What is positive psychology? - Chapter 13

What is Positive Psychology?

Positive psychology is the study of optimal functioning with the aim of better understanding and applying things that help individuals and societies to flourish. The perspective of positive psychology seeks a balance between working on weaknesses and paying attention and strengthening strengths. Before the Second World War, there was attention for positive psychology, but after the Second World War this attention disappeared and there was only research into the treatment of psychopathology. The focus was on the disease model, which only looked at weaknesses and deficiencies. It wasn't until around 1998 that positive psychology came back through Seligman. Positive psychology uses a number of principles: Strengths theory, Broaden and Build Theory of positive emotions, Complete State model of Mental Health and the Four-front approach to client assessment.

What is the strengths theory?

Strengths theory states that understanding and building on strengths while controlling weaknesses is essential for growth and well-being. This goes against the most common way of thinking, working on weaknesses and letting the strengths take its course, which you see in schools and also in therapy. According to strengths theory, this way of thinking is fallacious because if you pay attention to strengths, they will develop much better. A second fallacy is that strengths and weaknesses are two opposites and that by paying attention to a weakness it can become a strong side. Furthermore, not everything about mental health can be learned just by focusing on weaknesses, the contributions of positive factors must be also taking into consideration, which is a big point to bring about behavioral change in positive psychology. One final fallacy that keeps people from adopting a positive psychological point is the idea that people can do anything, if they want to. This is incorrect because everyone has strengths of their own that can make them successful in one situation, but not in the other. If you hold on to things in which you are not strong, this will lead to negative feelings.

What is the Broaden and Build theory of positive emotions (B&B theory)?

There is a lot of research into the function of negative emotions, but researchers say that positive emotions have no other function than signaling that there is no negative emotion. The B&B theory shows that positive emotions have a more nuanced role. The theory consists of several hypotheses:

• Broaden hypothesis: According to Frederickson, positive emotions lead to a broadening of thought-action repertoires. So you see more possibilities. This is the opposite of what happens with negative emotions, in which a tunnel vision arises in which fewer options, but more specific options are seen (flight response), which are adaptive in the situation. Broadening options in positive emotions is also adaptive, only in the long run, mainly through resource building. The hypothesis was explored by showing videos that contained a positive, neutral or negative emotion and then having the participants create a task that would show whether they were thinking broadly or narrowly (more answers or a wider answer for positive emotions).
• Build hypothesis: According to this hypothesis, personal resources are built through the temporary broadening of the thought-action repertoires during positive emotions. Physical resources (coordination, muscle strength and cardiovascular health), social resources (friendship, support and social skills), intellectual resources (knowledge and problem solving) and psychological resources (creativity, optimism and resilience) are built (think of children playing, experiencing pleasure and thereby build up the rest). You keep these sources over time. The hypothesis is supported by findings that securely attached people are more open, flexible and tenacious in problem solving and that learning is better when you are in a positive emotional state.
• Undoing hypothesis: positive emotions have the power to undo lingering negative emotions. Thought-action repertoires cannot be broadened and narrowed at the same time. So by generating a positive emotion, the lens through which you see the world widens, decreasing the grip on the negative emotion. This "undoing" effect takes place on both a cognitive and physical level (blood pressure, heart rate, etc.). In one study, physical measurements were taken constantly, a baseline, then during fear induction, then during induction of a second emotion (positive, neutral, or sadness). In the positive emotion condition, the physical measurements returned to the baseline level more quickly.
• Resilience hypothesis: The hypothesis mentions that upward spirals of well-being are triggered by the broadening effect of positive emotions. Negative emotions lead to a downward spiral as thinking narrows and remains negative. This leads to more negative affect. Positive emotions broaden thinking, so that more options are seen and people think more optimistically. This reinforces the positive emotion and helps build coping skills. Research has shown that positive affect and coping reinforce each other.
• Flourish hypothesis: ‘flourish’ is living optimally and experiencing good things in life such as personal growth and resilience. A predictor for this is the ratio between positive and negative affect, which must be 2.9 (pos.) To 1 (neg.) To experience flourish. When the ratio falls below this one experiences problems, ratios up to 11.6-1 promote flourishing, above that it leads to disturbances.

What is a complete state model of mental health?

This model states that mental health and mental illness are on two different continuums. Assessment provides a measure of health and a degree of illness. This produces four different types of clients:

• Completely mentally healthy / flourishing: low mental illness and high mental health
• Completely mentally ill / floundering: high mental illness and low mental health
• Incompletely mentally healthy / languishing: low mental illness and low mental health
• Incompletely mentally ill / struggling: high mental illness and high mental health

Cognitive and behavioral changes are tailored to the category in which you fall. The aim is the flourishing category. So, work is being done both to reduce mental illness and to increase mental health.

What is the four-front assessment approach?

