Introduction toPositive Psychology

William C. Compton

Middle Tennessee State University

Australia • Canada • Mexico • Singapore • SpainUnited Kingdom • United States

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Publisher / Executive Editor: Vicki Knight

Editorial Assistant: Monica Sarmiento

Technology Project Manager: Darin Derstine

Marketing Manager: Dory Schaeffer

Marketing Assistant: Laurel Anderson

Advertising Project Manager: Brian Chaffee

Project Manager, Editorial Production: Megan E. Hansen

Art Director: Vernon Boes

Print /Media Buyer: Lisa Claudeanos

Permissions Editor: Stephanie Lee

Production Service: Gretchen Otto, G&S Book Services

Compositor: G&S Book Services

Copy Editor: Karen Boyd

Cover Designer: Andy Norris

Cover Art: Digital Stock

Printer: Malloy Incorporated

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Wadsworth, a division of ThomsonLearning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark usedherein under license.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in anyform or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical,including but not limited to photocopying, recording, taping,Web distribution, information networks, or informationstorage and retrieval systems—without the writtenpermission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

For more information about our products, contact us at:Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center

1-800-423-0563For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a

request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com.Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted by

email to thomsonrights@thomson.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004104480

ISBN 0-534-64453-8

Thomson Wadsworth10 Davis DriveBelmont, CA 94002-3098USA

AsiaThomson Learning5 Shenton Way #01-01UIC BuildingSingapore 068808

Australia /New ZealandThomson Learning102 Dodds StreetSouthbank, Victoria 3006Australia

CanadaNelson1120 Birchmount RoadToronto, Ontario M1K 5G4Canada

Europe/Middle East /AfricaThomson LearningHigh Holborn House50/51 Bedford RowLondon WC1R 4LRUnited Kingdom

This book is dedicated to my wife, Barbara Whiteman, Ed.D.

Her life is a remarkable demonstration of how virtues such as compassion,

empathy, and a sense of humor can create positive emotions in others—

especially those who are lucky enough to know her well.

ISBN 13: 978-0-534-64453-6ISBN: 0-534-64453-8

4 5 6 7 08 07 06

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

iii

Preface ixAcknowledgments xi

Part I

Positive PsychologyFoundations 11 An Introduction to Positive

Psychology 3

2 Emotions and Motivation in Positive Psychology 23

Part II

Positive Emotional States 413 Subjective Well-Being 43

4 Leisure, Optimal Experience, and Peak Performance 67

5 Love and Well-Being 86

6 Wellness, Health Psychology, and Positive Coping 108

Brief Contents

Part III

Positive Traits 1297 Excellence, Aesthetics, Creativity,

and Genius 131

8 Positive Mental Health: Thriving and Flourishing 151

9 Interventions for Enhanced Well-Being 175

10 Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being 196

Part IV

Positive Institutions and a Look toward the Future 21711 Work, Community, Culture,

and Well-Being 219

12 A Look toward the Future of Positive Psychology 241

References 250Name Index 270Subject Index 275

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

iv

Preface ixAcknowledgments xi

Part I

Positive PsychologyFoundations 1

Chapter 1

An Introduction to PositivePsychology 3Welcome to Positive Psychology! 3

Definition of Positive Psychology 3

The Dimensions of Positive Psychology 4

The Scope of Positive Psychology 4

Why Positive Psychology Is Needed Today 5

Early Missions of Psychology 5

Importance of Positive Emotions to Both Mental and Physical Health 5

Basic Themes and Assumptions of Positive Psychology 6

The Good Life 6

Past Assumptions about Human Behavior 7

Assumptions about Human Emotions 9

Assumptions about the Role of Science in the Study of Well-Being 12

A Short History of Well-Being in the Western World 13

The Early Hebrews 13

The Greeks 14

Early Christianity and the Middle Ages 17

The Virtue Theory in the Middle Ages 17

The Renaissance to the Age ofEnlightenment 18

Romanticism and the Nineteenth Century 19

The Twentieth Century 20

Positive Psychology Today 20

Summary 21

Chapter 2

Emotions and Motivation inPositive Psychology 23Positive Psychology and Emotion 23

The Basic Emotions 23

The Evolutionary Need for PositiveEmotions 24

The Biology of Positive Emotions and Pleasure 24

The Different Roles of Positive andNegative Emotions 25

The “Broaden-and-Build” Model of Positive Emotions 26

Emotional Intelligence 27

Genetic Influences on PositiveEmotions 29

Moods and Psychological Well-Being 31

Positive Psychology and Motivation 33

Contents

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Early Theories of Motivation 33

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 34

Motivation and the Pursuit of Goals 36

Summary 39

Part II

Positive Emotional States 41

Chapter 3

Subjective Well-Being 43The Measurement of Subjective Well-Being 43

Self-Report Measures of Subjective Well-Being 44

The Stability of Subjective Well-Being 45

Are Most People Happy or Unhappy? 46

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Theories 47

Predictors of Subjective Well-Being 48

Self-Esteem 48

Sense of Perceived Control 48

Extroversion 50

Optimism 51

Positive Relationships 52

A Sense of Meaning and Purpose 53

Resolution of Inner Conflicts or LowNeuroticism 53

Factors That Increase Subjective Well-Being 53

Should You Feel Emotions Intensely or Frequently? 54

Cognition: Is the Glass “Half Full or Half Empty”? 54

The Pursuit of Goals 58

Evaluation Theory 58

What Is Not Related to Happiness 58

Money, Income, and Wealth 58

Gender: Are Men or Women Happier? 62

Age: Is One Age Group Happier thanAnother? 63

Race and Ethnicity 63

Education and Climate 64

Comments on Subjective Well-Being 64

Summary 65

Chapter 4

Leisure, Optimal Experience, and Peak Performance 67Leisure 67

Leisure and Life Satisfaction 67

What Turns an Activity into “Leisure”? 68

Flow and Optimal Experience: Being “In the Zone” 69

Definition of Flow 70

Contexts and Situations for Flow 70

Characteristics of Flow 71

Other Qualities of Flow 73

Flow and Subjective Well-Being 74

Comments on the Theory of Flow 77

Peak Performance 77

Peak Performance in Sports 79

Training for Peak Performance 80

Additional Avenues to Well-Being 81

Mindfulness 81

Savoring 82

Comments on Optimal Experiences 83

Summary 84

CONTENTS v

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Chapter 5

Love and Well-Being 86The Psychology of Love 86

Evolution and Love 86

Marriage and Well-Being 86

The Varieties of Love 88

Finding Romance, Intimacy, and Love 92

Relationship Satisfaction: What Makes Relationships Good? 93

Personality Traits, Attributions, andIllusions 93

Interpersonal Factors 97

Environmental or Social Factors 98

Relationship Stability: What Makes Relationships Last? 98

What Do Happy Couples Say about Their Relationships? 99

Theories of Relationship Stability 100

What Hurts Relationships? 103

Conflict 103

Social and Cultural Factors 104

How to Nurture Relationships 105

Comments on Love and Well-Being 106

Summary 106

Chapter 6

Wellness, Health Psychology, and Positive Coping 108Wellness 109

Health Psychology 110

Psychoneuroimmunology 110

Psychological Factors Important to Health 111

Positive Coping 117

A Definition of Positive Coping 117

The Importance of Daily Hassles 117

Dimensions of Positive Coping 118

Comments on Wellness and Health Psychology 125

Summary 126

Part III

Positive Traits 129

Chapter 7

Excellence, Aesthetics, Creativity,and Genius 131The Pursuit of Excellence 131

The Foundations of Excellence 131

The Development of Excellence 132

Resonance 135

Aesthetics and the Good Life 136

Why Is the Aesthetic Sense Important to Well-Being? 136

Finding Beauty Outside the Arts 139

Origins of the Aesthetic Sense 140

Can Tragedy and Sadness Be Beautiful? 140

Creativity 141

What Is Creativity? 141

The Creative Person 143

The Creative Process 145

Creative Environments 147

Genius 148

Summary 149

vi CONTENTS

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Chapter 8

Positive Mental Health: Thriving and Flourishing 151Positive Development across the Life Span 151

Resilience: Healthy Adjustment to DifficultChildhood 151

Generativity: Nurturing and GuidingOthers 153

Flourishing and Thriving as We Age 153

Wisdom: What Was It That King Solomon Had? 154

Positive Mental Health 158

Positive Mental Health as Innate Potentials 158

Early Psychodynamic Formulations 158

Carl Rogers and the Fully FunctioningPerson 159

Abraham Maslow and Self-Actualization 160

Positive Mental Health as CharacterDevelopment 166

Authenticity: Finding One’s “True Self ” 166

Healthy and Adaptive Defense Mechanisms 168

Strengths and Virtues 170

Summary 173

Chapter 9

Interventions for Enhanced Well-Being 175The Disease Model of Mental Illness and Its Problems 175

Toward a Classification of Strengths 176

The Dimensions of Positive Mental Health 177

Marie Jahoda and Positive Mental Health 177

Carol Ryff and Psychological Well-Being 178

Richard Coan and the Modes of Fulfillment 179

Keyes and Lopez and Complete Mental Health 180

The Values in Action (VIA) Classification 181

Positive Psychology Interventions 182

Positive Psychotherapy 182

Positive Psychology in Educational Settings 187

Interventions to Increase Resilience 187

Positive Interventions Targeted toward Specific Emotions 188

Comments on Interventions 194

Summary 194

Chapter 10

Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being 196Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being 196

Religiosity and Health 197

Prayer and Health 198

Why Is Religiosity Related to Well-Being? 198

A Sense of Meaning and Purpose in Life 201

The Needs for Meaning 201

Types of Meaning 201

Finding Meaning in Life 202

Comments on Religious Experiences and the Creation of Meaning 207

CONTENTS vii

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Psychological Theories of SpiritualDevelopment 208

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiosity 208

Cognitive-Developmental Perspectives on Faith 208

Psychodynamic Perspectives on Religion 209

Comments on the PsychologicalPerspectives on Religion 210

Eastern Religions: Ideas from Buddhism 211

The Buddhist Perspective on Happiness 211

Research on Religious Experiences and Eastern Psychology 213

Comments on Religion and Well-Being 214

Summary 214

Part IV

Positive Institutions and a Look toward the Future 217

Chapter 11

Work, Community, Culture, and Well-Being 219Job Satisfaction and Well-Being 219

Elements of Job Satisfaction: The Person 220

Improving Job Satisfaction: The Person 222

Elements of Job Satisfaction: The Work Environment 223

Improving Job Satisfaction: Healthy Work Environments 226

Comments on Job Satisfaction 228

Social Well-Being 228

Positive Communities and CommunityPsychology 229

Community Interventions 231

Comments on Healthy Communities 233

Subjective Well-Being in Different Cultures 233

Money, Wealth, and Income 235

Democracy and Social Norms 236

Cultural Conceptualization of Emotion 236

Cultural Conceptualizations of Self and Well-Being 237

Comments on Culture andWell-Being 239

Summary 239

Chapter 12

A Look toward the Future ofPositive Psychology 241How Do We Recognize a Life Lived Well, a Life Worthy of Admiration andRespect? 241

Expanding the Criteria for the Good Life 242

People Need Both Positive and NegativeEmotions 244

The Need for New Research Methods 245

Systems Theory 246

Future Applications of Positive Psychology 247

Toward the Future with Optimism 248

References 250Name Index 270Subject Index 275

viii CONTENTS

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

ix

One of the most enduring pursuits throughoutthe entire history of humanity has been thesearch for well-being, happiness, and the goodlife. It takes only a minor excursion into humanhistory to realize that the answers to this ques-tion have been extraordinarily diverse: somepeople have pursued sensual pleasure, othershave sought love and the joys of intimate rela-tionships. Still others have worked toward theactualization of their potentials, while somehave searched for the peace of contemplativespirituality. In spite of the importance of thissearch, the question of how to define and howto actualize these goals remains one of the mostpersistent puzzles even today. In spite of themany solutions offered throughout history, thequestion “What is happiness?” still plaguesmany people today. Positive psychology is thenewest effort to answer that question.

Chapter 1 is an introduction to this new fo-cus area of psychology. Positive psychology isdefined in this brief introduction, certain as-sumptions that are common among positivepsychologists are described, and a very briefhistory of how the Western world has definedwell-being is presented. Chapter 2 reviews ba-sic psychological research on positive emotionand intrinsic motivation. Therefore, these firsttwo chapters present a very brief introductionto the theoretical and research contexts fromwhich the new field of positive psychology hasemerged and is evolving today.

The next four chapters cover a number ofperspectives that all place a major emphasis onpositive emotional states. Of course, in manyways most of the theories and perspectives inpositive psychology place a good deal of empha-sis on positive emotions. The perspectives dis-

cussed in these chapters, however, tend todefine well-being or the good life in terms of aspecific emotion or a cluster of emotional expe-riences. The perspectives discussed in this sec-tion have all, in one way or another, focused onpositive emotional states as the primary way tostudy well-being and as one of the best indica-tors of the good life.

Chapter 3 reviews research in subjectivewell-being. Investigations into subjective well-being look at the predictors, causes, and conse-quences of happiness and satisfaction with life.These studies very directly try to answer theage-old question, “What is happiness?” Chapter4 covers studies that look at leisure, play, andwhat makes a person feel as if he or she is hav-ing fun. In addition, it covers aspects of peakperformance and optimal experiencing. Chap-ter 5 takes a look at the feelings of love and emo-tional intimacy. In the world today, the experi-ences of love and intimacy are one of the mostfrequently desired elements of the good life.The chapter covers theoretical perspectives onlove, as well as some possible predictors of bothmarital satisfaction and marital stability. Chap-ter 6 reviews a number of perspectives on well-ness, health, and positive coping skills. Theemotional experiences that will be of interest inthat chapter include a zest for life, a sense ofphysical vitality, and the ability to feel relaxed,contented, and free of stress. In addition, Chap-ter 6 will explore the influence of psychoneu-roimmunology—an area that looks at how cer-tain emotions, such as optimism and laughter,are important to immune system functioning.

The next four chapters explore research andtheory that focus on the development and nur-turance of positive traits. These perspectives all

Preface

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

describe well-being in terms of certain consis-tencies in behavior that can be observed overtime and over different situations. Of course,someone who is generally happy also exhibitsconsistency in his or her emotional responses.Perspectives in these chapters, however, allstudy well-being by measuring personality traits,virtues, or other behavioral consistencies ratherthan focusing on the measurement of specificemotions. Of course, both behavior and emotionare important to well-being. The distinction be-ing made here between research studies is one ofemphasis, not exclusion. The chapters in thissection cover a fairly wide range of perspectiveson well-being.

Chapter 7 looks at states of excellence, cre-ativity, and how a sense of aesthetics can en-hance an appreciation of life. Chapter 8 is aquick overview of the ways in which psychologyhas tried to define positive mental health. Thischapter also covers some recent finding rele-vant to positive mental health and resilience atdifferent points in the life span. Chapter 9 looksat how psychologists have been trying to createnew styles of assessment and psychotherapy inorder to help people create positive personality

traits that are habits of behavior. Last, Chapter10 looks at one of the oldest institutions forhelping people bring positive traits into theirlives—religion and spirituality. In sum, many ofthe theoretical perspectives in this section haveattempted to produce models of what humanbeings are like when talents, strengths, virtues,and positive character traits are habits of behav-ior rather than occasional visitors.

Chapter 11 covers topics relevant to an-other major focus area of positive psychology—the development of positive institutions. Whenmost people think of psychology, they think ofthe study of persons or individuals. What is of-ten lost when focusing on individuals is the veryobvious fact that people exist in groups andthose groups make up families, neighborhoods,communities, and societies. Therefore, the top-ics covered in Chapter 11 include discussions ofjob satisfaction, community psychology, and thecultural factors that may impact a sense of well-being. The book ends with a final chapter on thefuture of positive psychology. I hope you enjoythis all-too-brief exploration of the fascinatingnew area of positive psychology.

x PREFACE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

xi

I have been fascinated with how people defineand pursue psychological well-being for the pastthirty-five years. When I decided to pursue thisinterest through the discipline of psychology, Ifound very few psychologists who recognizedthe value of a career based on the study of posi-tive psychological development. Luckily, I havemanaged to find a few mentors that helped tovalidate my interests and encouraged me tocontinue my studies. Thomas Roberts at North-ern Illinois University, Gordon Becker at theUniversity of Nebraska–Omaha, and JulesSeeman at George Peabody College of Vander-bilt University provided me with encourage-ment and role models of how psychologistscan focus their careers on the study of psycho-logical well-being.

