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L1: Introduction to Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology
• is the scientific study of positive human
functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that
include the biological, personal, relational,
institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life institutions, citizenship and communities
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
• is also defined as the scientific study of what
makes life most worth living (Peterson, 2008)
The basic premise of positive psychology is that
human beings are often drawn by the future more
than they are driven by the past. A change in our
orientation to time can dramatically affect how we
think about the nature of happiness.
In positive psychology, we are going to
concentrate positive experiences at the three time
points:
1. the past, centering on wellbeing, contentment
and satisfaction;
2. the present, which focuses on concepts such as
happiness and flow experiences;
3. the future, with concepts including optimism
and hope
Positive psychologists seek to encourage acceptance
of one's past, excitement and optimism about one's
future experiences, and a sense of contentment and
well-being in the present.
Not only does positive psychology distinguish
between wellbeing across time points but it also
separates the subject area into three central
concerns:
1. the subjective node, which encompasses things
like positive experiences and states across past,
present and future
2. the individual node, which focuses on positive
states and traits
3. the group node, which studies positive
Positive psychology complements, without
intending to replace or ignore, the traditional areas
of psychology. By emphasizing the study of
positive human development in this field helps to
balance other approaches that focus on disorder, and
which may produce only limited understanding.
EXAMPLE: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
• Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder, and phobias.
• Depression, bipolar disorder, and other mood
disorders.
• Eating disorders.
• Personality disorders.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.
Positive psychology may offer something we can
benefit from, it offers the chance to help find the
inner strengths of a person focusing more on
proactive steps to use their own abilities in order to
prosper in society.
Positive psychology focused on the character
strengths and behaviors that allow individuals to
build a life of meaning and purpose—to move
beyond surviving to flourishing.
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A fully-functioning person is one who is completely
congruent and living in the moment.
EXAMPLE: Fully functioning people tend to
possess certain traits and characteristics that help
them stay in tune with their own emotions and
embrace their need to grow as an individual. Some
EXAMPLE: CHARACTER STRENGTHS of the key characteristics of a fully functioning
•Bravery person include:
• Persistence
• Integrity
• Kindness
• Social intelligence
• Gratitude
• Hope
• Humor and playfulness
• Spirituality

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
IS NOT Allport’s Mature Individuality (1961)
➢ Being happy all the time • Allport believed that healthy individuals function
➢ “Think positive”, “Look at the bright side” on a rational and conscious level, aware and in
➢ Ignoring weakness control of the forces that guide them.
IT IS • Mature persons are directed by the present and by
➢ What makes life worth living their intentions toward the future.
➢ Strengths and virtues • The outlook is forward toward contemporary and
➢ Focused on wellbeing future events, not backward to childhood traumas
and conflicts as with neurotics.

L2: HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Positive psychology started as a protest against

some of the predominant taken for granted
assumptions in mainstream psychology.
Shortly after World War II, the primary focus of
psychology shifted to the first priority: treating
abnormal behavior and mental illness.
Humanist thinkers like Roger, Allport,
Erickson and Maslow helped renew interest in the
other two areas by developing theories that focused
on happiness and the positive aspects of human
nature.
Rogers’ Fully Functioning Person (1951)
Rogers suggested that people who continually strive
to fulfill their actualizing tendency could become
what he referred to as fully-functioning.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development (1963)
• Erik Erikson who maintained that personality
develops in a predetermined order through eight
stages of psychosocial development, from infancy
to adulthood.
• During each stage, the person experiences a
psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or
negative outcome for personality development.
• Failure to successfully complete a stage can result
in a reduced ability to complete further stages and
therefore an unhealthier personality and sense of
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self. These stages, however, can be resolved behave in certain ways, including our core values,
successfully at a later time. our interests, and our personal sense of morality.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954-1971)
• Abraham Maslow shifted focus to look at the
positive sides of mental health. His interest in
human potential, seeking peak experiences and
improving mental health by seeking personal
growth had a lasting influence on psychology.
• He then created a classification system which
reflected the universal needs of society as its base
and then proceeding to more acquired emotions.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is used to study how
humans intrinsically partake in behavioral
motivation.
Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory
(1977)
• Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, or
SDT, links personality human motivation, and
optimal functioning. It posits that there are two
main types of motivation—intrinsic and extrinsic—
and that both are powerful forces in shaping who
we are and how we behave.
• According to Deci and Ryan, extrinsic motivation
is a drive to behave in certain ways based on
external sources and it results in external rewards.
On the other hand, intrinsic motivation comes from
within. There are internal drives that inspire us to
Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory (1990)
• According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
Flow is an optimal psychological state that people
experience when engaged in an activity that is both
appropriately challenging to one’s skill level, often
resulting in immersion and concentrated focus on a
task. This can result in deep learning and high levels
of personal and work satisfaction.
Eight characteristics of flow:
1. Complete concentration on the task
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and
immediate feedback
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing
down)
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding
5. Effortlessness and ease
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-
conscious rumination
8. There is a feeling of control over the task.
EXAMPLE: Flow Theory
In order to be engaged in a state of flow, several
conditions must be met. First, the activity must be
challenging but one must also possess great skill.
Second, the task has to be active and engaging.
Third, the activity has to have clear parameters for
success. These clear parameters help to enter and
maintain a flow state as they indicate progress and
quality. Finally, the motivation for the activity must
be intrinsic, or coming from within.
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Positive psychology through the years of studying
how individual can flourish and live leading to a
happy life had made a difference on how
individuals and even psychologists look into a
person’s experiences and condition.

Ryff’s Psychological Well-being (1995)

• Carol Ryff developed the Six-factor
Model of Psychological Well-being which
determines six factors which contribute to an
individual's psychological well-being, contentment
and happiness.
• Psychological well-being is attained by achieving
a state of balance affected by both challenging and
rewarding life events.

