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Positive Psychology
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Positive Psychology
The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths

Fourth Edition
August 2018 | 672 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths comprehensively covers the science and application of positive psychology. The book brings positive psychology to life by illustrating issues such as how psychological strength can help increase positive outcomes in school and the workplace and promote cooperative relationships among people. Furthermore, the book encourages readers to engage with concepts in order to understand positive emotions and strengths, such as empathy, altruism, gratitude, attachment, and love. Over 50 case studies grounded in practice, research, and the authors’ teaching experience reveal how positive psychological phenomena operate in the lives of real people. The Fourth Edition continues to integrate cultural context in every chapter to reflect the diversity in today’s world.


 
Preface
 
Remembering Shane J. Lopez
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part I. Looking at Psychology From a Positive Perspective
 
1. Welcome to Positive Psychology
Building Human Strength: Psychology’s Forgotten Mission

 
Going From the Negative to the Positive

 
Positive Psychology Seeks a Balanced, More Complete View of Human Functioning

 
Where We Are Now and What We Will Ask

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: What You Want to Experience

 
A Guide to This Book

 
The Big Picture

 
Appendix: Movies for Review

 
 
2. Eastern and Western Perspectives on Positive Psychology: How “ME + WE = US” Might Bridge the Gap
A Matter of Perspective

 
Historical and Philosophical Traditions

 
Western Influences: Athenian, Judeo-Christian, Islamic, and Anishinaabe Traditions

 
Eastern Influences: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism

 
East Meets West

 
Individualism: The Psychology of ME

 
Collectivism: The Psychology of WE

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Getting and Giving Help

 
Different Ways to Positive Outcomes

 
Where We Are Going: From ME to WE to US

 
ME/WE Balance: The Positive Psychology of US

 
Final Thoughts

 
Appendix: The Need for Uniqueness Scale

 
 
3. Classifications and Measures of Strengths and Positive Outcomes
Classifications and Measures of Strengths

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Discovering and Capitalizing on Your Strengths

 
Positive Outcomes for All

 
Identifying Strengths and Moving Toward a Vital Balance

 
 
Part II. Positive Psychology in Context
 
4. The Role of Culture in Developing Strengths and Living Well
Culture and Psychology

 
Main Message: Culture Counts

 
Understanding Culture: A Matter of Perspective

 
Positive Psychology: Culture Is Everywhere

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Culturally Embedded Daily Practice

 
Situating Positive Psychology

 
Putting Positive Psychology in a Cultural Context

 
The Wise Man of the Gulf

 
Final Thoughts on the Complexity of Cultural Influences

 
 
5. Living Well at Every Stage of Life
Resilience in Childhood

 
An Excerpt From Finding Strength: How to Overcome Anything

 
Positive Youth Development

 
The Life Tasks of Adulthood

 
Successful Aging

 
One Man’s View of Aging

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Finding Amazing People of All Ages

 
A More Developmental Focus in Positive Psychology

 
 
Part III. Positive Emotional States and Processes
 
6. The Principles of Pleasure: Understanding Positive Affect, Positive Emotions, Happiness, and Well-Being
Defining Emotional Terms

 
Distinguishing the Positive and the Negative

 
The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule

 
Positive Emotions: Expanding the Repertoire of Pleasure

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: In Search of Joy and Lasting Happiness

 
Positive Emotion Styles Linked to the Common Cold

 
Happiness and Subjective Well-Being: Living a Pleasurable Life

 
The Satisfaction With Life Scale

 
Excerpts From Authentic Happiness

 
Happiest American is Still Hawaiian, Jewish and Chill

 
Moving Toward the Positive

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
 
7. Making the Most of Emotional Experiences: Emotion-Focused Coping, Emotional Intelligence, Socioemotional Selectivity, and Emotional Storytelling
Emotion-Focused Coping: Discovering the Adaptive Potential of Emotional Approach

 
Emotional Intelligence: Learning the Skills That Make a Difference

 
Who Is Emotionally Intelligent—And Does It Matter?

