through humor and spirituality.

Facing Conflict

What also needed to be met was the portrayal of a character struggling and facing

conflict while expressing these character strengths. This occurs in The Greatest Showman when

P.T. Barnum continuously falls back down over and over again. When he was a child, his father

passed away and he was left with nothing. Barnum had to steel off of the streets just to survive.

In his adult life he is in a poor situation and falls even further when the company he works for

goes bankrupt. He then tries to start his own business and tickets don’t sell. Later in the movie

when things are looking up, Barnum becomes involved in a scandal and comes home to find his

circus on fire. He continuously hits rock bottom many times in this movie.

Overcoming Obstacles

While portraying these character strengths and presenting obstacles that were overcome,

it is also shown “how to overcome these obstacles and build or maintain the strength” (Niemiec,

R. M, 2007 pp. 15). This is shown when P.T. Barnum portrays these strengths all the way

through the movie. Never once do they dull. He used every single character strength throughout

the movie by not giving up. He used wisdom and knowledge through creativity and curiosity as

he stayed curious about the world around him and found creative ways to make a living through

something he loves. Barnum portrays courage through perseverance and zest. He perseveres

through the hard times and never gives up. He has a positive outlook on the future and

approaches it with energy. P.T. Barnum expresses humanity most prominently through love. He
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 20

loves his family and will do absolutely anything for them. This is portrayed many times

throughout the movie. He kept believing and one day he achieved his dreams. Barnum also

portrays justice throughout this movie when times start to get rough. He does this through

teamwork and leadership. He turned to Phillip Carlyle when he needed help and used teamwork

to get the show up and running multiple times. He also uses leadership many times throughout

the movie. This is presented the first time as Barnum goes to his boss with an idea for the

business. He also uses leadership when he starts the show. He takes the lead and recruits many

unusual people to be a part of his idea. This is also seen when he takes Phillip Cartlyle to be his

junior partner. Barnum takes the lead when times are rough to build back up from the bottom and

start again. Barnum presents temperance when he looks around at his accomplishments many

times throughout the movie. Timestamp 30:15 shows us Barnum looking around to see the show

and the audience he had built. He looks over to Charity and she looks at him with a proud look.

They had finally succeeded. After so many years of dreaming, the hard work had finally paid off.

Finally, transcendence is presented with hope and the appreciation of beauty and excellence.

Barnum stays hopeful. Despite being pushed back to square one so many times in his life, he

maintains a sense of hope for a better future. He also has an appreciation for beauty and

excellence. When building his show, he turns no one away. He looks for the most unusual

people; the people who have been hidden their entire lives because they were different. He

wanted them to be seen and heard and did not discriminate. He appreciated their beauty and

excellence. These 6-character strengths are presented thoroughly when P.T. Barnum is

overcoming the obstacles in his life portrayed in this movie. Not once did he give up. He never

lost his character strengths. If anything, they were stronger at the end of the movie rather than at

the beginning. He kept going and stayed true to the person he always was.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 21

Tone or Mood

The fourth point of criteria a positive psychology film must meet is displaying a tone or

mood. The tone displayed in The Greatest Showman is insightful, determined, and encouraging.

The mood is to never give up, keep pursuing and one day you will achieve anything you put your

mind to. With these four pieces of criteria met, we can classify The Greatest Showman as a

positive movie portraying positive psychology.

Limitations

When conducting a content analysis and collecting qualitative data, problems may arise.

When using these methods there is room for interpretation. This could cause people to disagree

with the research and think differently. Not everyone is going to see the movie or the study the

same way. The answer concluded at the end could be completely different for everyone. This

study was only conducted by one person. This could create a limitation as not everyone views

media the same way.

Implications

This information can be helpful to the general movie audience and the movie industry.

The general movie audience can now recognize how their brain works in relation to movies and

understand the gap caused by negativity bias. This can help them to know why certain movies

are making them feel the way they do. This can also help the movie industry to better their craft.

They can now acknowledge how their work is affecting their audiences and shift in a way to

create a positive impact. The study conducted could be used as an example of how movies are

classified as positive and begin to solve the problem of negativity bias. If this study was

presented to the movie industry they may rethink the way they write and put together their
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 22

media. Rather than presenting a negative movie and leaving the audience feeling bad, there could

be more positive movies leaving the audience with a positive feeling walking out of the theater.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Greatest Showman portrays positive psychology by presenting key

character strengths, showing strengths through hardship, showing how to overcome hardships

while building or maintaining character strengths, and presenting a tone and mood. Throughout

the entire movie, each of these four critical elements of positive psychology are portrayed

continuously. The assumptions presented previously were correct. The Greatest Showman does

include many positive elements that yielded great research towards the topic of positive

psychology in the movie setting. After conducting the study, the assumption still stands that this

will be a gateway study for creating more movies that will portray positive psychology to better

the world we see today. It can also still be assumed that after further research this will be helpful

to writers and directors in the movie industry to better their work. This relates beyond the study

itself as negativity bias is taking over the movie industry. Writers and directors need to be

informed of this problem as there needs to be more positive movies available to audiences.

Throughout this study, it was identified that The Greatest Showman has a much deeper meaning

than what the audience may see on the surface. When analyzing this movie, one will find a deep

message of not giving up no matter how hard times get. By completing this study, it is now

known that The Greatest Showman portrays positive psychology in many ways affecting the

audience positively. Throughout the research project, information was collected to understand

the field of positive psychology and how the human’s brain works when watching a movie. A

study was then conducted with a specific movie to find how positive psychology was portrayed.

This provides an example and concludes a gateway study to further research in this field.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 23

Future Research

In the future, one could further this research and address more gaps in this field. This

study could be conducted more times to identify more positive movies. A formula could then be

created for all positive movies and used to create media in the film industry. In the future, one

could also shift this study to the music industry to identify a similar gap. This information could

also be presented to those in the movie industry. The problem of negativity bias needs to be

addressed by those in the field in order to be fixed. Although this study does not fully form a

conclusion on the topic, this could be used as a gateway study for further exploration. More

research needs to be done on this topic, however, eventually the movie industry needs to be

informed about how its work is affecting its audience.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 24

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American

Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/prefrontal-cortex.

,Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., Aaker, J. L., & Garbinsky, E. N. (2013). Some key differences

between a happy life and a meaningful life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 505–

516. doi:10.1080/17439760.2013.830764 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science

®], [Google Scholar]

Holder, M. D. (2012). Happiness in children: Measurement, correlated, and enhancement of

positive subjective well-being. New York, NY: Springer.10.1007/978-94-007-4414-1

[Crossref], [Google Scholar]

Norman N. Holland "Your Brain on Movies". PSYART: A Hyperlink Journal for the

Psychological Study of the Arts. Available

http://psyartjournal.com/article/show/n_holland-your_brain_on_movies. April 22, 2021.

Rebecca N. H. de Leeuw & Moniek Buijzen (2016) Introducing positive media

psychology to the field of children, adolescents, and media, Journal of Children and

Media, 10:1, 39-46, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2015.1121892

Rufer, Linda Jones MD, "Magic at the Movies: Positive Psychology for Children, Adolescents and

Families" (2014).Master of AppliedPositive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects.

68.http://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/68

Singh, P. (2014). Positive psychology in the Indian film industry: A promising area of research.

Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(3), 329–331.

Twentieth century fox home entertainment. (2018). The Greatest Showman. Milano.

Wedding, D., Niemiec, R. M. (2007). Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build

Virtues and Character Strengths. Germany: Hogrefe Publishing.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 25

Williams, C. (2007). Research Methods. Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER),

5(3). https://doi.org/10.19030/jber.v5i3.2532