Seligman’s Learned Helplessness and Authentic

Happiness (1991-2006)
• Martin Seligman is a leading authority in the fields
of Positive Psychology, resilience, learned
helplessness, depression, optimism and pessimism.
• Seligman’s theoretical model of happiness
(PERMA) makes up five important building blocks
of well-being and happiness.
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L3: VIEWPOINTS OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
(Eastern and Western Perspective)
Western and Eastern history and philosophies have
the concept of the "good life"
Westerners: emphasize optimal functioning and
hopeful pursuits for better life.
Easterners: optimal life a spiritual journey involving of these virtues
others and result- experiencing transcendence and
enlightenment.
Happiness in Western society is defined as gaining
self-esteem, self-confidence, being materially and
financially comfortable, being successful, being
attractive, being equal, being treated with respect,
being able to assert one’s rights and enjoy pleasures
and comforts of life
In Eastern cultures, Happiness is defined as an
internal state of mind; being in peace; doing one’s
duties; keeping others happy; being responsible and
respectful to oneself, family and society; and
enjoying life as it goes with oneself, family and
others
TYPES OF WESTERN APPROACH
HOPE
Goal focused thinking
The belief of a positive future is embedded in
everyday ideas of the western culture
THE NEED FOR UNIQUENESS
strong appeal to many and maintaining a degree of
difference also called a motive for distinctiveness
ATHENIAN
Athenian view stems from the discussion of virtue
and human strength on which Plato and Aristotle
focused heavily in their teachings in Ancient
Greece.
In this view, people with good human virtue create
such a community and then can provide a good
model for others so that the masses also develop
such human excellence.
11 Moral Virtues
1. Courage
2. Moderation
3. Generosity
4. Munificence (relates to money spending
appropriate level)
5. Magnificence ( greatness of soul )
6. Temper
7. Friendliness
8. Truthfulness
9. Wit ( an ability to laugh and have fun at an
appropriate level )
10. Justice
11. Friendship.
POLIS - has on the development and maintenance
To understand the Aristotelian Principle, we first
need to grasp how the ancient Greek philosopher
viewed humans.
CHRISTIANITY
- the virtues of faith, hope, and charity
- “Seven Heavenly Virtues” by Thomas Aquinas
(Fortitudes (courage), Justice, Temperance,
Wisdom, Faith, Hope, and Charity)
- Ten Commandments of Moses in the Old
Testament Virtue of wisdom.
The Seven Heavenly Virtues is a classic
interpretation of seven basic concepts that will lead
our soul to glory.
The Ten Commandments are a set of biblical
principles relating to ethics and worship and was
also cited as directives toward cultivating certain
strengths within the Jewish tradition.
JUDAISM
= Talmud and Pentrach
= The Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), directives
are given on how to live life as an ethical follower
of Judaism
= The lessons include being a hospitable host,
particularly to the poor, being fair in decision-
making and judgments, and seeking peace in
everyday life
ISLAM
= Virtues as moral obligation
= Gratitude (e.g., to Allah for his benevolence)
= Kindness (especially toward parents)
= Justice (emphasizing fraternity and equality to all)
= Courage (acts of bravery) are valued
= Emphasis on altruism
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TYPES OF EASTERN APPROACH
COMPASSION
= Aristotle in western perspective noted the concept
of compassion.
= Confucian concept of ‘jen’ (humanity),
= The Buddhist concept of ‘karuna’ also gave
importance to compassion.
= Compassion as an aspect of humanity involves
looking outside ourselves and thinking about others.
= Compassion fosters group along with self.
Eric Cassel
= He is a physician
= Proposes the three flowing requirements for
compassion
- The difficulties of the recipient must be
serious
- The recipient’s difficulties cannot be self-
inflicted
- We, as observers, must identify with the
recipient’s suffering
HARMONY
Harmony is when multiple seemingly different
things exist together. The world is full of diversity
but it is the co-dependence and interaction among
the elements that makes life possible and
flourishing.
In eastern philosophy harmony is viewed as central
to achieving happiness.
Hinduism gave the concept of ‘interconnectedness’
CONFUCIANISM
= The founder of Confucianism is Chinese
philosopher K’ung-fu-tzu (551-478 BC).
= The word ‘Confucius’ means ‘teacher of ethics’
= The emphasis of Confucianism is on attainment
of virtues.
= To attain a good life, one must strive to achieve
all these virtues.
= Confucius held that leadership and education are
central to morality. He emphasized morality as a
potential cure for the evils of that time.
= The principles of Confucianism are laden with
quotations that encourage looking out for others.
(Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would want
them to do unto you”).
= The attainment of virtue is at the core of
Confucian teachings. Confucian followers must
strive to make wise decisions based on virtues; this
continual striving leads the Confucian follower to
enlightenment, or the good life.
The five virtues deemed central to living a moral
existence
TAOISM
= The founder of Taoism is Chinese philosopher L-
ao Tzu.
= Tao means path or way in Chinese.
= Taoist tradition suggests encapsulating the
balance and harmony between contrasting concepts.
= Taoism has two symbols: YIN and YANG.
= Tao is the energy surrounding and flowing
through everyone, and The Way must be achieved
through experience, rather than teaching alone. In
this process, both good and bad experiences can
both contribute to a greater understanding of the
Way.
= Achieving naturalness and spontaneity in life is
the most important goal in Taoist philosophy. The
virtues of humanity, justice, temperance, and
propriety must be practiced by the virtuous
individual without effort.
= One who has achieved transcendence within this
philosophy does not have to think about optimal
functioning but behaves virtuously naturally.
The Fundamental Virtues of Taoism
- Humanity
- Justice
- Temperance
- Propriety
Taoism focuses more on isolation of the self, here
are some key points regarding Taoism and its
relations to positive psychology
Taoism does not identify man's will as the root
problem. Rather, it asserts that man must place his
will in harmony with the natural universe. Taoist
philosophy recognizes that the Universe already
works harmoniously according to its own ways; if a
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person exerts his will against or upon the world he
would disrupt the harmony that already exists, he
would go ‘against the flow of life’.
BUDDHISM
= Buddhist philosophy belongs to the teaching of
Gautama Buddha.
= Buddhism teaches that suffering is a part of being transcends all dualities, such as death and rebirth.
and caused by ignorance.
The reason behind suffering is the human emotions
of desire.
= There is, however, a possible end to the suffering be grouped into three categories:
through transcendence and ultimate understanding.
Nirvana - is a state in which the self is freed from right effort
desire for anything
= Brahma Viharas virtues that are above all others
in importance, described by Peterson and Seligman
as “universal virtues”
- love (maitri)
- compassion (karuna)
- joy (mudita) and
- equanimity (upeksha)
THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATHS
The Truth of Suffering (Dikkha)
• Suffering includes not only pain and distress
caused by adversities, but also mental vexation,
frustration, disappointment, and anxiety that come
from greed, ignorance and attachments to worldly
possession.
The Truth of the Cause of Suffering (Tanha)
• Suffering comes from craving for happiness and
aversion of pain. Craving for happiness necessarily
causes us to fear or reject anything that causes
unhappiness or pain. Attachment to possession and
achievement invariably leads to disappointment and
disillusionment, because everything is the quest of one’s life is to attain ultimate self-
impermanent.
The Truth of Liberation from suffering
(Nirvana)
• We can be liberated from suffering by
transforming our craving and aversion through
enlightenment. When we attain this state of perfect
peace, serenity and compassion, we are free from
greed, hatred and delusion. This state also
The Truth of the Eightfold Path (Magga)
• Liberation through enlightenment can be achieved
through the eightfold path. The eight disciplines can
• Morality – right speech, right action, right living,
• Meditation – right mindfulness, right meditation
• Wisdom – right thought, right understanding.
HINDUISM
= Most forms of Hinduism are Henotheistic which
means they worship a single deity, known as
‘Brahman’
- Brahman is also known as ‘Omkara’ (Shudha
Chaitanya) cosmic energy.
= Hinduism talks about the concept of
‘reincarnation’
= Hindu beliefs include the four ‘Purusartha’ ,
which is the proper goals or ultimate aim of human
life.
- Dharma (ethics/duties)
- Artha (prosperity/work)
- Kama (desire/passion)
- Moksha (liberation/ freedom from the cycle
of death
and rebirth)
= The main teachings of the Hindu tradition
emphasize the interconnectedness of all the things.
The idea of a harmonious union among all
individuals is woven throughout the teachings of
Hinduism, which refer to a “single, unifying
principle underlying all of Earth”.
= One’s goal within this tradition would be to live
life so fully and so correctly that one would go
directly to the afterlife without to repeat life’s
lessons in a reincarnated form.
= Hindu teachings are very clear about the qualities
one must embody to avoid reincarnation: “To return
to this world is an indication of one’s failure to
achieve ultimate knowledge of one’s self”. Thus,
knowledge and to strive for ultimate self-
betterment.
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= “Karma” is the view of causality in which good greater focus on and oriented to the future,
deeds, words, thoughts, and commands lead to respect for the past, emphasis on future
beneficial effects for a person, and bad deeds, recognising wisdom of oriented thinking
words, thoughts, and commands lead to harmful their
effects. elders etc.

THOUGHT PROCESS
Eastern Western
The easterns have a In most western cultures
more priority is given to the
circular thinking style, right to
and the life, liberty and the
goal is to achieve pursuit of
balance by happiness. Perceiving
maintaining masculinity the
and path to achieve goals as
femininity, the active linear.
and
passive phase of life

FOCUS
EASTERN AND WESTEN PERSPECTIVE Eastern Western
- Both perspectives incorporate ideas about the - focus more on group or - focus more on the
importance of virtue, along with human strengths, community goal individual
as people move toward a good life. - focus more on Goal
- Similarities can also be drawn among the different compassion - focus more on hope
ideologies, especially in the types of human and harmony
qualities and experiences that are valued.
- Eastern and Western ideologies stem from very
different historical events and traditions.
Individualism for Western and Collectivism for
Eastern perspective.
- It is important to remember that neither is better
than the other.

VALUE SYSTEM
Eastern Western
- Collectivistic - Individualistic
- The group is valued - The individual is the
above the individual main focus
- Cooperation is valued. - Competition and
- Sharing and duty achievement are valued.
towards the group is - Value autonomy and
highly prized. personal freedom.
- Emphasis is also given - Many stories also
on “going with the flow” involve seeking personal
and avoiding conflict. gain rather than the gain
of the community.

ORIENTATION TO TIME
Eastern Western
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L4: Measurement of Well-Being Keyes (1998) conceived of a five-component model
of social wellbeing: social integration, social
contribution, social coherence, social actualization,
WELL-BEING and social acceptance. These five elements, taken
• the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy together, indicate whether and to what degree
of one’s own self individuals are overcoming social challenges and
are functioning well in their social world (alongside
Key Terms on Contemporary Wellbeing neighbors, coworkers, and fellow world citizens).
Constructs
Positive wellbeing
Hedonic Wellbeing There are ten features representing positive aspects
Focuses on happiness and defines wellbeing in of mental functioning: competence, emotional
terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance stability, engagement, meaning, optimism, positive
“the predominant view among hedonic emotions, positive relationship, resilience, self-
psychologists is that wellbeing consists of esteem, and vitality… it includes both hedonic and
subjective happiness and concerns the experience of eudaimonic (positive feeling and positive
pleasure versus displeasure broadly construed to functioning)
include all judgements about the good/bad elements
of life. Happiness is thus not reducible to physical Measuring Wellbeing
hedonism, for it can be derived from attainment of • Measuring human well-being requires the
goals or valued outcomes in varied realms” subjective act of defining and creating models and
Ryan and Deci (2001) measurements of that which defines health and
quality of life.
Eudaimonic wellbeing • This requires an opinion of what it means to be a
Based on Aristotle’s view that true happiness comes "whole human being" as well as what is worthwhile
from doing what is worth doing – focuses on in life, and how we ought to live.
meaning self-realization, and defines wellbeing • Subjective well-being is measured through
largely in terms of ways of thought and behavior surveys asking people about their satisfaction and
that provides fulfillment. happiness about multiple facets of well-being. Their
Gale et al. (2013) findings can be an important complement in
understanding what matters in people's day-to-day
Psychological wellbeing lives.
Each dimension of psychological wellbeing
articulates different challenges individuals Carol Ryff’s Six-factor Model of Psychological
encounter as they strive to function positively. That Well-being
is, people attempt to feel good about themselves • Ryff’s model of Psychological Well-being differs
even while aware of their own limitations (self- from past models in one important way: well-being
acceptance). They also seek to develop and is multidimensional, and not merely about
maintain warm and trusting interpersonal happiness, or positive emotions. A good life is
relationships (positive relations with others) and to balanced and whole, engaging each of the different
shape their environment so as to meet personal aspects of well-being, instead of being narrowly
needs and desires (environmental mastery). In focused.
situating individuality within larger social context, • Six factors which contribute to an individual's
people also seek sense of self determination and psychological well-being, contentment and
personal authority (autonomy). A vital endeavor is happiness.
to find meaning in one’s effort and challenges 1. Autonomy
(purpose in life). Lastly, making the most of one’s 2. Environmental Mastery
talents and capacities (personal growth) is central to 3. Personal Growth
psychological wellbeing. Keyes (2002 4. Positive Relations with Others
5. Purpose in Life
Social Wellbeing 6. Self-acceptance
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• The Ryff Scale of Measurement is a psychometric understand the give and take of human
inventory consisting of two forms (either 54 or 84 relationships.
items) in which respondents rate statements on a • Weak Relations: You have few close, trusting
scale of 1 to 6, where 1 indicates strong relationships with others; find it difficult to be
disagreement and 6 indicates strong agreement. warm, open, and concerned about others; are
isolated and frustrated in interpersonal
Autonomy relationships; and are not willing to make
• High Autonomy: You are self-determining and compromises to sustain important ties with others.
independent; are able to resist social pressures to
think and act in certain ways; regulate behavior Purpose in Life
from within; and evaluate yourself by personal • Strong Purpose in Life: You have goals in life and
standards. a sense of directedness; feel there is meaning to
• Low Autonomy: You are concerned about the your present and past life; hold beliefs that give life
expectations and evaluations of others; rely on purpose; and have aims and objectives for living.
judgments of others to make important decisions; • Weak Purpose in Life: You lack a sense of
and conform to social pressures to think and act in meaning in life; have few goals or aims, lack a
certain ways. sense of direction; do not see purpose of your past
life; and have no outlook or beliefs that give life
Environmental Mastery meaning.
• High Environmental Mastery: You have a sense of
mastery and competence in managing the Self-acceptance
environment; control complex array of external • High Self-Acceptance: You possess a positive
activities; make effective use of surrounding attitude toward yourself; acknowledge and accept
opportunities; and are able to choose or create multiple aspects of yourself including both good
contexts suitable to your personal needs and values. and bad qualities; and feel positive about your past
• Low Environmental Mastery: You have difficulty life.
managing everyday affairs; feel unable to change or • Low Self-Acceptance: You feel dissatisfied with
improve surrounding contexts; are unaware of yourself; are disappointed with what has occurred in
surrounding opportunities; and lack a sense of your past life; are troubled about certain personal
control over the external world. qualities; and wish to be different than what you
are.
Personal Growth
• Strong Personal Growth: You have a feeling of How do we measure our well-being?
continued development; see yourself as growing - Self-Reflection
and expanding; are open to new experiences; have The activity of thinking about your own feelings
the sense of realizing your potential; see and behavior, and the reasons that may lie behind
improvement in yourself and behavior over time; them.
are changing in ways that reflect more self-
knowledge and effectiveness. - Self-Realization
• Weak Personal Growth: You have a sense of In the Western understanding, it is the
personal stagnation; lack the sense of improvement "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's
or expansion over time; feel bored and uninterested character or personality"
with life; and feel unable to develop new attitudes In
or behaviors. the

