March 2008: What’s new in Positive Psychology?

To help you have a 2008 that brings you health, happiness, flourishing and thriving, this first news/info email for the year provides information on some recent, recommended books and articles.

1. “The How of Happiness”, by Sonja Lyubomirsky (published December 2007)

Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, is a well-known and respected researcher in positive psychology, subjective wellbeing and happiness. She has over 18 years of experience in these areas. Her book contains practical strategies, and is evidence-based, supported by research and science about what works and why. Sonja explains that no matter how you were born, happy or otherwise, you can increase your happiness. Her research shows that people who are happier are of benefit to others, through being happier. Happier people are also: more sociable and energetic; more charitable and cooperative; more flexible in their thinking; more productive at work; more engaged at work; more confident; more resilient. They are better leaders and negotiators; they are physically healthier, with stronger immune systems, and they live longer. Sonja’s definition of happiness: “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile”.

2. “Happier”, by Tal Ben-Shahar (published July 2007)

After a year’s sabbatical, Tal has just returned to Harvard to teach its most popular course: Positive Psychology. Some quotes from his latest book:

- “To be happy, we have to feel that, on the whole, whatever sorrows, trials, and tribulations we may encounter, we still experience the joy of being alive”.

- “Struggles and hardships and challenges are a necessary component of an emotionally rich life; there are no easy shortcuts to happiness”.

- “The shift from being a rat racer to pursuing happiness is not about working less or with less fervor, but about working as hard or harder at the right activities – those that are a source of both present and future benefit. Similarly, the shift from hedonism to the pursuit of happiness does not entail having less fun; the difference is that the fun the happy person experiences is sustainable, whereas the fun of the hedonist is ephemeral. The happy person defies the ‘no pain’ formula; she enjoys the journey and, dedicating herself to a purpose in which she believes, attains a better outcome.”

3. “Average to A+: Realising Strengths in Yourself and Others”, by Alex Linley (published February 2008) (Available from CAPP Press (UK): http://www.capp-press.org/index.html )

Alex Linley is a leading UK proponent of positive psychology. He is a psychologist and founder of the UK’s Centre for Applied Positive Psychology.

- “The best thing in us is our strengths.”

- Quoting Peter Drucker: “To achieve results, one has to use all available strengths – these strengths are the true opportunities.”

- “Our areas of greatest potential are in the areas of our greatest strength.”

- “We succeed by fixing weaknesses only when we are also making the most of our strengths”

- “Using our strengths is the smallest thing we can do to make the biggest difference.”

- “The strengths approach provides us with a powerful means to counteract our negativity bias, and to focus on building what is best in everyone.”

- “When managers focus on the strengths of their employees, they deliver significantly better performance. When managers focus on the weaknesses of their employees, performance declines. The reasons for this include employees feeling appreciated and that they have a good fit with their role, and that they are able to make a positive contribution and so give more discretionary effort as a result.”

4. “Celebrating Strengths – Building Strengths-based Schools”, by Jennifer M. Fox Eades (published February 2008) (Available from CAPP Press (UK): http://www.capp-press.org/index.html )

Jenny Fox Eades is a UK education consultant, and is also Progamme Director for Schools and Young People at the not-for-profit Centre for Applied Positive Psychology. She has been applying positive psychology with teachers, parents, and children for over four years. (If you’d like to make contact with Jenny, let me know. She and I studied positive psychology together through Martin Seligman’s distant-learning programme in 2004/05. See also http://www.celebratingstrengths.com/).

- “Sharing with parents our insights and thoughts about their children’s strengths can give parents additional tools for building self esteem in their children – a new and very positive language for speaking with them. It may also alter how they see their children.”

- “Sharing with parents the strengths we see and value in their child may make them more open and able to hear about the areas that the child is not so good at without the attendant anxiety that such news brings.”

- “Celebrating strengths is designed to help adults working in schools to enjoy their work more, to maximise the use of their strengths and to flourish. By flourishing I mean living as fully as possible professionally and personally while achieving your potential.”

- “Be open about your strengths with the students and children you work with. Comfortably accepting your strengths and being aware of the areas that are less well developed sends a powerful message to children that it is alright not to be good at everything – and equally that it is alright to be good at some things.”

5. “Making Relationships Work: A Conversation with Psychologist John Gottman” (Harvard Business Review Dec 2007, and Australian Financial Review Boss Magazine Feb 2008)

The work of John Gottman is frequently referred to by people working in the positive psychology field. HBR interviewed Gottman to ask about the implications of his research for the work environment:

- “Few people can tell us more about how to maintain good personal relationships than John M. Gottman, the executive director of the Relationship Research Institute.”

- “Successful couples, Gottman notes, look for ways to accentuate the positive. They try to say "yes" as often as possible. That doesn't mean good relationships have no room for conflict. On the contrary, individuals in thriving relationships embrace conflict over personality differences as a way to work them through. Gottman adds that good relationships aren't about clear communication - they're about small moments of attachment and intimacy. It takes time and work to make such moments part of the fabric of everyday life.”

- “Something that's been so hard for me to convey to the media is that trivial moments provide opportunities for profound connection. [The moment] is ephemeral, small, even trivial - yet it builds trust and connection. In couples who divorce or who live together unhappily, such small moments of connection are rare.”

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This article…

…aims to provide you and your teams with information for your professional and personal development. Topics are based on areas of interest raised by clients and colleagues, with material drawn from journals, books, articles and shared experiences.

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