I would also like to thank my colleagues atMiddle Tennessee State University: Tom Brin-thaupt, Jerden Johnson, Rick Moffett, and GregSchmidt, who reviewed earlier drafts of thechapters or made very helpful suggestions aboutrelevant research literature. A special thanksgoes to another of my colleagues, Janet Belsky.Janet has been such an enthusiastic supporter ofthis book that I might have given up my effortsto get it into print were it not for her efforts.Janet, I can’t thank you enough!

In addition, I would also like to thank theCommittee on Non-Instruction Assignments at MTSU for granting me a sabbatical leave to begin writing this book. Later, another grant from the Faculty Research Committee at

MTSU allowed me to continue work on themanuscript.

Appreciation is also extended to Jason Long,who did much of the research on Web sites re-lated to positive psychology. Dustin Thomanprovided extraordinary assistance and enthusi-asm with all manner of necessary research tasks(good luck in your doctoral program Dustin—you will be a great psychologist). In addition,the efforts of CoTonya Mitchell and Karen Nun-ley are gratefully acknowledged. The studentswho have taken my Psychology of Happinessand Well-being course since 1992 also deservethanks for their interest, questions, and enthusi-asm for a positive approach to psychology. Thecontributions of my nephew, Dave Compton,are also gratefully acknowledged. Dave care-fully reviewed much of the manuscript for gram-matical and stylistic errors. Thanks, Dave!Thanks to Jessica Willard for the name index(good luck in graduate school).

For their help and careful attention to thequality of this book, I am grateful to my pub-lisher at Wadsworth, Vicki Knight, and to themany others who worked on the production ofthis book.

This book is also much better than it wouldhave been otherwise because of the valuablecomments provided by several reviewers. Theyare James Davis at Drury University, MichaelSakuma at Dowling College, and Janice M. Vidicat University of Rio Grande, as well as otherreviewers who wished to remain anonymous.

Acknowledgments

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

xii

William Compton has had a fascination with and enthu-siasm for ideas about psychological well-being for over35 years. He began his search in a somewhat unusual placefor a future psychologist—as a Far Eastern Studies majorat the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Easternreligions. Seeking a more applied and practical approach towell-being, he entered psychology and received his doc-torate in clinical psychology from George Peabody Collegeof Vanderbilt University in 1987. He worked as a psycho-therapist until joining the psychology faculty at MiddleTennessee State University in 1989. Soon after joining thefaculty, he created a course on the psychology of well-being—at that time, one of the only courses of its kind of-fered in American universities. Six years later, much of thesame material offered in this course would be gatheredtogether under a new research banner called positive psy-chology which was created by Martin E. P. Seligman.Compton is extremely grateful to Seligman and the otherfounders of positive psychology for fostering a new recog-nition of well-being in psychology. Throughout his careeras an academic psychologist, Compton has published pa-pers that focused on various aspects of positive mentalhealth. This is his first book.

About the Author

Phot

o by

Rus

ty R

ust

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

P A R T

Positive Psychology

Foundations

i

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

3

C H A P T E R

1An Introduction

to Positive Psychology

Psychology is not just the study of weakness and damage; it is also thestudy of strength and virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is broken; it is nurturing what is best within us.

Martin E. P. Seligman

Welcome to

Positive Psychology!

In 1998, Martin E. P. Seligman, who was thenpresident of the American Psychological Asso-ciation, urged psychologists to remember psy-chology’s forgotten mission: to build humanstrength and nurture genius. In order to remedythis omission from psychology, Seligman delib-erately set out to create a new direction and neworientation for psychology. He called this newfocus area positive psychology. Many psy-chologists saw his challenge to increase re-search on human strengths and psychologicalwell-being as a welcome opportunity.

Definition of Positive PsychologyIn the most general terms, positive psychologyuses psychological theory, research, and inter-vention techniques to understand the positive,the adaptive, the creative, and the emotionally

fulfilling elements of human behavior. In theirintroduction to a special issue of the AmericanPsychologist on positive psychology, KennonSheldon and Laura King (2001) describe posi-tive psychology as follows:

What is positive psychology? It is nothing morethan the scientific study of ordinary humanstrengths and virtues. Positive psychology revisits“the average person” with an interest in finding outwhat works, what’s right, and what’s improving. Itasks, “What is the nature of the efficiently func-tioning human being, successfully applying evolvedadaptations and learned skills? And how can psy-chologists explain the fact that despite all the diffi-culties, the majority of people manage to live livesof dignity and purpose?” . . . Positive psychology isthus an attempt to urge psychologists to adopt amore open and appreciative perspective regardinghuman potentials, motives, and capacities (p. 216).

Therefore, positive psychology studies whatpeople do right and how they manage to do it.This includes what they do for themselves, fortheir families, and for their communities. In ad-dition, positive psychology helps people develop

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

those qualities that lead to greater fulfillmentsfor themselves and for others. Sheldon, Freder-ickson, Rathunde, Csikszentmihalyi, and Haidt(2000) provide another prospective: they definepositive psychology as “the scientific study ofoptimal human functioning. It aims to discoverand promote factors that allow individuals, com-munities, and societies to thrive and flourish.”

The Dimensions of Positive PsychologyThe range of possible interest areas in positivepsychology is quite large; however, some broaddimensions have been used to define the newarea in a general way. In order to nurture talentand make life more fulfilling, positive psychol-ogy focuses on three areas of human experience(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) that helpto define the scope and orientation of a positivepsychology perspective.

1. At the subjective level, positive psychologylooks at positive subjective states or posi-tive emotions such as happiness, joy, satis-faction with life, relaxation, love, intimacy,and contentment. Positive subjective statesalso can include constructive thoughtsabout the self and the future, such as opti-mism and hope. Positive subjective statesmay also include feelings of energy, vital-ity, and confidence, or the effects of posi-tive emotions such as laughter.

2. At the individual level, positive psychologyfocuses on a study of positive individualtraits, or the more enduring and persistentbehavior patterns seen in people overtime. This study might include individualtraits such as courage, persistence, hon-esty, or wisdom. That is, positive psychol-ogy includes the study of positive behav-iors and traits that historically have beenused to define “character strengths” or vir-tues. It can also include the ability to de-velop aesthetic sensibility or tap into cre-ative potentials and the drive to pursueexcellence.

3. Last, at the group or societal level, positivepsychology focuses on the development,creation, and maintenance of positive in-stitutions. In this area, positive psychologyaddresses issues such as the developmentof civic virtues, the creation of healthyfamilies, the study of healthy work envi-ronments, and positive communities. Posi-tive psychology may also be involved in in-vestigations that look at how institutionscan work better to support and nurture all of the citizens they impact.

Therefore, in many ways, the focus of posi-tive psychology is the scientific study of positivehuman functioning and flourishing at a numberof levels, such as the biological, personal, rela-tional, institutional, cultural, and global (Selig-man & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

The Scope of Positive PsychologyThese definitions and dimensions give a generalsense of positive psychology. It will be helpful togive a partial list of topics that may be studiedby a positive psychologist (a complete or com-prehensive list would be quite exhaustive). Evi-dently, people are quite good at doing thingswell. In fact, the ways in which a person can ex-cel is much more extensive than has been rec-ognized in psychology.

With that introduction, here is an A to Z listof possible topics: altruism and empathy, build-ing enriching communities, creativity, forgive-ness and compassion, the role of positive emo-tions in job satisfaction, the enhancement ofimmune system functioning, lifespan models ofpositive personality development, styles of psy-chotherapy that emphasize accomplishmentsand positive traits, savoring each fleeting mo-ment of life, strengthening the virtues as way toincrease authentic happiness, and the psycho-logical benefits of Zen meditation (see Snyder &Lopez, 2002; Aspinwall & Straudinger, 2003;www.positivepsychology.org). One of positivepsychology’s early accomplishments was to help

4 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

psychologists pay attention to what people doright. Once psychologists began to notice themany ways that human beings succeed in life,these neglected aspects of behavior became thefocus of theory, research, and interventionstrategies. At this point, it is helpful to discusswhy the perspective of positive psychology isneeded today. This will be followed by a discus-sion of related themes and assumptions thatcontribute to a conceptualization of the goodlife and to positive psychology.

Why Positive Psychology

Is Needed Today

Psychology has not always focused on the adapt-able, the healthy, and the positive aspects of hu-manity. In fact, for many years professional psy-chology largely ignored the study of the positiveside of human behavior. Seligman (2000) notedthat prior to World War II there were only threemajor missions in psychology: to cure mental ill-ness, to find and nurture genius and talent, andto make normal life more fulfilling.

Early Missions of PsychologyThe first early mission was to cure mental ill-ness. The terrible consequences of mental ill-ness for many people, their families, and thecommunity demanded that psychology use themethods of science to seek solutions to thisproblem. Over the years, psychology and medi-cine have been remarkably successful. In theearly 1950s, no real cures existed for the majortypes of mental illness. Today, there are realcures for many types of mental illness, such aspanic disorder and depression, and highly effec-tive treatments exist for others, such as schizo-phrenia and bipolar disorder (Seligman, 1994).

The second early mission of psychology wasto find and nurture genius and talent. Many ofthe early studies in this area focused on the de-

velopment of intelligence. Other researchersstudied how changes in the environments ofschools, the workplace, and families could helphuman beings to be more creative and find la-tent and yet untapped potentials. While consid-erable work has been done in terms of this mis-sion, few studies have looked at how to nurturegenius and talent. This second mission for psy-chology has been relatively ignored over theyears.

The third early mission of psychology wasto make normal life more fulfilling. Obviously,there is more to living a satisfied and happy lifethan simply getting one’s immediate needs metin a reasonable amount of time. People needchallenges, tasks that test their skills, opportu-nities for learning new ideas and developing tal-ents, as well as the freedom to reinvent them-selves throughout their lives. However, just aswith the nurturing of genius, the creation ofmore life fulfillment was, unfortunately, largelyignored as psychology concentrated on other areas of research. For instance, while the ac-complishments in finding treatments for mentalillness were impressive, from a practical stand-point their achievement was to help peoplemove from a state of negative emotionality towhat might be described as a state of neutralemotionality. The question of how one movedfrom the neutral position to a positive place ofenhanced adaptability, well-being, and happi-ness was not central to the direction that psy-chology was then taking. Much of the emphasisin positive psychology is to remedy the relativeneglect of these areas. It has taken up the chal-lenge to focus attention on how to nurture ge-nius and talent as well as how to help peoplelead lives that are more fulfilling.

Importance of Positive Emotions to Both Mental and Physical HealthPositive psychology is also needed today be-cause scientific research is revealing how impor-tant positive emotions and adaptive behaviors

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 5

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

are to living a satisfying and productive life. Formuch of the twentieth century, many scientistsassumed that the study of positive emotions wassomewhat frivolous at best and probably unnec-essary. Many assumed that psychology shouldfocus on more pressing social problems, such asdrug abuse, criminal behavior, or the treatmentof serious psychological disorders like depres-sion. This assumption is only partially correct. Itis quite true that psychology does need to studyserious social and psychological problems. Infact, positive psychologists do not reject theneed to study and attempt to eliminate the ter-rible social and personal costs of these prob-lems. Recent research, however, suggests thatthe study of positive emotions can actually helpto fight these problems. For instance, somenewer forms of psychotherapy focus on the de-velopment of positive emotions and adaptivecoping strategies rather than focusing on nega-tive emotions, internal conflicts, and anxietiesformed in childhood. These forms of psy-chotherapy can be quite successful in helpingpeople emerge from debilitating psychologicalproblems (see Chapter 8).

Recent studies also support the importantinfluence that positive emotions and adaptivebehavior have on a number of positive outcomesin life. People who experience and express pos-itive emotions more often are likely to be satis-fied with their lives and have more rewardinginterpersonal relationships. They are more pro-ductive and satisfied at their job, are helpful toother people, and are more likely to reach de-sired goals in life (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith,1999). Interestingly, people who experience andexpress positive emotions often are also morelikely to be physically healthier, more resistantto illness, and may even live longer than others(Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001). There-fore, the study of positive emotions and adaptivebehavior can offer real benefits to learning howto build more fulfilling lives, both by helpingpeople reach their potentials and by helping to

eliminate negative emotions and problematicbehaviors.

Positive psychology represents another di-rection for psychology by focusing investiga-tions of who we are as human beings in morepositive directions. In some ways, positive psy-chology is an attitude that people can take to re-search, to other people, and to themselves.With this in mind, a person may reasonably ask,just what are the ideas and attitudes that helpshape positive psychology? The next section de-scribes a number of the basic themes and per-spectives that have helped to create and shapepositive psychology today.

Basic Themes and Assumptions

of Positive Psychology

The Good LifeOne of the major themes that define positivepsychology is a focus on the elements and pre-dictors of the good life. The term “good life” maybe somewhat unfamiliar to many students ofpsychology. The only connection that somepeople have with this phrase comes from its pop-ular use of the term as a reference to having ex-treme wealth, power, prestige, and beauty. Thatuse of the phrase “the good life” is quite incor-rect, however. In fact, the idea of the good lifecomes from philosophical speculations aboutwhat holds the greatest value in life or what is thenature of the highest or most important “good.”When we apply this idea to human life, “thegood life” refers to the factors that contributemost to a well-lived and fulfilling life. NicholasDent says, “Things that are good may also beconsidered from the point of view of how theywill contribute to a well-spent or happy humanlife. The idea of a complete good is that whichwill wholly satisfy the complete need and destiny

6 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

of humans, the summum bonum” (in Hon-derich, 1995, p. 322). Qualities that help definethe good life are those that enrich our lives,make life worth living, and foster strong charac-ter. Seligman (2002a) defines the good life as“using your signature strengths every day to pro-duce authentic happiness and abundant gratifi-cation” (p. 13).

In positive psychology, the good life hasbeen seen as a combination of three elements:positive connections to others, positive individ-ual traits, and life regulation qualities. Aspectsof our behavior that contribute to forging posi-tive connections to others can include the abilityto love, the presence of altruistic concerns, theability to forgive, and the presence of spiritualconnections to help create a sense of deepermeaning and purpose in life. Positive individualtraits can include, among other elements, asense of integrity, the ability to play and be cre-ative, and the presence of virtues such as cour-age and humility. Finally, life regulation quali-ties are those that allow us to regulate ourday-to-day behavior in such a way that we canaccomplish our goals while helping to enrichthe people and institutions that we encounteralong the way. These qualities include a sense ofindividuality or autonomy, a high degree ofhealthy self-control, and the presence of wis-dom as a guide to behavior.

In summary, one of the distinguishing fea-tures of positive psychology is a focus on whatconstitutes the type of life for human beingsthat leads to the greatest sense of well-being,satisfaction or contentment, and the good life.In addition, positive psychology views the goodlife not just as an individual achievement that isremoved from the social context. On the con-trary, if it is to be a worthwhile definition of “thegood,” the good life must include relationshipswith other people and with the society as awhole. The definition of the good life has so farbeen rather broad and somewhat abstract. Therest of this book will flesh out some of the finer

points and details that go into ideas about thegood life.

Past Assumptions about Human BehaviorFor a number of years, much research in psy-chology was based on the assumption that hu-man beings are driven by base motivations suchas aggression, egoistic self-interest, and the pur-suit of simple pleasures. Because many psychol-ogists began with that assumption, they in-advertently designed research studies thatsupported their own prior assumptions. There-fore, the older view of humanity was of a speciesthat barely keeps its aggressive tendencies incheck and manages to live in social groups moreout of motivated self-interest than out of a gen-uine affinity for others or a true sense of com-munity. Both Sigmund Freud and the early be-haviorists believed the humans were motivatedprimarily by selfish drives. From that perspec-tive, social interaction was possible only by exerting control over those baser emotions.Therefore, people were always vulnerable toeruptions of violence, greed, and selfishness.The fact that humans actually lived together insocial groups was seen as a tenuous arrange-ment that was always just one step away from violence.

