Sixth World Congress on Positive Psychology: Abstract Submission Guidelines
Closing Date: Oct 31
Submission Types
Prospective presenters can submit one abstract in each of the five presentation
types: individual podium presentation, symposium, workshop, conversation hour,
roundtable and poster. So as to allow for a wide number of people to have their
submissions accepted and, thus, get to present at the 2019 congress submissions
are limited to one abstract for each type of presentation. Multiple submissions to
the same presentation type will not be accepted.
Submitting your abstract will require you to choose:
1) Your Presentation Type:
▪ Individual Podium Presentation
▪ Symposium
▪ Conversation Hour
▪ Workshop
▪ Roundtable
▪ Poster
2) Your General Category:
▪ Science
▪ Practice
3) Your Congress Track.
▪ See detail of the 13 tracks on page 3
Preparing your abstract
In preparing to make your submission, please have ready:
▪ your 200-word abstract to copy and paste (preferably from word processing
software),
▪ a short CV ready to upload,
▪ three the learning objectives for your presentation (preferably from word
processing software).
The submission process involves you loading your abstract, entering the title, then
the authors, then the content and so on. Note that the system will impose a font
and formatting on your text so it is not something you need to worry about in
advance.
All of this is done from your own online portal. This portal provides your
dashboard where you can also register for the congress, book accommodation, tell
us about your dietary needs, prepare Immigration Visa (if needed) and cover off
on all your preparatory needs.
Reviewing
IPPA is grateful to the following Review Chairs who have volunteered their time
and expertise to lead the review process.
Practice Review Committee Chairs Lisa Sansom Leona Brandwene Scientific Review Committee Chairs Acacia Parks Sara Algoe
We are also grateful to the team of 100+ reviewers who have volunteered their
time and expertise to review (blind review, double reviews for each abstract) your
abstracts. The names of these volunteers will be listed on the congress program
and WCPP2019 website after the review process has been completed.
Criteria for Abstract Review
Abstracts are assessed on the following 5 criteria so please keep the criteria in mind as your write the abstract
1. Relevance to conference 2. Conceptual development and grounding in literature 3. Strength of the design and analysis (science submission)/ Individual, contextual,
and/or cultural fit (practice submission) 4. Significance of the results and contributions (science submission)/ presence of
evaluation -process and/or outcome metrics (practice submission)
5. Impact of the work to build science or practice
Notifications
All correspondence is sent to you through the email you provide in the portal. You
will get email notifications to confirm your submission(s), updates of decisions
and, eventually, program notifications. This information is also recorded on your
dashboard so feel free to visit anytime for an update.
Congress Tracks (detailed descriptions for each track are below)
1. Body and Brain: Biology, Methodology and Basic Science
2. Cool Topics
3. Emotions
4. Global Perspectives: Systems, Culture and Communities
5. Individuals and Families: Flourishing across the lifespan
6. Meaning
7. Motivation, Wellbeing and Coaching
8. Positive Clinical Applications and Mental Health
9. Positive Education
10. Positive Health and Wellness
11. Strengths
12. Technology
13. Work and Organisation
Body and Brain: Biology, Methodology and Basic Sciences
We all know the benefits of being happy. But why are some people happier than others? Research
has shown that biological mechanisms, such as genetic differences, hormonal differences, and
differences in brain volume and functioning may be important to explain, at least part, differences
in individual happiness. Within this track we will bring together the state-of-art research on
biological mechanisms underlying well-being. We will explain why understanding these biological
mechanisms is essential for researchers, teachers, students, and practitioners in the field of
positive psychology.
Cool Topics
This track offers you a feast of assorted positive psychology topics and cool research designs.
The high quality and innovative studies you’ll find here are those that fit ‘outside of the box.’
New ideas, hot off the press will be explored. Big data, implicit association testing, lexicon
analysis and so one. Treat yourself to some novelty - you’re in for a terrific surprise!
