The Positive Approach + Mindfulness
- Created by: chlopayne
- Created on: 16-04-19 11:42
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- The Positive Approach
- Key assumptions
- The Acknowledgement of Free Will
- Only thing that controls our behaviour is our own free will.
- Happiness is accessible to all,
- Argument that free will is beneficial is supported by research.
- Feeling that we can control our lives predicts high job satisfaction and better job performance.
- Diener and Seligmann (2002) found students who has strong ties with family and friends, reported a higher level of happiness.
- Feeling that we can control our lives predicts high job satisfaction and better job performance.
- Authenticity of Goodness and Excellence
- Seligman (2002) argues positive emotions and experiences are as authentic as negative ones.
- Celebrates good things in life and improve wellbeing and fulfilment. Positive attitude towards the treatment of mental illness.
- Rather than treating symptoms, focus is on develop individuals positive traits and signature strengths.
- Focus on 'The Good Life'
- Seligman (2003) argues the way to happiness, and experience the best life is to develop our strengths and virtues.
- Start by achieving a 'pleasant life, then a 'good life', and finally a 'meaningful life'.
- The pleasant life - positive emotions and daily satisfaction.
- The good life - discovering our strengths and enhancing our lives.
- The meaningful life - using our strengths for a greater purpose.
- Seligman argues the way to a good life is to develop positive connections with others.
- The Acknowledgement of Free Will
- Martin Seligman (1998) felt traditional psychology focused too much on mental illness, not enough on bow humans can flourish and succeed.
- Provide methods to enhance human happiness.
- Mindfulness therapy
- Enable a person to be present in the moment. Aims to help people control their thoughts and emotions.
- Help anyone improve their mental wellbeing.
- Main components
- Meditation and mindful breathing - focus n the here and now. "Tune out" distractions and focus on bodily sensations.
- Thought and emotions come and go.
- Informal practices of mindfulness - practice must be done consistently. Engaged in what task you're doing.
- Gaining control of thoughts - focus on the present.
- Meditation and mindful breathing - focus n the here and now. "Tune out" distractions and focus on bodily sensations.
- Enable a person to be present in the moment. Aims to help people control their thoughts and emotions.
- Evaluation of the approach
- Useful? Beneficial applications, used in education, healthy, work places and therapy.
- Mindfulness - improves wellbeing in people with stress and depression.
- Scientific? Study and enhance human happiness and wellbeing by using scientific methods.
- Happiness and wellbeing are difficult traits to pin down and measure.
- Lazarus (2003) - findings into happiness are correlational. We cannot assign causality.
- Mindfulness originated with Buddhist ideas. They argue removing the religious aspects make it inauthentic.
- Positive psychology is a cult, religion replacement for secular society. Others say this misunderstands positive psychology.
- Researchers work hard to use scientific methods. It does not promote techniques unless they are backed by research.
- Positive psychology is a cult, religion replacement for secular society. Others say this misunderstands positive psychology.
- Shifts attention from negative states to positive states. Focusing only on disorder/disease results in limited understanding of human conditions.
- "Not a new idea" Seligman ignores the work of other psychologists(Abraham Maslow 1950s).
- Positive psychology claims to be an advance of humanistic psychology - adopted a scientific study.
- A criticism is its simplistic view of emotions. Seen as either positive or negative, in reality they are often mixed (Larsen, 2001).
- Useful? Beneficial applications, used in education, healthy, work places and therapy.
- Key assumptions
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