The amazing formula of happiness, if you look more closely at this topic, is right in front of us. All you need to do is enjoy life, support and help other people, try to live life to the fullest, develop and show your best qualities as often as possible.
All of this belongs to the field of positive psychology, a direction that not only takes academic research and its results as a basis, but also uses practical methods for achieving well-being and happiness. In this article, we will talk about positive psychology and its methods.
This article is based on the research of major psychologists, especially the famous psychologist Martin Seligman.
Definition and Brief History of Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is a special psychological direction that studies the positive aspects of the human psyche. If classical psychology focuses on problems and pathologies, then the subject of research in positive psychology would be everything that helps a person achieve happiness.
The basis for the emergence of this direction of psychological science was humanistic psychology and the ideas of its supporters, such as Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Gordon Allport, and others. According to one of the opinions, it was Maslow who became the first person to use the concept of "positive psychology" (in his work " Motivation and Personality "). But in the middle of the 20th century, quite a few psychologists already said that it was time for scientists to focus their efforts, not on pathologies and diseases, but on stimulating mental health.
The foundation of the direction of positive psychology belongs to the American psychologist Martin Seligman, who later became the president of the American Psychological Association. He became famous for his research on the treatment of depression, as well as unusual stories with experiments that he conducted, and as a result of which he discovered the phenomenon of "learned helplessness." These experiments served as a prerequisite for the emergence of a new direction.
Seligman's experiments
Studying helplessness, the scientist built his research like the method of Academician Pavlov and decided to use dogs for work. He divided them into three groups:
- The dogs of the first group received an electric shock but were able
to avoid this by pressing a button with their nose. Having a way of
influencing the stimulus, they could control the situation.
- The dogs of the second group received an electric shock, but they no
longer had a button, which meant that they could not control the
situation.
- Dogs of the third group did not receive an electric shock.
After some time, all the dogs were placed in a box, where was an obstacle over which they could easily jump. The experimenter put a current on the box: the dogs of the first and third groups jumped over the fence, thereby avoiding an unpleasant blow. But the dogs from the second group, having no experience in controlling the situation, remained in place, simply lay down and whined, and the intensifying blows did not change their behavior. Thus, being unable to change the situation, the dogs became accustomed to helplessness.
Of course, today, you cannot surprise anyone with learned helplessness, and this concept is often present in the vocabulary of many people. However, if you tell someone about conscious optimism, it's easy to see that only a few are familiar with it. So what does it mean?
After experimenting with dogs, Seligman switched to humans using more human methods. The results obtained led him to the conclusion that a person may well influence his thinking and, as a result, behavior. And this already convinced him that such skill helps to overcome troubles and problems, even when they appear systematically. This phenomenon was called "Conscious Optimism."
Martin Seligman, as the founder of positive psychology, is convinced that a person is not a victim of circumstances, but the creator of his life. And the approach itself is useful not only for the treatment of diseases but also for the development of the strengths of the human psyche.
Although the ideas of positive psychology were discussed as early as the middle of the last century and found many supporters, there was no research base and no indication of which specific elements of mental health should be considered first.
Today, thanks to the writings of Seligman and his associates, positive psychology has acquired a clear structure and the necessary practical tools, and its conclusions are supported by numerous scientific experiments and clinical studies. As for the modern followers of positive psychology, among them are far-known people such as John Haidt, Daniel Gilbert, Albert Bandura, Charles Snyder, Mihai Csikszentmihalyi, Ed Ender, and many others. (By the way, the books of these authors became bestsellers and gained immense popularity).
And now it makes sense to talk more specifically about the basics of positive psychology and its impact on human life. But first, we suggest you take a break from reading and watch Martin Seligman's TED talk.
Positive Psychology: Concept and Impact on Human Life
So, Seligman points out that psychology should attach the greatest
importance to persistence in achieving goals, hope and faith in the best,
the ability to be creative, and other positive aspects of human life.
Based on this, he indicated three directions to be guided by:
- Social institutions that help develop a person and contribute to his
happiness. Here, we are talking about healthy local social
communities, a healthy workplace environment, free media, a healthy
family, democracy, etc.
- Positive traits of a person's character. These include empathy,
altruism, generosity, humor, forgiveness, the search for meaning,
creativity, kindness, honesty, love, spirituality, wisdom, etc.