Positive Relations with Others

• Strong Positive Relations: You have warm,
satisfying, trusting relationships with others; are
concerned about the welfare of others; are capable
of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy; and Indian understanding, self-realization is liberating
knowledge of the true Self, either as the permanent
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undying Purusha or witness-consciousness, which is • We should also live in the present, “Mental health
atman (essence) or as the absence (sunyata) of such tends to become challenged when we get sucked
a permanent Self. into what used to happen or what people ‘did to me’
rather than taking responsibility in what I am doing
- Self-Evaluation or creating today, right now”.
It is the process of exploring and • We need to be introspective for us to be aware of
evaluating yourself what to improve and what changes we need in our
lives. It is also important to determine and live our
Why well-being is important? personal values, to identify our strengths and use
Well-being is important because it helps us know them.
and understand our strengths and weaknesses as a • Practicing gratitude, “You’ll find you shift your
person, and knowing ourselves can help us improve overall outlook on life when you come from a
our character as a whole. perspective of gratitude,”
There are many other ways on how we can increase
THE RYFF SCALES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL our wellbeing, it is important that we assess
WELLBEING ourselves in order to know which aspect needs
improvement.
Carol Ryff’s Scale of Psychological
Well-Being
The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being is a
theoretically grounded instrument that specifically
focuses on measuring multiple facets of
psychological well-being.
The most commonly used version of the
Psychological Wellbeing Scales comprises 42 items
and includes a combination of positively and
negatively worded items. An abbreviated, 18-item
version of the measure is also widely used.
Each of the definitions describes someone scoring
high on the dimension of well-being. There are also
six definitions corresponding to low scorers.

L5: Happiness
There are ways on how we can help ourselves
increase our wellbeing. In addition to nourishing
our body and participating in physical activities we Happiness
enjoy, there are many other ways we can improve • The state of being happy
our mental health or psychological wellbeing. • Happy is defined as feeling or showing pleasure or
• Accepting emotions is one way of helping oneself contentment
increase wellbeing, appreciate positive emotions
and acknowledge negative emotions, because even From the definition, we can get a few important
negative emotion also helps. points about happiness:
• Happiness is a state, not a trait; in other words, it
isn’t a long-lasting, permanent feature or
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personality trait, but a more fleeting, changeable Hedonic View of Happiness
state Hedonic happiness is the positive balance of one’s
• Happiness can be either feeling or showing, emotional experiences. If you have more pleasant
meaning that happiness is not necessarily an than unpleasant emotional experiences, then you are
internal or external experience, but can be both. considered to be happy.

Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion,
ranging from contentment, to intense joy. In
psychology, happiness is a state of emotional well-
being that a person experiences either in a narrow
sense, when good things happen in a specific
moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation
of one’s life and accomplishments overall—that is,
subjective well-being.
The term Happiness is
- interchangeable with “subjective well-being"
- measured by asking people about how satisfied
they feel with their lives "evaluative"
- how much positive and negative emotion they tend
to feel "affective"
- and their sense of meaning and purpose
"eudaimonic".
Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness
• Hedonic happiness refers to how happy you feel,
conceptualized as experiencing more pleasure and
less pain; it is composed of an affective component
(high positive affect and low negative affect) and a
cognitive component (satisfaction with one’s life)
• Eudaimonic happiness involves being true to your
authentic self, conceptualizes happiness as the result
of the pursuit and attainment of life purpose,
meaning, challenge, and personal growth; happiness
is based on reaching one’s full potential and
operating at full functioning.
Eudaimonic View of Happiness
This approach does not divorce morality and virtue
from the study of happiness.
But there are a number of problems with this
approach to defining happiness.
• it can come across as being overly prescriptive or
even paternalistic.
• the eudainomic definition of happiness basically
tells people that they have to be doing certain things
or they have to be developing certain things or they
have to be developing certain qualities or they are
not happy, regardless of whether they think they are
happy.
The dominant hedonic happiness approach prefers
to identify happiness with what they refer to as
SWB (Subjective Well-Being): People’s evaluation
of their lives that encompasses both cognitive
judgments of satisfaction and affective appraisals of
moods and emotions.
Hedonic approach leaves the decision about one’s
happiness to him/her. There is a practical issue of
accurately measuring happiness, you are the best
judge of your own happiness, all we have to do is to
ask you.
It avoids the paternalistic problems. If you say that
you are truly happy, then who am I to say that
you’re not?
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia, also spelled Eudaemonia, in
Aristotelian ethics, the condition of human
flourishing or living well.
- Aristotle used it as a broad concept to describe the
highest good humans could strive toward – or a life
‘well lived’ . But Aristotle is very clear that
eudaimonia is not just a state of contentment or a
feeling of satisfaction. Eudaimonia is the ultimate
telos of man. “It is the highest human good, the only
human good that is desirable for its own sake (as an
end in itself) rather than for the sake of something
else.”
- According to Aristotle, if an individual’s action
can achieve the highest good, then one must
investigate how she functions which enables her to
achieve her ultimate purpose. If she performs her
function well, then she is capable of arriving at
happiness.
- Happiness in a eudaimonic perspective is not
about the things we own; it is a matter of how we
live our lives, whatever the circumstances: ‘healthy
or unhealthy, rich or poor, educated or uneducated,
we should think about our lives and try to live them
well’
Hedonia
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Hedonism - aims to maximize pleasure (e.g., Carefreeness was the strongest and most direct
positive emotion) and minimize pain (e.g., negative benefit expected to arise from hedonia, especially in
emotion). a life that also includes intense eudaimonic
- Pleasure - the emotion or sensation induced by the commitments, because it provides respite and time
enjoyment or anticipation of what is felt or viewed to recharge.
as good or desirable.
- Pain - It is an unpleasant emotional as well as Martin Seligman’s PERMA Model
sensory experience. It may also be a feeling of P – Positive Emotion
severe distress and suffering resulting from acute - it is the ability to remain optimistic and view one’s
anxiety, loss of a loved one, or other psychological past, present, and future from a constructive
factors (see psychic pain). perspective.
- focus is placed on happiness as pleasure, - positive view can help in relationships and work,
enjoyment, and absence of discomfort and inspire others to be more creative and take more
- focuses on the ‘feeling good’ aspect of happiness. chances
- high positive affect, low negative affect, and high - focusing on “the lows” does increase your chances
life satisfaction (Fowers et al. 2010) of developing depression; there are many health
- A hedonic orientation was found to have a benefits to optimism and positivity.
stronger positive relation with happiness in more *Pleasure is connected to satisfying bodily needs
individualistic cultures for survival, such as thirst, hunger, and sleep.
- Ryan and Deci (2001) concluded that the Whereas enjoyment comes from intellectual
conceptualisations of hedonistic happiness have stimulation and creativity.
diverged from a narrow focus on bodily pleasures to
a broader one which comprises self-interest. E – Engagement
- originating from the Greek philosopher, Aristippus - activities that meet our need for engagement flood
- Aristippus - was a follower of Socrates, and the the body with positive neurotransmitters and
founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy. hormones that elevate one’s sense of well-being
- Aristippus was born in Cyrene, a Greek colony in - engagement helps us remain present, as well as
Northern synthesize the activities where we find calm, focus,
Africa. and joy.
- Aristippus identified the end as pleasure; For - when time truly “flies by” during an activity, it is
Aristippus, the experience of pleasure was the end, likely because the people involved were
and the basis for happiness. experiencing this sense of engagement.
- Aristippus was a Greek moralist who held that - this type of ‘flow’ of engagement stretches our
happiness is a collection of particular pleasures intelligence, skills, and emotional capabilities.
Irwin (1991).
Hēdonē- an Attic-Greek word that literally means R – Relationships
‘pleasure’ and is the root of the english word - we are social animals who are hard-wired to bond
“Hedonism” and depend on other humans
- we thrive on connections that promote love,
The Functions of Hedonia intimacy, and a strong emotional and physical
interaction with other humans
1. Positive affect and Negative affect - positive relationship with one’s parents, siblings,
Researchers divided the hedonic orientation into peers, coworkers, and friends is a key ingredient to
(1) the pleasure orientation and (2) the relaxation overall joy
orientation: - strong relationships also provide support in
- Pleasure orientation - was generally beneficial to difficult times that require resilience
individual well-being
- Relaxation orientation - had a neutral or even M – Meaning
detrimental effect (causing harm) - having an answer as to “why are we on this
earth?” is a key ingredient that can drive us towards
2. Carefreeness fulfilment
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- religion and spirituality provide many people with
meaning
- understanding the impact of your studies and why
you chose to “show up to school” may help you
enjoy the tasks and become more satisfied with
what you do.
A – Accomplishments
- having goals and ambition in life can help us to
achieve things that can give us a sense of
accomplishment
- accomplishments in life is important to push
ourselves to thrive and flourish
Four Levels of Happiness
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,
the whole aim and end of human existence (...)
Happiness depends upon ourselves” – Aristotle
Happiness level 1: Laetus
- Happiness from material objects
Happiness level 2: Felix. Ego gratification
- Happiness from comparison — being better, more
admired than others etc.
Happiness level 3: Beatitudo.
- The happiness from doing good for others and
making the world a better place.
Happiness level 4: Sublime Beatitudo
Ultimate, perfect happiness.
Happiness Myths
Myth # 1 - Happiness is the natural state of
human beings
Humans are not designed to be happy, or even
content. We have this
Negative Bias, which means to attend to, learn
from, and use negative information far more than
positive information. Negative bias was meant for
survival.
Myth # 2 – If you are not happy, you are
defective
When you depressed the normal thinking processes
of a healthy human mind will naturally lead to
psychological suffering. You’re not defective —
your mind’s just doing its job; the thing it evolved
to do
Myth # 3 - To create a better life, we must get rid
of negative feelings
The things we generally value most in life bring
with them a whole range of feelings, both pleasant
and unpleasant. For example, in an intimate long-
term relationship, although you will experience
wonderful feelings such as love and joy, you will
also inevitably experience disappointment and
frustration. There is no such thing as the perfect
partner and sooner or later conflicts of interest will
happen.
Myth # 4 –You Should Be Able To Control What
You Think And Feel
The fact is, we have much less control over our
thoughts and feelings than we would like. It’s not
that we have no control; it’s just that we have much
less than the ‘experts’ would have us believe.
However, we do have a huge amount of control
over our actions.
L6: COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL
PROCESS
Cognition is a term referring to the mental processes
involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
These cognitive processes include thinking,
knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-
solving.
Emotional processing is the ability of people to
process stress and other extreme events and move
past them.
When people are unable to process those emotions,
they develop phobias and other mental issues.
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Emotional processing allows specific and intense
feelings to dissipate over time. 3. Emotional Storytelling
NEGATIVE BIAS
• human beings have a negative bias which means
that humans give more psychological weight to bad
experiences than the good ones
• negative emotions have an impact close to three
times stronger than positive emotions and that this
negative bias was meant for survival
• The influence of evolutionary theory has been the
reason for the relative neglect of positive emotions.
Evolutionary theory is dominated by the concept of
survival and this has led behavioral scientists to
investigate negative behaviors.
• Evolutionary origins of positive emotions
- Positive emotions are associated state with the
situations which present opportunities rather than
threats, and with a strategy of approach rather than
avoidance.
Theory of Positive Emotions (Barbara
Fredrickson)
1. Positive emotions elicit more cognitive
responses
2. Broadening effect of positive emotions
3. Positive emotions can undo the negative
emotions
Managing Emotions Effectively
1. Emotion Focused-Coping
2. Emotional Intelligence
Broaden-and-Build Theory - Barbara
Fredrickson
This is a model for explaining the mechanisms
behind positive emotions in our minds and bodies.
It proposes that in contrast to the negative emotions
which narrow the individual’s repertoire of thought
and action (a valuable survival strategy), positive
emotions such as joy, contentment and interest,
have the effect of broadening the thought-action
repertoire and of building cognitive resource for the
future.
- Cognitive social psychologists also suggest that
positive affect facilitates the use of internalized
strategies using knowledge structures (assimilative
thinking), while negative affect promotes a focus on
external, environmental information
(accommodative thinking).
The Broaden-and-Build Theory is a model for
explaining the mechanisms behind positive
emotions in our minds and bodies.
• Positive emotions broaden awareness and over
time enable the building of resources
• Increase our thought action repertoire
• Negative emotions narrow actions
• Positive emotions broaden action
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Cognition and emotion have long been thought of as
independent systems, but researches proved that the
relationship between cognition and emotion is more
interdependent than separate
. - positive illusions can lead people to undertake
The cognitive processing system is conscious and
involves analysis of
ensory information to influence and seven
counteract the affective system.
Affects (i.e. things that induce some change to the
affective system) are divided into positive and
negative groups.
- Positive affect has the potential to improve
creative thinking
- Negative affect narrows thinking and has the
potential to adversely affect performance on simple
tasks.
Emotions are the product of changes in the affective
system brought about by sensory information
stimulation.
Positive Illusion
- refers to a set of three related beliefs that
characterize the way people think about
1. themselves
2. their ability to control environmental events
3. their future.
• believe they have many more positive than
negative personal qualities
• exaggerate their abilities to bring about desired
outcomes, and they are overly optimistic about their
futures
• if not too extreme, these positive illusions promote statements, and global/specific causal explanations
psychological well-being and psychological
functioning
Benefits of Positive Illusions
- positive illusions are linked with subjective well- positive outcomes as being unstable, specific and
being, people who hold positive self-views are
happier and more content than are those who are
more realistic
- under some circumstances, positive self-views can
also beget success, people who are confident in
their abilities often perform better at achievement-
related activities
- positive illusions promote interpersonal
relationships
- positive illusions help people cope with life’s
challenges
Potential Costs of Positive Illusion
activities for which they are ill-suited
- positive illusions can also lead people to make
poor economic decisions or engage in behaviors
that are detrimental to their well-being
- positive illusions can have interpersonal costs
(people generally prefer the company of optimistic
people, they are not drawn to people who are
boastful or narcissistic)
Explanatory Style
- Explanatory style was born primarily from two
antecedents: The Learned Helplessness Model and
The
Reformulation of the Learned Helplessness Model
- Learned helplessness proposes that control over
the environment is a fundamental precursor of
positivism for any organism. If an individual is
repeatedly exposed to unavoidable painful or
otherwise negative stimuli, they will come to expect
that such events are uncontrollable and potentially
develop a sense of hopelessness and depression as a
result (Overmier &
Seligman, 1967)..
- The original helplessness theory hypothesized that
experiences with uncontrollable events led to
difficulties in motivation, cognition, and emotion.
- The reformulated model included three causal
explanatory dimensions of attribution;
stable/unstable causes, internal/external causal
A pessimistic explanatory style is characterized by
explanations of the causes of negative outcomes as
being stable, global, and internal, and the causes of
external in nature.
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Conversely, optimistic explanatory styles are
characterized by explanations for negative 2. Vicarious Experience/ Social Modelling
outcomes as being due to unstable, specific and
external causes, while positive outcomes are
perceived as due to stable, global and internal 3. Social Persuasion
causes.
Positive Emotions
• Positive emotions are emotions that we typically
find pleasurable to experience.
• The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology
defines them as “pleasant or desirable situational
responses… distinct from pleasurable sensation and
undifferentiated positive affect”
• Positive emotions are pleasant responses to our
environment (or our own internal dialogue) that are
more complex and targeted than simple sensations
(if an emotion discourages and drags you down,
then it’s most likely a negative emotion).
• Although negative emotions are not pleasant to
experience, they really are necessary for a healthy
life.
This is true for two big reasons:
1. Negative emotions give us a counterpoint to
positive emotions; without the negative, would the
positive emotions still feel as good?
2. Negative emotions serve evolutionary purposes,
encouraging us to act in ways that boost our
chances of survival and help us grow and develop
as people.
Role of Positive Emotions
• They can increase our performance on a cognitive
task by lifting our spirits without distracting us like
negative
do (Iordan & Dolcos, 2017).
• Positive emotions can trigger the reward pathways
in brain, contributing to lower levels of a stress
hormone and greater well-being (Ricard, Lutz, &
Davidson, 2014).
• Positive emotions may help us broaden our
horizons and widen our brain’s scope of focus.
Self-Efficacy
- A person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a
particular situation.
4 Ways to Achieve Self-Efficacy
1. Mastery of Experience
4. Psychological Responses
Self-Esteem
• Avoid dwelling on the past and focus on the
present moment.
• Believe you are equal to everyone else, no better
and no worse.
• Reject the attempts of others to manipulate you.
• Recognize and accept a wide range of feelings,
both positive and negative, and share them within
your healthy relationships.
• Enjoy a healthy balance of work, play, and
relaxation.
• Accept challenges and take risks in order to grow,
and learn from your mistakes when you fail.
• Handle criticism without taking it personally, with
the knowledge that you are learning and growing
and that your worth is not dependent on the
opinions of others.
• Value yourself and communicate well with others,
without fear of expressing your likes, dislikes, and
feelings.
• Value others and accept them as they are without
trying to change them
Martin Seligman expressed in 2006
“I am not against self-esteem, but I believe that self-
esteem is just a meter that reads out the state of the
system. It is not an end in itself. When you are
doing well in school or work, when you are doing
well with the people you love, when you are doing
well in play, the meter will register high. When you
are doing badly, it will register low.”
Positive emotions have a wide range of effects on
cognitive processes. Many previous studies have
found that people who experience positive emotions
exhibit unusual, flexible, creative, integrated,
information-open-minded, and effective thinking
patterns.
Positive emotions definitely play an integral part in
our sense of subjective happiness, life satisfaction,
improved immunity, career success and overall
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health and well-being. One word of caution, though,
is to not over exaggerate the role of positive
emotions.
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L7: ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES When arousal is too high or low, it is more difficult
for individuals to be successful at paying attention.
Attention is the process that regulates states of  TASK DIFFICULTY
consciousness by admitting or denying admission to When a task is too easy, it can lead to boredom,
various contents into consciousness. which can result in a lack of attention. When a task
Ideas, feelings, wishes or sensations can appear in is too difficult, it can lead to frustration and
consciousness and therefore become real to person overwhelming feelings.
only when attention is turned to them.  SKILL
When an activity aligns with an individual's skills,
"Attention is the taking possession by the mind, in they are more likely to stay engaged and attentive.
clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem
several simultaneously possible objects or trains of MEDITATION
thought. Focalization, concentration, of Is a practice in which an individual uses a
consciousness are of its essence.“ –William James technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the
mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to
ATTENTION - the means by which we actively train attention and awareness, and achieve a
select and process a limited amount of information mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable
from all of the information captured by our senses, state.
our stored memories, and our other cognitive It offers individuals a means to connect with their
processes. inner selves, gain perspective on their thoughts and
Through attentional processes, we filter out the emotions, and achieve a profound sense of
information that is relevant to us and that we want tranquility.
to attend to.
THE OVERALL ASPECT OF MEDITATION
TWO MAIN FUNCTIONS OF ATTENTION What is the reason why we practice meditation?