 
Socioemotional Selectivity: Focusing in Later Life on Positive Emotions and Emotion-Related Goals

 
Emotional Storytelling: The Pennebaker Paradigm as a Means of Processing Intense Negative Emotions

 
Emotional Storytelling After a Traumatic Event

 
Emotions and Context

 
Working With Emotions to Bring About Positive Change

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Making the Most of Emotions in Everyday Life

 
An Emotional Balancing Act

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
 
Part IV. Positive Cognitive States and Processes
 
8. Seeing Our Futures Through Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Hope
Fascination With the Future

 
Being Busy Not an End in Itself

 
Self-Efficacy

 
Changing Behavior Through TV Heroes

 
Optimism

 
The CAVE and Predicting Baseball Outcomes

 
Hope

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
Putting Temporal Futures in Perspective

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Balancing Your Perspective on Time

 
Cultural Caveats About Temporal Perspective

 
Appendix A: A Summary of Hope Theories

 
Appendix B: Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory Items

 
 
9. Wisdom and Courage: Characteristics of the Wise and the Brave
Wisdom and Courage: Two of a Kind

 
Wisdom Difficult to Define, Attain

 
Theories of Wisdom

 
Becoming and Being Wise

 
Theories of Courage

 
Malala Yousafzai’s Courage

 
Amputee a Driving Force in Getting People With Disabilities Moving

 
Becoming and Being Courageous

 
U.S. Senator John McCain’s View on Strengthening Courage—April 2004

 
Courage Research

 
Finding Wisdom and Courage in Daily Life

 
Can Courage Be Learned?

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: In Search of the Wisdom and Courage of Everyday People . . . Including Yourself

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
The Value of Wisdom and Courage

 
 
10. Mindfulness, Flow, and Spirituality: In Search of Optimal Experiences
Moment-to-Moment Searches

 
Mindfulness: In Search of Novelty

 
Living With Mindfulness: The Women’s Heart Foundation

 
Flow: In Search of Absorption

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: In Search of Optimal Experiences

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
Spirituality: In Search of the Sacred

 
The True Benefits of Spirituality?

 
The Search Continues

 
 
Part V. Prosocial Behavior
 
11. Empathy and Egotism: Portals to Altruism and Gratitude
Altruism

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Exercises in Altruism and Gratitude

 
Gratitude

 
Thanking Your Heroes

 
The Societal Implications of Altruism and Gratitude

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
“I Have a Dream”: Toward a Kinder, Gentler Humankind

 
Appendix A: The Helping Attitude Scale

 
Appendix B: The Gratitude Questionnaire—Six Items From GQ-6

 
 
12. Attachment, Love, Flourishing Relationships, and Forgiveness
Infant Attachment

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: In Search of Love and Flourishing Relationships

 
Adult Attachment Security

 
Love

 
Flourishing Relationships: A Series of Purposeful Positive Relationship Behaviors

 
Life Enhancement Strategies

 
A Lot of Love in the Lovemaking: Avoiding Chaos, Relationshipwise

 
Praise: Encouraging Signs

 
The Neurobiology of Interpersonal Connection

 
More on Flourishing Relationships

 
Future of Love

 
When Loves Ends

 
Forgiveness

 
Attachment, Love, and Forgiveness: Building a Positive Psychology of Close Relationships

 
Appendix A: The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS)

 
Appendix B: The Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Scale (TRIM)

 
 
Part VI. Understanding and Changing Human Behavior
 
13. Balanced Conceptualizations of Mental Health and Behavior
Moving Toward Balanced Conceptualizations

 
Our Fascination With Abnormal Behavior

 
Neglect of the Environment and of the Positive

 
The Lack of a Developmental Emphasis

 
Difficulties Understanding Behavior in a Cultural Context

 
The Limits of the Categorical Diagnostic System

 
Going Beyond the DSM-5 Framework

 
 
