POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: HISTORY, PRINCIPLES, THEORIES, APPLICATIONS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The positive psychology is a branch of the science of human behavior that focuses on understanding those aspects of life that make this worthwhile. Its main objective is to discover how to help people to be happy and lead a good existence. It is a mixture of science and art, and it can be applied both individually and throughout society.

Positive psychology was one of the branches that later emerged. The first mention of the term came in 1998, when Professor Martin Seligman chose this topic as the one he wanted to develop during his term as president of the American Psychological Association.

Martin Seligman, father of positive psychology. Source: Msananya

At first, positive psychology arose as a rejection of other older currents such as psychoanalysis or behaviorism. Traditional psychology had focused mainly on mental illness, in such a way that it placed the emphasis above all on negative thoughts, psychological problems, and difficulties in adjusting.

Seligman and the other positive psychologists wanted to change this paradigm and study the most positive aspects of human existence, with the aim of improving it as much as possible. Although initially based on humanistic psychology, he soon developed his own research and came to very novel conclusions that are still relevant today.

History

Origin

As we have already seen, positive psychology officially emerged in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose this topic as the one he wanted to develop while he was president of the APA, the world's leading psychology association. However, before this moment the most important concepts of the discipline had already been present in a multitude of related disciplines.

The very term "positive psychology" was first mentioned by Abraham Maslow, a leading humanistic psychologist, in the first edition of his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.

Abraham Maslow

However, during the following decades the focus of psychological research continued to be focused on mental illness and human problems, so the term never came to fruition.

However, with the arrival of Seligman to the presidency of the APA this began to change. In his book Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman claimed that the psychology of the last half century had been consumed by the study of mental illness, and he encouraged experts in this field to shift their focus toward improving everyday life and helping people people to reach their full potential.

Development

In 1999 the first positive psychology summit took place. Three years later, the First International Conference on Positive Psychology was held. From this moment on, the general public became increasingly interested in the discoveries on this subject, which were driven mainly by Seligman and his collaborators.

Although it had a rather cold reception at first, little by little the scientific world began to accept positive psychology as another branch of the study of human knowledge. Thus, Harvard University began teaching courses on this subject in 2006; and shortly after the IPPA was created, the first international organization focused on this area.

Influences

Although positive psychology is considered a totally independent branch of this science, there are other disciplines closely related to it that served as an influence for its development. One of the most important is humanistic psychology, which was of great importance during the first half of the 20th century.

Some of the most important authors of humanistic psychology were Erich Fromm, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow. All of them were concerned with investigating what elements could help the development of human happiness, and that people reach their maximum potential. These are also some of the main goals of positive psychology.

Erich fromm

However, humanistic psychology was not the only influence that the early positive psychologists had. Since the beginning of written history, many thinkers have reflected on human happiness and well-being, and many of their conclusions have been studied by this modern discipline.

For example, many experts consider that positive psychology combines discoveries from disciplines such as Eastern philosophy, Buddhism, Western classical philosophy, and some of the early branches of psychology.

Current situation

Despite not being one of the most studied branches at a professional level within the field of psychology, today positive psychology has achieved great popularity both among the general population and among many practitioners of this discipline. Its importance continues to grow year after year, mainly in the United States and Western Europe.

Principles of positive psychology

Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, two of the main proponents of this discipline, define positive psychology as the study of positive human functioning and its development on multiple levels.

From left to right: William Damon, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Howard Gardner

These would include biological, personal, institutional, cultural, relational and global elements, all of them necessary for the most optimal functioning of life.

Basic concepts

The most important concept within positive psychology is that of "eudaimonia", a term created by Aristotle that literally means "the good life." However, this does not necessarily have to do with happiness, but with living according to what is important and leading an existence as complete and fulfilled as possible.

Although there is no official definition of what it means to live according to eudaimonia, positive psychologists agree that to achieve this state the person must have the highest possible levels of happiness and meaning, while being committed to what They are doing.

For Seligman, the good life involves using personal strengths to produce satisfaction and gratification. In this video we can see him talking about happiness:

Main objectives

As we have already seen, positive psychology emerged as a complement to the more traditional branches of this discipline, which were mainly focused on the study of the most negative elements of the human experience. Thus, some of the most important themes for Seligman and his followers are happiness, self-esteem, satisfaction and values.

Thus, therapists specialized in this branch try to develop psychological interventions that help their patients to have more positive attitudes about what happens to them, to find their strengths and work on them, and in general to be more optimistic and lead an existence as satisfactory as possible.

Among the most important topics for positive psychologists are some such as positive emotions, empowering individual traits, and positive relationships and institutions. Others, such as the state of flow, individual values ​​or satisfactory relationships are also often studied within this discipline.

