Role Of Positive Psychology Research Articles

Positive Psychology in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. The Case of Polish Older Adults

This article joins the discussion about the role of positive psychology in foreign language learning. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a quantitative study conducted among a group of Polish older adults (aged 55+). The research goal of the present study was to investigate older people’s subjective feeling of well-being connected to foreign language learning as one of the ways of improving their quality of life. The research used a questionnaire as the research tool, which consisted of a modified version of a questionnaire widely used for testing satisfaction with language courses. The findings of the research clearly show that foreign language learning has an irreplaceable role as one of several non-pharmacological strategies utilised to improve the aging process and promoting positive aging. The results also indicate that seniors’ overall satisfaction and subjective feelings of well-being can be greater when attending foreign language classes at an older age. Foreign language learning, therefore, creates an environment that can enhance the quality of life of older adults.

Forging Connections and Fostering Belonging: The Role of Positive Psychology in the Virtual Classroom

Technology has expanded the landscape of higher education. The ability to learn almost anything from anywhere at any time has impacted educational attainment, particularly for those who lacked access in the past. Many who enter the virtual classroom, however, do not stay. Completion rates for online learning fall short, especially when compared to in-person experiences. For all its advancements, online learning has also created a chasm in human connection that influences learning. We are not made to connect through wires. Though we may espouse having multitudes of “friends” online, developing a true sense of belonging and connection must be purposefully developed when working through a screen and keyboard. This reflective essay interrogates the use of technology in higher education and encourages the inclusion of positive psychology practices to bridge the gap of human connection that is an integral part of student success.

Employee well-being, employee performance & positive mindset in a crisis

Although there is rich literature in the field of OB & HRM focusing on the importance of psychological contracts, intellectual capital, job satisfaction & performance, however, the role of positive psychology & mindset in an organizational context has been addressed to a very limited extent. In times of crisis, organizations might go beyond survival mode and find ways to improve the psychological resources of employees as a positive mental attitude becomes an alternative perspective that leads to optimal performance outcomes. This paper, through a critical literature review methodological approach, studies the theoretical framework of employee wellbeing , employee performance during a crisis period and explores the role of a positive working mindset. The study concludes that the positivity in the workplace and employee wellbeing in times of crisis are key factors corporate leaders to enhance organizational citizenship behavior, which is a crucial factor in terms of productivity, affective commitment, job satisfaction, and efficiency.

The Compassionate Schools Framework: Exploring a values-driven, hope-filled, relational approach with school leaders

Aims:This paper details the evaluation of a reflective learning programme developed by educational psychologists for school leaders in exploring the implementation of compassionate, relational approaches in schools, using an integrated whole school framework.Rationale:Whole school approaches have been highlighted as central to improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. The Compassionate Schools Framework (CSF) brings together current research and thinking in promoting wellbeing into an integrated and coherent whole school approach. It is based on an understanding of the power of attuned relationships, the potential impact of prolonged and unpredictable stress and trauma, and the role of positive psychology in building psychological resources through embracing strengths and hopeful futures.Findings:The evaluation highlighted key themes in relation to nine areas of school practice detailed in the CSF. School leaders shared insights into current strengths, newly developing approaches and challenges, highlighting the complexity of building on compassionate, relational approaches across school systems. A number of research priorities are identified.Limitations:Findings capture the reflections of school leaders during the initial phase of developing thinking and planning in relation to the CSF and longer term follow up is needed to gain insight into issues related to implementation and impact over time.Conclusions:The paper highlights the value of a research-informed integrated framework where school leaders can reflect collaboratively on areas of strength and school development as part of a coherent whole school approach. There is need for ongoing collaboration through a multi-agency community of practice to continue to deepen understanding and share learning on implementation and impact within a supportive network.

The Role of Positive Psychology In Fostering Growth

In 1998, Martin Seligman proposed the theory of Positive Psychology in the field of Psychology. Over the years, positive psychology has proved to be an exciting and influential development in the field of psychology. Positive psychology is a study of the traits and habits of fully functioning human beings, which helps psychology experts, mental health professionals, and other human service professionals to understand and make best use of the human potential and to serve as a guide to where psychology can lead to in the foreseeable future. Rather than focus on causation of pathologies originating within the individual, positive psychology focus shifts to the interaction of the individual within their environment and the re-establishment and development of their own growth potential. Following a strengths-based ideology, positive psychology seeks to build and inspire the “good life worth living” rather than repairing the bad. The sequence of this meta-analysis of literature knowledge describes the historical development of positive psychology, its tenets, and their application in fostering growth. Keywords: Positive Psychology, Optimism, Happiness, Broadening, Courage, Self-efficacy, Strength, Subjective Well-being, Peak Performance, Satisfaction, Creativity, Goal-setting, Flourishing, Mindset, Constructs, Hope

The Role of Positive Psychology, Cultural, and Family Factors in Latina/o College Students' Vocational Outcome Expectations

Latina/o college students (N = 120) provided their perceptions of positive psychology, cultural, family, and vocational outcome expectations. Presence of meaning in life, hope, Anglo orientation, and Mexican orientation were significant predictors of subjective happiness. Implications for counselors are provided.

