Positive Psychology – Course Contents

INSTITUTE OF YOUTH STUDIES

Tangaza University College – Catholic University of Eastern Africa

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY WORKSHOP

Rev. Dr Sahaya G. Selvam

 General References

(In addition to reading material uploaded on Moodle and included in the Course Content here below):

 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999/2002). Flow: The classic work on how to achieve happiness.London,UK: Rider – Random House.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. (2006), A life worth living: Contributions to positive psychology.New York,NY:OxfordUniversity Press.

Emmons, R.A., & McCullough, M.E. (2004). The psychology of gratitude.New York,NY:OxfordUniversity Press.

Enright, R.D. (2001). Forgiveness is a choice: A step-by-step process for resolving anger and restoring hope. Washington,DC: American Psychological Association.

Gable, S., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General Psychology9(2), 103-110.

Keyes, C. (1998). Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(2), 121-140.

Linley, P.A.  & Joseph, S. (2004), Positive psychology in practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Linley, P.A., Willars, J., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). The strengths book.Coventry,UK: CAPP Press.

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology.New York,NY:OxfordUniversity Press.

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004) Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Washington,DC: American Psychological Association.

Rashid, T. (2009). Positive interventions in clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 461-466.

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141-166.

Ryff, C., & Keyes, C. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719-727.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1999). The president’s address. American Psychologist, 54, 559-562.

Seligman, M.E.P (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment.New York,NY: Free Press.

Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. (2002), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 632-645).New York,NY:OxfordUniversity Press.

 

Course Assessment (if you wish the course to be listed in your final transcript):

Choose any 10 to 12 psychologists who have contributed most to the positive psychology movement.  Write 200 to 250 words on all the chosen psychologists. Focus on the core contribution, summarise their thinking – conceptually and when possible providing empirical evidence.  The whole work is not to exceed 3000 words.  Date of submission: 20 January 2013. Please drop in pigeon-hole number: 83. Late submission will entail minus 1 mark for every delayed day.

SESSIONS LAYOUT 

 

Topic

Reading Material

Monday Lecture 1 What is Positive Psychology?

History of PP.

Seligman, M. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2003). Positive psychology: Fundamental assumptions. The Psychologist, 16(3), 126-127.

Monday Lecture 2 Understanding Affective States Davidson, R. J. (1994). On emotion, mood and related affective constructs. In P. Ekman & R.J. Davidson (eds.), The nature of emotion: fundamental questions (pp.51-55). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Monday

Lecture 3

Positive Affective States: Flow, Positivity and Flourishing Nakamura J., Csikszentmihalyi M. (2002). The concept of flow. In Lopez S. J.(ed.), Handbook of positive psychology (89-105). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2013, July 15). Updated Thinking on Positivity Ratios. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033584.

Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 207-222.

Tuesday

Lecture 4

Wellbeing: Subjective, Psychological and Social Dodge, R., Daly, A., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222-235.

Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. E. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.

Keyes, C. L. M. (1998). Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61, 121-140.

Ryff, C.D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 1-28.

Tuesday

Lecture 5

Correlates of Happiness: Age, Gender, Wealth, Education Veenhoven, R.. (2009). World Database of Happiness: Tool for dealing with the ‘data-deluge’. Psychological Topics 18(2), 221-246.

Veenhoven, R. (2012). Cross-national differences in happiness: Cultural measurement bias or effect of culture? International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(4), 333-353.

Tuesday

Lecture 6

Psychological and Behavioural Substrates of Wellbeing

 

Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., Aaker, J. L., & Garbinsky, E. N. (2013). Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life. Journal Of Positive Psychology8(6), 505-516.

Seligman, M., Parks, A., & Steen, T. (2004). A balanced psychology and a full life. Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London. Series B, Biological Sciences359(1449), 1379-1381.

Wednesday

Lecture 7

Values in Action – Character Strengths: Intro Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. A. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23(5), 603-619.
Wednesday Lecture 8 Focus on Character Strengths of Altruism: Kindness, Love, Forgiveness Batson, C., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry2(2), 107-122.

McCullough, M. E., Root, L. M., Tabak, B., & Witvliet, C. v. O. (2009). Forgiveness. In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Handbook of Positive Psychology (2nd ed.). (pp. 427-435). New York: Oxford.

Wednesday Lecture 9 Focus Character Strengths  of Temperance & Transcendence: Self-regulation, Hope, Gratitude, Wisdom Selvam, S.G., & Poulsom, M. (2012). Now and hereafter: The psychology of hope from the perspective of religion. Journal of Dharma, 37(4), 393-410.

Selvam, S.G., & Collicutt, J. (2013). The ubiquity of the character strengths in African traditional religion: A thematic analysis. In Knoop, H.H. & Delle Fave, A. (Eds.), Well-Being and Cultures: A Positive Psychology Perspective (pp. 83-102). Heidelberg: Springer.

Thursday Lecture 10 Religion, Spirituality & Positive Psychology Selvam, S.G. (2011). Positive psychology as a theoretical framework for studying and learning about religion from the perspective of psychology. A paper presentation at the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group -Teaching and Studying Religion Symposium. UK, London.

Watts, F., Dutton, K., & Gulliford, L. (2006). Human spiritual qualities: Integrating psychology and religion. Mental Health, Religion & Culture9(3), 277-289.

Thursday Lecture 11 Dealing with Negative Experiences: Resilience Lemay, R., & Ghazal, H. (2001). Resilience and positive psychology: Finding hope. Child & Family, 5(1), 10-21.

Tugade, M. M., Fredrickson, B. L., & Feldman Barrett, L. (2004). Psychological resilience and positive emotional granularity: Examining the benefits of positive emotions on coping and health. Journal of Personality72(6), 1161-1190.

Thursday Lecture 12 Dealing with Negative Experiences: Post-traumatic growth Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004).  Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry15(1), 1-18.

Linley, P., & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review. Journal of Traumatic Stress17(1), 11-21.

Friday

Lecture 13

Positive Interventions Seligman, M.A. (2010). Flourish: Positive psychology and positive interventions. Tanner Lectures on Human Values. MI: University of Michigan.

Seligman, M. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist60(5), 410-421.

Friday

Lecture 14

Mindfulness Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Astin, J., & Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal Of Clinical Psychology62(3), 373-386.

Shapiro, S. L., Schwartz, G., & Santerre, C. (2002). Meditation and positive psychology. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 632 – 645). London: Oxford University Press.

Friday

Lecture 15

Positive Psychology: Current Trends and Applications Duckworth, A. L., Steen, T., & Seligman, M. (2005). Positive psychology in clinical practice. Annual Review Of Clinical Psychology1629-651.

Linley, P., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. Journal of Positive Psychology1(1), 3-16.