- Positive emotions and individual happiness. This refers to constructive thoughts, the fullness of vital energy, self-confidence, optimism, life satisfaction, etc.
In modern classical psychology, you can find an incredible amount and a wide variety of mental ailments, and psychologists must search for their cause and eliminate them without fail. But the elimination of the causes is far from everything, because after this process, "inside" a person a void is created, which is not filled with anything else.
Besides, in most cases, the individual life experience, as well as the experience of past generations, teaches a person how to live in a state of constant unhappiness and how to accept the causes of this state. This is the very formula of learned helplessness that Martin Seligman deduced.
For hundreds of years, no one (except for some outstanding personalities), actively taught people how to become happy. For this reason, the void that appears after standard treatment is likely to fill up again with destructive thoughts and feelings that interfere with normal life.
However, you can direct people along a different path by showing them the strengths of the mind and teach them how to use them; showing them how you can independently form feelings of happiness and joy. As a result, people will get rid of the learned helplessness and gain conscious optimism, and from this point, their lives will begin to change radically.
Positive psychology is a departure from the outdated concept of increasing a person's self-esteem. Adherents of this trend believe that the cause of many mental disorders lies far from this, just as high self-esteem does not at all guarantee a happy life. Self-esteem is just an indicator of how satisfied a person is with their life. So it doesn't make much sense to put all your energy into working on self-esteem.
Both professional psychologists and people themselves should direct their efforts in three directions, which we have already mentioned above (social institutions, character traits, emotions). Based on this, regardless of the circumstances that surround him, before each person, there are several choices.
First choice:
- Continue to think negatively, blame yourself and others for your
failures, focus on problems, give up and stop believing in yourself,
cultivate a desire for revenge, etc.
- Or begin to think positively, learn to draw conclusions based on your experience, look for a way out of difficult situations, cultivate faith in your ability to change anything, and do everything possible to realize joyful and positive emotions.
Second choice:
- Accept the circumstances.
- Or try to change circumstances and look for other options for action.
Third choice:
- Communicate with pessimistic people, be a participant in conflicts
with others, accept everything bad as it is, and also engage in
useless deeds.
- Or change your social circle and surround yourself with positive
people, try to understand other people and their views, try to bring
positive changes, find something more useful for yourself —
something that develops and makes you grow.
Try to peer into these choices yourself and think about them — most likely you will notice that this is exactly what great thinkers and bright minds tried to tell us in ancient times. A person has a choice - he can decide for himself how best to live for him, and not continue to exist as his ancestors did, and not follow the path predetermined for him by someone. And here we can point to another powerful message: any person who takes responsibility for what is happening in his life becomes the one who himself determines his future path!
It all sounds cool and great, but how do you achieve this? What are the real methods or exercises that allow you to achieve such outstanding results and fill your life with happiness and joy?
Practical positive psychology presupposes an individual approach to each individual person. Special programs are being developed that use visualization methods, the method of questions and answers, the method of articulating key ideas, methods of art therapy, etc.
But, of course, not everyone can just take it and turn to a specialist for help. And for people who do not have this opportunity, Seligman and his colleagues have developed manuals, which contain the most detailed descriptions of the most effective techniques and exercises for independent use and implementation. Of course, we will not tell about all of them, but nevertheless, we will consider several popular ones.
And for a deeper study of the topic of positive psychology and related practices, we advise you to read Seligman's books " The Path to Prosperity ", "In Search of Happiness" and "New Positive Psychology"
Positive Psychology Methods
In general, in positive psychology, there are two fundamental approaches
to working with a person:
- Individual perception of happiness (everything that can make a
particular person happy, for example, a positive perception of oneself
and one's life, self-confidence, enthusiasm and optimism, pleasure,
pleasure, and other positive emotions).
- The highest psychological and individual qualities of people (everything that can be attributed to all people, for example, the search for the meaning of life, creativity, spirituality, love, a sense of reality, etc.).
Positive psychology invites a person to work on the formation of these
virtues and qualities (which form the basis of a positive attitude and
positive thinking) using completely different methods. Among the most
popular and common are:
- Affirmation method
- Afformation method
- Bracelet method
Let's see what is their essence.
The Method of Affirmation
We will not go into detail about what affirmations are (if you don’t know, read our article "Affirmations"), but let's say briefly: affirmations are short positive statements, the meaning of which is to replace negative attitudes with positive ones, as well as confident statements that emphasize the desired (love, health, career, money, happiness, and other things significant for a person).