An unfortunate offshoot of this assumptionwas the idea that people are motivated by a“survival of the fittest” mentality. This theory ofsocial behavior has been termed Social Darwin-ism. Darwin, however, never proposed this the-ory! It was, in fact, created by nineteenth andearly twentieth century thinkers who wished to support the current social hierarchy. Theysought to find in Darwin’s theory a way to justifysocial disparities by saying that those who hadmore wealth and power deserved to have it because they were the “fittest” (Honderich,1995). However, psychological theory has never

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 7

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

subscribed to this idea, and positive psychologycertainly does not either.

People Are Highly Adaptive and Desire Positive Social RelationshipsA new vision of human beings has been emerg-ing from psychological research. According tothese newer perspectives, socialization and theability to live in groups are highly adaptabletraits (Buss, 2000). Newer psychological think-ing views the ability to interact peaceably in so-cial groups as a trait that would actually enhancethe evolutionary advantage of the species. Thatis, as the human race developed, those peoplewho could live together in groups would have anadvantage over those who could not. Therefore,they would be more likely to survive and pass ontheir genetic material to their children.

People Can Thrive and FlourishPositive psychology seeks to investigate whatpeople do correctly in life. As in Sheldon andKing (2001)’s definition, positive psychologyrecognizes that many people adapt and adjust tolife in highly creative ways that allow them, andthose they come in contact with, to feel goodabout life. All too often, psychological researchdisplays a blatant bias toward assuming thatpeople are unwitting pawns to their biology,their childhood, or their unconscious. Positivepsychology takes the position that in spite of thevery real difficulties of life, we must acknowl-edge that most people do quite well. Mostpeople at least try to be good parents, to treatothers with some degree of respect, to lovethose close to them, to find ways to contributeto society and the welfare of others, and to livetheir lives with integrity and honesty. Theseachievements should be celebrated ratherthan explained away as “nothing but” biolog-ical urges or unconscious attempts to ward offanxiety and fear.

In addition, while knowledge of how peopleadjust well to life’s ups and downs is extremelyimportant, in the past psychology paid less at-tention to how people move beyond simple ad-justment to actually flourishing and thriving inthe face of change. That is, some people do notjust adapt to life—they adapt extraordinarilywell. Some adapt so well that they serve as rolemodels of incredible resiliency, perseverance,and fortitude. One of the goals of positive psy-chology is to understand how those peoplemanage to accomplish such high levels of thriv-ing and flourishing.

It is interesting to note that some of theseideas are even beginning to move into the of-fices of psychotherapists as they work withpeople experiencing psychological distress (seeChapter 9). For instance, Volney Gay (2001) hasrecently challenged the idea that the repressionof negative experiences during childhood is the primary factor in the development of adult psychological distress. Gay’s argument is thatthe anxiety, depression, and worry that go alongwith adult distress actually occur becausepeople cannot recollect joy, which in turn leadsto a retreat from active participation in life.Therefore, the real work of the psychotherapistis to help her or his clients reconnect with andrekindle the joy in life that has been hidden andsuppressed.

Strengths and Virtues Are Central to Well-BeingAnother distinguishing feature of positive psy-chology is that discussions of virtues and whatused to be called “good character” are impor-tant to conceptualizations of the good life. Posi-tive psychology recognizes that any discussionof what constitutes the good life must inevitablytouch on virtues, values, and character develop-ment. It is not possible to discuss the dimen-sions of an admirable and fulfilling life withoutintroducing discussions of virtues such as hon-

8 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

esty, fidelity, or courage. This is not to say thatpositive psychologists advocate certain virtuesand values simply because they personally ad-mire them. Science cannot address in any ulti-mate or absolute sense what values a personmust believe in or practice in her or his life. Sci-ence will never be able to say, for instance, thateveryone should value happiness as the ulti-mate goal of life. However, a science of positivepsychology does have a role in the investigationof values.

Over thirty years ago, M. Brewster Smith(1969) said that psychology cannot decidewhich values are “best.” What psychology cando is investigate the consequences of holdingcertain values. For instance, psychology can use scientific methods to investigate the conse-quences of living a life based on the values ofhonesty, integrity, tolerance, and self-control.In addition, scientific methods can be applied inany cultural setting or in any society around theworld to discover what values tend to enhancethe quality of life for everyone in a community.Therefore, the consequences of holding certainsocial values can be investigated within that spe-cific culture. In addition, scientific methods canbe used to investigate the possibility that cer-tain values are found almost universally and,therefore, may represent a common core of vir-tues that have grounded many cultures overtime (see Chapter 8).

Persons Exist in Social ContextsA final theme of positive psychology is the rec-ognition that people exist in social contexts andthat well-being is not just an individual pursuit.Of course, positive psychology is not alone inrecognizing the importance of the social contextfor human behavior. What positive psychologyhas done is to embrace ideas about positive social environments, such as social well-beingand empowerment. Many of these ideas wereadopted from community psychology (seeChapter 11), but many positive psychologists

have welcomed them. For instance, Corey L.M. Keyes & Shane Lopez (Keyes, 1998; Keys &Lopez, 2002) have argued that a complete clas-sification system for mental health should in-clude three general components: emotionalwell-being, psychological well-being, and socialwell-being.

Related to this idea is the recognition thatdifferences may exist in how cultures conceptu-alize, encourage, or teach their children aboutthe nature of happiness and the good life (seeMatsumoto, 1994). In general, the search forhappiness is a universal quest. Nonetheless, afascinating variety of ideas about the specificnature of happiness exists among cultures of theworld. One of the more prominent distinctionsis between cultures that view happiness as anemotion that individuals achieve through theirown unique efforts and those that view it as amore collective experience—a joint product ofpersons and their immediate family environ-ments. (These distinctions will be covered inmore detail in Chapter 11.) Positive psychology,as well as all of psychology, is beginning to explore cross-cultural comparisons that may enhance our understanding of how peoplethroughout the world experience psychologicalwell-being.

Assumptions about Human Emotions

The Predictors of Positive Emotions Are UniqueAnother basic theme in positive psychologyconcerns the relationships between positiveemotional states and well-being. Psychologistsused to assume that, if a person could eliminatetheir negative emotions, then positive emotionswould automatically take their place. Indeed,many people who hope to win large sums ofmoney on the lottery are driven by this assump-tion. They assume that money will eliminatenegative emotions such as worry and desire,

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 9

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

and then they will be happy. In reality, while theelimination of distressful and debilitating nega-tive emotions is a worthy goal for psychology,when it is accomplished positive emotions arenot the inevitable result. After negative emo-tions are gone, what remains for many peoplemight be termed a state of neutral emotionality.In order to move from a neutral position tomore positive emotions, some other proceduresneed to be followed.

Michael Argyle (1987) illustrates this point.He noted that the probability of experiencingnegative emotionality is predicted by a numberof factors, such as unemployment, high stress,and low economic status. It should be quite ap-parent, however, that happiness and psychologi-cal well-being are not automatically achievedwhen a person has a job, is under normal stresslevels, and is middle class. Under those cir-cumstances, a person feels better but is notnecessarily as happy as he or she could be. Justeliminating one’s negative feelings does not au-tomatically create human strengths, virtues, andthe capacity to thrive and flourish. Just becausesomeone is relatively free of anxiety, depression,and worry, they do not automatically exhibit in-spiring instances of courage, self-sacrifice, hon-esty, and integrity. Another example comes fromChristopher Peterson and his colleagues (Peter-son et al., 2000 cited in Peterson & Steen, 2002).Their study of pessimism and optimism showedthat optimism was reliably associated with posi-tive mood. If someone was optimistic, then he orshe tended to also experience positive moods.However, the degree of pessimism had no sig-nificant link to mood. People who tended towardpessimism could be in bad moods or fairly neu-tral moods. Therefore, simply decreasing a per-son’s degree of pessimism may have no major im-pact on whether a person feels happy or not. Itmay only make them less pessimistic. To increasepositive mood, a person has to increase optimismin addition to decreasing pessimism. So, whilesome of the predictors of positive emotionalityand negative emotions are similar, they are not

identical. There are unique psychological pro-cesses that help a person move from feeling neg-ative emotions such as anxiety and depression toa position of neutral emotionality. At the sametime, other equally unique psychological pro-cesses help a person move from neutral emo-tionality to greater happiness, life satisfaction,and joy in life. Many of these positive psycholog-ical processes will be the subjects of the chaptersto follow.

All Positive Emotions Are Not the Same

Enjoyment and Pleasure At this point,some readers may ask, is positive psychologythen simply a way to help people feel good allthe time? Can we sum up positive psychologywith the popular phrase, “If it feels good, doit!”? Many scientists are fond of saying that thebasic motivating factor in behavior—humanand nonhuman alike—is the desire to avoidpain and find pleasure. Could this, in fact, bethe secret of a fulfilled and happy life? Is thegoal of life simply to find as much pleasure andas little pain as possible? Is the highest goodsimply defined as pleasure? A few distinctionsbetween the types of positive emotions may behelpful in answering these questions.

Mihayi Csikszentmihalyi (1990) said thatpleasure can be defined as the good feelingthat comes from satisfying needs and meetingexpectations. These expectations can comefrom our biological needs for rest, food, or sex,for example. They can also come from socialconditioning. This type of pleasure might comefrom obtaining socially desirable status symbols.While pleasurable experiences can be fun andcan add some positive experiences to our life,they often do not produce any psychologicalgrowth or development. Pleasurable experi-ences must be continually renewed. Nonethe-less, pleasure is undoubtedly important to lifesatisfaction.

Seligman (2002a) made a distinction be-tween bodily pleasures and the higher plea-

10 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

sures. Bodily pleasures are based on biologicalneeds, such as the examples given above. Higherpleasures are experiences that feel good but arealso more cognitively complex and tend to havea more lasting effect on mood. Examples of thehigher pleasures include joy, vigor, mirth, andexcitement. These all involve cognitive opera-tions as well as the stimulation of bodily plea-sure. The question of real interest is how expe-riences are interpreted and made meaningful.

In general, the simple proposition that webehave in order to increase physiological plea-sure and to avoid physiological pain is violatedfrequently enough that it simply cannot serve asthe ultimate basis for any serious inquiry intothe good life or psychological well-being (Par-rott, 1993). If the good life cannot consist solelyof pleasure, then what about enjoyment? Howdoes enjoyment differ from pleasure?

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) said that enjoy-ment involves meeting expectations or fulfillinga need and then going beyond those expecta-tions to create something new, unexpected, oreven unimagined. Enjoyment has within it thesense of accomplishment and novelty. Enjoy-ment creates something new and expands ourpossibilities and potentials. Therefore, one ofthe tasks of positive psychology is to investigatehow people create both pleasurable experiencesand a deeper sense of enjoyment in life. Fur-ther, positive psychology seeks to find out howepisodes of enjoyment throughout life can helpto create a sense that life has been lived well.

Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-BeingThe distinction between pleasure and enjoy-ment is related to another major theme that isoften found in positive psychology. This is thedifference between hedonic and eudaimonicconceptualizations of well-being (eudaimoniacan also be spelled as eudaemonia). As has beensuggested, definitions of what constitutes thegood life are numerous and are focused on anamazing variety of goals. In an attempt to bringsome order to this variety, researchers have at-

tempted to identify subgroupings of the ways in which people define and pursue well-being.One of these groupings that are seen frequentlyin positive psychology research is between he-donic and eudaimonic approaches to well-being(Ryan & Deci, 2001).

The hedonic approach is similar to, but notidentical to, the perspective on pleasure thatwas discussed above. Hedonism is one of theoldest approaches to a definition of the goodlife, and it focuses on pleasure as the good life’sbasic component. Hedonism in its narrowestand most restricted form is the belief that thepursuit of well-being is fundamentally the pur-suit of individual sensual pleasures. While thesingle-minded pursuit of pleasure is one of theoldest approaches to the good life, this form ofhedonism has been seen as self-defeating andunworkable by most societies throughout his-tory. Nearly everyone realizes that sensual plea-sures are short-lived, that they result in a con-stant struggle to repeat them, and that whenfocused on exclusively they produce no lastingchanges in personality and no personal growth.The hedonic approach, however, does not haveto be simple self-indulgence or a “me first” atti-tude toward life.

The broader form of hedonism, however,includes the idea that pleasure is the basic mo-tivating force behind most human behaviors butalso recognizes that certain pleasures requirepositive social interactions with other people.For instance, some variations of the hedonic ap-proach view family life or civic involvement asways to maximize pleasure and contentment forall people involved. Applying this more “civi-lized” definition of hedonic well-being to thegood life, the goal is to create high levels of hap-piness for oneself and for other people. Thisform of hedonism has been a basic assumptionbehind many conceptualizations of the good lifethroughout history and is very much alive today(see Kahneman, Diener, & Schwartz, 1999).Given this caveat, the main goal of the hedonicperspective is to increase happiness in a variety

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 11

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

of ways. The good life is defined in terms of pos-itive emotions such as happiness, contentment,satisfaction, or joy. This approach focuses onfinding and fostering positive emotionality.

The eudaimonic approach, on the otherhand, tends to focus on well-being as a functionof fulfilling one’s potential. In this case, well-being may or may not be associated with the max-imization of happiness. Eudaimonic well-beingis, however, most associated with the fulfilling ofone’s “true nature” and finding one’s “true self ”(Ryan & Deci, 2001). The eudaimonic approachmay also be associated with living one’s life in ac-cord with the values and virtues that are the mostdesirable and most indicative of the highestgood. The focus of this approach is on expandingpotentials and cultivating personal growth. Forinstance, Alan Waterman (1993) referred to theeudaimonic dimension as “personal expressive-ness.” He found that this approach to well-beingwas associated with activities that allowed oppor-tunities that help develop a person’s best poten-tials and the realization of the true self.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, thehedonic and the eudaimonic approaches towell-being have played a major role in defininghow people think about the nature of the goodlife. In addition, research has supported theidea that these two conceptualizations are im-portant in how psychology thinks about andmeasures well-being even today (Waterman,1993; Compton, Smith, Cornish, & Qualls,1996; McGregor & Little, 1998; Ryan & Deci,2001).

Negative Emotions Are Still ImportantAt this point, it should be emphasized again thatpositive psychologists do not wish to limit thetopics of study but rather to expand the topics toinclude aspects of human flourishing. Positivepsychology does not deny that there are manyproblems in the world that need attention. It isalso obvious that at times negative emotions canbe necessary for survival. We would be far toovulnerable if we completely eliminated fear,anxiety, or skepticism from our lives. In addi-

tion, positive psychology also includes a rec-ognition that the tragic elements in life can enrich our experience of being human (Wool-folk, 2002). There must be a reason why peoplethroughout history have been drawn to plays,paintings, poetry, and even music that expresssadness, tragedy, and defeat. It may be that inorder to appreciate the positive in life we mustalso know something of the negative. Positivepsychology does not deny that every effortshould be made to help eliminate problems as-sociated with social injustices and social in-equalities.

Having recognized the place for negativeemotions, however, we note that the desire tobe happier and more satisfied with life is uni-versal. People simply operate better withinwhatever world they live if they are more opti-mistic, hopeful, and can rely on solid supportiverelationships. Interestingly, some of the findingsfrom positive psychology approach universalapplicability. For instance, Ed Diener (2000b),one of the preeminent researchers on well-being, said that the closest thing psychology hasto a “general tonic” for well-being is to improvehappiness. One of the best things a person cando to increase quality of life is to help others in-crease their level of happiness and life satisfac-tion. This applies to people at all levels of in-come and psychosocial adjustment.

Assumptions about the Role of Science in the Study of Well-BeingOne of the most distinguishing features of posi-tive psychology is an insistence that researchmust follow the standards of traditional scien-tific investigations. Positive psychology is cer-tainly not the first attempt by psychologists to study well-being and the good life. From the very beginnings of psychology, some re-searchers have been interested in studyinghealthy personality development and optimalstates of well-being. Many of these investiga-tions, however, were theoretical, scholarlyanalyses, or in-depth case studies of individuals.