14. Preventing the Bad and Promoting the Good
In the Words of a Psychotherapy Client . . .

 
Primary Prevention: “Stop the Bad Before It Happens”

 
Secondary Prevention (Psychotherapy): “Fix the Problem”

 
Primary Enhancement: “Make Life Good”

 
Secondary Enhancement: “Make Life the Best Possible”

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Enhancing Your Daily Life

 
The Balance of Prevention and Enhancement Systems

 
Appendix A: Effective Secondary Preventions (Psychotherapies) for Adult Problems

 
Appendix B: Hope Therapy Worksheet

 
 
Part VII. Positive Environments
 
15. Positive Schooling and Good Work: The Psychology of Gainful Employment and the Education That Gets Us There
Positive Schooling

 
“Teachers Can’t Get Jobs in the Real World!”

 
Negative Psychology: “Those Who Can’t, Shouldn’t Be Teaching”

 
“No Child Left Behind” and Beyond

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: The Power of Positive (and Negative) Teachers

 
The Components of Positive Schooling

 
Teaching as a Calling

 
2016 National Teacher of the Year: “I Was a Teenage Mom, and Teachers Changed My Life”

 
Giving Back to Teachers

 
Gainful Employment

 
Gainful Employment: Happiness, Satisfaction, and Beyond

 
Having or Being a Good Boss

 
The Strengths-Based Approach to Work

 
Capital at Work

 
The Dark Side: Workaholics, Burnouts, and Jobs Lost

 
What Can Be Done to Improve Your Work?

 
Personal Mini-Experiments: Becoming Gainfully Employed

 
When Work Becomes a Calling: The Tale of a Hospital Orderly

 
The Psychology of Gainful Employment and the Education That Gets Us There

 
Appendix A: Example of Positive Schooling: The StrengthsQuest Program

 
Appendix B: Positive Workplaces in Hong Kong: Building Positive Organizations, Engaging the Heart of Employees

 
 
Part VIII. Finding Strengths in Others: Embodying Strengths in Everyday Life
 
16. Remembering Shane: Real Strengths in a Real Person
Remembering Shane J. Lopez

 
 
References
 
Glossary of Key Terms
 
Author Index
 
Subject Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

Free online resources for instructors are available on the password-protected Instructor Resource Site.

  • A test bank in Microsoft® Word and ExamView contains multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank offers a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert personalized questions to assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides highlight essential content and features that offer complete flexibility in creating a multimedia presentation.
Student Study Site

Free online resources for students are available on the open access Student Study Site.

  • Mobile-friendly flashcards reinforce understanding of key terms and concepts that have been outlined in chapters.
  • Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.

I would consider using this textbook again.

Dr Sarah Haag
Psychology Dept, Southern Oregon University
August 26, 2020
Report this review
Key features

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

  • A broader definition of culture as a contextualizing factor in the discussion of strengths is developed throughout the text with special consideration of facets such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, generation, nation of origin, socioeconomic status, and gender, among others.
  • New and updated content covers current events and brand new scholarship, particularly in the areas of neuroscience and cultural content.
  • Streamlined organization allows for better connections between topics to enhance readability.
  • Updated Personal Mini-Experiments and Life Enhancement Strategies help students from diverse backgrounds broaden and enhance their inherent and learned strengths.
  • A final chapter devoted to the memory of the late co-author Shane J. Lopez, a major figure in the field, inspires readers with stories from teachers and researchers.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Coverage of Western and Eastern approaches to understanding human strengths explores cultural and developmental influences on positive functioning.
  • Personal Mini-Experiments help readers apply the practice of positive psychology to their daily lives.
  • Life Enhancement Strategies suggest changes that can be implemented quickly and easily to help readers attain greater connections with others, pursue meaning in their lives, and experience increased life satisfaction.
  • Case histories and comments from leaders in the field illustrate key concepts as they apply to real life.
  • In-depth discussions of science and applications of positive psychology explore various positive conditions, such as empathy, altruism, gratitude, attachment, and love.



For instructors

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