Positive Psychology and WellBeing

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Positive Psychology and Well-Being

• Dubravka Miljkovic
• Zadar, 03/06/2005

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• Psychology is not just the study of weaknesses
  and damage it is also the study of strengh and
  virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is
  broaken it is nurturing what is best within us.

Martin E.P. Seligman
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Positive Psychology

• scientific study of ordinary human SV
• what works, whats right, whats improving
• what is the nature of the efficiently functioning
  human being

Sheldon King, 2001.
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Positive Psychology

• How can psychologists explain the fact that
  despite all the difficulties, the majority of
  people manage to live lives of dignity and
  purpose?

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Positive Psychology

• What people do right and how they manage to do
  it?
• What they do for
• themselves
• their families
• their communities

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Positive Psychology

• How to develop those qualities that lead to
  greater fulfillments

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Well-Being

• hedonic approach
• to create high levels of happiness
• finding and fostering positive emotionality
• Kahnemann, Diener Schwartz, 1999.

• eudamonic approach
• to fulfill ones potential
• to find ones true self
• Ryan Deci, 2001.

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Subjective Well-Being

• An increase in happiness is the closest thing
  psychology has to a general tonic for greater
  well-being
• Ed Diener

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Research area of subjective well-being

• 2 major variables
• happiness
• life-satisfaction
• (3thlow neuroticism)

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Subjective WB

• 1 - a result of summing a number of pleasurable
  moments together?

bottom up theory
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Subjective WB

• 2 - a result of a general positive orientation
  to life events?

top-down theory
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Predictors of SWB big 6

• positive self-esteem
• sense of perceived control
• optimism
• sense of meaning and purpose in life
• extroverted personality
• positive interpersonal relatonships

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Predictors of SWB

• low neuroticism (lower scores on measures of
  anxiety, worry depression)

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The mayor ways of influencing SWB

• 1. Enhancing positive interpretations of life
  events

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The mayor ways of influencing SWB

• 2. Fostering the pursuit of life-goals

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Well-being from the very beginning