|
The positive psychology movement was pioneered by Martin Seligman and is about improving the quality of life for all. It is concerned with happiness, sensual pleasure, wellbeing and optimism. The vision is to enhance and nurture individual traits such as love, courage, forgiveness and perseverance. It is through this focus that it is hoped many mental health problems will be prevented.This idea is in sharp contrast to traditional psychology with its overriding concern with pathology and focus on what is wrong, rather than what is right with people.
As the positive psychology arena grows, so does the scientific evidence to support it. Here are some examples:
Seligman’s research found there are personal strengths that can help prevent mental illness. These include: optimism, hope, honesty, insight and perseverance.
Work by Myers found that happy people have high self-esteem, sleep well, exercise, have good friends and marriages, have work and leisure that is engaging and are optimistic.
Recent work by Seligman has found that people who were given the task of either identifying and using their top strengths or listing three good things that happened to them each day were significantly happier and less depressed than they were at the start of the study. This effect was still apparent three months later.
Research at the University of Texas found that positive thinking helped combat frailty in elderly people.
Stanford University’s neuroscientists discovered that laughter releases the feel-good chemical dopamine.
Laughter can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the University of Maryland.
 Having a positive view of getting older can help you live longer. Research at Yale University found that those people with positive perceptions of ageing lived on average 7.5 years longer than those whose perceptions were negative.
Research by Cohen found that people with a high positive emotional style were less likely to develop a cold than those with a low positive emotional style.
Isen’s research found that when people are given small gifts, they are left feeling more generous, productive, creative and friendlier. She even found that when radiologists were given a small gift, their diagnosis was more accurate.
Wrzesniewski’s research found that how you perceive your work impacts on your experience of it. Those people who saw their work as their calling, worked more, took less time off and had greater life satisfaction than those who regarded their work as just a job. It also made no difference what the job was as she studied people in menial roles.
Take a look at
Look at my positive tips or sign up for Happy Mails.
|
Online counselling is offered to you by Make the Change. There are a variety of services available, all of which are accessible, secure and convenient.
Choose from 
Book a live session