Positive Psychology

This course is intended as an introduction to a relatively new subfield of

psychology called Positive Psychology. This area of study is concerned

with topics such as happiness, resilience, creativity, grit and many other

“positive” life outcomes and it attempts to broaden our understanding of

those issues with well-established empirical methods (which very clearly

delineates it from pop psychology). Finally, Positive Psychology tries to

apply this knowledge to design programs, that would promote individual

or group happiness for people of different ages.

Psychology is the scientific study of all aspects of the mind, and yet, for

various reasons, psychologists have largely focused their efforts on

exploring the abnormal, while leaving the less pressing topics such as

“happiness” to pop psychology. In effect, researchers know (or used to

know until very recently) very little about issues which are central to most

people’s lives. What is happiness? What makes people happy? How can

you raise your children to be happy adults?

In this course we will start by observing the overemphasis on the

abnormal in the history of psychology and recognising the need for a new

field. Then we will discuss whether topics such as happiness (and other

“positive” life outcomes, e.g. resilience, creativity or genius ) can be

studied scientifically and we will contrast that with the so-called “pop

psychology”. Then we will explore the principles of Positive Psychology,

including definitions, determinants and neurobiology of happiness. We

will cover the works of Martin Seligman, the father of this new discipline,

as well as studies of many other researchers.

As this field is largely application-oriented, we will look closely at studies

examining the effectiveness of various “treatments”. In other words, we

will explore whether there is any recipe for happiness, and whether such

techniques are effective in preventing negative life outcomes such as

depression. Finally, we will consider the role of positive psychology in

areas such as child rearing, education, health, institutions etc.

Learning outcomes:

Understanding of the core concepts, theories and studies in Positive Psychology

Awareness of the extent to which current psychology addresses all aspects of human functioning.

Knowledge of the effectiveness of various “positive treatments in increasing happiness and life satisfaction.

40% Essay, 2000 words ( around week 11; exploring a chosen topic in

Positive Psychology beyond the curriculum of this course )

40% Final exam, 1,5h, written, Short Answer Questions, testing

knowledge of the main concepts and studies

20% Mid-term exam, 0,5 h, written in class around week 6

Students are allowed 2 absences per term. If students miss more than 2

classes, but have a legitimate excuse (such as illness), they might be given

extra assignments. Poor attendance is likely to result in poor performance

on exams, and is therefore strongly discouraged.