12 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

For example, in the early part of the twentiethcentury many investigations into psychologicalwell-being and the nature of the good life beganfirst as scholarly studies or as observations ofclients in psychotherapy. Attempts were thenmade to move the results of those studies intothe psychological laboratories for further exper-imental research or into real-life situations tohelp people increase well-being. Unfortunately,many attempts to move results into the labora-tory were difficult or even impossible.

Viewing many of these past difficulties, anumber of positive psychologists have seen aneed to reverse the direction of informationflow. That is, many positive psychologists hopeto build an experimental knowledge base in the psychological laboratory and then movethose results out into real-world arenas such asschools, clinics, and workplaces. To further thisend, many of the founders of positive psychol-ogy have placed considerable emphasis on pro-moting and developing opportunities for exper-imental research on psychological well-beingand the potentials we have for even greater ful-fillment in life.

As mentioned, positive psychology is notthe first attempt by psychologists to focus re-search on positive emotions, healthy adaptation,and the development of human potentials. Mostrecently, the humanistic school of psychologyhas focused on many of the same goals as posi-tive psychology. Abraham Maslow, one of thefounders of humanistic psychology, even had achapter titled “Toward a Positive Psychology” inhis seminal book, Motivation and Personality(1954). Even today, humanistic psychologistsstudy what is healthy, adaptive, creative, and the full range of human potentials. Humanisticpsychology and positive psychology differ intheir emphases on empirical research and theapplication of research findings. Over the years,a number of humanistic psychologists havebeen actively involved in empirical styles of re-search (see Bohart & Greenberg, 1997; Green-berg & Rice, 1997; Cain & Seeman, 2002).However, positive psychologists have placed a

much greater emphasis on the use of scientificmethods to study well-being and positive adap-tation (see, e.g., Strack, Argyle, & Schwartz,1991; Kahneman, Diener, & Schwartz, 1999).In addition, much of the emphasis in humanis-tic psychology—particularly early humanisticpsychology—was on theories of optimal per-sonality development such as self-actualization.While positive psychology also investigates po-tentials for greater psychological development,it places greater emphasis on the well-being and satisfaction of the “average” person on thestreet (see Sheldon & King, 2001). In moststudies, positive psychologists have focused onthe benefits of simply being more happy andsatisfied with life.

A Short History of Well-Being

in the Western World

One of the more important ways to understandany field is to look at the history of how ideas inthat field have developed over time. Positivepsychology is the latest effort by human beingsto understand the nature of happiness and well-being, but it is by no means the first attempt tosolve that particular puzzle. Therefore, the nextsection of this chapter turns to a very brief his-tory of how people in the Western world haveanswered the question, “What is happiness?”Other cultures have different histories of well-being; however, space limitations do not permita cross-cultural review. Nevertheless, Chap-ter 10 presents a short section on how Easternpsychology thinks about well-being, and a briefexploration of cross-cultural ideas on well-beingwill be covered in Chapter 11.

The Early HebrewsJudaism is one of the most influential factors inthe development and proliferation of the West-ern worldview. The religion and culture of the

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 13

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

ancient Hebrews represent one of the three pil-lars of knowledge that have sustained Westernculture—the other two being the Greek civi-lization and Christianity. The ancient Hebrewsdeveloped a new social identity by developing arelationship with their personal God. For theHebrews, many of the rules that governed theirrelationship to God were expressed as prohibi-tions. For the ancient Hebrews, the main list of prohibitions was the Ten Commandments. In general, these are prohibitions against self-centeredness, greed, and irrational anger, aswell as requirements to accept the God of theancient Hebrews as the only true God.

Philosophically, this approach to the searchfor happiness has been called a divine com-mand theory of happiness. According to thistheory, happiness is found by living in accordwith the commands or rules set down by a su-preme being (see Honderich, 1995). In its mostbasic form, this theory says that if one followsthe commands, there will be rewards. In addi-tion, if one does not follow the commands,there will be punishments. Therefore, for theHebrew patriarchs, and later for many Chris-tians, true happiness was related to a religiouspiety that was based on submission to God’s supreme authority and a rejection of self-centered and simple hedonistic behaviors. Theinfluence of this worldview on Western cul-ture for the next 2,500 years cannot be over-emphasized.

The GreeksThe second pillar that has sustained the in-tellectual and moral developments in the West-ern world was the legacy of the Greek cul-ture. While the Jewish traditions were largelyinfluential in the development of ethical, moral,and religious beliefs, the Greek culture wouldset the stage for developments in philosophy,science, art, and psychology for the next2,500 years. In fact, in the Greek world can befound the original core of most of the significantphilosophical ideas of the Western world.

The new element that was introduced intoGreek society during its Golden Age was theidea that the good life and the proper path tohappiness could be discovered through logicand rational analysis. That is, neither the godsnor the social traditions of the culture need bethe ultimate arbitrator of individual values andgoals. The general answer to the happinessquestion was that human beings could decidefor themselves what paths most reliably lead towell-being.

SocratesThe person most responsible for the new direc-tion in Greek intellectual life was Socrates (c. 469–399 BCE). He turned rationality toquestions of human knowledge and especiallyto ideas on the nature of the good life or whatwe really need to be truly happy. In his method,Socrates affirmed the Delphic motto, “Knowthyself.” The search for truth must be centeredon an exploration of the unchanging truths ofthe human psyche (Robinson, 1990). He be-lieved that true happiness could be achievedonly through self-knowledge, which would re-veal wisdom and the true nature of the person’ssoul. Yet to know what is truly good, and not justself-indulgent or socially expected, a personmust know the essence or the core of virtue—one must know “the good” or the core elementof the good life. Socrates believed that once thetrue nature of “the good” is known, it will be au-tomatically desired and will then motivate vir-tuous behavior. However, Socrates distrustedthe perceptual forms of knowledge. For him,true wisdom must be found in a reality that ex-presses timeless and unchanging truths. Anysearch or well-being based on the sensory expe-riences or the emotions cannot reveal that truthbecause they are constantly changing in re-sponse to external circumstances.

PlatoFollowing in Socrates’ footsteps was his mostimportant student, Plato (427–347 BCE). Platoalso believed that changeable sensory experi-

14 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

ences cannot be the basis of true wisdom.Rather, true wisdom must be found in an un-changing realm that transcends the sensoryworld. The search for wisdom involves a pas-sionate and difficult quest that looks beneathsurface appearances and challenges precon-ceived notions and assumptions. The methodsfor this search are both reason and intuition.The person who undertakes this quest musthave courage to find the truth hidden beneathboth surface appearances and simple sensoryexperiences.

In a famous analogy, Plato compares mostmen and women to people who have beenchained inside a cave and can look only at theback wall. As other people pass by outside thecave, the bright sun projects their shadows on tothe back wall of the cave. According to Plato,those inside the cave would perceive the shad-ows as “reality” because they know no other re-ality. A philosopher, on the other hand, is some-one who can loosen the chains, turn around to bear the brightness of “the sun” (i.e., trueknowledge) and finally see the real truth outsidethe cave.

In the contemporary world, Plato’s influ-ence can be seen in any search for happiness orthe good life that involves looking beyond sen-sory experiences toward a deeper meaning tolife. This could include searching for one’s“true” self, looking at unconscious motivationsthat keep someone from happiness, a spiritualquest for deeper meaning, as well as other in-ternal directives in the search for well-being.

AristotleWith Aristotle (384–322 BCE), who was Plato’sstudent, the intellectual tradition of the Westtook a significantly different turn. According toAristotle, the universal truth was to be found inan intellectual discovery of order in the world.The vehicle for this search was to be the senses,and the tools would be logic, classification, anddefinition. Unlike his teacher Plato, Aristotlewould not use the emotions or intuition into adeeper reality in his search for higher truth and

well-being. The Aristotelian ideal was based onpoise and harmony and the avoidance of emo-tional extremes. He believed that “the emotionswere to be tamed, by rigorous self-discipline, toaccept the dictates of reason” (Kiefer, 1988,p. 43).

One of Aristotle’s goals was to find the“golden mean” that exists between the ex-tremes. The golden mean, a point of balance,harmony, and equilibrium, would lead to a lifelived in accordance with the principle of eudai-monia (see earlier note on eudaimonia). Robin-son (1990) explains eudaimonia as

That condition of flourishing and completenessthat constitutes true and enduring joy. . . . [E]udai-monia is not merely a set of pleasures or crea-ture comforts or Epicurean delights. It is a lifelived in a certain way, where life here refers to life-on-the-whole, not some number of momentsstrung together. Progress toward this end calls forthe recognition that the better course of action isnot the one that invariably satisfies the current de-sire or even an abiding desire. . . . To be wise is tostrive for a condition of moral perfection or virtue(arete) by which the “golden mean” is found andadopted in all of the significant affairs of life(pp. 16–17).

The good life, then, is to be found in the to-tal context of a person’s life. It is not just a mo-mentary emotional state or even one specificemotion.

While eudaimonia is usually translated as“happiness,” it can also signify “truly fortunate”or “possessed of true well-being” (Telfer, 1980).The idea here is that the person who is trulyhappy is one who has what is worth desiring andworth having in life. Implied in this is the ideathat certain goals or objectives in life may pro-duce positive emotions, but they may not leadto eudaimonia. In many ways, it is a value orgoal that exists as a possibility for the future.The search for eudaimonia should pull the per-son through life toward that ideal.

Aristotle also spoke of twelve basic virtuesas dispositions of character that when cultivatedlead a person toward a state of eudaimonia

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 15

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

(Schimmel, 2000): courage, liberality, pride (asself-respect), friendliness, wittiness, justice,temperance, magnificence, good temper, truth-fulness, shame (or appropriate guilt for ourtransgressions), and honor (Aristotle, trans.1908). These virtues were seen as examples ofthe golden mean between extremes. For in-stance, courage lies between the excesses ofrashness and the deficiency of cowardice. Be-cause these virtues are innate in every person,Aristotle’s theory represents a naturalistic con-ception of happiness. Recognizing and cultivat-ing our innate potentials can find happiness.

This approach to happiness has been calledthe virtue theory of happiness (see Hon-derich, 1995). The idea behind this theory isthat the cultivation and development of certainvirtues will lead a person toward the greatestwell-being and, therefore, toward the good life.In contrast to the divine command theory, Aris-totle did not list specific behaviors that must beavoided. He knew that whether any single be-havior is a virtue or a vice depends upon thespecific situation in which it occurs. Aristotle’sperspective on well-being has been termed theAristotelian circle because well-being, virtue,and practical wisdom are all interrelated suchthat each continuously influences the other (seeHonderich, 1995). Today, many theories ofmental health postulate a set of admirable orvirtuous traits that are associated with healthypersonality development. As seen earlier, posi-tive psychology has also been partially definedas the search for human strengths and virtues.

The EpicureansToward the end of the fourth century BCE, thephilosopher Epicurus founded the school ofEpicureanism. Those drawn to epicureanismasserted that happiness is best achieved bywithdrawing from the world of politics to culti-vate a quiet existence of simple pleasures in thecompany of friends. Because of their focus onrelaxed leisure, they were known as the “gardenphilosophers” (Robinson & Groves, 1998). This

image of the good life and happiness as a combination of relaxation, moderated pleasure,freedom from pain or worry, and the companyof cultured and civilized friends is one of themore popular ideals of happiness even today.Many perspectives view well-being in terms ofintellectual stimulation, moderated pleasures,greater ability to control emotions, positive re-lationships, and less stress. Many people in to-day’s world, and many psychologists, could beconsidered modern-day Epicureans.

The StoicsStoicism was founded by the philosopher Zenoconcurrently with the founding of Epicure-anism. The stoics distrusted human emotionsbecause they felt that emotions inevitably lead tounhappiness. They argued that a person cannotknow great joy without knowing great sorrow, sowhy pursue joy and pleasure? Instead, the wayto find lasting peace of mind was to use reasonand discipline to control the emotions. Stoicismultimately became one of the major philo-sophical schools in the Roman world (Robin-son & Groves, 1998). Today, there are any num-ber of approaches to happiness that are basedon stoic ideas. These approaches often focus onteaching people how to control their emotionalreactions to events by using rational and analyt-ical thinking.

Summary of the Greek Ideas on the Good LifeOnly somewhat facetiously, Kiefer (1988) sum-marized the Greek approach to knowledge bysaying, “Once its straightforward principleswere grasped, anyone who could stand severalhours a day of brutal self-criticism could be aphilosopher” (p. 38). While one might arguewith Kiefer’s summary of Greek philosophy,there is no argument that the Greeks offered a democratic structure to the search for well-being that was based on self-awareness, ration-ality, and logic. The legacy left to Western civi-lization by the Greeks cannot be overestimated.

16 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

In terms of how people think about the natureof the good life, most of the current positions onhow to achieve well-being and contentmentwere expressed by the Greeks at one time or an-other. In addition, the considerable variety ofoptions available to the ancient Greeks in theirsearch for well-being was unique in the historyof the ancient world. Unfortunately, the empha-sis the Greeks placed on rational analysis, thefreedom to choose one’s own beliefs, and theemphasis on an honest and thorough search forwisdom and truth was lost during the MiddleAges. These qualities would not again be centralto the search for well-being in Western civiliza-tion until the late nineteenth century.

Early Christianity and the Middle AgesThe rise of Christianity represented one of themost significant developments in Western civi-lization and constitutes the third pillar of West-ern civilization. Christianity also transformedthe meaning of religious devotion in Westernsociety by viewing God not as an awesome andpowerful God to be feared but as a loving pres-ence who deeply cares for humanity. The way tofind true happiness is found in the message andlife of Jesus. The message of Jesus is one of loveand compassion: people should love others asGod loves the world—“love thy neighbor asthyself.” Christians are encouraged to emulatethe love of Jesus. Christians believe that by ex-pressing God’s love and sharing it with otherpeople, a person can find peace, happiness, andsalvation.

During the early Middle Ages (approxi-mately AD 500 to AD 1200) the Church and themonasteries were the center of spiritual, intel-lectual, and often political life. Conceptions ofthe good life were, therefore, based on religiousperspectives. By this time, the perspective ofthe Church was that true happiness, as opposedto secular and temporary pleasures, was de-layed until after death and the resurrection intoheaven. In this doctrine, the pleasures of the

“flesh” and the “spirit” were rigidly separated.The official Church doctrine was that the en-joyment of even simple pleasures was a distrac-tion from more “spiritual” concerns. Lowry’s(1982) summary of the medieval conception ofhuman nature is useful:

In the Middle Ages, man1 was regarded as a crea-ture of conflict and contradictions. He had beenformed in the image of his Creator, and yet he wastainted by Original Sin. He had a spiritual natureand a carnal nature, and so long as the spirit inhabited the flesh, the two were constantly atodds. . . . In short, human nature was held to be thescene of a constantly raging battle between the de-mands of the spirit and the demands of the flesh(p. 59).

This idea of an internal battle between thephysical appetites and the more rational in-tellectual aspects is still quite common today.The most familiar example is Freud’s theorythat the irrational pleasure principle of the idmust be moderated by the ego, which is drivenby the reality principal.

The Virtue Theory in the Middle AgesGiven the pervasiveness of this struggle be-tween physical and spiritual needs, Christianleaders deemed it necessary to warn peopleabout the dangers of temporary pleasures and how they could ensnare the careless. TheChurch’s doctrine of the seven deadly sins was alist of basic evils—anger, envy, sloth, pride, lust,intemperance, and greed—that destroy charac-ter and could lead to a host of other sins (Schim-mel, 1997). In general, at the core of these sinsare self-indulgent hedonism and narcissism.

Less well known is the list of opposite be-haviors called the four cardinal virtues (or thenatural virtues) and the three theological vir-tues. As might be expected, this was a list of be-haviors that lead to virtuous behavior and theabandonment of sins. The four cardinal virtuesare those on which all others depend. These virtues—justice, prudence, fortitude, and

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 17

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

temperance—were derived by St. Ambrose inthe fourth century from the four basic virtues of the Greeks (Bowker, 1997). The medievalscholastics added the three theological virtues:faith, hope, and charity. Again, a number ofcontemporary conceptualizations of psycholog-ical well-being rely on this list of core traits. Thebasic foundations of ethical behavior and hu-manitarianism in the Western world appear tobe based on this list of seven positive virtues.

The Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment

Creativity and the Rise of the “Artist”During the Renaissance—between 1400 and1600—people began to change their ideas of aperson as an artist. Two related changes con-tributed to this transformation: the idea thatartists possess a special gift and the rise of indi-vidualism. One lasting change was the elevationof artists’ social status and the belief that theypossessed a special gift that other people didnot have. Certainly, there had been personsthroughout history who were recognized as be-ing creative in their societies. However, theywere regarded as craftsmen rather than artists.Note that the concept of the creative artist in-volves the element of a personal vision that isexpressed through painting, sculpture, music,or architecture. This idea of a personal visionimplies a certain individuality and uniquenessto the person that was not afforded artists of theMiddle Ages. The rise of individualism eventu-ally changed the image of a person in ways thatbrought significant alterations to how peoplesearch for happiness (Baumeister, 1987).

The Rise of ScienceBy the end of the seventeenth century, a newidea of human nature was taking hold. Lowry(1982) stated, “The historical significance of theseventeenth century can scarcely be exagger-ated. For it was during this century that West-

ern intellectual life first became recognizablymodern in mood, temper, purpose, and presup-position” [italics in original] (p. 6).

The new worldview that was advocated bythese enthusiastic thinkers was based on twogeneral ideas. The first was that rational personscould decide for themselves what was true andof ultimate value. To search for truth, a personwould use a rationality based on dispassionateand objective observation of the events in theworld. The keys were logic, objectivity, and empiricism, the belief that valid knowledge isconstructed from experiences based on the fivesenses (Honderich, 1995; note the differencebetween this idea and those of Socrates andPlato). The second idea was that the “universeas a whole is one vast machine, a kind of cosmicclockwork, and that all its parts and processesare likewise governed by the inexorable laws ofmechanical causation” (Lowry, 1982, p. 4). Thisphilosophy became known as mechanism, and itwas applied equally to events in nature and tohuman psychology.

The Rising Importance of the SocialEnvironment to Well-BeingThe focus on empiricism, rationalism, andmechanism created an image of human naturethat appeared simple, understandable, andclear. Social reformers such as Jeremy Benthamand John Stuart Mill believed that the basicneed of people to seek pleasure and avoid paincould be used to create a more stable and en-lightened society. If a person wants to know if acertain behavior is right, ethical, or fosters thegood life, then he or she must show that it leadsto the enhancement of happiness for the great-est number of people. Around these ideas wascreated a philosophical system called utilitari-anism, or the belief that actions are right if theytend to promote happiness for the greatestnumber of people and wrong as they do not.This principle was called the hedonic calculus(Viney & King, 1998). Therefore, those who be-lieved in utilitarianism thought that happiness

18 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

for all people was the ultimate aim of all humanactions and should be used as the standard bywhich actions are evaluated as right or wrong(Hoderich, 1995). The hope and the promisefor a scientific understanding of well-being,happiness, and the good life were being born.

The Rise of DemocracyBy the mid eighteenth century, some peoplebelieved that the prevailing political powerstructure in a society could be at odds with thewelfare of the individual. They believed thatwhen these two were in conflict, the membersof the society had the right to overthrow thestate and put in its place a system that was moreconducive to individual liberty. Thomas Jeffer-son made these the founding principles of anew government when he wrote in the Decla-ration of Independence, “We hold these truthsto be self-evident, that all men are createdequal, that they are endowed by their Creatorwith certain inalienable Rights, that amongthese are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Hap-piness.” A form of government had been in-stituted for an entire country that elevated the individual to a status above that of royaltyand gave to its citizens power to make deci-sions about their own lives that had previouslyresided only with a ruling elite. The pursuit ofhappiness was now a right as well as a personalchoice. Democracy was joined with utilitarian-ism to create a new system of government that,in theory, would result in the greatest happinessfor everyone. Now the search for happiness alsoinvolves a search for the social environmentsthat will best promote well-being.

Romanticism and the Nineteenth Century

Emotionalism and the RomanticsIn the early nineteenth century, the growth ofWestern individualism began to turn toward theemotional expressions that made each person

unique. In fact, the word “individualism” firstappeared in 1835 when Alexis de Tocquevilleused it to describe the emerging American per-spective. People began to believe that the bestway to express their individualism was to ex-plore their own unique emotional experience ofthe world. The Romantic movement captivatedthe intelligentsia as they explored the full rangeof their emotional lives from the spiritual to themundane. At times, the intensity of emotionswas important rather than the emotion itself.For instance, Morton Hunt (1959) noted that,“The typical romantic prided himself on theability to fall tumultuously and passionately inlove. . . . [H]owever, in place of sexuality, the ro-mantics delighted in being demonstratively sen-timental, melancholic, tempestuous, or tearful,according to the occasion” (p. 309). They feltthat the ability to feel emotions intensely wasimportant to living a full and significant life.

During this period, the focus on personalemotional expression combined with the ideathat social environments can inhibit individual-ism. The result was the idea that a “true self ” exists beneath the social masks that peoplewear. Today, numerous perspectives on well-being urge people to find and express their trueselves.

Love in the Romantic PeriodIn the early seventeenth century, the Puritansbegan to transform the idea of love and mar-riage. Although they still lived in a rigidly patri-archal society, they did begin to introduce a newidea: within the family, men and women weresupposed to be good companions to each other.The Puritans stressed the emotional harmonythat should exist between a wife and husband.One Puritan writer said that the husband andwife “should be closer and more nearly attunedto each other than to any other people on earth”(in Hunt, 1959, p. 236).

The idea of marriage being based on affec-tion between two people along with the uniqueemotional bonds that they create together was

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 19

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

also a consequence of rising individualism. Thistype of marriage and love presupposed that twopeople voluntarily enter into an emotional, legal,and religious commitment. It required choiceand a certain degree of personal autonomy fromfamily, friends, and institutions. It also assumedthat individual sentiments and emotions shouldbe more important to the decision to marry thanany other authority in the society (Taylor, 1989).Love was also now seen as the major avenue tosoothe the sense of being alone in the world—another consequence of rising individualism.I. Singer (1987) said that from this point forward,“Romantic love . . . involved oneness with an al-ter ego, one’s other self, a man or woman whowould make up one’s deficiencies, respond toone’s deepest inclinations, and serve as possiblythe only person with whom one could communi-cate fully . . . this would be the person one wouldmarry, and establishing a bond that was perma-nent as well as ecstatically consummatory”(quoted in Hendrick & Hendrick, 1992, p. 4).

Of course, today in Western industrializedcountries, people assume that love should bethe only real motivation for marriage. Today, theultimate test of whether two people shouldcommit themselves to each other is found in theanswer to a simple question, “Are you in love?”If the answer to this question is a resounding“yes,” then many people assume that the twoshould commit to each other for the rest of theirlives. Today, for many people, the search for in-timacy and love is the major activity of their livesand the ultimate emotion for true happiness.

The Twentieth CenturyThe most significant early twentieth centurydevelopment in the search for the good lifecame from Freud and his followers. Twentiethcentury behaviorists and cognitive psycholo-gists also developed ways to enhance well-being, but they worked with ideas that hadlargely existed since the time of the ancientGreeks. The theory of the unconscious, al-though not completely new, did bring a new

element into the search for well-being. Al-though there is a wide variety of ideas on howthe unconscious affects behavior, most psychol-ogists agree that at least some motivations forbehavior are hidden from conscious awareness(Cramer & Davidson, 1998). Therefore, thesearch for happiness may be either helped orhindered by unconscious forces. Contemporarystudies, however, have found that unconsciousfactors are often not as overwhelmingly signifi-cant as Freud imagined. Nevertheless, for somepeople their unconscious psychological forcesmay keep them from achieving as much happi-ness as they might (Vaillant, 2000).

The people in Western industrialized na-tions entered the twentieth century with arange of freedoms unprecedented in history.The ideals of freedom, democracy, and self-reliance allow people to choose their profes-sions, spouses, religious beliefs, system of gov-ernment, homes, and make other choices thatare important to their pursuit of the good life.In fact, as citizens of democratic countries theyexpect to exercise those freedoms and make in-dividual choices that affect their daily lives.

When these choices are brought to bear on the question of the good life, or happiness,people today find a veritable cornucopia of dif-ferent philosophies, beliefs, theories, ideas, andpronouncements that all lay claim to the finalauthority. The freedom of full inquiry creates astunning array of possible answers. In fact, thenumber of definitions for the good life seems toexpand to fit the growing complexity of theworld (Tatarkiewicz, 1976). One of the goals ofpositive psychology, therefore, is to bring someunderstanding to these various perspectives onthe good life and well-being.

Positive Psychology Today

In spite of the fact that positive psychology is a very new area, its popularity appears to be growing rapidly. Seligman and others have

20 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

worked extensively to provide awareness of thenew area and to provide opportunities for re-searchers interested in the area. The Janu-ary 2000 and March 2001 special issues of the American Psychologist (the journal of theAmerican Psychological Association) were de-voted to articles on positive psychology. Thefirst summit on positive psychology was held in1999 in Lincoln, Nebraska. In October 2000,the second summit on Positive Psychology wasconvened at the headquarters of the Gallup Or-ganization in Washington, DC. Interest was so great that half of those who wished to attendthe summit had to be turned away because oflimited space. In February 2000 the first recip-ients of the Templeton Prize in Positive Psy-chology were announced. In October 2002, theFirst International Conference on Positive Psy-chology took place. So, although positive psy-chology is a new area in psychology, the ideas,theories, research, and motivation to study thepositive side of human behavior is as old as humanity. Positive psychology appears to bewell on its way to gaining a permanent place inscientific psychology. Findings from researchthat takes a positive psychology approach are already influencing interventions that helppeople enhance their strengths and developtheir potentials for greater happiness and satis-faction with life.

Summary

This chapter introduced the concept of positivepsychology as the scientific study of optimal hu-man functioning. Positive psychology searchesfor those qualities that allow individuals, com-munities, and societies to thrive and flourish. Itfocuses on three major dimensions: positivesubjective states, positive traits, and positive institutions. A number of themes or basic assumptions differentiate positive psychologyfrom other approaches to research in psychol-ogy, including a focus on positive behavior, an

emphasis on scientific investigations, and asearch for the parameters and predictors of the good life. This chapter also reviewed thehistory of how people in the Western worldhave thought about happiness, well-being, andthe good life. The chapter ended with an appro-priately hopeful note that speculated about thefuture of positive psychology. Interest in thisnew field is growing rapidly, and positive psy-chology will be a thriving area in the field formany years to come.

Note

1. Throughout this book the gender-specific term“man” will be used only when it is a direct quote orwhen its use accurately reflects the cultural under-standings of the time or place.

Learning Tools

Key Terms and IdeasDIVINE COMMAND THEORYENJOYMENTEPICUREANISMEUDAIMONIAGOOD LIFEHEDONIC WELL-BEINGPLEASUREPOSITIVE PSYCHOLOGYUTILITARIANISMVIRTUE THEORY

BooksSnyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2002). The

handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. An impressive collec-tion of research articles on the wide variety oftopics studied in positive psychology (profes-sional, but can be read by interested under-graduate students).

AN INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 21

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

Tarnas. R. (1991). The passion of the Western mind:Understanding the ideas that have shaped ourworld view. New York: Ballantine. A beautifullywritten book that makes reading about history a real pleasure (popular/professional).

Research ArticlesTwo special issues of the American Psychologist de-

voted to positive psychology that contain a num-ber of articles on different areas of positive psychology.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (Eds.)(2000). Happiness, excellence, and optimal human functioning [special issue]. American Psychologist, 55(1).

Sheldon, K. M., & King, L. (Eds.) (2001). Positive psy-chology [special issue] American Psychologist,56(3), 216–263.

FilmCelebrating What’s Right in the World. A film by

National Geographic photojournalist DewittJones that invites people to appreciate the world around us. Distributed by Star Thrower, St. Paul, MN.

On the Webhttp://www.positivepsychology.org. The main Web

page for positive psychology.http://www.apa.org. The Web page for the American

Psychological Association. There are links to posi-tive psychology articles and books.

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org. The Web site forthe Good News Network, which publishes anewsletter covering good news from around theworld.

Personal ExplorationsHave a beautiful day: applying principles of positivepsychology, by Martin E. P. Seligman. This exercise isdesigned to help you explore qualities of the good lifethat exist in your life right now. It requires no specialmaterials or equipment. For instructions go to the fol-lowing Web site http://www.positivepsychology.org/teachingresources.htm.

Some of the Personal Exploration exercises citedin this book come from the Positive Psychology Teach-ing Resources Web site. I am extremely grateful toAmy Fineburg and her colleagues, who have done atremendous job of bringing positive psychology intothe classroom.

22 CHAPTER ONE

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

23

C H A P T E R

2Emotions and Motivation

in Positive Psychology

The often incidental effect of experiencing a positive emotion is anincrement in durable personal resources that can be drawn on later in other contexts and in other emotional states.

Barbara Fredrickson (1998)

Chapter 1 presented a number of terms andideas that help define positive psychology. In or-der to place these ideas in a broader context, itis necessary to review some basic research areasin psychology. One of the ways that positive psy-chology may change the entire field of psychol-ogy is by presenting new ways of looking at oldproblems in more established research areas inthe field. In that spirit, this chapter will examinehow findings relevant to positive psychology canbe found in research on positive emotions andintrinsic motivation.

Positive Psychology

and Emotion

The Basic EmotionsThroughout the history of psychology, some in-vestigators have focused on the classification ofbasic emotions. The exact number of basic emo-

tions varies from seven to ten depending on thetheorist; however, the various lists show a fairamount of agreement (Plutchik, 1980; Ekman,1993). It is relevant for positive psychology thatall agree that emotions such as enjoyment, hap-piness, or joy are basic emotions. A number ofthese theorists also agree that interest or antici-pation is also basic. So, at least a few positiveemotions are basic building blocks of our emo-tional world. Further, the number of basic pos-itive emotions is less than the number of theother basic emotions. (This observation will beimportant for a newer theory of emotion to bediscussed later in this chapter.) In any case, it isobvious that the variety of emotional experi-ences people feel cannot be completely cap-tured by a list of eight or ten emotions. So, then,where do all the subtle variations come from?

Most theorists agree that the basic emo-tions can be combined in many ways to createother, more subtle variations. For example,Robert Plutchik (1980) believes that optimismis a combination of anticipation and joy. Inter-estingly, he also sees the emotion of awe as a

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

combination of surprise and fear. In otherwords, he suggests that a positive emotion thatis often related to religious experiences can becreated from a specific combination of a some-what positive emotion—surprise—and a basicnegative emotion—fear. If our emotional expe-riences really do combine in ways similar to this,it would suggest that any attempt to totally elim-inate negative emotions from our life wouldhave the unintended consequence of eliminat-ing the variety and subtlety of our most pro-found emotional experiences.

Although there is considerable agreementon what the basic broad dimensions of negativeemotions are, there is less agreement on the ba-sic dimensions of positive emotions. In an effortto clarify the basic dimensions of positive emo-tion, David Watson (2002) proposed that thereare three basic dimensions: (1) joviality (e.g.,happiness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm), (2) assur-ance (e.g., confidence, daring), and (3) atten-tiveness (e.g., alertness, concentration, determi-nation). Note how all three of these dimensionsare involved when we are happily absorbed in anactivity that we enjoy and are performing well.

Note, too, that how we experience our emo-tional lives is also influenced by the societiesand cultures we live in (see Matsumoto, 1994).While it is true that some aspects of positiveemotionality are innate, at the same time, thereis considerable variation in how people express,label, and promulgate positive emotions aroundthe world. Many of these variations will be ex-plored further in Chapter 12.

The Evolutionary Need for Positive EmotionsSo, at least a few basic emotions are innate. Aquestion still remains, however: why do we needpositive emotions? Some might argue that theyare pleasurable but ultimately trivial to our sur-vival as a species. While this argument may haveswayed some scientists in the past, more con-temporary evolutionary psychologists have ar-

gued that positive emotions are evolved adapta-tions to our environment. As we saw in Chap-ter 1, David Buss (2000) has argued that positiveemotions may, in fact, be quite necessary to thesurvival of the species. He notes that human be-ings are social animals and need the protectionand support of others in order to survive. With-out the bonds of attachment, caring, and lovewe feel for certain people, the requirements ofcommunal living, cooperative raising of chil-dren, and mutual defense would be impossible.Other reasons for the necessity of positive emo-tions will be discussed later in the chapter. Forthe moment, suffice it to say that there are rea-sonable scientific arguments that support theidea that positive emotions are absolutely nec-essary for human evolution, adaptation, andsurvival.

