PSY-6104 V3: Positive Psychology

PSY-6104 V3 Positive Psychology

Classic Psychology and the Zeitgeist of Positive Psychology

Psychology is a field that continues to evolve and have increased significance on how people evaluate and take life in various discourses. Positive psychology is one of the novel thoughts and movements advanced by Martin Seligman through his address to the American Psychological Association where he reminded psychologists of not ignoring the two latter goals of psychology nurturing talent and genius and promoting well-being and positive attributes of living (Khanna & Singh, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to define positive psychology and its key aspects, and explain classic psychology in relation to the zeitgeist positive psychology. The paper also includes social and political activities reflect evolution of positive psychology and considers contemporary elements that impact people to embrace positive psychology. It also offers a personal reflection of positive psychologies place in current zeitgeist.

Definition of Positive Psychology & Key Elements

Positive psychology is about studying the strengths and virtues through the use of psychological theory, research and intervention technique to comprehend the positive, adaptive, innovative and creative and emotionally satisfying components of human behavior. Positive psychologists focus on the elements and predictors of good life which has the greatest value in life (Kashdan et al., 2022). These psychologists from Aristotle assert that the primary qualities in defining the good life are things that enrich one’s life, make it worth living and assist in developing a positive and strengthened character.

Flourishing is a one of the basic elements of positive psychology. Flourishing entails how individuals adapt and adjust to life’s experiences; both good and bad, in a positive and successful way. Positive psychology emphasizes the need for people to have positive emotions to be happy, engagements to improve intelligence, emotions and skills in their activities. They should also develop relationships and attain meaning based on the purposes that they find about their lives.

Timelines of Classical Psychology and Zeitgeist Positive Psychology

While positive psychology is a novel school of psychology discipline, research leading up to it has been happening throughout historical accounts. Positive psychology emanates from existing classical psychological theories and perspectives like humanistic psychology, behaviorism, psychoanalytic approaches and cognitive models as well as concepts like hedonic happiness and eudemonic wellbeing. Hedonism is the most ancient approach to well-being and happiness. Hedonism began in ancient Greece and served as both psychological and moral theory. Hedonism advances that individuals’ main goal is to attain their greatest happiness through pleasure (Khanna & Singh, 2019). Eudemonic happiness as articulated by Aristotle implores people to attain their greatest positive emotions and pleasure through activities that make them satisfied and happy.

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The next development about happiness and well-being was in ancient Hebrew land around 2000 B.C. The ancient Hebrews believed

that the best type of well-being and happiness was through following the ten commandments. Failure to observe the ten rules led to punishment. The approach to getting happiness and well-being based on the ten commandments forms the basis of the divine command theory.

The Greeks again contributed to happiness and well-being during their Golden Age between 500-300 B.C. Their theory was about the path to good life and prosperity through logic and rational analysis. It is during this time that great Greek philosophers like Plato, Socrates and Aristotle emerged emphasizing the greatest happiness that one can attain (Kashdan et al., 2022). These philosophers agreed on the need for individuals to get a deeper meaning of life beyond the sensory experience through one’s spiritual retrospection and reflection.

Humanism arose in the 14th century and emphasized need for human dignity as well as its importance in attaining happiness in the world. In his works, Seligman was emphatic that positive and humanistic psychology are essential in attainment of happiness. Humanism and positive psychology focus on critical premises like the will, hope, and responsibility as well as positive emotions. Sigmund Freud developed the psychoanalytic approach in the 1890s. Positive psychologists objected the psychoanalytic approach as well as the need to consider past experiences as they considered them not progressive since they advance that seeking pleasure entails attempts to escape pain (Kashdan et al., 2022). It is during this period that women got the right to vote with constitutional amendments like the Fourteenth Amendment. The implication is that positive psychology at this time was a fundamental aspect of allowing Americans to reflect on their experiences and attain happiness based on their achievements.

Behaviorism emerged in 1913 but positive psychologists contradicted it based on its tenets. The model states that human life is shaped by their external environment that comes with rewards and punishments for either good or bad behaviors as opposed to internal thoughts. Seligman challenged this approach through his work with dogs’ experiment where he watched their behavior after giving them shock. The study found that dogs could not cooperate. Seligman concluded that dogs were helpless and could do nothing based on the situation (Khanna & Singh, 2019). Lastly, in the last century, right from 1940s, existentialism became popular because of the rise in individualism. Positive psychology shares many components or perspectives of existentialism which focuses on assisting people to encounter victimization and get a way to create purposeful life.