The role of positive psychology in tourists’ behavioural intentions

Tourists’ well-being is significant in tourism marketing as it influences behavioural intentions. Using the top-down and bottom-up theories of well-being, this study examined how travellers’ goals, memorable tourism experiences and traveller well-being influences behavioural intentions. Goals and well-being were operationalized into hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions. Data was collected from 430 recent travellers to investigate the relationship between goals, memorable tourism experiences, well-being and behavioural intentions. The results showed that goals were significantly related to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being and that memorable tourism experiences mediated this relationship. The findings also showed that hedonic well-being has a significant effect on revisit intention and positive word-of-mouth, whilst eudaimonic well-being did not have a significant effect on behavioural intentions. This research makes theoretical contributions to the literature on destination loyalty and enriches the positive psychology literature. Discussion of the study findings and implications for academics and practitioners conclude the paper.

The Role of Positive Psychology in Improving Employees’ Performance and Organizational Productivity: An Experimental Study

Employees’ productivity has been extensively addressed by psychologists for a long time. With the emergence of positive psychology (PS), positive psychologists started to fill the literature gap which addresses the influence of individual’s positive traits on employees’ performance and organizational productivity and how it could be improve it by identifying these traits and build organizational policies based on them. Unlike traditional psychology, PS focuses on the employees’ positive individuals’ traits rather than on curing the negative psychological aspects of the individual. This research identifies three such positive traits, - Optimism, Well-Being and Personal Strength and analyses their impacts on employees’ productivity, hence organizational productivity. The research explicitly investigates these three positive traits, their identification and the development of a policy based on these aiming at positive effects on increasing the employees’ performance, hence their productivity. The research proposes a “process” and a “framework” which reflect the relationships between Positive Psychology traits, employees’ performance and Organizational Productivity. Hypotheses were drawn from the framework and a questionnaire was prepared to collect data to verify the validity of the relationships proposed on the framework. The questionnaire was administered on employee in a selected organization. Each hypothesis was tested, and the results were analyzed using statistical approaches. The results demonstrated quite interesting findings which demonstrated that, implementing positive psychology concepts and individual positive traits such as optimism, well-being and personal strength at the workplace increase employees’ performance hence organizational productivity, and this was verified by the acceptance of all the hypotheses following the data analysis.

Complete Mental Health Screening: Psychological Strengths and Life Satisfaction in Korean Students

Despite increasing interest in the role of positive psychology in youth development, its application into school-based mental health care has been limited. The South Korean government has implemented a national mental health screening for primary and secondary schools, but this initiative focuses on the identification and treatment of distress symptoms with little attention given to psychological strengths. The current study explored the use of complete mental health screening—integrating positive and negative indicators of mental health—in six primary schools in Seoul, South Korea. Using automatic three-step latent profile analyses, underlying profiles of complete mental health among Korean primary school students were identified. The relations between the identified profiles and life satisfaction were also examined. Results identified four subtypes of complete mental health. Students with higher psychological strengths were more likely to experience higher life satisfaction. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Impact of Educational Programs That Include Elements of Positive Psychology for Developing the Emotional Competences of the Students

<p><em>Modern education consider</em><em>s</em><em> </em><em>schools and faculties for institutions whose goals have a broader scope than </em><em>just an </em><em>academic competence. Educational institutions have an obligation to</em><em> completely </em><em>prepare young people for adulthood and improve their optimal functioning and well</em><em> being</em><em>. This paper shows how the application of the positive psychology in the education can help schools and faculties to develop and maintain optim</em><em>al</em><em> functioning of the students and </em><em>the </em><em>employees. Educational institutions should approach</em><em> strategically</em><em> in the creation of positive educational programs that include elements of positive psychology, which positively reflects on the well-being and positive educational climate.</em><em> </em><em>The empirical findings of </em><em>this paper</em><em> confirm the role of positive psychology in education </em><em>for</em><em> improving the subjective dimensions of students: happiness, optimism, self-confidence, social and emotional competence. Students who att</em><em>ended</em><em> educational programs with elements of positive psychology</em><em>,</em><em> have shown higher personal, emotional, social achievements and general well-being, which</em><em> are prerequisites</em><em> for realizing their potential. These findings imply the need to expand the arsenal of education through a positive education that includes the development of positive emotions that promote happiness and well-being.</em><em></em></p>