The Biology of Positive Emotions and PleasureEvidence suggests that at least some of ourpleasurable responses are caused by the releaseof chemicals in the brain called neurotransmit-ters, which are the chemical messengers that re-lay information between nerve cells. Specific-ally, increased levels of the neurotransmitterdopamine have been implicated in the experi-ence of happiness (Ashby, Isen, & Turken,1999). Levels of some neurotransmitters mayalso increase under certain circumstances,which helps increase positive emotional reac-tions to events. In the mid-1970s, a team of Scot-tish researchers discovered a variety of neuro-transmitters that appear to act like the brain’snatural opiate system. Specifically, the endor-phins or encephalins appear to increase pleasureand decrease the experience of pain. Increasedlevels of endorphins are a possible cause of the“runner’s high” that may accompany physical ex-ercise (Farrell, Gustafson, Morgan, & Pert,1987). Levels of endorphins also increase asmuch as 200 percent during sexual intercourse(see Pert, 1997). In addition to these neuro-

24 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

transmitters, recent work has suggested that thebrain also makes its own version of tetrahydro-cannabinol, or THC, which is the active ingredi-ent in marijuana (Fackelmann, 1993).

Given this experimental evidence that re-lates brain structures and biochemicals to ourexperience of emotion, does this mean that pos-itive emotions such as joy or love are just pat-terns of neurotransmitter activity? A recentbumper sticker humorously expressed this posi-tion as “I’m not really happy, it’s just a chemicalimbalance!” Is this true? Is that all there is toour emotional experiences? Actually, the neuro-chemical processes involved in emotion are acomplex integration of neurotransmitters andhormones from multiple areas of the brain andbody. For human beings, at least, the experi-ence of emotion also involves cognitive pro-cesses, such as labeling physiological responsesand the interpretive meanings that we apply tothose stimuli.

The Different Roles of Positive and Negative EmotionsIn positive psychology, it is not very surprisingthat positive emotions should play a prominentrole in research. However, the role of positiveemotions in psychology has been overlooked formany years. As mentioned in Chapter 1, one ofthe barriers to the development of positive psy-chology was the assumption that positive andnegative emotions were simply opposite andbalanced ends of an emotional continuum.Therefore, if one studied the predictors of neg-ative emotions, one automatically knew some-thing about the predictors of positive emotions.We have seen that this assumption proved to befalse.

One of the barriers to the study of positiveemotions is that positive emotions are somewhatdifficult to study in the laboratory. There appearto be fewer basic positive emotions than negativeemotions by a ratio of one positive to every threeor four negative emotions (Fredrickson, 1998).

It may be that because negative emotionsalert us to possible dangers and threats, we needa variety of them to warn us against numerouspotential threats. Also, positive emotions arefairly diffuse and tend to have nonspecific mark-ers in terms of autonomic activation. For in-stance, relatively specific biological and neuro-logical processes are associated with certainnegative emotional responses triggered by the“fight or flight” response to unexpected danger.In fact, many negative emotions are associatedwith urges to act in certain ways that are calledspecific action tendencies. The response to un-expected fear can be immediate behavioral re-sponses designed to protect us by either fightingoff an attack or fleeing from the danger. Unex-pectedly, this direct linkage between emotionand action does not appear to be associated withpositive emotions. Even the unique facial ex-pressions that accompany negative emotions aremore easily recognizable than facial expressionsthat go along with positive emotions. While fear,anger, and sadness create different facial ex-pressions, all positive emotions share the char-acteristics of a basic genuine smile—known asthe Duchenne smile (Ekman, Friesen, & O’Sul-livan, 1988). So, by an interesting twist to our bi-ology, the negative emotions are simply easier tostudy in scientific laboratories.

As a result of these differences betweenpositive and negative emotions, it is also easierfor researchers to hypothesize about the useful-ness of negative emotions. As mentioned, emo-tions such as fear, anxiety, apprehension, andanger serve an obvious function in terms ofadaptation, protection, and survival of the or-ganism. But what about positive emotions? Istheir function simply to make us feel good afterall of the dangers have been taken care of andthe “important” emotions have done their job?In fact, many scientists believed this was so. Arecent theory has begun to change that as-sumption. Barbara Fredrickson (1998, 2001,2002) formulated what she called the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions. In her

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 25

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

model, the purpose of positive emotions is quitea bit different from the purpose of the negativeemotions.

The “Broaden-and-Build” Model of Positive EmotionsAs mentioned, the purpose of many negativeemotions is to rapidly respond to the environ-mental threats with specific action tendenciesthat will propel the organism—in this case, rap-idly propel people— out of harm’s way. Accord-ing to Fredrickson, positive emotions help pre-serve the organism by providing a differentservice. First, they provide nonspecific actiontendencies that can lead to adaptive behavior.How would these processes work? One of theexamples that she gives is the emotion of joy.Fredrickson (1998) cites Nico Frijda (1986),who said that joy “is in part aimless, unasked-forreadiness to engage in whatever interactionpresents itself and [it is also] in part readiness to engage in enjoyments” (p. 304). In children,for example, the feeling of joy is associated withurges to play, to explore, to investigate, or tocreate. In adults, when people feel positiveemotions they are more likely to interact withothers, seek out new experiences, take up cre-ative challenges, or help others in need. Thinkof how much more open and curious one isabout the world when one feels good.

Second, positive emotions also provide thespark for changes in cognitive activity that canlead to newer and more adaptive thought-action tendencies. This means that people be-have in specific ways because they have learnedto associate certain cognitive activities or waysof thinking with certain actions. Returning tothe example of children’s play, when children allow themselves to be motivated by joy andhappily engage in playful activities, they are si-multaneously learning about their environmentand about themselves. New ways of thinkingabout the world can emerge from play activities,and these new ways of thinking can be stored in

memory and used later on. In summary, theprocess of play (for children or adults) beginswith joy, which motivates a number of ex-ploratory activities that result in new learningthat is then stored in memory and can be usedto direct future behaviors. The same processescan be seen with many other positive emotionsand other behaviors beside play.

Therefore, Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build model posits that positive emotionsbroaden our awareness and then build upon theresultant learning to create future emotionaland intellectual resources. In Fredrickson’s(1998) words,

Not only do the positive emotions . . . share the fea-ture of broadening an individual’s momentarythought-action repertoire, but they also appear toshare the feature of building the individual’s per-sonal resources. . . . Importantly these resourcesare more durable than the transient emotionalstates that led to their acquisition. By conse-quence, then, the often incidental effect of experi-encing a positive emotion is an increment in du-rable personal resources that can be drawn on laterin other contexts and in other emotional states(p. 307).

This quote calls attention to another aspect ofFredrickson’s theory. The reference to broad-ening response repertoires has another mean-ing in addition to increasing our awareness ofbehavioral options. Once again, a contrast withnegative emotions is helpful. One characteristicof thought-action tendencies in negative emo-tions is that they generally lead to a narrow-ing of options for thought and behavior. For in-stance, when we are under immediate threat ordanger it is more adaptable to make a quick de-cision and then act to avoid the danger. It is notvery helpful, for instance, to leisurely mull overyour available options if you notice that yourkitchen is on fire. Rather, the situation demandsquick decision-making and decisive action.

With positive emotions, however, a narrow-ing of attention is not what is required. Positiveemotions help us to broaden our available op-

26 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

tions to maximize our future resources. For in-stance, the emotion of love leads not just tothoughts about how to immediately express thatlove. It also leads to thoughts about how to ex-press love in the future, how to share love withothers, how to maximize the potential for love,and how to help other people feel love. Positiveemotions such as love or joy often lead to a desire to share those feelings with others, and many people will spend considerable timetrying to find ways to share their positive ex-periences with others. So, not only can positiveemotions broaden our awareness and build upresources, but also those resources are morelong lasting than the positive emotions that ini-tiated them. As another example, think aboutsocial support and the numerous advantages itcan provide for people throughout their lives.Those bonds of closeness, caring, compassion,and love are forged by allowing ourselves to acton positive emotions that compel us toward in-teractions with others. In turn, those bonds canact in a reciprocal fashion to increase the likeli-hood that we will experience more positiveemotions in the form of supportive feedbackfrom others, which, once again, leads to interac-tions that are more positive. That, in turn, canfoster the creation and deepening of those rela-tionships and other social attachments.

Another advantage of positive emotions, ac-cording to Fredrickson , is that they may act asantidotes to the unfortunate effects of negativeemotions (Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998;Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002). Her undoing hy-pothesis states that positive emotions help boththe body and the mind regain a sense of balance,flexibility, and equilibrium after the impact ofnegative emotions. She reviewed a number ofresearch studies that found that positive emo-tions help undo the aftereffects of stress reac-tions in a shorter period of time. Take, for ex-ample, a group of friends who are on abackpacking trip and unexpectedly come upon ahuge rattlesnake in the trail, coiled and ready tostrike. They all panic and run screaming down

the trail. For these hikers, the sight of the snakehas stimulated the “fight or flight” response,which has created numerous changes to theirbiochemistry that need to be corrected now thatthe danger is past. Imagine further that whenthis group of hikers finally stops, they all realizehow silly they must have looked and immedi-ately begin to laugh hysterically at themselves.Fredrickson believes that their laughter willhelp to clear their bodies of the physiologicaland biochemical aftereffects associated with thefight or flight response. She also believes thatthe same effect can help to restore flexibility andopenness to thinking after experiencing the nar-rowing of attention associated with the negativeemotion of panic (further evidence for the salu-tary effects of positive emotions on health willbe discussed in Chapter 6).

Emotional IntelligenceAt this point, it should be quite obvious thatemotions can serve a very useful function ifused properly. The ability to use emotionswisely might be considered a type of intelli-gence. In fact, some researchers believe thatthere is such a thing as emotional intelligence.According to John Mayer, David Caruso, andPeter Salovey (2000), “Emotional intelligencerefers to an ability to recognize the meanings ofemotions and their relationships, and to reasonand problem-solve on the basis of them. Emo-tional intelligence is involved in the capacity toperceive emotions, assimilate emotion-relatedfeelings, understand the information of thoseemotions, and manage them” (p. 267). Peoplewho are high in emotional intelligence have theability to use their emotions wisely, and they ap-pear to have a deeper understanding of theiremotional lives (Salovey, Mayer, & Caruso,2002). In addition, emotional intelligence is as-sociated with the ability to accurately read theemotions of other people, the practical knowl-edge of how to manage one’s own feelings andimpulses, as well as a deeper sensitivity to the

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 27

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

emotional undercurrents that lie behind manysocial interactions.

Salovey and Mayer (1990) presented theoriginal model for emotional intelligence. Theyproposed that five characteristics would definethe idea.

1. The first is knowing one’s emotions or theability to recognize an emotion as it hap-pens. People high in emotional intelli-gence should be able to accurately recog-nize exactly what they are feeling whenthey are feeling it. This can include theability to accurately express the emotion as well.

2. Second is the ability to handle interper-sonal relationships well. People highin emotional intelligence should be so-cially competent and good at creatingand maintaining effective interpersonalrelationships.

3. Third is the ability to use emotions to mo-tivate oneself. This means that people highin emotional intelligence should be able tocontrol and marshal their emotions to helpthem reach goals and remain focused.

4. Fourth, emotional intelligence should berelated to the ability to recognize emotionsin others, or the skill of reading what otherpeople are feeling and being empathetic.

5. Fifth, emotional intelligence involves agood ability to manage one’s emotions. Thisincludes the ability to regulate one’smoods, handle stress, and rebound after anemotional setback. Interestingly, high emo-tional intelligence may be found most of-ten with moderate ability to regulate one’sown emotions rather than with high emo-tional control (Salovey, Meyer, & Caruso,2002). Too little control of emotions leadsto impulsivity; however, too much controlleads to repression and the inability to useinformation from our emotions to learnabout our world and ourselves.

In summary, emotional intelligence con-sists of self-insight into the richness of one’semotional life, a moderate degree of self-control, empathy, and good social skills. In alater model, Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (2000)presented the necessary skills for the develop-ment of emotional intelligence as a hierarchy ofincreasingly complex abilities. In a person withhigh emotional intelligence, the (1) ability toperceive and express emotions leads to (2) skillsat assimilating emotions into cognitive repre-sentations of emotion and cognitive processingof feelings, which leads to (3) deeper under-standing of the complexities of emotion as theyrelated to the social world, which leads to (4) being able to regulate emotions more effec-tively. Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (2000) alsofound that emotional intelligence scores in-creased with age and with a person’s experiencedealing with emotions, just as one would expect.Scores on their emotional intelligence scale alsocorrelated positively with verbal IQ scores, a va-riety of empathy scales, life satisfaction, andlevel of perceived parental warmth as a child.Their results suggested that a large componentof emotional intelligence is the degree of empa-thy developed over the years. Women tended toscore higher on their measure of emotional in-telligence than men did. Types of emotional in-telligence may also be an aid to problem-solvingand social interactions. For instance, RobertSternberg (2004) has found that “practical in-telligence,” or the ability to adapt well to one’sphysical and social environment, is significantlycorrelated with both physical and psychologicalwell-being.

There may also be other aspects of our emo-tional lives that can help us find more meaningand fulfillment in life. James Averill (2002) hasproposed a theory of emotional creativity. Hisidea is that people can use their emotions in cre-ative ways that foster a greater sense of mean-ing, vitality, and connectedness in life. That is, itmay be possible to teach people how to use

28 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

their emotions more wisely and more creatively.Although the research in this area is fairly new,there is little doubt that the ability to under-stand and use our emotions wisely and cre-atively is related to personal well-being.

Genetic Influences on Positive EmotionsAnother biologically based perspective on emo-tion concerns the question of whether heredityimpacts our emotional responses. It is quite ob-vious that some people are more cheerful andmore easy-going while others are more prone toanxiety and worry. Could it be that being acheerful person, an anxious person, or someonewho always takes it all in stride is a matter ofgenes and not necessarily the result of learnedcoping skills? In fact, some researchers haveproposed that average lifetime levels of emo-tionality are primarily inherited.

Lykken and Tellegen (1996) suggested thatup to 80 percent of the long-term stability ofwell-being is due to heredity. Specifically, theyfound in their studies of twins that 40 percent ofthe long-term variability among people in posi-tive emotionality, 55 percent of the variability innegative emotionality, and 48 percent of thevariability in overall well-being is due to genet-ics (Tellegen, Lykken, Bouchard, Wilcox, &Rich, 1988). They also found that shared familyenvironment or learning accounted for only22 percent of positive emotionality and an ex-tremely small 2 percent of negative emotional-ity. Figure 2.1 shows their findings on the heri-tability of emotionality.

In other words, they suggest that our fami-lies may be important to our eventual emotionallives as adults but not because of what we learnfrom our families, as Freud, Skinner, and othershave suggested. Rather, families are importantbecause they provide us with genetic materialthat largely determines our base emotional re-sponsiveness to the world. Therefore, they con-cluded that genetic makeup was far more im-

portant to the long-term quality of our emo-tional lives than is learned behavior or the qual-ity of our early childhood environments.

The Happiness Set PointLykken and Tellegen (1996) took the results oftheir research and proposed the idea of a hap-piness set point. They believe that their heri-tability studies show most people have an aver-age level of happiness— or a set point—thatthey return to after they adjust to the effects oftemporary highs and lows in emotionality. Ofcourse, very intense feelings of joy or sadnesskeep people off their set points for somewhatlonger periods of time, but eventually everyonereturns to an average or baseline level of well-being—a level set by genetics. For some people,their set points lean toward positive emotional-ity, and those people tend to be cheerful most ofthe time. For others, their set points direct themtoward more negative emotionality, and theymay tend to gravitate toward pessimism andanxiety more than others. Other studies havealso suggested that there are genetic contribu-tions to our basic emotional reactions to theworld.