 SELECTIVE ATTENTION 1. UNDERSTANDING YOUR PAIN

Choosing to attend to some stimuli and ignore
others.
Focusing our attention helps us execute other
cognitive processes, such as verbal comprehension
or problem solving.
 DIVIDED ATTENTION
Engage in more than one task at a time, and shift
our attentional resources to allocate them as needed.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO
PAY ATTENTION
 ANXIETY
Anxious individuals may be hyperalert to potential
threats. This can cause them to frequently shift their
attention.
 AROUSAL
2. LOWER YOUR STRESS
3. CONNECT BETTER
4. IMPROVE FOCUS
5. REDUCE BRAIN CHATTER
ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES IN POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
 MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness originates in ancient Buddhist
practices from over 2,500 years ago.
In the Buddhist framework, mindfulness is one of
several qualities of mind that is exercised in order to
ultimately achieve “awakening” or
“enlightenment”, a state in which one experiences
physical and emotional pain without suffering.
According to John Kabat-Zinn (1994), Mindfulness
is “the awareness that arises through paying
attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-
judgmentally. ”
According to Buddhism, Sati is considered to be the
first step towards enlightenment.
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• Sati, literally means "memory" or "retention". It is development of “generosity, ethical virtue, courage,
commonly translated as mindfulness, "to remember
to observe, " and is an essential part of the Buddhist (Fronsdal, 2006).
practice.
• Mindfulness provided the way to liberation, by
paying attention to sensory experience, preventing
the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions.
In the later tradition, mindfulness is defined as an
antidote to delusion, and is considered as such one
of the 'powers' that contribute to the attainment of
nirvana.
Mindfulness practice is being employed in
psychology to alleviate a variety of mental and
physical conditions, including obsessive-
compulsive disorder, anxiety, and in the prevention
of relapse
By engaging in meditation and mindfulness, we are
encouraging our minds to become more present,
actively creating conditions that help us observe
when we get distracted, what gets us distracted, and
then return to the object of focus. The Theory of
Flow Experiences combines the two concepts.
Purposes of mindfulness meditation in its
Buddhist context
1. Knowing the mind
One of Buddha’s teachings is that as humans, we
create suffering and problems in our own minds. It
is believed that our sense of ‘self’, or who we are, is
heavily influenced by activities such as ego-
centrism, attachment, and discrimination.
When we practice reflection without judgment, we
can discover more about our motivations, our
feelings, and reactions, and become more meta-
aware (Fronsdal, 2004; Dharmanet.org, 2019). That
is, we can even become attuned to what we’re
thinking about, with an overarching focus on
‘knowing’, rather than judgment
2. Training the mind
This awareness is part of having the powerful
ability to train and shape our minds. When we
become more ‘knowing’ about our thoughts,
feelings, and motivations, amongst other things, we
can explore ways to be “kinder, more forgiving and
spacious with ourselves”.
We can foster the capacity to be more relaxed in
spite of what’s occurring around us, cultivate the
discernment, and the capacity to release clinging”
3. Freeing the mind
Freeing your mind is based on the ‘capacity to
release clinging’. Non-judgment is a large part of
Buddhist philosophy, and the third purpose is to
practice it with yourself.
We detach from non-beneficial thoughts and
practices that we’re clinging to, such as anger,
judgment, and other ‘visiting defilements’
(Goldstein, 1995; Sanivarapu, 2016). This helps us
see clearly, to let unwanted emotions pass through,
and remain relaxed while opening ourselves to more
of what is positive.
In psychology, mindfulness is awareness, means to
pay attention in a particular way – on purpose, in
the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.
Many qualities are developed alongside
mindfulness practice as well as some constructs that
are natural outcomes of mindfulness practice like
patience, wisdom and compassion.
Mindfulness practice involves sustaining and
shifting attention (focusing and refocusing on the
present experience when the mind wanders).
When we are being mindful we are taking control of
what we focus on – we are controlling our attention
(self-regulation).
In mindfulness practice, there is a level of activity
with our attention. As we attend to our present
moment – whether this is to be an emotion, a
thought, a belief, an impulse, a sensation, or to
something in our surrounding environment – we
approach it with an open and accepting attitude
(curiosity).
How do we practice mindfulness?
• To cultivate awareness, we must observe our
thoughts and emotions and explore why those
specific ideas might be surfacing.
• To cultivate acceptance, avoid judging or pushing
away unpleasant thoughts. Emotions are natural and
everyone has them— acknowledging them can help
us understand yourself better and move forward.
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• Any time we bring our attention to the present ABOUT MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI
moment with curiosity, openness, and/or • Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian-
acceptance, then we are practicing mindfulness. American psychologist.
• He recently died last October 20, 2021. • Through
There are practical distinctions of practicing his research he began to understand that people
mindfulness formally and informally. Both are were their most creative, productive, and happy
crucial in the development in the development of when they are in a state of flow.
any mindfulness practice.
• Formal: some people practice mindfulness  FLOW
meditation for a certain amount of time each day. It Flow is an optimal psychological state that people
is a formal practice when one carves out part of experience when engaged in an activity that is both
daily living to practice mindfulness. appropriately challenging to one’s skill level, often
• (e.g.2 x/day for 15 minutes or every morning resulting in immersion and concentrated focus on a
(9:00-9:30AM). task. Let us dig deeper into this concept.
• The most common form of mindfulness is
concentrating on one’s breathing while sitting. — Skill must be at par with the challenges.

• Informal: means to use it when you need it. When
one is stressed, anxious, depressed, overwhelmed,
or helpless, informal practice suggests the
individual take a moment to slow down, to pause
and just be with the discomfort. The individual
focuses on breathing and becoming aware of his or
her body, thoughts, emotions, behavior, and
environment in the present moment.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive,
receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments
usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched
to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish
something difficult and worthwhile”
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)

