Positive Psychology

Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgments Preface Chapter 1 -What is Positive Psychology? - Traditional Psychology - Why the Negative Focus? - Negatives Aspects Perceived as More Authentic & 'Real"--Negatives as More Important - The Disease Model -Positive Psychology - Health Psychology - Focus on Research: The Nun Study: Living Longer Through Positive Emotions - Clinical Psychology - Developmental Psychology - Survey Research and Subjective Well-Being - Social/Personality Psychology and the Psychology of Religion - Positive Psychology: Assumptions, Goals and Definitions - Life Above Zero - Culture and the Meaning of a Good Life - Why Now? -Two Final Notes - Positive Psychology is Not Opposed to Psychology - Positive Psychology and the Status Quo Chapter 2 - The Meaning and Measure of Happiness - Why a Psychology of Well-Being? - Objective versus Subjective Measures - Negative versus Positive Functioning - What is Happiness? Two Traditions - Hedonic Happiness - Eudaimonic Happiness - Focus on Research: Positive Affect and a Meaningful Life - Subjective Well-Being: The Hedonic Basis of Happiness - Measuring Subjective Well-Being - Life Satisfaction - Positive Affect and Negative Affect - Focus on Research: Is Your Future Revealed in Your Smile? - Issues in the Study of Affect - Global Measures of Happiness - Reliability and Validity of SWB Measures - Experience Sampling Method - Focus on Method: How Do We Spend Our Time? The Day Reconstruction Method - On-Line versus Global Measures of SWB - Self-Realization: The Eudaimonic Basis of Happiness -Psychological Well-Being and Positive Functioning - Emotional Well-Being - Psychological Well-Being - Social Well-Being - Need Fulfillment and Self-Determination Theory - Focus on Research: What Makes a "Good" Day? - Comparing Hedonic and Eudaimonic Views of Happiness Chapter 3 - Positive Emotions and Well-Being - What are Positive Emotions? - Focus on Theory: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions - Positive Emotions and Health Resources - Physical Resources - Psychological Resources - Positive Emotions and Coping with Stress -Focus on application: Finding the Positive in the Negative - Positive Traits and Health - Social Resources - The Limits of Positive Emotions - Positive Emotions and Well-Being - Happiness and Positive Behaviors - Positive Emotions and Success - Positive Emotions and Flourishing - A General Theory of Positivity? - Cultivating Positive Emotions - Flow Experiences - Savoring Chapter 4 - Resilience -What is Resilience? - Developmental Perspectives - Clinical Perspectives - Resilience Research - Sources of Resilience - The Dangers of Blaming the Victim - Sources of Resilience in Childhood - Focus on Research: Resilience among Disadvantaged Youth - Sources of Resilience in Adulthood and Later Life - Successful Aging - Growth Through Trauma - Negative Effects of Trauma - Positive Effects of Trauma - Changes in Perception - Changes in Relationships - Changes in Life Priorities - Explanations for Growth through Trauma - Focus on Research: In their Own Words - Coping With Loss Chapter 5 - Happiness and the Facts of Life - Happiness Across the Life-Span - Focus on Research: Happiness and Where we Live - Stability in Well-Being Despite Life Changes - Temperament and Subjective Well-Being - Frequency, Intensity and Balance of Positive and - Negative Emotions - Measurement and Definitional Issues -The Shifting Basis of Life Satisfaction - Gender and Happiness - Gender differences in Emotional Experience - Negative Emotions - Positive Moods and Behaviors - Explaining the Paradox of Gender - Marriage and Happiness - Benefits of Marriage - Selection Effects - Focus on Research: Are We Still Happy After the Honeymoon? - Gender Differences in the Benefits of Marraige - Other Facts of Life - Physical and Mental Health - Work and Unemployment - Intelligence and Education - Religion - Race, Ethnicity and Stigma Chapter 6 - Money, Happiness and Culture - The Paradox