The Positive Psychotherapy Inventory (PPTI): Reliability and Validity Study in Turkish Population

Abstract

The interaction between individuals and their environment generates both happiness and psychopathology. To explore this interaction and the intersections between the two, there is a new scientific approach introducing a new theory of well-being, Positive Psychology. The approach from which Positive Psychotherapy evolves, is the scientific study of positive emotions, positive individual traits and strengths (Seligman,2002). The goal is to help individuals learn that they can grow as a result of their experiences even if the experience is traumatic. Positive psychotherapy (Rashid, Seligman and Parks, 2006) on the other hand, is a psychotherapeutic method that builds positive emotions, strengths and meaning in an individual's life to undo psychopathology and promote happiness. On the road of helping individuals to discover their strengths such as optimism, hope, humor, and resilience, meaning takes added importance. As an assessment tool, the positive psychotherapy inventory gives the mental health professionals an opportunity to see the outcomes of the therapeutic process. The aims of the present study is to investigate and examine the relability and validity study of the Positive Psychotherapy Inventory in Turkish population. The inventory is administered to turkish population including university students, and professionals. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability, factor analysis, and correlations with good convergent validity revealed the instrument had satisfactory psychometric values, indicating that it can be validly and reliably used in normal and clinical populations.