• In-the-Moment: this form of practice means to

purposefully thread mindfulness into daily activities
like, practice returning your attention to the present
moment whenever mind wanders off, doing one
thing at a time whenever possible (multi-tasking can
lead to mindlessness), pay full attention to whatever
is being done at present and practice “being” while
you are eating, driving, talking, listening, working,
praying, etc.
• Cued: to set up external cues to bring oneself back
to the present moment. One’s autopilot mind and
busy lifestyle make it easy to lose one’s
mindfulness. Environmental cues act as triggers to
remind oneself to be open and curious to what is
going on around oneself.
There are many positive outcomes that result from
developing and practicing mindfulness.
Mindfulness promotes wellbeing, improves working
memory, acts as a buffer against the depressive
symptoms, help make better use of your strengths,
raise happiness set-point, make us more resilient,
and mindfulness shrinks the stress region in our
brain.
Csikszentmihalyi describes eight characteristics
of flow:
1. Complete concentration on the task;
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and
immediate feedback;
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing
down);
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
5. Effortlessness and ease;
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills;
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-
conscious rumination;
8. There is a feeling of control over the task.
SO HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THE FLOW
STATE?
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First, there should be a balance between the level of
skill and the size of the challenge at hand.
Second, the task has to be active and engaging.
Third, the activity has to have clear parameters for
success.
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI DESCRIBES EIGHT
CHARACTERISTICS OF FLOW:
A Challenging Activity that Requires Skills
Optimal experiences are reported to occur within
sequences of activities that are goaldirected and
bounded by rules--activities that require the
investment of psychic energy (attention) and that
could not be done without skills.
The Merging of Action and Awareness
One of the most universal and distinctive features of FLOW SHORT SCALE
optimal experience is the people become so
involved in what they are doing that the activity
becomes spontaneous, almost automatic; they stop
being aware of themselves as separate from the
actions they are performing. It often requires
strenuous physical exertion, or highly disciplined
mental activity to enter a continuous flow.
Clear Goals and Feedback
Unless a person learns to set goals and to recognize
and gauge feedback in their activities, she will not
enjoy them. For activities that are creative or
openended in nature, a person must develop a
strong sense of what she intends to do or negotiate
goals and rules during the activity. These goals and
rules provide benchmarks for feedback.
Concentration on the Task at Hand
One of the most frequently mentioned dimensions
of the flow experience is that, while it lasts, one is quickly. An artist might spend hours working on a
able to forget all the unpleasant aspects of life. The painting, and emerge with a great deal of progress
task requires such concentration that only a very
select range of information can be allowed into
awareness.
The Paradox of Control
The flow experience is typically described as
involving a sense of control--or more precisely, as
lacking the sense of worry about losing control that
is typical in many situations of normal life. What
people enjoy is not the sense of being in control, but
the sense of exercising control in difficult situations.
The Loss of Self-Consciousness
When in a flow experience, what slips below the
threshold of awareness is the concept of self, the
information we use to represent to ourselves who
we are. And being able to forget temporarily who
we are seems to be very enjoyable. Loss of self-
consciousness can lead to self-transcendence, to a
feeling that the boundaries of our being have been
pushed forward.
The Transformation of Time
One of the most common descriptions of optimal
experience is that time no longer seems to pass the
way it ordinarily does. Generally, after the
experience we do not know where the time went;
however, during the actual experience, time seems
to stand still.
The Flow Short Scale (FSS) consists of 13 items. In
which ten items measure flow experience. These
items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale with "not at
all" and "very much" as the endpoints. The Flow
Short Scale demonstrated internal consistency
reliability.
AUTOTELIC PERSONALITY
The concept of the autotelic personality is often
used to account for different peoples’ diverse
capacities to experience flow at work or in general.
Autotelic personality is the tendency of individuals
to engage in activities for reasons related to intrinsic
motivation.
EXAMPLES OF FLOW IN EVERYDAY LIFE
A writer experiencing a state of flow may become
so immersed in their work that time passes without
them even noticing. The words flow easily and
and a sense that time flew by quickly
L8: INTERPERSONAL ASPECTS OF
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY:
ALTRUISM AND PROSOCIAL
BEHAVIOR
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•Positive psychology is the scientific study and
practice of what enables individuals and groups to
thrive.
• Positive psychologists emphasize the significant
impact social relationships have on our well-being.
Identifying the conditions necessary for human
flourishing depends in part on the perspective one
chooses to take.
• One can take the perspective of an average person
and ask, ‘what is necessary for an individual to
flourish?’ • Alternatively, one can take the
perspective of a community or a society composed
of many persons and ask, ‘what is necessary for a
community to flourish?’
INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE
• the necessity of finding meaning in life as a
fundamental personal need • is associated with
greater longevity, better physical health, and
reduced depression and anxiety
COMMUNAL PERSPECTIVE
• highlights the necessity of prosocial behavior as a
fundamental communal need
• Prosocial behavior is critical for creating the trust the surrounding community or society at large.
and cooperation necessary to sustain impersonal and
complex societies and markets.
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
• refers to "voluntary actions that are intended to
help or benefit another individual or group of
individuals“
• These behaviors include a broad range of
activities: sharing, comforting, rescuing, and
helping.
Reasons to predict that helping others can
increase a sense of meaning in life
• Helping other people can increase self-worth
because prosocial behavior is universally admired
and valued.
• Helping other people is a way for helpers to gain
social acceptance and build a positive reputation,
which in turn increase helpers’ social status in their
communities.
• Helping another person is one of the most basic
ways to establish and reinforce social connection.
• Therefore, helping may increase meaningfulness
by increasing the sense of connection to others
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
• is a social behavior that "benefit/s other people or
society as a whole", "such as helping, sharing,
donating, co-operating, and volunteering".
• Obeying the rules and conforming to socially
accepted behaviors are also regarded as prosocial
behaviors.
• Prosocial behavior may also be motivated by
altruism.
• Altruism is people’s desire to help others even if
the costs outweigh the benefits of helping.
• people acting in altruistic ways may disregard
the personal costs associated with helping
Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on
empathy.
• Empathy is the capacity to understand another
person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels.
• An empathetic person makes an emotional
connection with others and feels compelled to help.
THREE TYPES OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
 PROACTIVE
These actions are intended to serve one's own
interests while also contributing to the betterment of
 REACTIVE
These actions are intended to serve as a response to
a person in need.
 ALTRUISTIC
- without any personal gain
- these are actions that does not have any desire for
personal gain, not because of obligation, not
because of religion - but to simply help.
Things that predict whether people will help others:
 Kin Selection
• Kin selection is an evolutionary concept that says
that people will help others who are related to them,
even at a cost to themselves.
• studies have shown that people feel more
protective of and connected to the people related to
them - the closer the relation, the stronger the
feeling
 Norm of Reciprocity
• suggests that when people do something helpful
for someone else, that person feels compelled to
help out in return
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• prosocial behavior is the “social glue” that enables • People are generally much more likely to act
people of different ages to live together peacefully
and productively.
Reasons why people engage in Prosocial Behavior:
Individuals can be compelled to act prosocially
based on learning and socialization during
childhood.
• Operant conditioning and social learning
positively reinforces discrete instances of prosocial
behaviors.
• Cognitive capacities like intelligence for example,
are almost always related to prosocial likings.
• Helping skills and a habitual motivation to help
others is therefore socialized, and reinforced as
children understand why helping skills should be
used to help others around them.
Social and individual standards and ideals also
motivate individuals to engage in prosocial
behavior.
• Social responsibility norms, and social reciprocity
norms reinforce those who act prosocially.
• The correlation between a helper's state and
helping tendencies are greatly restricted to the
relationship between whomever takes part in the
situation.
Emotional arousal is an additional important
motivator for prosocial behavior in general.
• Feeling empathy towards the individual needing
aid increases the likelihood that the aid will be
given.
• This empathy is called "empathetic concern" for
the other individual, and is characterized by feelings
of tenderness, compassion, and sympathy.
Agreeableness is thought to be the personality trait
most associated with inherent prosocial motivation.
• Prosocial thoughts and feelings may be defined as
a sense of responsibility for other individuals, and a
higher likelihood of experiencing empathy both
affectively (emotionally) and cognitively.
• These prosocial thoughts and feelings correlate
with dispositional empathy and dispositional
agreeableness. Reasons why people engage in
Prosocial Behavior • Culture, sex, and religion are
important factors to consider in understanding
prosocial behavior on an individual and group level.
prosocially in a public setting rather than in a
private setting.
Prosocial Behavior vs Altruism
• Altruism is sometimes seen as a form of prosocial
behavior, but some experts suggest that there are
actually different concepts. While prosocial
behavior is seen as a type of helping behavior that
ultimately confers some benefits to the self,
altruism is viewed as a pure form of helping
motivated purely out of concern for the individual
in need.
Prosocial behavior is an action in which is carried
out to help someone in need, with the intention of
an internal or external reward.
Selfishness may be involved in prosocial behavior
People with altruism, will never ever demand
anything in return for what they do for others and
put their whole selves in the betterment and well-
being at no cost.
Altruism is always associated with selflessness.
Psychological benefits of helping others
• the most obvious benefit helpers receive is a boost
to their reputation in the eyes of others
• helping others is viewed positively, helpers can
expect to be rewarded with social approval and
goodwill
• psychological benefits that are mostly hedonic in
nature, increasing positive emotion and decreasing
negative emotion
• reduce sadness associated with seeing another
person in need of help
• may also drive motivation to engage in such
behavior, thereby reinforcing a positive cycle that
builds both prosocial behavior and health and well-
being
• creates the cooperation and trust necessary to
sustain communities and societies.
Situational Influences on Prosocial Behavior:
Characteristics of the situation can also have a
powerful impact on whether or not people engage in
prosocial actions.
• The bystander effect is one of the most notable
examples of how the situation can impact helping
behaviors.
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• The bystander effect refers to the tendency for balances competing desires, needs, and life
people to become less likely to assist a person in domains.
distress when there are a number of other people
also present. The three pillars that constitute the overarching
process of psychological flexibility are as follows
L9: ROLE OF FLEXIBILITY AND (Harris, 2009): (1) open up with acceptance and
COMPLEXITY TO WELLBEING defusion, (2) be present with contact to the present
moment and self-as-context, and (3) do what
matters with value clarity and committed action.
An essential component of achieving, restoring, and
sustaining psychological well-being is the ability to
(1) open up with acceptance and defusion,
adapt to the challenges and obstacles of life.
Acceptance originally means an “action of taking or
receiving what is offered.” It is often misunderstood
Psychological flexibility is a cornerstone of healthy
as passive tolerance or resignation. Instead,
personal and social functioning.
acceptance refers to actions entailing a choice and
It is also the capacity for being in contact with the
thus willingness.
present and acting on long-term goals rather than
Defusion identifies the content of inner experiences
shortterm urges.
as such and not as the truth. Defusion is the
opposite of fusion. Fusion is when a person
As these skills flourish, people become more
identifies oneself with the content of thoughts,
versatile and more adept at committing finite
feelings, and memories.
attention and energy to meaningful interests and
values.
(2) be present with contact to the present
Psychological flexibility is the ability to stay in
moment and self-as-context
contact with the present moment regardless of
Self-as-context is opposite to self-as-content.
unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations,
Instead of identifying oneself with the changing
while choosing one's behaviors based on the
content of one's thoughts, feelings, and bodily
situation and personal values.
sensations, self-ascontext is the experience that you
are not the content of your thoughts, but the one
CHARACTERISTICS OF FLEXIBILITY
experiencing it. Therefore, it is more a constant
- Being Present
sense of selfcontaining the flux of thoughts,
- Openness
feelings, and sensations.
- Acceptance
(3) do what matters with value clarity and
EXAMPLES OF FLEXIBILITY
committed action
- Accepting difficult emotions
Values clarify what is most important for a person
- Managing intense emotions
and creates a direction in life. Therefore, values
- Finding fulfillment
guide and motivate actions but are superior to
concrete goals, because values cannot be reached
HOW DO YOU STAY MENTALLY
like a goal.
FLEXIBLE
Committed action is a concrete step or action
- Practice Mindfulness
toward a goal guided by the values. Committed
- Acknowledge your thoughts
action underlines the willingness to carry through
- Consider other perspectives
even though there may be unpleasant experiences
- Built a growth mindset
such as anxiety, thoughts, feelings, and bodily
sensations.
Psychological flexibility actually refers to a number
of dynamic processes that unfold over time.
INTERPERSONAL FLEXIBILITY
This could be reflected by how a person: (1) adapts
Interpersonal behavior, defined as behavior related
to fluctuating situational demands, (2) reconfigures
in some fashion to another human being, has been
mental resources, (3) shifts perspective, and (4)
called the most important dimension of personality.
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Individuals whose interpersonal responses are stable describe someone—for example, fat—and from a
but flexible are able to make a better or more
effective adjustment to changing
environmental/social demands.
There are two dimensions within the general
context of interpersonal flexibility.
First, individuals who are interpersonally flexible
must have a variety of responses in their behavioral directly observe anxiety.
repertoire. Additionally, they must be able to
choose the most appropriate and effective
behavioral response for their current situation.
INTRAPERSONAL FLEXIBILITY
- Intrapersonal skills are talents or abilities that understand the perspectives of others, demonstrate
reside within the individual and aid him or her in
problem solving.
- Intrapersonal skills are all about self-awareness
and controlling your own internal attitudes and
inner processes.
- Your intrapersonal skills form the foundation on
which you build your relationships with others
because they help you more easily navigate your
interpersonal relationships.
- When you have strong intrapersonal skills, you
take personal responsibility for your own feelings
and emotions.
- You learn how to focus your attention, set
priorities and goals, and engage in purposeful
thinking and problem-solving.
- When something goes differently than you expect,
you know how to respond with a thoughtful,
intentional strategy to achieve a positive outcome.
PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY
- Is presented as a potentially unifying concept in
the study of behavior. It is assumed to be
isomorphic with neural process complexity, and
distinguished from "stimulus complexity". While
obscure from a measurement viewpoint, such as
drive and habit are, it is offered as a research
strategy from which new insights into the traditional develop through processes of generalization and
and well-worked area of learning are anticipated
INTERPERSONAL COMPLEXITY
- Interpersonal cognitive complexity refers to the
number of psychological constructs that people use
to describe others.
- A psychological construct—for example, friendly
—is distinguished from a physical construct used to
behavioral description—for example, talks fast.
- Intelligence, motivation, anxiety, and fear are all
examples of constructs. In psychology, a construct
is a skill, attribute, or ability that is based on one or
more established theories.
- You can tell someone is anxious if they are
trembling, sweating, and restless, but you cannot
- People who use more psychological constructs to
describe others are said to have more differentiated
perceptions of others.
- People with higher levels of interpersonal
cognitive complexity have more ability to
more empathy, make more situational attributions,
and are able to generate more potential explanations
for others' behaviors
- People who perceived more complexity in others
were more likely to judge them moderately—that is,
neither extremely negatively nor extremely
positively.
- Individuals with higher levels of social identity
complexity—that is, people who perceived
themselves to be members of a wide variety of
groups—were more tolerant of “outgroup”
members than were people with lower levels of
social identity complexity—that is, people who
perceived themselves as members of relatively few
groups.
INTRAPERSONAL COMPLEXITY
- To psychology, complexity defines a boundary of
what is perceivable, knowable and expressible.
- The definition of self-complexity begins with the
recognition that the self is not unitary, but instead
comprises multiple “self-aspects,” which may
include social roles, relationships, physical features,
types of activities, and goals.
- Each of these self-aspects includes (or is
associated with) one or several attributes—
typically, traits. Self-complexity is thought to
discrimination.
- The more one experiences varied roles,
relationships, and situations, the more differentiated
those selfaspects become. Increased differentiation
is thought to allow more efficient processing of self-
relevant information, more effective discrimination
among the various demands of one’s roles and
situations, and quicker and more appropriate
responses to those demands.
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- Interpersonal wellness means having healthy
relationships with self and others to promote a
healthy community.
- Relationships look different for different people,
but the skills in healthy interpersonal wellness can
apply to all types of relationships.
- Interpersonal Wellness involves cultivating
relationships and a social support network made up
of friends, family, and colleagues. This aspect of
your wellbeing focuses on whether your
relationships (whether professional, social, familial, same goal for different reasons
or romantic) are positive, supportive, nurturing and
healthy.
- Interpersonal wellness supports the development
of fulfilling connections with others and emotional
resilience in challenging times.
- Intrapersonal skills are needed for leading our
three subsystems in an optimal manner: emotions,
thoughts, and awareness.
- To create a meaningful life, enhance productivity
and nurture happiness, these three subsystems need
to work in seamless cooperation together along with
the physical body.
- Self-awareness forms the basis of all intra-
personal skills.
- Using intrapersonal skills, we can help us to
replace our subconscious automatic reactions with
more conscious decision making, choosing how we
respond adequately.
- By becoming more aware of our own inner
construct and learning and practicing intrapersonal
skills can prevent problems before they arise and
lead us to better overall mental wellness.
Individuals may pursue a goal for several reasons.
- Goals pursued for identified or intrinsic reasons
represent autonomous motives because they
emanate from self-choices that reflect deeply held
personal values, whereas goals pursued for extrinsic
or introjected reasons represent controlled motives
because they emanate from forces outside the self to
which the person does not give full assent. In self-
concordance research, goals are not objectively
classifiable. Rather, two individuals may pursue the
How can self-concordant goals be encouraged?
• Develop self-insight and trust intuition.
• Develop and maintain positive self-regard.
• Become more proactive.
• Identify need-satisfying domain.
• The "upward spiral".
Upward Spiral
ACCOMPLISHMENT
- A sense of accomplishment is a result of working
toward and reaching goals, mastering an endeavor,
and having self-motivation to finish what you set
out to do. This contributes to wellbeing because