Today, positive psychology is focused on subjective well-being and PERMA as well as prospection. PERMA is a model that implores people to have positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments (Donaldson et al., 2021). Zeitgeist is a term that denotes spirit of times and encompasses a prevalent mindset, set of standards or attitudes. The implication is that zeitgeist ideas dominate the need for individuals to attain happiness in their activities. The use of social media and the Internet are critical aspects of determining happiness and the mindset of individuals based on concepts of positive psychology and zeitgeist.

Flagging of certain words and events by people where they show their happiness and pleasure in what they do constitutes positive psychology based on clinical ideas of psychology as advanced by scholars over time. The evolution means that psychologists should focus on all missions of psychology, especially the prospective and future-focused aspects that comes due to happiness emanating from positive emotions, relationships and attitude (Hausler et al., 2018). The use of the Internet and social media are contemporary aspects that allow people to express their positive ideas and seek happiness when they get information on how to attain it.

Conclusion

The development of positive psychology is long and borrows from ancient theories and happiness models like eudemonia and hedonism. The paper has illustrated the need to have positive attributes and better ways of expressing emotions and needs by people in different areas of life. The implication is that this evolution is a core aspect of freedom of expression and exercising of inherent political rights by individuals in society.

PSY-6104 V3: Positive Psychology References

Donaldson, S. I., Van Zyl, L. E., & Donaldson, S. I. (2021). PERMA+ 4: A framework for work-

related wellbeing, performance and positive organizational psychology 2.0.

Frontiers in psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.817244

Hausler, M., Strecker, C., Huber, A., Brenner, M., Höge, T., & Höfer, S. (2018). Distinguishing

relational aspects of character strengths with subjective and psychological well-being. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01159

Kashdan, T. B., McKnight, P. E., & Goodman, F. R. (2022). Evolving positive psychology: A

blueprint for advancing the study of purpose in life, psychological strengths, and resilience. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(2), 210-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.2016906

Khanna, P., & Singh, K. (2019). Do all positive psychology exercises work for everyone?

Replication of Seligman et al.’s (2005) interventions among adolescents. Psychological

Studies, 64(1), 1-10. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.21839.

As we begin this session, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my expectations for this course:

Please note that GCU Online weeks run from Thursday (Day 1) through Wednesday (Day 7).

Course Room Etiquette:

It is my expectation that all learners will respect the thoughts and ideas presented in the discussions.
All postings should be presented in a respectful, professional manner. Remember – different points of view add richness and depth to the course!

Office Hours:

My office hours vary so feel free to shoot me an email at Kelly.[email protected] or my office phone is 602.639.6517 and I will get back to you within one business day or as soon as possible.
Phone appointments can be scheduled as well. Send me an email and the best time to call you, along with your phone number to make an appointment.
I welcome all inquiries and questions as we spend this term together. My preference is that everyone utilizes the Questions to Instructor forum. In the event your question is of a personal nature, please feel free to post in the Individual Questions for Instructor forum I will respond to all posts or emails within 24 or sooner.

Late Policy and Grading Policy

Discussion questions:

I do not mark off for late DQ’s.
I would rather you take the time to read the materials and respond to the DQ’s in a scholarly way, demonstrating your understanding of the materials.
I will not accept any DQ submissions after day 7, 11:59 PM (AZ Time) of the week.
Individual written assignments – due by 11:59 PM AZ Time Zone on the due dates indicated for each class deliverable.