Theories

Because positive psychology is still a very new branch, there is no single theory that encompasses all the discoveries made by its researchers. However, some theories have been created that are considered the main ones within this sector. Next we will see which are the most important.

- The three ways to happiness

Personal relationships are important to feel happy

In his first book, Authentic Happiness, Seligman proposed the idea that there are three ways to achieve a state of happiness that may be worth investigating. These three paths are the pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life.

A pleasant life would involve savoring to the fullest the positive feelings and emotions that are normally part of a healthy lifestyle. This would include things like relationships, entertainment, hobbies, and self-interests. Despite the fact that many people focus on this topic, Seligman says that the happiness caused by these elements would be very short-lived and could be the least important.

On the other hand, the good life would have to do with the effects of states such as flow or immersion, which occur when the person is completely immersed in what they do on a regular basis. Participating mainly in activities that produce these states would generate a state of happiness much more lasting than that of a pleasant life.

Lastly, meaningful life would have to do with participating in something bigger than ourselves. Thus, people who chose this path would derive great satisfaction from contributing to society, participating in large group goals, or maintaining long-lasting and stable relationships.

- The theory of

One of the most important discoveries in positive psychology was that of the state of flow. This was originally described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Polish psychologist who was studying the effects of task difficulty on task experience.

Athletes can reach the flow state while practicing or competing

Csikszentmihalyi found that when we perform tasks that have great meaning to us and that challenge us but are not too complicated, we enter what he called the state of flow. In it, we lose track of time and obtain very high levels of satisfaction.

For many positive psychologists, experiencing the flow state on a regular basis is one of the keys to living a happy and worthwhile life.

- Virtues and strengths of character

In 2004, Seligman and Peterson attempted to create a list of the positive attributes and characteristics that human beings can present. His first attempt constitutes what is known as the "organization of the 6 virtues and 24 strengths," which soon became one of the most important theories in positive psychology.

Within this theory, 6 virtues are described that have been observed in most cultures that have appeared throughout history, and that are considered fundamental for the development of a good life, a state of happiness and positive results both at the individual and societal level.

The 6 virtues are as follows: knowledge / wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. In turn, each of these six virtues are divided into several specific character strengths, including some such as persistence, empathy, or self-control.

Applications

During the last two decades, the field of positive psychology has been expanding and making new discoveries related to how to live well and lead the most satisfying existence possible. For this reason, most of the applications in this field have to do with helping people and societies to achieve a state of well-being.

In this way, positive psychology can be used as a form of individual therapy, in which a psychologist accompanies a person and helps them find their own strengths, change their point of view, and face the difficulties of their day to day with a healthier outlook.

On the other hand, this field of psychology can also be used to conduct research on the changes that can be carried out at the social level with the aim of improving the well-being of all individuals belonging to a culture. In this way, positive psychology has a global scope of application, something that differentiates it from other currents.

Authors and their ideas

Many people have contributed to the development of positive psychology as a discipline. However, below we will see some of the main authors of this trend and their main contributions.

Martin Seligman

Seligman was the creator of positive psychology, and the main one in charge of advancing this discipline and popularizing it. That is why most of the ideas we find in this field come directly or indirectly from his work.

Among Seligman's most important contributions we find some such as the three ways to lead a pleasant life, the importance of values ​​and character strengths, or the need to change one's perspective to achieve the highest possible state of happiness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This Polish-born psychologist was in charge of developing the theory of flow, a state in which we lose track of time and find ourselves totally immersed in what we are doing. Csikszentmihalyi studied the conditions that have to exist for this state of mind to occur, and created a replicable model that allows us to experience it in our daily lives whenever we want.

Ed diener

Ed Diener, also known as "Doctor Happiness", is an American psychologist and one of Martin Seligman's main collaborators in his research on happiness and subjective well-being. His studies focus mainly on the influence of factors such as personality, educational level or economic well-being on happiness.

References

1. "What is Positive Psychology & Why is It Important?" in: Positive Psychology. Retrieved on: February 08, 2020 from Positive Psychology: positivepsychology.com.
2. What is Positive Psychology? A Definition + 3 Levels of Positive Psychology ”in: Positive Psychology UK. Retrieved on: February 08, 2020 from Positive Psychology UK: positivepsychology.org.uk.
3. "Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness" in: The Pursuit of Happiness. Retrieved on: February 08, 2020 from The Pursuit of Happiness: pursuit-of-happiness.org.
4. "Martin Seligman and Positive Psychology" in: The Mind Is Wonderful. Retrieved on: February 08, 2020 from La Mente Es Maravillosa: lamenteesmaravillosa.com.
5. "Positive Psychology" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: February 08, 2020 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.