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The Science of Positive Psychology: Emerging Findings, Methods & Challenges Stewart I. Donaldson Claremont Graduate University 7 th European Conference on Positive Psychology Amsterdam, The Netherlands July 3, 2014

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The Science of Positive Psychology:

Emerging Findings, Methods & Challenges

Stewart I. Donaldson

Claremont Graduate University

7th European Conference on Positive Psychology

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

July 3, 2014

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Positive Psychology

APA Presidential Address 1998

Applied M.A. Program, University of Pennsylvania

2005

Research M.A. & Ph.D. Programs, Claremont

Graduate University 2007

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Positive Psychology

The Scientific Study of What

Enables Individuals,

Organizations, and

Communities to Thrive

-

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Vision

A SCIENCE of positive

subjective experience,

positive individual traits, and

positive institutions

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Application

Positive Psychology promises

to improve quality of life

and to prevent pathologies

that arise when life is

BARREN & MEANINGLESS

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An Addition Not a Replacement

The heavy focus of traditional

psychology on pathology is

amended with a positive model

of the human being and a new

research agenda on learning

what makes life worth living

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Focusing on the Right Tail of the

Normal Distribution

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Rapid Growth

1998 – APA Presidential Address

2000 – Special Issue: Happiness, Excellence, and Optimal Human Functioning

Professional Meetings Across the Globe

Funding & Awards

International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA)

Journal of Positive Psychology

Undergraduate Courses

20+ Graduate Programs

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Positive Scholarship & Practice

Positive Business

Positive Organizational Scholarship

Positive Education

Positive Health

Positive Humanities

Positive Neuroscience

Positive Youth Development

Positive Community Development

Positive Aging

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Critiques

Nothing New

Conceptual Clarity

Scientific Rigor

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Taking Stock

Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock & Moving Forward (Sheldon, Kashdan, & Steger, 2011)

Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, & Society (Donaldson, Csikszentmihalyi, & Nakamura, 2011)

Positive Organizational Psychology, Behavior, and Scholarship: A Review of the Emerging Literature and Evidence Base. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5 (3), 177-191. (Donaldson & Ko, 2010)

Taming the Waves and Horses of Positive Organizational Psychology. Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology, 1, 1-21. (Donaldson & Dollwet, 2013)

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Taking Stock

Tracing the Size, Reach, Impact, and Breadth of

Positive Psychology, Journal of Positive Psychology,

8(3) 207-221 (Rusk & Waters, 2013)

Peer Reviewed Articles in Positive Psychology 1999

to 2013 (Donaldson, Dollwet, & Rao, in press)

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Critical Review of Evidence

Literature search

◦ Search for “positive psychology” with results were

limited to English and peer-reviewed articles that did

not fall into the following exclusion categories:

Book review, commentary, or editorial

Not in English (abstract was in English but not the full text)

Not related to Positive Psychology

No full text available

Finding

◦ 1336 articles published between 1999 and 2013

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Peer Reviewed Articles in Positive

Psychology 1999-2013

Total # of articles (N) = 1336

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1st Author Location

US55%

UK9%

Australia6%

Canada6%

Other24%

Location

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1st Author Location

Other Locations: Belgium

China

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Iceland

India

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Korea

Kuwait

Malaysia

Malta

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Slovakia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

Uganda

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Top Countries: Non-Empirical

1. USA: 367

2. UK: 46

3. Australia: 33

4. Canada: 30

5. All other countries 1-3 publications

Non-empirical publications are very Western,

English-speaking focused

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Top Countries: Empirical

1. USA: 362

2. UK: 73

3. Canada: 42

4. Australia: 42

5. South Africa:25

6. Germany: 24

7. Netherlands: 22

8. Switzerland: 22

9. China: 15

Empirical publications are still predominately Western, English-speaking but empirical work is a bit more diverse

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Popular Topics

FlowPositive Emotions

Creativity

Character StrengthsFlourishing Growth Thriving Communities

Optimal Performance Well-Being

Hope Wisdom Resilience

Gratitude Vitality

Topic Nr. Of Publications

Well-Being 339

Character Strengths 70

Hope 63

Gratitude 41

Resilience 39

Growth 34

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What are the Benefits of

Happiness?

Happy People Appear to Function Better:

Have better social relationships

Better organizational citizens at work

Do more volunteer work

Have better health

Make more money

- Diener, 2011

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How Much of Happiness is Pre-

Determined?

- Lyubomirsky, 2008

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What is the Strongest Predictor of

Happiness?

The happiest people all over the world appear to

have strong and meaningful social relationships

Other important predictors:

Having basic physiological needs fulfilled

Working toward goals and achieving them

Learning something new each day

- Diener, 2011

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Empirical Work: Samples

Samples

◦ Across the lifespan

35%

39%

16%

10%

Age

Adults College/Graduate Students

Children (18 and younger) not specified

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Empirical: Key PredictorsOutcome Variable Key Predictors

# of studies investigating

outcome variable

Well-being Gratitude

Mindfulness/meditation

Strengths

Coaching

Hope

Spirituality

Curiosity

339

Growth Coping

Spirituality

Emotional expression

34

Performance PsyCap

Well-being

Self-discipline

Hardiness

Hope

Passion

31

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Empirical Findings: Interventions

21% of all empirical studies were intervention studies (161

studies)

Interventions for all ages across the life span

80

44

79

29

40

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Nr. of Intervention Studies

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Empirical Findings: Interventions Significant Intervention Types:

Intervention Type Outcomes # of Interventions

Mindfulness:

enriched mind-body connection, yoga

• Reduced negative affect

• Reduced anxiety

• Well-being

• Resilience

• Self-compassion

15

Coaching:

solution-based cognitive model

• Well-being

• Cognitive hardiness

• Hope

• Resilience

• Engagement

• Self-motivation & awareness

• Goal-attainment

• Mental health

13

Positive Affect:

writing about positive experiences

• Health benefits

• Attributions

• Mindfulness

• Purpose in life

12

Strengths-Based:

identifying & using character strengths

• Personal growth

• Life satisfaction

• Well-being

10

Gratitude:

gratitude writing exercise

• Well-being

• Reduced depression

• Closure to unpleasant

emotional memories

• Reduced body dissatisfaction

9

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Controversies

Scientific Rigor

Positivity

Authentic Leadership

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The Future of Positive Psychology

Sound Science

Theory-Driven Intervention Design & Evaluation

“Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create it”

Peter Drucker