AbstractCritiques of positive psychology, as summarized by Van Zyl et al. in J Posit Psychol, 2023, have claimed that positive psychology (1) lacks proper theorizing; (2) over-relies on quantitative designs; (3) is poorly supported empirically with non-replicated studies; (4) lacks novelty and is isolated from mainstream psychology; (5) represents de-contextualized neo-liberal philosophy that causes harm; and (6) is a capitalistic means of furthering individualism, consumerism, and medicalization of positive experiences. Forgiveness studies is taken as a well-established subfield of positive psychology. Considering the critiques individually, I show that the field of forgiveness studies resists many of the critiques of the field of positive psychology as a whole. However, I acknowledge the validity and usefulness of some critiques, concluding that if some aspects of the field resist the critiques, that may imply overgeneralization of the critiques.

AbstractFirst-generation college students often develop negative thoughts and expectations about whether they belong in college and whether they can be successful in college, and these negative thoughts play a major role in college retention and success. Nostalgia, a mixed but mostly positive emotional experience that involves reflecting on personally meaningful events from one’s life, has been found to promote an optimistic future orientation. We tested the applied value of nostalgia’s future-orienting capacity for fostering positive beliefs about college belonging and success among first-generation college students in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, first-generation students who reflected on a nostalgic event from their past reported more positive beliefs about their potential to discover a sense of belonging in their college community, compared to first-generation students who reflected on an ordinary event. In Experiment 2, nostalgic reflection once again increased positive expectations for belonging in first-generation college students as well as optimism for academic success. We conclude that the power of nostalgia to promote a positive future orientation may be harnessed by institutions and programs looking to encourage belonging and optimism to help first-generation college students adjust to and succeed in college.

AbstractWhile both practitioners and the public regard character strengths positively, some psychologists and philosophers harbor skepticism. In this analytical commentary on current research and literature, we trace such skepticism to a premature focus on positive outcomes, which eclipsed the theoretical groundwork outlined in the 2004 handbook. We propose solutions to ten key issues which, in our estimation, not only sustain this skepticism but also hinder meaningful advancement in the field of character strengths research: (1) Criteria evaluation, (2) Virtue functions, (3) Situational affordances, (4) Content validity, (5) Criterion validity, (6) Fulfillment conceptualization, (7) Adverse outcome modeling (8) Moral excellency, (9) Strengths conservatism, and (10) Methodological mainstream thinking. We contend that resolving these issues is necessary to uphold the standing of character strengths and positive psychology among its counterparts, and to establish a potent foundation for effective character development.