Article summary of Cultivating subjective well-being through positive psychological interventions by Stone & Parks. - Chapter

What is this article about?

Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) are activities that have been found to cause a positive change in a population by increasing a positive variable. There are a lot of different types of these activities. Research has been focused on seven popular types of domains for PPIs. PPIs in these domains have been shown to alleviate depressive symptoms, increase pro-social spending and social connectedness, reduce suicidal ideation, increase subjective well-being or happiness, and many other positive changes. These will be discussed in this article, along with the discussion for future research and the limitations of current research.

How do Positive Psychological Interventions work in each domain?

PPIs that are designed to increase an individual's happiness and wellbeing generally fall into seven well-researched domains:

1. Meaning. Meaning-oriented interventions focus on clarifying an individual's sense of purpose, that which gives someone's life importance. There are many psychological benefits to finding meaning in life. But there are also problems with finding meaning for happiness; there can be distress when people feel like they do not live up to their calling. This is why it is important to not only focus on meaning, but also on realistic goals.
2. Gratitude. These interventions focus on exercising one's appreciation for the altruistic acts of another person. Gratitude plays a role in regulating the cost-benefit ratio between two individuals, but also helps to strengthen relationships, and to decrease stress and depressive symptoms. There have been found great cultural differences in how well these interventions work for people, so cultural values affect the outcome of gratitude interventions. This has to be kept in mind in both the interventions and in future research.
3. Strengths. Interventions that are based on strengths focus on the positive rather than the negative aspects of a person, their strengths instead of their weaknesses. This helps with self-esteem. The only problem with this is that people may get the wrong idea that their strengths are permanent, which would make them feel inadequate if they lose certain strengths or are unable to show them in certain situations. Again, it is important to give people realistic expectations in these kinds of interventions.
4. Savoring. Savoring is focusing on neglected of forgotten details and experiences. There is promising research on the effects of savoring on well-being, but we need future research to examine the role of everyday savoring on the efficacy.
5. Optimism. Optimism-based interventions focus on developing a positive outlook of the future rather than a negative one. Optimism means an increase in positive and a decrease in negative emotions. This has been linked to a decrease in pain sensitivity and an increase in one's ability to adjust to painful stimuli, and to a faster recovery from serious surgeries and illnesses. But there is some evidence that a person's optimism levels cannot really be influenced because they are based on their personality for the most part. Evidence on this is contradictory, so we need more research on this.
6. Empathy. Empathy-based interventions focus on taking another person's perspective in order to develop a deeper understanding of the feelings another person is experiencing. Cultivating empathy is good for intimate relations but also professional relations. The concerns about these interventions are that higher empathy, also means quicker adaptation of negative traits and emotions of others.
7. Kindness. Interventions focused on kindness promote altruistic behaviors towards others with the intention of fostering positive emotions in the benefactor. Acts of kindness may increase the well-being of both the giver and the receiver. Future research is needed to decide whether you need to have intrinsic motivation to help others, or whether you can help others for your own benefit, and which of the two is more effective for well-being.

So, PPIs have theoretical and practical value for the science of happiness and for therapeutic settings and the general populations. Scientists are starting to get a good depth of knowledge on PPIs, but the field is only getting started so there are still many questions to guide future research. This is especially the case for realistic dissemination.