Affirmations are designed to effectively reprogram your mind. This method of positive psychology sets up a person to achieve and attract into his life what he, in his opinion, lacks. Simply put - the fulfillment of desires. Considering that often what a person believes in and what he is convinced of, and his subconscious attitudes differ from what he wants. Affirmations allow you to find a balance between these opposites. This leads to the desired result.
Affirmations might look like this:
• "My life is filled with happiness and joy."
• "Every day I get only positive emotions from life."
• "I attract success and wealth."
• "My body is absolutely healthy."
• "People like to communicate with me."
• "I live in harmony with myself and the world around me."
• "Everything I do, I do with love and care."
• "I deserve only the best, and every day it comes into my life."
• "My brain works one hundred percent."
• "I am successful in any business that I have to do."
As a rule, a person composes affirmations for himself, but there are ready-made ones (you can find some in the article " Powerful Affirmations for Every Day "). The most important thing is to pronounce such expressions as consciously as possible, and not automatically. Also, you should not use the "NOT" particle, which is perceived by the subconscious as being negative.
Effective affirmation evokes positive emotions and feelings, thereby replacing negative attitudes with positive ones. The stronger the imagination works when reciting statements, the faster they reach the subconscious and begin to "work". For information on why sometimes the effect is not achieved, read our article "Why Affirmations Don't Work."
The Method of Afformation
Afformations are analogous to affirmations. But if in affirmations a person formulates statements in a positive way, then in afformations he formulates a question. For example, to the statement "People like to communicate with me." you can ask the question: "Why do people like to communicate with me?" etc.
This exercise activates thought processes because the brain begins to strenuously search for answers to the questions asked. But the most interesting thing is that he himself will find them, i.e. will confirm the affirmation. This is what makes a person and the reality around him change for the better.
The effect when using affirmations comes faster, and the rules for composing them are similar to the rules for creating affirmations. Even the most interesting books are being written on this topic - read the works of Hal Elrod, Alexander Sviyash, and, of course, Martin Seligman.
The Method of The Bracelet
The bracelet method is effective for getting rid of bad habits, and not only at the level of the body, but also at the level of thoughts. It consists in the fact that a person puts a bracelet on his hand and wears it until the old habit is eradicated or replaced with a new one.
With the help of this exercise, people stop thinking negatively, complaining about life, condemning others, expressing obscene words, etc. You can also go the other way - say compliments more often, read daily, call relatives, do at least one action every day leading to the cherished goal, etc.
As you know, a habit can be formed in 21 days, so the bracelet is worn for the same number of days (if desired, this period can be increased). If the rule that the person has undertaken is not followed (for example, he accused someone of being in a bad mood or did not read a book), then the bracelet is put on the other hand, and the countdown begins anew.
If we talk about professional positive psychology, then specialists often resort to different epics, and parables that help their clients rethink their problems and look at themselves, at the situation, and at life in general, differently.
Be that as it may, any methods and exercises of positive psychology and psychotherapy pursue the goal of forming a specific worldview in the mind of a person and consolidating its principles:
• Everything can be changed.
• There are reasons for everything.
• We can set the direction of our lives ourselves.
• The world is fair and generous.
• There is enough for everyone in the world.
• We alone are responsible for everything that happens.
• The causes of all events are rooted in our thoughts.
• The life of any person is the greatest value.
To understand and accept these ideas, it is necessary to cultivate a positive attitude towards life by all means. This means that we must believe that whatever we want will come true. That is why you need to say to yourself as often as possible: “I can”, “I can”, “I am worthy” and other similar words. The motto of a positive-minded and positive-minded person is “By changing myself, I am changing my life”.
If we really want tangible positive changes in our lives, we must learn to choose our own reactions to what the present-day throws up at us, to live here and now, to understand the uniqueness of each moment. More and more scientific research confirms the fact that emotions affect perception, and thanks to positive psychology, we can make it so that positive emotions begin to dominate.
Finding new solutions, coping with complex tasks, difficulties, and problems, adequately perceive criticism and actions of other people, enjoying life, having loyal friends, and not conflicting with anyone - all this is possible. You just need to tune in correctly and make sure that this attitude remains always with us and within us. This is what positive psychology teaches.
1 Comments
this is a very interesting subject, it allowed me to calibrate a bunch of abstract ideas in my memory
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