Happiness and well-being in positive psychology

Abstract

This chapter begins with a short introduction to the relatively new field of positive psychology. The promotion of happiness and wellbeing are central to positive psychology, which advocates ways of boosting ‘positive’ emotions to promote feeling good, as well as taking a broader understanding of a life well lived. As a human science, psychology tends to explain human behaviour at the individual level. Does positive psychology similarly lean towards an individualistic understanding of the human person? Since wellbeing is both a collective and individual concept, we examine whether both poles are adequately represented in the field. In the second part of the chapter, we focus on two key topics. Gratitude and hope are pivotal concepts in positive psychology, and both have demonstrable effects on wellbeing. In this section we compare the emphasis of a positive psychological understanding of these virtues with a Christian appreciation of them. We also consider how suffering is viewed in relation to happiness in positive psychology, drawing on the concept of ‘post-traumatic growth’ to examine the presence of redemptive sequences within the struggles of human life.