of Affluence - Well-Being Across Nations - Between-Nations Comparisons - Within-Nation Comparisons - Interpreting National Differences - Understanding Money and Happiness - Focus on Research: Do Happy People Make More Money? - Why Doesn't Money Matter More? - Genetics and Personality - Adaptation and the Hedonic Treadmill - Focus on Research: Lottery Winners and Accident Victims - Rising Expectations and The "Tyranny of the Unnecessary"--Social Comparisons - Excessive Materialism - The Meaning of Happiness: Universal or Relative? - The Culture and Well-being - The Self in Individualistic and Collectivist Cultures - Culture and the Meaning of Happiness - The American-Individualistic Style of Happiness - The Asian-Collectivist Style of Happiness - Cultural Ideals - Moderation in Emotional Expression - Group Pride and Sensitivity - Self-Critical Attitudes - False Humility or Social Sensitivity? Chapter 7 - Personal Goals as Windows to Well Being - Goals Connect "Having" and "Doing" - What are Personal Goals? - Defining Personal Goals - Goals and Related Motivational Concepts - Measuring Personal Goals - Goal Organization - The Search for Universal Human Motives - Goals and the Fulfillment of Basic Human Needs - Focus on Research: An Empirical Method for Assessing Universal Needs - Goals Expressing Fundamental Values - Personal Goals Across Cultures - Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Goals - Physical versus Self-Transcendent Goals - The Personalization of Goals in Self-Concept - What Goals Contribute Most to Well-Being? - Goal Progress, Achievement and Importance -The Matching Hypothesis - What Explains the Matching Hypothesis? -Personal Goals and Self-Realization - Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Goals - Autonomous versus Controlled Motivation - Focus on Research: Happiness and Success in College - Materialism and Its Discontents - Why are Materialists Unhappy? - The Content of Materialistic Goals -The What and Why of Materialistic Goals - Compensation for Insecurity - Why Do People Adopt Materialistic Values? - Consumer Culture - Psychological Insecurity - Materialism and Death - Affluence and Materialism - Are We All Materialists? Chapter 8 - Self-Regulation and Control -The Value of Self-Control - Personal Goals and Self-Regulation - Self-Discrepancy Theory - Control Theory - Planning for Self-Regulation Success - Focus on Research: Planning Makes a Difference - Why Planning Helps - Automatic Activation of Goal Behaviors - Conserving Self-Control Resources - Commitment and Confidence - Goals That Create Self-Regulation Problems - Approach versus Avoidance Goals - Why Avoidance Goals are Difficult to Regulate - Goal Conflict -Trivial Pursuits and Magnificent Obsessions -Focus on theory: Thinking About the Meaning of Our Actions - Individual differences in Goal Level Identification - Goal Difficulty - Ironic Effects of Mental Control -Mental Load and the Paradoxes of Control - Everyday Explanations for Self-Control Failure - Excuses - What Makes a Good Excuse? - Advantages of Excuses - Disadvantages of Excuses - Irresistible Impulses - Beliefs About Control - Activation of Impulsive and Reflective Control Systems - Individual Differences in Self-Control - Resisting Temptations - Focus on Research: The Costs and Benefits of Procrastination - Giving Up Chapter 9 - Positive Traits - What Makes a Trait Positive? - Personality, Emotions and Biology - Positive and Negative Affectivity - Genetics and Temperament - Personality and Happiness: "The Big Five" -Teasing Out Cause and Effect - Personality and Eudaimonic Well-Being - Neurobiology and Approach/Avoidance Motives - Genetics and Change - Positive Beliefs -The World Through Happy and Unhappy Eyes - Self Esteem - Self-Esteem and Happiness - Is Self-Esteem All You Need? - Self-Esteem's Darker Side - Personal Control - Optimism - Optimism as a Disposition - Optimism as Explanatory Style - How Optimism Works - Varieties of Optimism and Pessimism - Focus on Research and Theory.