Emotions
Understanding emotion experiences is central to positive psychology. This track features
original research in affective science, broadly construed. Contributions may target positive
emotions, negative emotions, or both, and may describe people’s emotion experiences, their
emotion regulation processes, or perceptions of emotions in others. Methodological approaches
may include (a) laboratory experiments with randomization between- or within-participants, (b)
field studies with ecological or diary assessments, and/or (c) longitudinal randomized controlled
trials. Dyadic and group-based designs are also appropriate. Measures may include behavioural,
psychophysiological or neuroendocrine assessments in addition to self- or observer-reports.
Global perspectives: culture and communities
As the field of positive psychology has evolved and matured there has been a call for the science
to extend beyond the individual to also include socio-cultural and system factors that shape
wellbeing. This track looks at science into cross cultural aspects of wellbeing as well as others
aspects of culture including indigenous culture. We will showcase system and community
approaches to building wellbeing in different countries.
Individuals and families: Flourishing across the life span
This track is based on the field of positive developmental psychology and considers the factors
that allow individuals to thrive through all stages of life. The emotional, cognitive, physical,
social and spiritual needs that sustain us at each life stage will be examined as well as the ways
our wellbeing develops and grows over life. The ecology of parenthood, positive families, early
learning, adolescence and positive aging are key topics in this track.
Meaning
There is remarkable consensus that meaning is a foundational part of wellbeing and flourishing,
with many hundreds of empirical findings supporting its place. Now, for the first time at an
IPPA conference, there is a track dedicated to the science, theory, and application of meaning.
Meaning captures people's yearnings for a life of significance and of purpose: a life that truly is
worth living. Join us in exploring this rapidly growing area, and in creating new parts to
sustained flourishing. This track will explore many branches of meaning scholarship including
social, biological, cultural, clinical, educational, humanistic, organizational, coaching, and other
branches of scholarship
Motivation, wellbeing and coaching
This track deal with core topics that are dear to the heart of positive psychology. We will look at
the latest and greatest science in eudemonic and hedonic wellbeing, as well the sources and
outcomes of wellbeing. Motivation, a key enabler of human agency, will feature heavily in this
track as will coaching and other growth-oriented approaches that build agency and wellbeing.
Note, you may also find your coaching abstract is better suited within another track (e.g.,
workplaces, education, health) and it is you choice whether you submit it to the coaching track
or another track (note: abstracts cannot be submitted more than once).
Positive Clinical applications and Mental Health
This track focuses on the ways in which of positive psychology has been applied in clinical
settings and is being used to boost mental health outcomes. We will explore the ways in which
positive constructs such as positive emotions, character strengths, positive relationships and
pursuit of meaning can be integrated meaningfully with symptoms, distress, dysfunctions and
disorders to better grasp nuanced complexity of psychological problems. We will specifically
showcase innovative clinical practices which capture this integration through concrete evidence-
based skills and strategies that can be shared from the platform of World Congress of IPPA. This
track supports the mission of the Clinical Division of IPPA to advance professional, ethical,
effective, evidence-based and culturally responsive practice of positive psychology in clinical
settings.
Positive Education
Positive education is the subfield of positive psychology that combines the scholarship of
wellbeing with best practice guidelines from education to boost the mental health and academic
outcomes of students. This track will explore science and practice in positive education across all
levels from early years through to adult learning. Beyond student outcomes we are interested in
the science of positive education for staff and faculty. System approaches to educational change
will also be a key topic for us to explore.
Positive Health and Wellness
This track will seek to explore science that focuses on uncovering assets and interventions which
contribute to human longevity, quality-of-life, and physiological and psychological well-being.
We are interested in communication and collaboration among key stakeholders such as
researchers, clinicians healthcare policymakers, and consumers. This track has the goal of
advancing the science and practice concerning optimal human health and the positive and
protective biosocial factors linked to it.