L10: ACHIEVEMENTS AND

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

- Accomplishment/Achievement is described as a
way of reflecting on the attempts of doing
individuals can look at their lives with a sense of
something, and the degree in which it provides a
pride (Seligman, 2012)
positive sense of accomplishment or achievement.
- Accomplishment includes the concepts of
-Individuals who possess goals and plans that are
perseverance and having a passion to attain goals.
self-concordant achieve higher levels of goal
But flourishing and wellbeing come when
progress and attainment than those with discordant
accomplishment is tied to striving toward things
goals.
with an internal motivation or working toward
- Those who engage in self-concordant pursuits
something just for the sake of the pursuit and
enjoy a greater sense of well-being, alongside
improvement (Quinn, 2018).
increased openness to experience, positive affect,
empathy, vitality, and self-actualization.
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
ACCOMPLISHMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT
 ACCOMPLISHMENT
Accomplishment is found in the successes that
create positive end results for more than one person.
It aligns itself as a more selfless measure of success Believing your qualities is carved in stone
in working towards a goal greater than an
individual.
These are the accomplishments that make us feel
good about ourselves because they benefit others,
such as doctors who find new treatments for illness.
It was beneficial for him as well as the others
around him. Because you made a significant
contribution and you are satisfied about what you
did.
- A person doing something that benefits others and
the world outside them.
- successful completion of a goal (Satisfaction) =
sense of pride
- for the sake of thyself and others
- describes internally motivated goal (instrisic goal) ● Passion – passionate people have a deep sense of
 ACHIEVEMENT
- Achievement, on the other hand, refers to a
specific accomplishment that is recognized or
valued by others. It is often associated with external alter one’s own behavior, including one’s thoughts,
validation.
- A person doing something that principally benefits
only them
- highly personal (subjective)
- leads to rewards or progress (tangible outcomes =
tangible evidence)
- typically measures an externally imposed standard
GRIT
•Grit is passion and sustained persistence applied
toward long-term achievement, with no particular
concern for rewards or recognition along the way.
• Grit is associated with perseverance, resilience,
ambition, and the need for achievement. It involves
maintaining goal focused effort for extended
periods of time.
• The ability to stick with and pursue a goal over a
long period is an important indicator of achieving
anything worthwhile in life.
• Grit is a better indicator of success than talent. No environment .
matter how talented you think you are, if you don’t
put in the work, it will amount to nothing.
It combines resilience, ambition, and self-control in
the pursuit of goals that take months, years, or even
decades. •Grit requires sacrifice, we need to
embrace the challenge.
THE GROWTH MINDSET
 FIXED MINDSET
 GROWTH MINDSET
Is the belief that your basic qualities are things you
can cultivate through your efforts.
GRITSOME COMMON CHARACTERISTICS
OF GRIT
● Courage – courage to take chances, to follow
your vision, to stand up for what you believe in
● Conscientiousness – being careful, diligent,
organized
● Perseverance – continued steady belief or efforts
in spite of opposition
● Resilience – being able to recover quickly from
difficulties
purpose and are goal-driven
SELF-REGULATION
- Self-regulation can be defined as the ability to
feelings, actions, and other responses.
- To put self-regulation in context, it is useful to
step back for a moment and realize how far
psychology came working with stimulus-response
models.
- A great deal of human and animal behavior is,
indeed, simply responses to stimuli. What stimulus-
response theories miss, however, is the possibility
of altering one’s response.
- Human beings have a remarkably powerful ability
to prevent themselves from responding to a stimulus
in the normal or natural way.
- Someone who has good emotional self-regulation
has the ability to keep their emotions in check. They
can resist impulsive behaviors that might worsen
their situation, and they can cheer themselves up
when they’re feeling down. They have a flexible
range of emotional and behavioral responses that
are well matched to the demands of their
Four components interact to determine our self-
regulatory activity at any given moment
• Standards of desirable behavior;
• Motivation to meet standards;
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• Monitoring of situations and thoughts that precede
breaking standards;
• Willpower allowing one’s internal strength to
control urges
Self-regulation is a continuously active process in
which we: (Albert Bandura)
• Monitor our own behavior, the influences on our
behavior, and the consequences of our behavior;
• Judge our behavior in relation to our own personal
standards and broader, more contextual standards;
• React to our own behavior
Those who successfully display self-regulation in
their everyday behavior enjoy greater well-being.
On the other hand, those who suppressed their
feelings instead of addressing them head-on
experienced lower well-being, including greater
loneliness, more negative affect (i.e., bad feelings), setting comes with a positive reward and brings a
and worse psychological health overall
Ways on how we can improve self-regulation
• Living and Leading with Integrity
• Being Open to Change
• Identifying Your Triggers
• Practicing Self-Discipline
• Reframing Negative Thoughts
• Keeping Calm Under Pressure
• Considering the Consequences
• Believing in Yourself
GOAL
Goals are the first step towards planning for the
future, and play a fundamental role in the
development of skills in various facets of life, from
work to relationships and everything in between.
They are the target at which we aim our proverbial
arrow
GOAL SETTING
Goal setting is the process by which we achieve
these goals. The importance of the goal-setting
process should not go unappreciated. According to
Lock (2019) “Every person’s life depends on the
process of choosing goals to pursue; if you remain
passive you are not going to thrive as a human
being.”
KEY PRINCIPLES OF GOAL SETTING
- Commitment
- Clarity
- Challenging
- Task Complexity
- Feedback
SMART GOALS
S (Specific) – They target a particular area of
functioning and focus on building it.
M (Measurable) - monitoring the progress after
executing the plans.
A (Attainable/Achievable) – The goals are targeted
to suitable people and are individualized. .
R (Realistic) – They are practical and planned in a
way that would be easy to implement in real life.
T (Time-bound) – An element of time makes the
goal more focused. It also provides a time frame
about task achievement.
E (Evaluative/ethical) – The interventions and
execution follow professional and personal ethics.
R (Rewarding) – The end-results of the goal-
feeling of accomplishment to the user
L11: APPLYING POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY: INTERVENTIONS
AND THE USE OF CHARACTER
STRENGTHS
• Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) are
designed to promote positivity in people’s everyday
life and by doing so they help them to cope with the
negative events and moods they might experience.
• PPIs can be divided into seven main categories: 1)
savoring, 2) gratitude, 3) kindness, 4) empathy, 5)
optimism, 6) strengths, and 7) meaning.
SAVORING
• The purpose of savoring is to focus attention and
awareness on a specific experience and in so doing,
prolong its pleasurable effects. •
The underlying principle of savoring is based on its
basic activities, which encourage individuals to
intentionally and deliberately process of all the parts
of an experience.
GRATITUDE
• Gratitude activities strive to evoke feeling of
gratitude towards someone or something outside of
oneself, which is responsible for creating positive
events or feelings in a person’s life.
KINDNESS
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• Kindness activities ask their participants to
perform deliberate acts of kindness towards other
people.
• Activities that promote kindness on a more • The 24 character strengths that Dr. Seligman
general level also enhance well-being. identified are divided into six classes of virtues.
• These six virtues include wisdom, courage,
EMPATHY humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.
• Empathy based activities intend to strengthen
social connections by promoting an understanding
within the relationship.
• Work on promoting empathy is closely tied with,
and can be used to promote, forgiveness.

