An Introduction to Positive Psychology

An An An An Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction to Positive to Positive to Positive to Positive PsychologyPsychologyPsychologyPsychology

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One track mind?

� Psychology consumed with mental illness

� Describing and measuring depression, schizophrenia, addiction etc.

� Explanations for ‘disorders’ across the lifespan

� Genetics, biochemistry, psychological causes

� Emphasis on relieving the ‘pain’

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Progress at a price?

� Trying to relieve the states that makes life miserable instead of building the states that makes life worth living

� A shift from what is wrong to what is right (and fundamentally why it is right)

� From ‘fire-brigade’ psychology to ‘fire-proofing’ psychology

� Surviving crisis: how? Why?

� Strengths as well as weaknesses

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Global Gallop Poll

� Which would help you be more successful in your life -knowing what your weaknesses are and attempting to improve on them or knowing your strengths and building on them?

� 41% US, 38% UK, 24% Japan focused on weaknesses. No country focused on strengths.

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� From 2+ to 7+

� From -5 to -2

� How improved/better are you?

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Time has arrived for a science that seeks to understand positive emotion and strengths and offer us guideposts for the ‘good life’

New research into happiness shows that it can be lastingly increased

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Authentic Happiness?

� Comes from identifying and cultivating your most fundamental strengths and using them everyday in work, love, play, parenting etc

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3 Pillars of Positive Psychology

� STUDY OF POSITIVE EMOTION

� STUDY OF POSITIVE TRAITS - strengths, virtues, abilities (intelligence, athleticism)

� STUDY OF POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS

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Therapy?

� FROM THE DISEASE MODEL - helping people who present themselves for treatment once the problems have become unbearable

� Therapy usually too late - better to act when well, prevention, self-empowerment, education etc

� Prevention is massively effective

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Are there psychological interventions in youth that will prevent depression, schizophrenia and substance abuse in adulthood?

� YES

� Seligman: Teaching 10 year olds the skills of optimistic thinking and actions cuts their rates of depression in half in puberty

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� Prevention of mental illness by recognising and nurturing a set of strengths, competencies and virtues in young people such as future-mindedness, hope, faith, work ethic etc.

� Building strengths as a buffer

� Disease model focuses on deficits

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Positive Psychology

�The Study of Happiness

�When people are happy they are also mentally healthy

�Work: Are you happy in your job?

�Happier people are markedly more satisfied in their jobs than less happy people

�Research shows that happiness actually causes more productivity and higher incomes

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� One study (TOYOTA) 275 employees measured their positive emotion and followed their job performance over next 18 months.

� Happier people went on to get better evaluations and higher pay

� Happy people endure pain better and take more health and safety precaution when threatened

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Genetics?

� Approximately 50% of all personality traits are attributed to genetic inheritances

� But high hereditary link does not determine how unchangeable a trait is

� State of Drift

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SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

� Strengths ( integrity, valor, originality etc.) and talents (perfect pitch, facial beauty etc.) not to be confused with each other

� Strengths are moral traits

� Talents are non-moral

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Talents or Strengths?

�Talents tend not to be as ‘buildable’ as strengths

�Strengths can be built

�Talents more innate - you either have them or not

�Talents are relatively automatic (It’s C sharp v act of will (too much change in shop)

�Talents involve choice - whether to develop it or not, whether to use it or not

Jill was so smart. She wasted her intelligence

Jill was so kind. She wasted her kindness.Wali Memon16

Strengths can be acquired….

� Time

� Self-discovery and Self-potential

� Determination

� But talents cannot be acquired merely by an act of will

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The Signature Strengths

� WISDOM

� COURAGE

� HUMANITY

� JUSTICE

� TEMPERANCE

� TRANSCEDENCE

Several distinct routes to each of the six and these are measurable and acquirable strengths

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Strength

� Not once off kindness in one setting but seen across different situations and consistently over time

� Ubiquitous - across culture

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WISDOM

� Curiosity / interest in the world

� Love of learning

� Judgment / critical thinking / open-mindedness

� Ingenuity /originality / practical intelligence /street smart

� Social Intelligence / personal intelligence / emotional intelligence

� Perspective

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COURAGE

� Valor and bravery

� Perseverance industry/ diligence

� Integrity / genuineness / honesty

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HUMANITY

� Kindness / generosity

� Loving

� Allowing oneself to be loved

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JUSTICE

� Citizenship / Duty / Teamwork / Loyalty

� Fairness and Equity

� Leadership

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TEMPERANCE

� Self-control and discipline

� Prudence / discretion / caution

� Humility and modesty

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TRANSCEDENCE

� Appreciation of beauty and excellence

� Gratitude

� Hope, optimism, future mindedness

� Spirituality, sense of purpose, faith, religiousness

� Forgiveness and mercy

� Playfulness and humour

� Zest, passion and enthusiasm

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Work?

� Does my work have to be this unsatisfying?

� What can I do about it?

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Positive Psychology

� Work can be more satisfying

� Using your signature strengths at work more often

� Re-crafting your job to make it more satisfying

� Job Coaches - implications for placing clients in ‘work’ and in measuring clients’ satisfaction within work

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�To maximise job satisfaction we need to use our signature strengths and develop them more

�Strengths-based development

�Transforming a ‘token’ job to a ‘calling’

� ‘Calling’ is the most satisfying form of work because it is done for its own sake rather than for the material benefits

�Companies that promote this state will overtake companies that rely solely on monetary reward

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3 Kinds of Work Orientation

� Job: for the pay cheque, no other rewards sought, means to an end

� Career: deeper personal involvement, achievement marked through money/advancement / promotion brings more prestige, power, money (When opportunities close we start looking elsewhere)

� Calling: Passionate, fulfilling in its own right

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Positive Psychology says..

Any job can become a calling and any

calling can become a job.

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Implications for Job Coaches

� Matching clients to jobs

� Positive Psychology within assessment process

� Assessment of satisfaction within job

� Strengths-based development

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Positive Psychology Research shows……

� Strengths-based development linked to positive outcomes

� Direct relationship between strengths-based development and attendance, punctuality, productivity

� Linked to ‘Employee-Engagement’

� Studies of ‘State of Flow’

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People will be healthier and happier by

� By identifying and developing individual strengths.

� Ensuring sufficient levels of self-engagement are involved in the work setting

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