Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

485 Pages·2011·2.01 MB·English

by  Kennon M. Sheldon, Todd B. Kashdan, Michael F. Steger

Designing Positive Psychology
Series in Positive Psychology
Christopher Peterson, Series Editor
Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, 2 nd Edition
Shane J. Lopez and C. R. Snyder
International Differences in Well-Being
Ed Diener, John F. Helliwell, and Daniel Kahneman
Well-Being for Public Policy
Ed Diener, Richard E. Lucas, Ulrich Schimmack, and John Helliwell
Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology
Anthony D. Ong
A Primer in Positive Psychology
Christopher Peterson
A Life Worth Living: Contributions to Positive Psychology
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Designing Positive
Psychology
Taking Stock and Moving Forward
Edited by
Kennon M. Sheldon, PhD
Professor of Psychological Sciences
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Todd B. Kashdan, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
Michael F. Steger, PhD
Assistant Professor of Applied Social Psychology and
Counseling Psychology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
1
2011
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving
Forward/edited by Kennon M. Sheldon, Todd B. Kashdan, Michael F. Steger.
p.; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-537358-5 (hardcover)
1. Positive psychology. I. Sheldon, Kennon M. (Kennon Marshall)
II. Kashdan, Todd. III. Steger, Michael F.
[DNLM: 1. Psychology—methods. 2. Attitude. 3. Emotion.
4. Personality. 5. Psychophysiology—methods.]
BF204.6.D475 2011
150.19’88—dc22 2010016830
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Sheldon: To Melanie, the great love and facilitator of my life.
Kashdan: To the three women who add color, depth, and stability to
my life: Sarah, Raven, and Chloe.
Steger: To LeAnn, Rowan, and Ava … who continually design my
optimal future.
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Preface
P ositive psychology exploded into public consciousness 10 years ago and has continued to capture
attention around the world ever since. The movement promised to study positive human nature, using
only the most rigorous scientifi c tools and theories.
H ow well has this promise been fulfi lled? The book you hold in your hands evaluates the fi rst decade
of this fl edgling fi eld of study, from the perspective of nearly every leading researcher in the fi eld.
Chapter authors, each an expert in an area of deep importance to positive psychology, were asked to
“take stock” of their fi eld, bearing in mind the original goals of the movement that were laid out in a
“Positive Psychology Manifesto” authored in 1999 (reprinted as an appendix to this book). Authors
were enjoined not simply to review their fi eld and pet theories, but instead to stretch themselves—to
provide honest, critical evaluations of the fl aws, problems, and untapped potential of this fi eld of inquiry.
We also asked them to provide a critical analysis of the role of problems, stressors, and diffi culties
for bringing about optimal outcomes—issues that have perhaps received short shrift in past positive
psychology books.
After taking stock of the past, authors were then asked to “brainstorm the blue sky”—to design the
optimal future of the fi eld. Given what we now know, what is it that we most need to know next? What
gaps, biases, or methodological limitations have become apparent and need to be patched and, more
important, what whole new vistas have opened up that need exploring?
These 31 chapters include an introduction to and a historical account of the positive psychology
movement by one of its co-founders, Csikszentmihalyi with Nakamura, as well as an additional intro-
ductory chapter by Kashdan and Steger. The book is then organized in a bottom-to-top approach, to
highlight the unique challenges and opportunities that exist at multiple levels of analysis, and also to
provide an easy way for readers to see how research and inquiry can advance through integration and
cross-germination throughout these levels.
First, Suzanne Segerstrom, Julienne Bower, and Jaak Panksepp and their colleagues use their respec-
tive chapters to consider the biological processes that may underlie positive functioning, such as psy-
chophysiology, self-regulation, and primary process affects. Next, James Gross, Shige Oishi, and
Barbara Fredrickson (and colleagues) consider positive emotionality and emotion regulation; of course,
emotions lie between the biological and the cognitive. Next, Mark Leary, Kirk Brown, Michael Robinson,
and Roy Baumeister (and colleagues) examine the social-cognitive underpinnings of optimal function-
ing, examining self-processes, experiential processes, task-focused processes, and the role of conscious
experience.
The focus then shifts to the level of personality, as Robert McCrae, Richard Robins, Brian Little, and
Robert Emmons (and colleagues) weigh in on the nature of positive personality functioning. The next
section then transcends the individual, as Shelly Gable, Frank Fincham, and Anthony Grant (and col-
leagues) summarize and criticize what is known about positive relationship and coaching processes.
viii PREFACE
Following this, the focus shifts to applied relationship science, in the guise of clinical psychological
theory; here, Thomas Joiner, Crystal Park, and Ruth Baer (and colleagues) supply wisdom concerning
the importance of “negative” factors, as well as the importance of the search for meaning, mindfulness,
and growth within the clinical context.
The book’s attention then moves even higher up the hierarchy, to organizational psychology; here,
Fred Luthans and Alex Linley (and colleagues) evaluate what is known. Finally, the societal level is
reached; here, Ruut Veenhoven, Richard Florida, and Robert Biswas-Diener (and colleagues) discuss
positive psychology’s infl uence on public policy and social change.
The book concludes with summary chapters by Sheldon, who discusses the importance of multi-
level perspectives in detail; by Rozin and colleagues, who discuss the importance of including non-
Western cultural wisdom within positive psychology; by Laura King, who considers the stumbling
blocks of positive psychology and suggestions for a more constructive, durable future; and by Simonton,
who uses historiometric analyses of past scientifi c movements to forecast the possible future(s) of
positive psychology.
Contents
Contributors xi 7. The Positive Psychology of Positive
Emotions: An Avuncular View
Shigehiro Oishi & Jaime L. Kurtz 101
I: Introductory Perspectives
8. The Future of Emotions Research
1. Positive Psychology: Where Did It Come within Positive Psychology
From, Where Is It Going? Sara B. Algoe,
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Barbara L. Fredrickson, &
Jeanne Nakamura 3 Sy-Miin Chow 115
2. Challenges, Pitfalls, and Aspirations for
Positive Psychology
IV: Social-Cognitive Perspectives
Todd B. Kashdan &
Michael F. Steger 9 9. The Role of Hypo-egoic Self-Processes
in Optimal Functioning and Subjective
Well-Being
II: Biological Perspectives
Mark R. Leary & Jennifer Guadagno 135
3. Positive Psychophysiology: The Body 10. Experiential Processing and the
and Self-Regulation Integration of Bright and Dark Sides
Suzanne C. Segerstrom, of the Human Psyche
Timothy W. Smith, & Kirk Warren Brown & Melissa Holt 147
Tory A. Eisenlohr-Moul 25 11. A Task-Focused Mind Is a Happy
4. Positive Psychological States and and Productive Mind: A Processing
Biological Processes Perspective
Carissa A. Low, Julienne E. Bower, Michael D. Robinson & Maya Tamir 160
Judith T. Moskowitz, & 12. Finding Positive Value in Human
Elissa S. Epel 41 Consciousness: Conscious Thought Serves
5. The Primary Process Affects in Human Participation in Society and Culture
Development, Happiness, and Thriving E. J. Masicampo &
Jaak Panksepp 51 Roy F. Baumeister 175
III: Emotional Perspectives V: Personality Perspectives
6. Beyond Pleasure and Pain? Emotion 13. Personality Traits and the Potential of
Regulation and Positive Psychology Positive Psychology
Maya Tamir & James J. Gross 89 Robert R. McCrae 193