Jerome Kagan came to a similar conclusionby studying patterns of temperament in chil-dren. Temperament is a term used to describeour basic emotional reaction to events. Kaganfound that there is considerable genetic contri-bution to the emotional continuum of extrover-sion to shyness. In his estimate, about 15 to20 percent of children are born with a shy tem-perament and about 25 to 30 percent are bornwith an outgoing and extroverted temperament(Kagan & Snidman, 1991). This does not mean,however, that a temperamentally shy person isdoomed to a lonely and anxious existence. Re-member that being born with a shy tempera-ment does not inevitably produce a person whois painfully shy in social situations. Many peoplewho tend to be introverted, somewhat private,and hesitant to leap into social situations can

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 29

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

also be very warm, personable, and open oncethey are familiar with people. The same idea ap-plies to the happiness set point.

Can We Adjust OurHappiness Set Point?One of the problems with the research on genesis that estimates of heritability show consider-able variation across studies. The results of

these studies also work better at predicting lev-els of emotionality over long periods of time.When looking at shorter time intervals, genesmay play less of a role in self-reported well-being. While our genes certainly do not com-pletely control our emotional lives, it is becom-ing more evident that the genetic contributionto our emotional makeup is more significantthan we realized.

30 CHAPTER TWO

.70.60.50.40.30.20.100�.10Correlation of scores

Identical twinsreared together

Identical twinsreared apart

Fraternal twinsreared together

Fraternal twinsreared apart

Trait

Positiveemotionality

Negativeemotionality

Constraint

22%

40%

38%

43%

2%

55%

42%58%

Unshared environmentalinfluence

Heritability

Family influence

Estimates ofinfluence

FIGURE 2.1Genetic Influences on Well-Being. Left: For three basic personality traits, identical twins were more similar than fra-ternal twins, even when twins were reared apart (Tellegen et al., 1998). Right: Estimates of heritability derived fromthe correlational data were relatively high; although investigators also found evidence of environmental influence, the family influence appeared to be neglible for two of the traits (ibid.).

Source: A. Tellegen, D. T. Lykken, T. J. Bouchard Jr., K. J. Wilcox, N. L. Segal, & S. Rich (1988), Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together,Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 54 (6), 1031–1039 with permission. Copyright 1988 by the American Psychological Association.

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

If there is a strong genetic component tolong-term stability of emotionality, does thismean that we can do little to enhance a positiveexperience of life? On the contrary, everyonecan do something to bring more happiness intohis or her life. When dealing with the topic ofgenes and emotionality, scientists agree thatgenes do not completely determine the level ofhappiness or life satisfaction in any given per-son. Even David Lykken, one of the major pro-ponents of the heritability and set point theo-ries, has said that we can influence our level ofwell-being by creating environments that aremore conducive to feelings of happiness andworking with our genes. Lykken (2000) said,

The basic point one must remember is that genesaffect the mind largely indirectly, by influencingthe kinds of experiences people have and the kindsof environments they seek out. . . . If your happi-ness set point is below average, that means thatyour genetic steersman is guiding you into situa-tions that detract from your well-being and istempting you to behave in ways that are counter-productive. If you let your genetic steersman havehis way, then you will end up where he wants to go.But it is your life and, within wide limits, you canchoose your own destinations instead of havingthem all chosen for you (p. 60, italics in original).

Therefore, factors such as the family environ-ment that a person grows up in, education, andcultural factors do have an impact on a person’ssense of happiness and well-being. We can dosomething about our average level of well-being.

While some debate exists over the exactcontribution of genetics to long-term well-being(see Diener & Lucas, 1999), the genetic influ-ences on dispositional positive and negativeemotionality are not open to debate. The same istrue for certain personality traits, such as extro-version and neuroticism, which are often associ-ated with dispositional emotionality; significantportions of these personality traits are inherited.Nevertheless, recall that we can do things to in-fluence our sense of well-being on a daily basis.In addition, as we will see throughout this text,

self-reported happiness is not the only impor-tant gauge of psychological well-being.

Moods and Psychological Well-BeingAny discussion of emotions must eventuallyturn to the topic of moods. Although moods aredifferent than emotions, psychologists do notagree on exactly how they are different. Somesee moods as more or less mild forms of emo-tions, while others see moods and emotions asfairly distinct entities serving unique purposes.What everyone does agree on is that moods aremore diffuse, more global, and more pervasivethan emotions (Morris, 1999). That is, emotionsare focused feelings that can appear or disap-pear rapidly in response to events in the envi-ronment. Moods, however, are generally fairlypervasive and maintain their general tone inspite of a number of minor changes in the envi-ronment. For instance, imagine a person who isusually in a fairly good mood. People describeher as cheerful. Today she is driving home withher children in the car and someone drivingrather dangerously cuts in front of her and en-dangers her and her children. Understandably,she reacts with anger. An hour later, however,she has returned to her normal emotional stateor her normal cheerful mood. Therefore, a person can be in a good mood for hours, days, or weeks, in spite of fluctuations in emotionalstates.

Another characteristic of moods is that theyare partially caused by how we think about theworld. Just like many emotional experiences,moods may rely on certain ways of thinkingabout the world and us. In the case of moods,the thought processes involved may be our ex-pectations about potential positive or negativeemotions in our future (Hewitt, 2002). Fromthis perspective, when we are in a good moodwe are probably experiencing relatively positiveemotions at the moment and we are also ex-pecting to experience more or less positiveemotions in the future. Because expectations

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 31

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

are personal beliefs and the future has not yetoccurred, moods become dependent on per-sonal beliefs that often cannot be verified. Inother words, in many instances, moods do notdepend upon “facts” (Hewitt, 2002). For in-stance, if our friend Robert is in a good moodmost of the time because he believes that thewoman of his dreams is waiting “just around thenext corner,” then we have no way to verify ifRobert’s mood is based on an accurate picture ofthe future. Of course, if Robert is currently in amental hospital suffering from schizophrenicdelusions, then we might more reasonably con-clude that his expectations are wrong. In manyinstances, however, it is hard to prove that a per-son’s mood state is wrong or unjustified. This in-teresting quality of moods is important to posi-tive psychology because positive moods have anumber of advantages. It may be that we do nothave to wait for our expectations to be “proved”in order to reap some benefits of positive moods.

Advantages of Positive MoodsRecent studies have found that emotions andmoods have a significant impact on almost anypsychological process, such as memory, atten-tion, perception, and our experience of self. Inparticular, being in a happy or positive moodfosters more adaptable responses to the worldin a number of ways. For instance, being in apositive mood tends to increase altruism, in-crease the efficiency of decision-making, pro-mote creativity, and decrease aggression (Isen,2002). In addition, positive moods enhance thequality of interpersonal relationships and helpto increase job satisfaction (Morris, 1999; Isen,2001).

Studies have also found that mood can havean impact on memory, perception, judgment,and self-focused attention. In general, studieshave found that when people are in a certainmood, it is easier for them to recall memoriesthat are congruent with that mood (see Morris,1999). This phenomenon is called mood-congruent recall. Interestingly, for positive psy-

chology, the effect can be seen when people arein a positive mood. Being in a good mood helpsto promote the recall of positive memories(Matt, Vazquez, & Campbell, 1992). This effectmay be especially strong when the informationto be recalled is highly relevant to the self (Sedi-kides, 1992). In addition, being in a good moodmay also inhibit the recall of negative memories.

Influences of MoodsIf moods can impact our memories, is it alsotrue that they can influence our current percep-tion of events? Research suggests that there aremood-congruent effects on our current percep-tions and judgments, as well as on memory. Wecan see the effect by asking a question. Is a per-son more likely to go out on a first date withsomeone they are very attracted to when theyare in a good mood or a bad mood? Obviously,most people are more likely to take the riskwhen they are in a good mood. Why would thisbe true? The effect may be simply another version of memory. That is, if we are in a goodmood, then we remember previous “dates madein heaven.” If we are in a bad mood, then we re-call our “dates from hell.” Norbert Schwarz andG. Clore (1996), however, have argued thatwhat we consult are feelings and moods morethan our memories. When we are feeling verygood, we may be willing to take some action thatwe have previously and repeatedly failed at be-cause our good mood helps us to ignore priordifficulties and memories of bad experiences inthe past. With this in mind, you can see that theresults of any decision-making based on rationalrisk-benefit analysis can easily be overridden byour current mood.

An interesting line of research has looked athow our moods may influence our attention toourselves. Repeatedly, studies show being in abad mood leads people to focus more attentionon themselves (see Morris, 1999). That is, beingin a bad mood makes it more likely that peoplewill focus their attention on their own thoughtsand feelings. Neuroticism is also associated with

32 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

rumination or the tendency to obsessively goover a problem or situation in one’s mind (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). So, when one’s friends are ina bad mood they seem to be more self-absorbed,more preoccupied with their own issues, andeven appear a little selfish.

The relationship between mood and self-attention, however, does not appear to be con-sistent when people are in good moods. Beingin a good mood can either propel us toward self-focused attention, such as congratulating our-selves on a job well done, or it can facilitate usto direct attention away from ourselves, such asin altruism. In Chapters 4 and 10, some per-spectives on well-being will be discussed thatshow how enhanced well-being is associatedwith decreased self-focused attention.

Finally, William Morris (1999) believes thata basic function of moods is to provide us withinformation about the adequacy of our currentresources to meet current or future demands.He believes moods provide us with a continu-ous monitoring system that gives on-going in-formation about how well we can cope. For in-stance, when most people are in a really goodmood they feel as if they can take on challengesand risks. Being in a bad mood, however, leadsto a drop in confidence and optimism. Note thatDavid Watson (2002) reminds us that tenden-cies toward mood fluctuations are related to bi-ological rhythms, so that many people experi-ence drops in energy or enthusiasm at differentpoints during the day. Given these findings, we need to be aware of the fact that not every-one will experience the same levels of positive emotions. In addition, not everyone will be ableto sustain a high level of positive emotionsthroughout the day. Therefore, we need to re-mind ourselves that the goal of studying positivepsychology is not simply to create high levels ofpositive emotionality for everyone throughoutthe entire day, each and every day, over thecourse of an entire lifetime. That goal is not pos-sible. The challenge of creating greater well-being is far more interesting than can be ex-

pressed by that overly simplistic formula. None-theless, the message for a positive psychology isthat positive moods help us to adapt better andhelp to provide us with opportunities to learnand grow. Obviously, good moods are not allthat is required for greater flourishing andthriving, but they are one necessary piece of thepuzzle.

Positive Psychology

and Motivation

Early Theories of MotivationIf part of positive psychology involves the inves-tigation of human flourishing and finding one’sown personal best, then somehow people mustbe motivated to pursue those goals. This sectionof the chapter will look at how psychology hasexplained the forces that propel people towardtheir goals.

As might be expected, there is no simpleanswer to questions about what causes us topursue certain goals. Animal models often focuson a small set of basic biological instincts. How-ever, while certain human emotional responses,such as fear, may be innate, the behavioral re-sponses to those emotions in humans can showconsiderable variation. In general, the amazingvarieties of motivations behind human behaviorare too complex to be explained in any satis-factory way by instinct theories. Up until the1950s, the predominant theories of human mo-tivation mostly assumed that people were com-pelled to act in order to (1) increase pleasureand decrease painful experiences, (2) get innatephysiological needs met, or (3) compensate forinnate drive states that were potentially threat-ening to the social fabric. In these perspectives,various needs produce drives or internal drivestates that motivate people to reduce the needsthat when satisfied will return them to a state of

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 33

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

homeostasis. This term refers to a state ofequilibrium in which a person is not compelledto act in any specific way. In this state, no com-pelling need motivates behavior because needsare satisfied, and a state of equilibrium exists.The need for food, for instance, would producea drive that motivates a person to search forfood, which when found and consumed, wouldeliminate the need (hunger), and the personwould return to homeostasis. As in this ex-ample, the needs were often given a biologicalorigin, and a number of psychologists over theyears have searched for the fundamental set ofbasic biological needs. But is this all we arelooking for in life—just a state of quiet equilib-rium and mild satisfaction?

In fact, research has found that even ratswere motivated by such intangibles as noveltyand curiosity (Berlyne, 1960). That is, just hav-ing their needs met was not enough for them—they needed something more in life. If this istrue for rats, imagine how much more true it ishuman beings. Once again, the complexity ofhuman beings proved too great to be explainedby biologically based needs. There is no biolog-ical need, for instance, to be the world’s greatestviolinist. And yet, people are driven to achievethat goal. So while drive reduction theories ofmotivation each have some merit and can beused to explain behavior under certain circum-stances, none of them is particularly appealingas an explanation for why some people actuallythrive or do extraordinarily well in life.

Almost fifty years ago, Robert W. White(1959) argued that people can be motivated bymore than just drives to fulfill physiological or“tissue” needs. White urged psychologists toconsider the relevance of intrinsic motivationsthat propelled people toward a sense of compe-tence— or effectance motivations. He said thatpeople are also compelled to engage their im-mediate environments in ways that will produceeffective outcomes. In his view, people are ac-tive participants in their worlds and not just reactive to events or circumstances that theyconfront. People are driven to engage the world

in ways that will give them a sense of compe-tence and accomplishment that goes beyondthe meeting of physiological needs.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic MotivationOne of the more interesting lines of research inmotivation concerns the difference between in-trinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic mo-tivation is operating when we are compelled to engage in some activity for its own sake, re-gardless of any external reward. Extrinsic mo-tivation comes into play when we act to obtainsome external reward, be it status, praise,money, or other incentive that comes from out-side ourselves. Studies in this area grew out ofresearch that, ironically, found decreased moti-vation when people were given rewards for pur-suing intrinsically satisfying goals (Deci, 1975).In other words, under some circumstances, ifpeople are motivated to engage in a certain ac-tivity simply for their own enjoyment then be-ing rewarded for the same activity can act as adeterrent.

A study by Lepper, Greene, and Nesbitt(1973) illustrates this idea.They introduceda fundrawing activity into children’s “free-play” activ-ity time. After observing the children playing,they selected those children who appeared tofind intrinsic satisfaction in drawing. Later, theyplaced the children in three conditions. Somechildren were shown a “Good Player” certificateand asked if they wished to draw in order to winthe award. In other words, the children weregiven the opportunity to do what they liked in or-der get a reward. Some children simply engagedin drawing and later were unexpectedly given the“Good Player” certificate. Finally, some childrensimply drew, and they neither expected nor re-ceived any reward. Two weeks later the childrenwere again allowed to engage in the drawing ac-tivity. What researchers found was that childrenwho chose to draw in order to win the rewardshowed less interest in drawing. Further, whenthe rewards were taken away, these childrensimply stopped drawing pictures! It seemed al-

34 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

most as if the external reward destroyed theoriginal intrinsic reasons for drawing. Childrenin the other two conditions showed no signifi-cant change in their interest in drawing.

This phenomena of displacing intrinsic mo-tivations by providing extrinsic rewards hasbeen termed overjustification. Later, Lepperand Greene (1978) reviewed the studies on thisphenomenon. They concluded that there was“considerable evidence” that under certain con-ditions if a person is given a reward for doingsomething that they find intrinsically satisfy-ing, the reward can “undermine that individ-ual’s subsequent intrinsic motivation to engagein the behavior” (p. 121). This does not disprovethe idea that people will often work for externalrewards, but it does show that external rewardsare certainly not the only goals that compelpeople’s behavior.

As an illustration of this point, imagine thatsomeone offered to pay a person money to fallin love. Each time the person felt more affec-tion and caring for their boyfriend or girlfriendthey were given a cash reward. For most people,being given money for this very intrinsically sat-isfying emotional experience would “take thespark” out of love. Chapter 4 discusses researchthat supports the idea that activities we engagein just for fun or intrinsic satisfaction—intrinsi-cally motivated activities—can be necessarycomponents of well-being.

Self-Determination TheorySome researchers view the difference betweenintrinsic and extrinsic motivation as extremelyimportant for an understanding of mentalhealth, achievement, and well-being, as well asfor an understanding of basic motivation. Rich-ard Ryan and Edward Deci (2000) state thatpeople who are intrinsically motivated tend toshow enhancements in performance, persist-ence, creativity, self-esteem, vitality, and gen-eral well-being when compared to people whoare motivated by external rewards. They notethat this difference is even found when the twogroups are of equal competence performing the

same task. This is an amazing list of advantagesfor the intrinsically motivated. In fact, Ryan andDeci (2000) go even further and state, “Perhapsno single phenomena reflects the positive po-tential of human nature as much as intrinsic mo-tivation, [or] the inherent tendency to seek outnovelty and challenges, to extend and exerciseone’s capacities, to explore, and to learn” (p. 70).