The Role of Positive Psychology, Cultural, and Family Factors on Hispanic/Latino College Students’ Depressive Symptoms and Subjective Happiness

This study examined how presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, gratitude, enculturation, and family influenced Hispanic/Latino college students’ depression and subjective happiness. The first regression model showed that hope, presence of meaning in life, family, and search for meaning in life were related with depression. The second showed that gratitude and presence of meaning in life were related with subjective happiness. Findings and recommendations for counselors and higher education professionals are provided.

Self-Efficacy in Students with and Without Physical Impairment

There has been long term and systematic denial of opportunities to people with disabilities, particularly in fields such as education, employment, housing, transport, cultural life and access to public places and services. The mistreatment and oppression inflicted on individuals who have some form of disability or impairment has been well documented. The present study analyzed associations of general self-efficacy beliefs with psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and attainment of developmental tasks in various hostels and homes with physical impairment and same group peers without physical impairment. In this study the main objective is to compare the self efficacy of physically impaired and without impaired. Between-group differences in levels of self-efficacy beliefs were small. On average, higher self-efficacy beliefs predicted positive change in psychological adjustment (life-satisfaction and emotional symptoms) and academic achievement as well as greater progress in the attainment of developmental tasks of adolescence. However, for emotional symptoms and the discrepancy between desired and present attainment of developmental tasks we found such an effect only for students without physical impairment. This paper also presented by me in National Conference on “Challenges of Contemporary Life – Role of Positive Psychology & 9th Annual Conference of Indian Association of Mental Health from 22nd to 24th January 2015 and not publish myself the same in any journal. We conclude that students with physical impairment may benefit from measures that both promote supportive external conditions for goal attainment and increase the self-management skills needed to translate self-efficacy beliefs into accomplishment of goals and related positive feelings.

Development and Initial Validation of the Pain Resilience Scale.

Over the past decade, the role of positive psychology in pain experience has gained increasing attention. One such positive factor, identified as resilience, has been defined as the ability to maintain positive emotional and physical functioning despite physical or psychological adversity. Although cross-situational measures of resilience have been shown to be related to pain, it was hypothesized that a pain-specific resilience measure would serve as a stronger predictor of acute pain experience. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of studies to develop and validate the Pain Resilience Scale. Study 1 described exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses that support a scale with 2 distinct factors, Cognitive/Affective Positivity and Behavioral Perseverance. Study 2 showed test-retest reliability and construct validity of this new scale, including moderate positive relationships with measures of positive psychological functioning and small to moderate negative relationships with vulnerability measures such as pain catastrophizing. Finally, consistent with our initial hypothesis, study 3 showed that the Pain Resilience Scale is more strongly related to ischemic pain responses than existing measures of general resilience. Together, these studies support the predictive utility of this new pain-specific measure of resilience in the context of acute experimental pain. The Pain Resilience Scale represents a novel measure of Cognitive/Affective Positivity and Behavioral Perseverance during exposure to noxious stimuli. Construct validity is supported by expected relationships with existing pain-coping measures, and predictive validity is shown by individual differences in response to acute experimental pain.

Be Happy in your Work: The Role of Positive Psychology in Working with Change and Performance

ABSTRACTThis narrative targets the role of happiness (subjective well-being) in change and performance in the workforce. Grounded within the paradigm of positive psychology, we draw on theory and research from several performance-related domains (including sport and physical activity) to describe the development of happiness in organizations and associated benefits to individuals and groups. Our review highlights the physical and mental health benefits of happiness, bidirectional associations between happiness and work-based performance (occupational success), and the contribution of individual differences (genetics and personality) to happiness and well-being. Moreover, we list a series of empirically guided techniques – often utilized in the domain of sport and performance psychology – that might be considered in the development of happiness in organizations. These include positive mental imagery, hypothetical thinking, cognitive reappraisal (and the development of a challenge state), physical activity, and writing-based interventions. We conclude by offering potential avenues for research inquiry as they relate to change and performance in organizations.

