What's this all about? 5/27

What is positive psychology?

Is it a weird abstract pictorial map on a whiteboard?

Kind of.

Positive psychology is, in simple terms, a perspective of psychology that focuses more on our strengths and how we thrive, rather than our weaknesses and how we're messed up. (Refer to the image of a weak little man and a very strong little man. I drew that, and it's excellent.)

Martin Seligman has influenced the realm of positive psychology greatly, but he was influenced by a number of other people in the past. A prominent one is Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, ranking needs from basic physiological needs all the way up to self-actualization. Basically, we all need to eat and sleep, and we know that, but at a higher level we also need to become the best versions of ourselves we could possibly be. 

There is more to positive psychology than just a strengths-versus-weaknesses dichotomy. There are three major components of positive: the subjective, the individual, and the group. In the context of positive psychology, subjective refers to the development and change of the matter throughout time, individual deals with concepts such as courage, bravery, and love, and group consists of aspects such as work ethic, citizenship, and teamwork. These three components intersect with one another to create positive psychology.

A follow-up question: what makes positive psychology different from other approaches to psychology?

There's the psychodynamic approach, the behavioral approach, the cognitive-behavioral approach, and plenty more. Other approaches to psychology reflect on medical treatments for mental illness, biological causes of mental deficiencies, or explanations regarding why we think the way we do. What makes positive psychology so unique is its emphasis on success rather than failure, highlighting and encouraging the good rather than hiding and attempting to cure the bad. This may make positive psychology a controversial subject, but it still continues to grow.