Strengths
A strength is considered to be any virtuous capacity, characteristic, or process that is persistently
experienced as energizing and authentic by the individual. Knowing and using one’s strengths is
significantly related to a host of wellbeing indicators. This track will consider the way strengths
can be developed and harnessed both in naturally occurring environments and through
interventions. Science on the outcomes of strengths and wellbeing, relationships and
performance will be examined. We will also look at research that applies strengths in various
contexts such as schools, social work, workplaces, families and so on.
Technology
Positive psychology has produced over 20 years of research -- but how do we take this research
to scale? Technological innovations, from the advent of the internet and smartphones, to newer
developments such as virtual reality goggles, artificial intelligence, gamified interventions, allow
basic science to be translated into the real-world in a way that engages users and has the
potential to be scaled globally. In this track we will showcase new and interesting uses of
technology to implement the science of happiness -- to educate more effectively, to help improve
mental health at a population level, and to learn new things about ourselves.
Work and Organisation
This track focuses on scientific research and evidence-based practice of positive psychology in
work and organizational contexts. We invite intellectual exchange among positive psychologists
situated in a variety of content domains such as industrial/organizational psychology,
organizational behavior, applied psychology, and management research and practice. This track
will cover the latest theory, research, and application of positive psychology principles aimed to
improve individual, team, and organizational well-being and performance across organizational
and institutional contexts around the world.
Description of Presentations Type
Note: detailed descriptions of the requirements for each presentation type are outlined in a table
on the final page of this document are)
Individual Podium Presentation
Individual Podium Presentations offer presenters an opportunity to showcase their research
through a 5-minute individual presentation on the podium. The Committee will endeavor to
group the Individual Podium Presentations together into themed symposia. All presentation
sessions will be moderated and time limits will be strictly enforced. Especially meritorious
presentations will be recognized with Awards and presenters will be invited to give their talk a
second time, on the big stage, on the final day of the Congress.
Symposia
Symposia are 60-minute presentations led by one person and 2-3 other speakers who address a
common theme or topic in positive psychology. Submissions must be co-ordinated by one leader
who works with the other presenters to determine the overall theme and general 200-word
abstract for the symposium. The leader submits the symposium. Once this has been done the
leader can let the other speakers know the submission number for the speakers to go on and
load up them individual abstracts to the specific symposium.
NOTE: you cannot load your individual paper to a symposium submission unless you have been
directly invited by the symposium leader.
Proposals that include participants from more than one nation will be given preference. The
Program Committee also reserves the right to offer especially meritorious individual
presentations within rejected symposia an Individual Podium Presentations.
Workshop
Workshops are 60-minute, small-group interactive and experiential sessions that focus on either
a specific positive psychology intervention or assessment or a specific research method or tool.
Workshop proposals in the categories of applied research or practice (i.e., that do not report
original research or present research methods or tools) should also include (5) an additional
200-word explanation of how the workshop is based on specific empirical research in the field.
Other mandatory descriptions for all Workshop proposals include (6) the intended audience or
participants (e.g., scientists, practitioners, students, coaches, human resources specialists,
organizational leaders, etc.); (7) an outline of the material to be covered, with experiential
activities clearly designated; (8) a minimum of 3 Learning Objectives for the session (based on
Bloom’s Taxonomy); and (9) examples of exercises and/or skills that you will teach to people
that attend. In addition, all prospective Workshop presenters must upload a current CV or
resume with similar workshop experiences highlighted.
Conversation Hour
Conversation Hours are a 60-minute, relatively informal round table event intended to
stimulate discussion on a specific topic. Conversation Hours should include several presenters
with different points of view (e.g., mini-debate or panel) plus a moderator with an established
reputation in the area who will be responsible for directing the conversation and for keeping the
session on schedule. Suitable topics for Conversation Hours might include intellectual topics,
such as a specific theory, research method or tool, a basic or applied research question, or new
directions for positive psychology. Conversation Hours may also be proposed to focus on specific
professional issues, such as finding jobs in industry, launching a private practice, or addressing
criticisms of the field. Conversation Hours may be supplemented with handouts (if desired), but
will not involve any audiovisuals (e.g., PowerPoint, videos).
