History & Influence of Positive Psychology

Psychology in and of itself is derived from philosophical roots, which eventually spread to include psychology—which psyche means “soul or breath and logos means knowledge or study,” (Niwlikar, 2022). Psychology then emerged as a discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology laboratory where students were taught to study the structure of the mind (Niwlikar, 2022). Which, the initial thought that the mind and body were separate or two different entities was proposed by the French philosopher Rene Descartes in the 17th century (Cherry, 2022). Eventually human consciousness was sought to be explored and that led to the development of the different schools of thought: (1) Functionalism, (2) Behaviorism, and (3) Cognitive psychology. From this various studies of psychology were then formed, including that of positive psychology.

Founding Figures, Events & Ideas

The history of Positive Psychology began when William James offered the first psychology course in the United States. James was concerned that some individuals were able to thrive and overcome adversity, while others would suffer from mental health problems (Millacci, 2015). James is considered by many to be the first positive psychologist due to his investigations of the objective and observable features of inner experience. However, the term positive psychology was first brought about by Abraham Maslow in his book published in 1954 titled ‘Motivation and Personality,’ where Maslow would argue that while psychoanalysis and behaviorism are effective strategies in understanding mental health, it does not take into account virtues or aspirations (Millacci, 2015).

Martin Seligman proposed that mental health consisted of more than just the absence of illness, and therefore proposed a way to study the happiness, fulfillment and aspirations of individuals (Millacci, 2015). The other main founders of positive psychology are Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi where he found that doing things of interest to an individual aided in happiness, and he began to study creativity and productivity. The last individual to note is Christopher Peterson, who worked closely with Martin Seligman and primarily studied the positive qualities of individuals (i.e., hope, character, well-being, strengths, etc.) (Millacci, 2015).

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi took the positive psychology term and transformed it into a school of thought in 1998 (Azar, 2011). Within only a couple of short years after the term was coined, thousands of articles, journals and books were being written and published on the topics of well-being, pride, mindfulness and more. Positive psychology began finding its way into school, businesses and therapy techniques, and even into the United States Army fitness program (Azar, 2011).

Historical Influences

While there are many positive associations and adaptations of positive psychology, there are also many critics (Azar, 2011). Many people claim that even though there may be a power of the positive, so to say, it may not actually “stave off illness with more optimism,” (Azar, 2011). However, as the Penn Positive Psychology Center was created it has created many programs that have shown reliably that positive psychology prevents depression and anxiety in not only adults, but also children and adolescents (Azar, 2011).

Positive psychology, while relatively new, dates back to the classical Greece era. Plato and Aristotle focused on the well-being and happiness of their “students by emphasizing positive aspects of their lives,” (Heston, 2020). Positive psychology focuses primarily on reaching a level of self-actualization which would later be coined in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but throughout the years every “major philosophical figure in history has discussed what it means to live a ‘good’ individual and societal life,” (Heston, 2020).

Social Thinking

As for the positive psychology, it has been found that positive emotions increase things such as span of attention, creativity, and intuition, sharing the perspective of others, cooperation, and even an individuals physical fitness can improve based on being able to frame your mind in a positive way—this allows your brain to learn faster (Pluskota, 2014). Therefore, in conclusion, by applying positive psychology principles, you could greatly improve not only your mindset, but your learning abilities, social relationships, business ventures, fitness… which in the long term improves your health. Positive psychology in and of itself can sometimes be seen as simply applying mindfulness to your every day life, and it can simply be just focusing on the positive emotions and positive experiences in life. In the long run, not only will an individual feel healthier, but they will feel happier.

References

Azar, B. 2011. Positive Psychology Advances, With Growing Pains. American Psychological

Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/04/positive-psychology

Cherry, K. 2022. The Origins of Psychology: From Philosophical Beginnings to the Modern

Day. Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/a-brief-history-of-psychology-through-the-years-2795245

Heston, J. 2020. Positive Psychology – History, Strengths, and Research. School of Positive

Transformation. https://schoolofpositivetransformation.com/positive-psychology-history-strengths-and-research/

Millacci, T. S. 2015. The 5 Founding Fathers and A History of Positive Psychology. Positive

Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/founding-

fathers/#:~:text=Martin%20Seligman%20and%20Mihaly%20Csikszentmihalyi,scientific%20study%20of%20human%20flourishing.

Niwlikar, B. 2022. The Brief History of Psychology. Careershodh.

https://www.careershodh.com/the-brief-history-of-psychology/#:~:text=Psychology%20emerged%20as%20an%20independent,study%20the%20Structure%20of%20mind.

Pluskota, A. 2014. The Application of Positive Psychology in the Practice of Education. National

Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4002998/#:~:text=Thanks%20to%20positive%20emotions%2C%20their,fitnesss%20improves%20(Fredrickson%201998).