Relationship between Forgiveness, Gratitude and Resilience among the Adolescents

Role of positive psychology is to nurture values and strengths in individuals and society. Forgiveness trait of temperance, and Gratitude trait of transcendence, are criteria of character strength (Christopher Peterson, Martin Seligman, 2004). Resilience is the ability to spring back from adversity and successfully adapt to any situation. These three traits play a significant role in deriving satisfaction and making life meaningful. These values need to be nurtured in children from the beginning. Hence, the objective of the present study was to assess forgiveness, gratitude and resilience among the adolescents and find out the strength of their inter-relationship. The sample consisted of 150 Grade XI students from the schools of Delhi. The tools used were Heartland Forgiveness Scale by Thompson et al., 2005, Gratitude Questionnaire-six item form by McCullough et al., 2002, and Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) by Ungar and Liebenberg (2011). These tools have been used in various studies in the Indian context. The statistical analysis showed a correlation of 0.23 between forgiveness and resilience, a correlation of 0.27 between gratitude and resilience and a correlation of 0.24 between forgiveness and gratitude. Though the correlation values were low, they were found to be significant. Interestingly, school-wise analysis showed different results for different schools; thus indicating a probable role played by the school environment, and socio-economic status of the students. Further, gender difference was seen with regard to gratitude having more correlation with resilience in case of girls; whereas forgiveness was related more to resilience in case of boys. Further study is suggested taking into account the above variables.

Mental Health Promotion in College Student based on Positive Psychology

The aim of this study is to analyze the status of mental health promotion in college student and the role of positive psychology in promoting mental health in college student. Mental disorders account for a large proportion of the disease burden in college student in all societies. Positive psychology is the study of such competencies and resources, or what is “right” about people-their positive attributes, psychological assets and strengths. The research results proved that positive psychology was useful for mental health promotion in college student.

The absence of positive psychology in disasters

Introduction: Positive psychology is among the important topics in health psychology and can be used to effectively improve the people's behaviors and practices when faced with a crisis or difficult situation. This study aims investigate the place of positive psychology in studies related to accidents and disasters and its role in proper dealing with these situations. Materials and Methods: This study is a narrative review carried out by searching for related articles on credible scientific websites, scientific books, research articles, research projects and dissertations. Information on databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct between years 1979 and 2014 was reviewed for related information. In total 70 English articles and 17 Farsi articles were found using the aforementioned methods. The information gathered from these articles were categorized and investigated. Results: Summarizing the information on the role of positive psychology in disasters showed that little attention was paid to the roles of positive psychology, especially among Farsi article, and that most studies concentrated on the psychological disorders present after the disaster. Furthermore, most of the articles about positive psychology were reviews with weak methodology and limited scopes. However, their results showed that people with positive thinking have several different characteristics that help them deal with difficult situations and disasters easier than other people. Conclusion: Despite the importance and role of positive psychology on different aspects of our daily lives, the effect of this topic during disasters and crisis has been neglected. People with positive thinking have several characteristics that make it easier for them to deal with difficult and disastrous situation compared to other people that should be considered when dealing with disasters.

The Role of Positive Psychology in Enhancing Satisfaction, Motivation, and Productivity in the Workplace

Positive psychology offers scope for enhancing satisfaction, motivation, and productivity in the workplace. Wiegand and Geller (2004, this issue) point to a number of strategies to enhance individuals' success orientation and conclude their discussion with the actively caring model which appears to be a useful means of representing pivotal facets of a positive and supportive workplace climate. The discussion in this article extends some of the concepts presented in their paper, adapts a model of motivation to develop the Occupational Motivation and Engagement Wheel, and also further discusses some particularly key strategies alluded to by Wiegand and Geller. These include a discussion of workplace resilience, authoritarian versus authoritative leadership/management styles, motivating workplace climates, personal bests, staff morale, flow in work, the value individuals attach to tasks and outcomes, and the centrality of relationships in the performance context. The article concludes with a multi-level “broaden and build” framework for enhancing satisfaction, motivation, and productivity in the workplace.

A Preliminary Investigation into the Role of Positive Psychology in Consumer Sensitivity to Corporate Social Performance

Research on positive psychology demonstrates that specific individual dispositions are associated with more desirable outcomes. The relationship of positive psychological constructs, however, has not been applied to the areas of business ethics and social responsibility. Using four constructs in two independent studies (hope and gratitude in Study 1, spirituality and generativity in Study 2), the relationship of these constructs to sensitivity to corporate social performance (CSCSP) were assessed. Results indicate that all four constructs significantly predicted CSCSP, though only hope and gratitude interacted to impact CSCSP. Discussion focuses upon these findings, limitations of the study, and future avenues for research.