The four-front assessment approach states that everyone has strengths as well as weaknesses and has both opportunities and destructive influences in the environment. The therapist must look at all four of these areas and not just the weaknesses and problematic environmental influences (negative bias) because the forces and resources from the person and environment are then not fully utilized. The environment is often forgotten because the information about it is less accessible and because of a fundamental attribution error (the tendency to attribute behavior to internal factors and not take external influences into account).

The principles of positive psychology described above have led to a number of positive psychological interventions (see below).

What is Positive Psychotherapy?

Positive psychotherapy focuses on enhancing strengths and positive emotions and increasing meaning in the lives of the clients to relieve psychopathology and promote happiness. Therapists pay attention to and elicit positive emotions and memories in the conversation with the client. They also engage in a conversation about the client's problems, with the aim of integrating the positive and negative (for example, in helping to deal with a tragedy, it can also be mentioned that the tragedy has led to the development of a number of strengths). This form of therapy is based on the work of Seligman, who argues that happiness consists of the pleasant life (pleasure: achieved when you can experience positive emotions about your past, the present and the future), the involved life (involvement: achieved when you are deeply involved and absorbed in what you do in multiple areas of life) and the meaningful life (meaning: using your strengths in the service of something bigger than yourself). The empty life, when one of these elements is missing, is a risk factor for psychological problems. The therapy must be tailored to the client.

What is quality of life therapy?

The quality of life therapy blends positive psychology with cognitive therapy to help clients discover and work towards goals, needs and wants to create a life of quality and satisfaction. At every stage of therapy, a link is made between life goals, needs, wishes, and the interventions. Strengths, weaknesses and psychopathology of clients in 16 areas of daily functioning is looked at. This form of therapy is based on the CASIO model, which states that satisfaction in a life domain consists of four components:

• The objective Circumstances of Characteristics of the domain of life
• The subjective Attitudes, perceptions and interpretations of the domain
• The evaluation about fulfillment of the domain, based on the Standard about what fulfillment andails in that domain
• The Importance that is assigned to the life domain with regard to general well-being
• The O stands for Overall satisfaction in life

Therapy works to increase satisfaction in important areas of their life by looking at how they can achieve their goals and needs by following the CASIO model (adjusting circumstances / attitudes / standards / goals / value attached to them). It looks at what can be changed, that is under the control of the client. Finally, clients are taught to look at areas of life they have overlooked.

What is well-being therapy?

Well-being therapy is a short, structured, directive and problem-oriented treatment based on Ryff's cognitive model of psychological well-being. It uses self-observation, diary keeping, and client-therapist interactions to enhance wellness. Ryff's model of psychological well-being includes six dimensions:

• Environmental mastery,
• Personal growth,
• Purpose in life,
• Autonomy,
• Self-acceptance
• Positive relationships with others

The goal of therapy is to guide people to high levels of functioning in these six areas, whichis done by identifying and evaluating experiences of well-being in these areas so that people become aware of their well-being. The next step is to identify feelings associated with well-being as well as thoughts that hinder it (negative automatic thoughts, as with CBT). Thoughts are challenged, and behaviors that cause well-being are encouraged. Finally, education takes place on the six areas of well-being and the client must make connections with his own life. The most important techniques in this therapy: cognitive restructuring, activity scheduling, assertiveness training and problem-solving.

What is hope therapy?

Hope therapy states that emotions follow thoughts about whether or not goals are achieved (achievement leads to positive emotion; failure to achieve it leads to negative emotion). The therapy is short, semi-structured and focuses on current goals, opportunities and successes rather than problems. In therapy goals are conceptualized, clients learn to devise various paths to them, and energy is created to be able to continue working on goals, so that self-perceptions regarding their ability to achieve the goals positively change. Hope therapy consists of four components:

• Hope finding: examining the hope someone has on which to build in the process of change. This is done through stories and self-reports.
• Hope bonding: building a strong therapeutic relationship by involving the client in therapy planning and end goals, while trying to understand the client as a whole.
• Hope enhancing: raising hopeful thinking by shifting the client's attention from reducing negative to increasing positive behaviors. What can help is asking clients what in general motivates or motivated them in the past and how they overcame obstacles in the past. Also positive self-talk about their abilities to achieve a goal and they learn that the process towards a goal can be as fun as achieving a goal is helpful.
• Hope reminding: teaching clients to monitor hopeful thoughts and to use hope-enhancing techniques so that they can maintain high levels of hope after therapy.

Positive psychology is the study of optimal functioning with the aim of better understanding and applying things that help individuals and societies to flourish. The perspective of positive psychology seeks a balance between working on weaknesses and paying attention and strengthening strengths. Before the Second World War, there was attention for positive psychology, but after the Second World War this attention disappeared and there was only research into the treatment of psychopathology. The focus was on the disease model, which only looked at weaknesses and deficiencies. It wasn't until around 1998 that positive psychology came back through Seligman. Positive psychology uses a number of principles: Strengths theory, Broaden and Build Theory of positive emotions, Complete State model of Mental Health and the Four-front approach to client assessment.