Although at first glance Ryan and Deci’sstatement may seem to be a bit overly enthusi-astic, when the research literature is examinedthere is justification for their energetic endorse-ment of intrinsic motivation. A positive rela-tionship has been found between being intrinsi-cally motivated and achieving positive outcomesin numerous areas, such as health behaviors, re-ligious participation, intimate relationships, andeven political activism (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Deci and Ryan (1985) took the research onintrinsic and extrinsic motivation and fromthose studies developed what they called self-determination theory, which postulates thatcertain inherent tendencies toward psycho-logical growth, along with a core group of innate emotional needs, are the basis for self-motivation and personality integration. In self-determination theory, the three basic needs are

1. Competence: the need for mastery experi-ences that allows a person to deal effec-tively with her or his environment.

2. Relatedness: the need for mutually sup-portive interpersonal relationships.

3. Autonomy: the need to make independentdecisions about areas in life that are im-portant to the person.

Ryan and Deci (2000) state that these threeneeds “appear to be essential for facilitating op-timal functioning of the natural propensities for growth and integration, as well as for con-structive social development and personal well-being” (p. 68). That is, intrinsically motivatedbehavior is often an attempt to meet our innateneeds for competence, relatedness, or auton-omy. If those needs are met, then people showbetter adaptive functioning. Studies have found

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 35

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

that the combination of high autonomy and theperception of low levels of coercive controlfrom others is associated with better ego de-velopment, higher self-esteem, higher self-actualization scores, greater consistency of theself, more persistence in working toward goals,more satisfaction at work, and fewer experi-ences of boredom (see Knee & Zuckerman,1998). Therefore, if positive psychology is par-tially defined as the investigation of factors thatsupport human flourishing, then one way tomeasure the success of those factors might be tolook at the degree to which they foster a senseof competence, contribute toward the develop-ment of positive relationships, and enhance asense of healthy autonomy.

Cognitive Evaluation TheoryWhat are some of the conditions that support a self-determination theory approach to hu-man flourishing? As a subset within self-determination theory, Deci and Ryan (1985)presented cognitive evaluation theory as away to help explain social and environmentalfactors that lead to variations in intrinsic moti-vation. One of the conditions that help to en-hance these needs is an activity that involvesboth challenges and the type of feedback thathelps the person to learn. Along with this is free-dom from evaluations that are demeaning andbelittling. In addition, these are activities thatoften involve novelty or provide a sense of aes-thetic value for the person. Another conditionthat helps meet these needs is fostering an in-ternal locus of control, as when a person is givenchoices, opportunities for self-direction, and isallowed to acknowledge feelings. Further, socialcontexts in which a person feels somewhat se-cure and knows that social support is availableare conducive to meeting the three needs. Incontrast, conditions that hinder intrinsic moti-vation and the meeting of the three needs in-clude overly critical evaluations, lack of socialsupport, external rewards that are designed todecrease a sense of autonomy, and achieve-ments that are not tied to freely chosen goals.

Table 2.1 presents a summary of the condi-tions that foster and hinder the developmentand use of intrinsic motivations.

Motivation and the Pursuit of GoalsWhile some researchers have investigated moti-vation by looking at internal drive states, othershave focused more on our expectations or hopesfor the future. For instance, when we discusswhat our hopes and dreams are for the yearsahead, then we are talking about our goals. Theunique goals we have for our life determinewhere we place our efforts and commitments.In addition, the specific character of our goals

36 CHAPTER TWO

TABLE

2.1 INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Support intrinsic motivation

Activities that Allow a sense of autonomyStimulate a sense of competenceHave intrinsic interest Contain novelty and stimulate

curiosityHave some aesthetic valuePresent optimal challengesAre freely chosenAllow acknowledgment of feelings.

Environments that Provide competence promotingfeedback

Involve supportive personalrelationships

Are safe and provide a sense ofsecurity

Are free from demeaningevaluations.

Inhibit intrinsic motivation

Activities that Involve goals imposed by othersInvolve deadlines and pressuresInvolve tangible rewards given only

on the basis of task performance

Environments that Involve extrinsic rewardsInvolve pressured evaluationsInvolve threats or directives to

perform.

Source: Ryan & Deci, 2000; Lyubormirsky, 2001.

ACTIVITIES AND ENVIRONMENTSTHAT SUPPORT OR INHIBIT

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

and our relationships to them at any moment intime determine our emotional state. Imagine aperson who has been training for the Olympicgold medal in the marathon race for the last tenyears. She is now ahead of all the other runnerswith only 10 yards to the finish line and the nextrunner at least 25 yards behind her. How wouldshe feel? It does not take too much imaginationto realize that when we attain our goals we tendto feel happier. This is especially true the moreimportant those goals are to us. In fact, goalsmay be extremely important to our positiveemotional state at any point in time and to ourgeneral emotional well-being.

Qualities of Goal Pursuit that Predict Greater Well-BeingResearchers who have studied goals and theirrelationships to well-being have found that cer-tain types of goals are more effective in produc-ing happiness and satisfaction than are othertypes (see Ryan & Deci, 2000; Lyubomirsky,2001). In general, goals that are the result of in-trinsic motivation, are personally valued, realis-tic, and freely chosen seem to be better at rais-ing subjective well-being. The pursuit of goalsthat are meaningful to us is more fulfilling thanchasing after goals that are imposed on us byothers or that we do not value. For example,Oishi, Diener, Suh, and Lucas (1999) obtainedratings of how much satisfaction college stu-dents gained from engaging in a variety of ac-tivities. They found differences among activitiessuch that high subjective well-being was relatedto activities involving both interpersonal rela-tionships and community contributions. How-ever, higher subjective well-being was foundwhen the activity reflected a person’s individualvalues. For instance, students who valuedbenevolence experienced higher subjectivewell-being when they were involved in helpfulsocial activities or when showing other peoplethat they cared for them.

In general, it appears that well-being is en-hanced by seeking goals associated with posi-tive relationships and helping others, while rel-

atively self-centered goals decrease well-being.One example is a study by Tim Kasser and Rich-ard Ryan (1993) that found subjective well-being was enhanced when people pursuedgoals that facilitated affiliation, intimacy, self-acceptance, and community involvement. Goalsthat are valued by one’s culture may also bemore effective in raising well-being (Cantor &Sanderson, 1999). The influence of culture canalso be seen in how people view the social con-text of achievement. Yang (1982) distinguishedtwo forms of achievement motivation: individu-ally oriented and socially oriented. In Westerncultures, individually oriented achievement ismore common, but the socially oriented formis more common in Chinese cultures. Bond(1986) and Doi (1985) both found that highsocially oriented achievement was associatedwith high motives for affiliation and involvementwith family. In Western cultures, the affiliationand achievement motives are usually fairly in-dependent. On the other hand, too much indi-vidually oriented achievement motivation canbe hazardous to happiness. Nancy Cantor andCatherine Sanderson (1999) reported that well-being is lowered when people seek relativelyself-centered goals related to physical attrac-tiveness, fame, and wealth. In the same way,people who are too materialistic or too power-oriented tend to have lower well-being (Sirgy,1998).

The next issue concerns approach versusavoidance goals. Approach goals motivate us tomove toward something (e.g., “I want to get aPh.D. in psychology”). Avoidance goals moti-vate us to avoid difficulties, dangers, or fears(e.g., “I try to avoid speaking in public becauseit makes me nervous”). Studies have found thatapproach goals are more likely to be associatedwith subjective well-being than are avoidancegoals. Well-being is higher when people seethemselves as moving toward something theyvalue rather than trying to avoid something dif-ficult or painful. Once again, however, culturaldifferences may be important. Studies suggestthat approach goals are more central to people

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 37

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

in individualistic cultures. People in culturesthat are more socially oriented may be moreconcerned with avoiding failure because failurereflects on their family as well as themselves(see Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2003).

The rate at which people approach theirvalued goals is also important. Adequate or better than adequate progress translates intohigher well-being (Hsee & Abelson, 1991). Therate of progress that a person makes towardgoals or expects to make toward goals is evenmore important than actual achievement of thegoals. Acceptable rates of progress are associ-ated with more positive emotions. For instance,a goal such as “learn to play the piano well” isone that is never quite reached because one canalways play better than one does now. For mostpeople, satisfaction comes, in part, from learn-ing to play better with an acceptable rate ofprogress.

The impact that our goals may have on oursense of happiness or life satisfaction may alsodepend upon how specific our goals are. Interms of specificity, Robert Emmons (1992)found that highly abstract goals may decreaseimmediate well-being because their abstractnature makes it hard to know when they havebeen achieved. For instance, if one’s goal is to“be a caring and compassionate person,” it ishard to know when one has treated people withenough compassion. In contrast, a goal such as“treat at least one person every day with caring,compassion, and understanding” is more con-crete, and a person knows immediately if he orshe has achieved it or not. On the other hand,not having any abstract or high-level long-termgoals that serve to orient one’s life direction isassociated with lower well-being. Brian Little(1989) has called this dilemma the conflict be-tween “magnificent obsessions and trivial pur-suits.” Emmons (1992) suggested that it is bestto find a balance between specific and abstractgoals by setting concrete, behavioral short-termgoals that are directly linked to more abstractand meaningful longer-term goals. For ex-ample, it may be that we can work toward the

goal of “ending world hunger” as long as we doit step by step.

Relationships among GoalsAnother important quality of our goals con-cerns the relationships among our goals. Thefirst issue here concerns the levels of congru-ence and conflict among our goals. In particu-lar, greater subjective well-being is associatedwith more congruence among different goalsand less internal conflict between competinggoals. For instance, people who have eight orten major goals in life that are all “very impor-tant” may end up creating conflicts among thosegoals because of a real lack of time to fully ac-complish all their goals. Note that the contem-porary wish to “have it all” in terms of career,family, self-development, community involve-ment, and leisure may actually exaggerate inter-nal conflicts among goals and may lower happi-ness. Social adaptation and adjustment can bedefined as the process that reduces conflictsamong our important life goals.

Emmons (1986, 1992; Emmons & King,1988) suggested that it is possible to group anumber of smaller goals around commonthemes. He called this common theme in ourgoal pursuits our personal strivings—largergroupings of smaller goals that may help to facilitate bigger more abstract goals. As an ex-ample of a personal striving, Emmons listed,“Find that special someone.” Note that manysmaller goals such as “Be open with otherpeople,” “Take an interest in other people,” and“Get out and socialize more” may all be part ofthis personal striving that is, in turn, related tothe higher-level goal of “Find a lasting and sat-isfying intimate relationship.” Emmons foundthat personal strivings are related to subjectivewell-being in ways similar to goals. For instance,people with high life satisfaction believe thattheir personal strivings are “important, valued,not likely to produce conflict, and [they] expectto be successful at them” (Emmons, 1986,p. 1064). Interestingly, Emmons (1992) alsofound that having meaningful and successful

38 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

personal strivings is a stronger predictor of sub-jective well-being than personality traits.

Hope TheoryOne of the most important elements in whetherpeople are motivated to pursue their goals is theexpectation or the hope that they will eventuallyattain those goals. In most instances, it is hard tobring much enthusiasm to the pursuit of an im-portant but unreachable goal. Many older theo-ries of hope and motivation were based on theidea of expectations for success in attaininggoals. However, is that all there is to our hopesfor the future? Is it simply the expectation thatwe will reach our goals?

Hope theory says that hope is actually theresult of two processes: (1) pathways, or believ-ing that one can find ways to reach desiredgoals; and (2) agency, or believing that one canbecome motivated enough to pursue thosegoals (Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002). There-fore, this theory says that hope about the futureis the result of believing we can create both re-alistic plans and enough drive to reach impor-tant goals. People who are hopeful also tend tofeel more positive emotions. Among a numberof other positive benefits, people who are highin hope tend to anticipate greater well-being inthe future, are more confident, may be able todeal with stress more successfully, are flexibleenough to find alternative pathways to theirgoals, and tend to have higher social support(Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002).

Participation in LifeFinally, Nancy Cantor and Catherine Sanderson(1999) suggested that one of the reasons thatgoal pursuit is associated with well-being is be-cause it implies that people are being active par-ticipants in life. The pursuit of goals is simply anindication that people are taking part in life;they are involved, interested, and active partic-ipants in living a full life. As in goal pursuit the-ories, Cantor and Sanderson believe thatgreater well-being is found through participa-tion in activities that are intrinsically motivat-

ing, freely chosen, desired, and involve realistic,feasible goals. In addition, they believe that ac-tivities that increase opportunities for participa-tion in a variety of other activities will tend toincrease well-being. Of course, the types of ac-tivities people choose to be involved with willcertainly change over the lifespan, by genderand according to other factors. It is not whichactivity people choose but the process of beinginvolved in an active life that really matters.

Summary

This chapter reviewed topics in psychology thatare relevant to positive psychology. Quite ap-propriately, the first topic reviewed was positiveemotion. Current psychological perspectives on emotion see positive emotional experiencesas biologically given, innate, and influenced by hereditary factors. However, our cognitionsmatter a great deal in that people can create dif-ferent emotions for similar events depending onhow they interpret and give meaning to theevents. The positive emotions were exploredthrough the broaden-and-build theory of posi-tive emotions. Positive emotions may help usadapt by broadening our response options andbuilding psychological and social resources forthe future. Newer theories of motivation viewpeople as actively involved in seeking out in-trinsically satisfying experiences and engaged ina process of continuous development centeredon needs for competence, relatedness, auton-omy, and hopeful expectations for the future.

Learning Tools

Key Terms and IdeasBROADEN-AND-BUILD MODELCOGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORYEXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION IN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 39

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion

HAPPINESS SET POINTHOMEOSTASISINTRINSIC MOTIVATIONSELF-DETERMINATION THEORYTHOUGHT-ACTION TENDENCIESUNDOING HYPOTHESIS

BooksDeci, E., & Flaste, R. (1996). Why we do what we do.

New York: Penguin. An explanation of intrinsicmotivation and self-determination theory for thegeneral public (popular).

Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwartz, N. (Eds.)(1999). Well-being: The foundations of hedonicpsychology. New York: Russell Sage. A collectionof papers on positive emotions and well-being(professional, but some articles would be fine forundergraduate students).

Lykken, D. (2000). Happiness: The nature and nurtureof joy and contentment. New York: St. Martin’sGriffin. A readable exploration of well-being by aleading proponent of the genetic and heritabilitytheories of positive emotionality (popular).

Research ArticlesBuss, D. (2000). The evolution of happiness. American

Psychologist, 55(1), 15–23. Evolutionary perspec-tive on positive emotions.

Fredrickson, B. (1998). What good are positive emo-tions? Review of General Psychology, 2, 300–319.The first presentation of the broaden-and-buildmodel of positive emotions.

On The Webhttp://www.ukans.edu /�crsnyder. C. R. Snyder’s home

page with links to articles and measurementscales related to hope.

http://eqtoday.com. Information on EQ Today, a maga-zine devoted to emotional intelligence.

http://www.utne.com/azEQ.tmpl. This is a short “test”of your emotional intelligence. Note that this isjust for fun—the test has not been studied scien-tifically. The site does offer some good informa-tion on emotional intelligence.

Personal ExplorationsWhat things intrinsically interest you? What would you do even if you were not paid for it? Are you study-ing that interest area now in school? If not, why not?Remember there are no “right” answers to this ques-tion. That is, some people work at jobs that truly inter-est them, while others save those interests for theirtime outside of work.

List the things that have intrinsic interest foryou—things you just love to do. Next, list how fre-quently you have done these things in the past month.For the exercise, double the frequency of two to threeof these activities for the next two weeks. Record howyou feel after the two weeks.

How would you set up a classroom for sixth-grade children so that intrinsic motivation would be enhanced? Just for contrast, set up the same class-room so that extrinsic motivation was emphasized.

40 CHAPTER TWO

Propert

y of C

enga

ge Le

arning

Not for

Rep

roduc

tion