OPTIMISM
• Optimism based activities ask people to think
about the future in a positive way and create
positive expectations.
• Optimism may significantly influence mental and
physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy
lifestyle as well as by adaptive behaviors and
cognitive responses, associated with greater
flexibility, problem-solving capacity and a more
efficient elaboration of negative information.

MEANING
• Meaning based PPIs are focused on understanding
what brings meaning to one’s life and often on
actions connected to enhancing or achieving this
meaning.

STRENGTH
• Strength in positive psychology refers to internal
capacities and values. “It is within yourself that you
will find the strength you need,”
• Character strengths are positive traits/capacities
that are personally fulfilling, do not diminish others,
universal and valued across cultures, and aligned
with numerous positive outcomes for oneself and
others.
• It is the wellsprings or mansions of the good life –
a life well-lived, and the basic building blocks of a
flourishing life.
• The 24 character strengths, as a group, are a
common language that describe what is best in
human beings.
• Everyone possesses all 24 character strengths in
different degrees, so each person has a truly unique
character strengths profile.
• Character is the aggregate of who we are; it’s
“what’s inside every one of us.
WISDOM
• Creativity: Thinking of new ways to do things
• Curiosity: Taking an interest in a wide variety of
topics
• Open-Mindedness: Examining things from all
sides; thinking things through
• Love of Learning: Mastering new topics, skills,
and bodies of research
• Perspective: Being able to provide wise counsel to
others; looking at the world in a way that makes
sense
COURAGE
• Honesty: Speaking the truth; being authentic and
genuine
• Bravery: Embracing challenges, difficulties, or
pain; not shrinking from threat
• Persistence: Finishing things once they are start
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• Zest/ Enthusiasm: Approaching all things in life
with energy and excitement

HUMANITY
• Kindness: Doing favors and good deeds
• Love: Valuing close relations with others
• Social Intelligence: Being aware of other people's
motives and feelings
JUSTICE
• Fairness: Treating all people the same •
Leadership: Organizing group activities and making
sure they happen
• Teamwork: Working well with others as a group
or a team

TEMPERANCE
• Forgiveness: Forgiving others who have wronged
them
• Modesty: Letting one's successes and
accomplishments stand on their own
• Prudence: Avoiding doing things they might
regret; making good choices
• Self-Regulation: Being disciplined; controlling
one's appetites and emotions

TRANSCENDENCE
• Appreciation of Beauty: Noticing and appreciating
beauty and excellence in everything
• Gratitude: Being thankful for the good things;
taking time to express thanks
• Hope: Expecting the best; working to make it
happen; believing good things are possible
• Humor: Making other people smile or laugh;
enjoying jokes
• Religiousness: Having a solid belief about a
higher purpose and meaning of life

Specific benefits of character strengths have been

linked with each of the main elements of well-
being: positive emotions, engagement, meaning,
positive relationships, and accomplishment.
They’ve been connected with many other benefits
that help us amplify the positive in our life, such as
self-acceptance, autonomy, goal progress, physical
health, passion, and resilience.
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L12: COPING IN POSITIVE experiences, it helps us to hold on steadfast in our
PSYCHOLOGY lives during the traumatic and stressful times, and it
serves us to guard ourselves from some serious
mental health issues as depression and suicide.
COPING
-is the conscious and unconscious efforts we put in
When we challenge our negative internal voice, as
to solve problems and reduce stress.
optimists do, we learn to see our defeats as
-is the mind’s built-in troubleshoot program that
temporary setbacks, believe they are not our faults,
aims to restore its optimum functioning state.
and interpret the difficult situations as challenges to
try harder.
In psychology, coping skills or coping strategies are
a set of adaptive tools that we proactively
We can pick up some resilience-building skills from
administer to avoid burnout.
the principles of learned optimism. These could be
These tools can be our thoughts, emotions, and
learning to break out of negative overthinking
actions and are dependent on our personality
cycles, guard ourselves against catastrophizing, and
patterns.
look for the bright side when faced with setbacks.
Positive coping has been defined as a response
Key Skills of Resilience ( according to Hurrell)
aimed at diminishing the physical, emotional, and
• Resilient people are autonomous
psychological burden that is linked to stressful life
• Resilient people have a realistic awareness of self
events and daily hassles.
• Resilient people are adaptable
Effective coping should reduce the burden of
• Resilient people are optimistic
challenges from short-term immediate stress
• Resilient people are pragmatic
contributes to the relief of longer-term stress by
• Resilient people are socially connected • Resilient
building resources that inhibit or buffer future
people demonstrate self-compassion
challenges.
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH (PTG)
RESILIENCE
• meaning growth after trauma
- the process of adapting well in the face of
• a psychological transformation that follows a
adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant
stressful/traumatic encounter
sources of stress
- PTG involves life-altering and favorable
- the ability to see yourself in the dark abyss of
psychological changes that can potentially change
failure, humiliation or depression and bounce back
the way we perceive the world.
not only to where you were before but to even
- It comes with a new understanding of life,
greater height of success, happiness, and inner
relationships, money, success, and health and
strength
greater spiritual connection.
- Post-traumatic growth goes beyond
- A resilient person works through challenges by
acknowledgment or acceptance. It entwines
using personal resources, strengths, and other
personal strength and self-dependence; and while
positive capacities of psychological capital like
the pain may still be hurting, we get a new way of
hope, optimism, and self-efficacy.
redirecting the pain to something useful for us.
- Being resilient is also positively associated with
- Post-traumatic growth can be both a process and
happiness.
an outcome.
- Resilience involves behaviors, thoughts and
- PTG as a process is initiated by an encounter with
actions that anyone can learn and develop.
highly challenging life events, prompted by an
- Focusing on four core components — connection,
initial challenge to one’s assumptive world or core
wellness, healthy thinking and meaning — can
beliefs, experiencing psychological struggle, coping
empower you to withstand and learn from difficult
with emotional distress and intrusive ruminations,
and traumatic experiences.
moving to deliberate or effortful ruminating about
what has happened, and eventually realizing the
Resilience enables us to develop strategies for
experience of PGT.
shielding ourselves against the catastrophic
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- This realization of PGT, that is the outcome, can
be understood to refer, broadly, to a cluster of
positive changes that result from a complex
combination of cognitive, emotional and social
processes. PTG is an outcome of these processes,
reflected in the permanency of changes that have
occurred.
Personal factors that contribute to positive
posttraumatic growth include: • Self-efficacy
• Emotional regulation
• Self-expression
• Confidence
• Radical self-acceptance
• Health
• Past experience
The environmental factors desirable for post-
traumatic growth are:
• Family
• Personal relationships
• Friends
• Colleagues
• Supervisors
• Teachers or guides
• Community • Financial resources
• Neighborhood
MEANING FOCUSED COPING
• which the person draws on his or her beliefs (e.g.,
religious, spiritual, or beliefs about justice), values giving or receiving a benefit from someone
(e.g., ‘‘mattering’’), and existential goals (e.g.,
purpose in life or guiding principles) to motivate
and sustain coping and well-being during a difficult
time
Meaning-based or Meaning-making coping
- is the key to positive emotions occurring at times
of great stress, enabling people to find value and
purpose in their experience and so manage the
situation.
Folkman described meaning-making coping as:
(a) using positive reappraisal, through which
individuals find meaning by interpreting the
situation in terms of deeply held values and beliefs;
(b) revising goals and planning goal-directed
problemfocused coping, which fosters meaning in
terms of a sense of purpose and control; and
(c) activating spiritual beliefs and experiences,
through which individuals find existential meaning’.
Meaning-focused Coping (Folkman)
• Benefit finding, involves seeking the benefits that
come out of misfortune, whether they be growth in
wisdom, patience, and competence, greater
appreciation for life, better sense of what really
matters, or stronger social relationships.
• Benefit reminding involves making an intentional
effort to recall previously found benefits.
• Adaptive goal processes involve reappraising
goals in the light of changed circumstances, giving
up goals that no longer work, and substituting new
goals that are valuable to the individual..
• Reordering priorities is a value-based process
where aspects of life move up or down the priority
ladder. Reordering priorities can be very stressful,
but it can also lead to a renewed sense of purpose.
Often it contributes to coping by narrowing focus to
those factors that matter most, allowing people to
let go of things that are no longer consequential.
• Infusing ordinary events with positive meaning in
order to experience positive emotion. The desire to
feel good takes on critical importance for
maintaining mental and physical well-being during
difficult times.
GRATITUDE
• is the human way of acknowledging the good
things of life
• a positive emotional response that we perceive on
• Gratitude in all forms is associated with happiness
Expressing gratitude not only to others but also to
ourselves, induces positive emotions, primarily
happiness. By producing feelings of pleasure and
contentment, gratitude impacts on our overall health
and well-being as well.
Positive or grateful reappraisal may play a role in
how gratitude helps individuals cope in a positive
way and ward off unwanted symptoms of trauma.
Positive reappraisal as construing an emotion-
eliciting situation in such a way that it adaptively
alters its emotional impact.
Gratitude may have a close relationship with
reappraisal, grateful reappraisal and its effects on
closure of negative emotion memories.
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Grateful reappraisal of unpleasant memories may
help individuals emotionally process trauma events,
thus bringing emotional closure to painful incidents.

Gratitude maximizes happiness in multiple ways,

and one reason is that it helps us reframe memories
of unpleasant events in a way that decreases their
unpleasant emotional impact.
This implies that grateful coping entails looking for
positive consequences of negative events.
Gratitude significantly impacts our body functions
and psychological conditions like stress, anxiety,
and depression.

Benefits of practicing gratitude

• Gratitude releases toxic emotions.
• Gratitude reduces pain.
• Gratitude improves sleep quality.
• Gratitude aids in stress regulation.
• Gratitude reduces anxiety and depression.