Positivity — the key to success!
I was recently introduced to the field of positive psychology last semester in my principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) class. It is a relatively new area of psychology started by Dr. Martin Seligman. Positive psychology’s basic theory is to focus on positive emotions and individual strengths in order to build stronger feelings of self worth and to achieve an overall greater amount of success and life satisfaction. The positive psychology institute defines this new field as “the scientific study of human flourishing, and an applied approach to optimal functioning. It has also been defined as the study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities and organizations to thrive” (What is positive psychology, 2012).
Rather than focusing on psychopathy and everything that could go wrong with people, positive psychology focuses on how to enhance individuals and help them flourish. You don’t need to be suffering from a psychological disorder to benefit from positive psychology. Many of the applications of positive psychology are quite commonsensical and simple, but can be extremely helpful! CBT techniques can be used to enhance well-being by focusing on areas such as positive emotions, gratitude, goal setting, character strengths, optimism, etc. I personally find the area of character strengths extremely interesting and seemingly useful. A common test is the VIA survey of character strengths. It is a self-report test consisting of 120 questions that scores individuals on 24 strengths and then ranks them from 1–24 (1 being strongest and 24 being weakest). There is an adult and child version of the test. I decided to take the adult version of the test to see how accurate it seems and to see if it might be at all helpful. From my point of view it seems extremely accurate as my top strengths and “weakest” strengths describe me perfectly. I ranked high on strengths such as forgiveness and mercy, kindness and generosity, humor and playfulness and low on strengths such as bravery and valor, spirituality, sense of purpose and faith, and love of learning.
Most of us are at a languishing to moderate level of mental health. But why are so few of us not flourishing? Positive psychology might be the answer to this. Implementing things like character strengths in schools and the workplace could have vast improvements in school/job performance and overall life satisfaction. For example, in schools, teachers can have students write about times when they performed at their very best and then have them re-read them looking for their character strengths within the narratives. This will help students become more aware of their strengths and how they used them successfully in the past, and therefore increase their likelihood of using them again in the future. Students can also be taught how to use and implement their strengths in new ways and in new situations. In workplaces employers can use character strengths to give each employee tasks that are best suited to their individual strengths. This could benefit not only the employees but also the workplace as a whole.
I really believe that using the VIA survey of character strengths test could be a great way to start helping people flourish beyond that moderate level of mental health. I think and hope that in the future positive psychology will become a bigger part of our lives resulting in an overall rise in life satisfaction and self-esteem and decline in the prevalence of mental disorders.
References:
What is positive psychology. (2012). Retrieved February 1, 2016, from http://www.positivepsychologyinstitute.com.au/what_is_positive_psychology.html