Assignments:

Assignments turned in after their specified due dates are subject to a late penalty of -10%, each day late, of the available credit. Please refer to the student academic handbook and GCU policy.
Any activity or assignment submitted after the due date will be subject to GCU’s late policy
Extenuating circumstances may justify exceptions, which are at my sole discretion. If an extenuating circumstance should arise, please contact me privately as soon as possible.
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All assignments will be graded in accordance with the Assignment Grading Rubrics

Participation

Participation in each week’s Discussion Board forum accounts for a large percentage of your final grade in this course.
Please review the Course Syllabus for a comprehensive overview of course deliverables and the value associated with each.
It is my expectation that each of you will substantially contribute to the course discussion forums and respond to the posts of at least three other learners.
A substantive post should be at least 200 words. Responses such as “great posts” or “I agree” do not meet the active engagement expectation.
Please feel free to draw on personal examples as you develop your responses to the Discussion Questions but you do need to demonstrate your understanding of the materials.
I do expect outside sources as well as class materials to formulate your post.
APA format is not necessary for DQ responses, but I do expect a proper citation for references.
Please use peer-related journals found through the GCU library and/or class materials to formulate your answers. Do not try to “Google” DQ’s as I am looking for class materials and examples from the weekly materials.
I will not accept responses that are from Wikipedia, Business dictionary.com, or other popular business websites. You will not receive credit for generic web searches – this does not demonstrate graduate-level research.
Stay away from the use of personal pronouns when writing. As a graduate student, you are expected to write based on research and gathering of facts. Demonstrating your understanding of the materials is what you will be graded on. You will be marked down for lack of evidence to support your ideas.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of claiming credit for another’s work, accomplishments, or ideas without appropriate acknowledgment of the source of the information by including in-text citations and references.
This course requires the utilization of APA format for all course deliverables as noted in the course syllabus.
Whether this happens deliberately or inadvertently, whenever plagiarism has occurred, you have committed a Code of Conduct violation.
Please review your LopesWrite report prior to final submission.
Every act of plagiarism, no matter the severity, must be reported to the GCU administration (this includes your DQ’s, posts to your peers, and your papers).

Plagiarism includes:

Representing the ideas, expressions, or materials of another without due credit.
Paraphrasing or condensing ideas from another person’s work without proper citation and referencing.
Failing to document direct quotations without proper citation and referencing.
Depending upon the amount, severity, and frequency of the plagiarism that is committed, students may receive in-class penalties that range from coaching (for a minor omission), -20% grade penalties for resubmission, or zero credit for a specific assignment. University-level penalties may also occur, including suspension or even expulsion from the University.
If you are at all uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, you should review the resources available in the Student Success Center. Also, please review the University’s policies about plagiarism which are covered in more detail in the GCU Catalog and the Student Handbook.
We will be utilizing the GCU APA Style Guide 7th edition located in the Student Success Center > The Writing Center for all course deliverables.

LopesWrite

All course assignments must be uploaded to the specific Module Assignment Drop Box, and also submitted to LopesWrite every week.
Please ensure that your assignment is uploaded to both locations under the Assignments DropBox. Detailed instructions for using LopesWrite are located in the Student Success Center.

Assignment Submissions

Please note that Microsoft Office is the software requirement at GCU.
I can open Word files or any file that is saved with a .rtf (Rich Text Format) extension. I am unable to open .wps files.
If you are using a “.wps” word processor, please save your files using the .rtf extension that is available from the drop-down box before uploading your files to the Assignment Drop Box.

Grade of Incomplete

The final grade of Incomplete is granted at the discretion of the instructor; however, students must meet certain specific criteria before this grade accommodation is even possible to consider.
The grade of Incomplete is reserved for times when students experience a serious extenuating circumstance or a crisis during the last week of class which prevents the completion of course requirements before the close of the grading period. Students also must pass the course at the time the request is made.
Please contact me personally if you are having difficulties in meeting course requirements or class deadlines during our time together. In addition, if you are experiencing personal challenges or difficulties, it is best to contact the Academic Counselor so that you can discuss the options that might be available to you, as well as each option’s academic and financial repercussions.

Grade Disputes

If you have any questions about a grade you have earned on an individual assignment or activity, please get in touch with me personally for further clarification.
While I have made every attempt to grade you fairly, on occasion a misunderstanding may occur, so please allow me the opportunity to learn your perspective if you believe this has occurred. Together, we should be able to resolve grading issues on individual assignments.
However, after we have discussed individual assignments’ point scores, if you still believe that the final grade you have earned at the end of the course is not commensurate with the quality of work you produced for this class, there is a formal Grade Grievance procedure which is outlined in the GCU Catalog and Student Handbook.