About positive psychology - between light and shadow

Abstract

The article discusses the history and development of positive psychology - a new psychological discipline emerged at the end of the 20th century. The sources and philosophical foundations of positive psychology associated with the existential approach and humanistic psychology are presented. The specificity of this new field based on a strict, scientific and empirical way of studying human behaviour was characterized. The most important definitions of well-being were reviewed and possible changes in well-being under the influence of adverse life events were analysed. The application use of positive psychology is visible in the dynamically developing field of positive psychological interventions that improve people's functioning. Information illustrating the relationship between experienced emotions and the functioning of the nervous system was also presented. The literature of the subject includes articles questioning the novelty and usefulness of the idea of positive psychology and critically assessing the achievements of the new discipline. Currently, the second wave positive psychology (SWPP) is developing, which tries to balance the positive and negative aspects of people's lives. An illustration of this dialectical process is the metaphor of the mixing of light and darkness. Nowadays, positive psychology can be understood as a movement of scientific and intellectual change broadening the horizons of science.