Round Table Presentation
This presentation format allows presenters to share and discuss their work with others who have
conducted similar work. Track categories will also be used to create themes per table. Accepted
Round Table Presenters are required to prepare and share 20+ copies of their Abstract on a
single, 8½ x 11 inch/A4 page for distribution at their designated theme-based table (in a room
with multiple round tables). They should not prepare PowerPoint slides as A-V equipment will
not be available. Round Table presenters are also required to attend their assigned session to
represent and discuss their work with others presenters and interested attendees.
Poster
Poster submissions are a great way to present your work on a relaxed environment and provide
time to have in-depth, one-on-one conversations with people who are interested in your work.
Accepted Poster presenters will be required to prepare and present an A0 Paper Size - 841mm
(height) x 1189mm (width) / 33.1 inches (height) x 46.8 (width) inches for public display and to
attend their assigned poster session to represent their work.
Note: the ‘Individual Podium Presentations, Roundtable and Poster Abstract Submissions’ are
all hosted on the same page of the portal. This page allows up to three submissions – one for
each type –
(you cannot submit more than one abstract within the same type).
Note: Whilst every effort will be made to enable submitters preferences, ultimate programming
decisions rest with the program committee.
Acceptance Rates for Presentation Types at 5th World Congress on Positive
Psychology
Individual Podium Presentation: 12%
Symposia: 23%
Workshop: 11%
Conversation Hour: 11%
Round Table Presentation: 93%
Poster: 92%
Information required for each Presentations Type on Abstract Portal
Individual Podium
Presentation
Symposia Workshop Conversation Hour Round Table
Presentation
Poster
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(1) a title with a maximum of 25 words
(2) a separate 200-word abstract (format not specified?)
(2) a separate 200-word overarching abstract (format not specified?)
(2) a separate 200-word abstract (format not specified?)
(2) a separate 200-word abstract (format not specified?)
(2) a separate 200-word abstract (specified below)
(2) a separate 200-word abstract (specified below)
(3) a brief summary of the presenter's education and work experience
(required for each separate presenter – see below)
(3) a brief summary of the presenter's education and work experience
(3) a brief summary of the presenter's education and work experience
(3) a brief summary of the presenter's education and work experience
(4) an indication of General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
(3) an indication of the Symposium’s General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
(4) an indication of General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
(4) an indication of General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
(4) an indication of General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
(4) an indication of General and Track categories to assist the Program Committee in choosing appropriate reviewers and an appropriately diverse set of topics
3 page CV/Resume 3 page CV/Resume 3 page CV/Resume 3 page CV/Resume 3 page CV/Resume 3 page CV/Resume The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
The three key learnings/take-away messages the audience will gain from your presentation
Individual Podium
Presentation
Symposia Workshop Conversation Hour Round Table
Presentation
Poster
Submissions should also include, for each participant’s presentation: (a) a title with a maximum of 25 words, (b) a separate 200 -word abstract, and (c) a brief summary of each presenter’s education and work experience
5) An additional 200-word explanation of how the workshop is based on specific empirical research in the field.
Abstracts presenting empirical research should be formatted to include the following elements: Background, Methods (including sample size), Results (including statistics), and Conclusions.
Abstracts presenting empirical research should be formatted to include the following elements: Background, Methods (including sample size), Results (including statistics), and Conclusions
Individual Podium
Presentation
Symposia Workshop Conversation Hour Round Table
Presentation
Poster
…prospective individual presenters should also indicate (d) whether they are open to presenting their work either as a poster or a Round Table Presentation
Other mandatory descriptions for all Workshop proposals include: (6) the intended audience or participants (e.g., scientists, practitioners, students, coaches, human resources specialists, organizational leaders, etc.); (7) an outline of the material to be covered, with experiential activities clearly designated; (9) examples of exercises and/or skills that you will teach to people that attend