Implementing Positive Psychology to Promote Student Success

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Implementing Positive Psychology to Promote
Student Success

• Meaghan Stein
• MCPA 2007 Fall Conference
• October 22-23, 2007

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The Development of Positive Psychology

• History of psychology
• Define, identify, treat, or cure psychological
  problems
• 12 disorders can be successfully treated
• Psychology treat mental illness
• No focus on strengths, positive emotions,
  excellence, optimal conditions, etc.
• Positive behaviors are thought to stem from a
  negative motivation
• Dedicate life to helping poor? Compensating for
  fathers alcoholism!

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What is Positive Psychology?

• Definition study of optimal human functioning,
  promote factors that allow individuals/communities
  to thrive
• Takes focus away from suffering, weaknesses,
  problems, disorders, pathology
• Developed in 1998 by Martin Seligman
• Great amount of research on treating disorders
• Very little research on how to build strengths,
  positive emotions, optimal conditions, etc.

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Three Pillars of Positive Psychology

• Positive emotion
• Confidence, hope, trust, optimism
• Positive traits
• Characteristics that occur across time and
  situations
• Bring about positive feelings and gratification
• Strengths, virtues (capacity for love, courage,
  optimism)
• Positive institutions
• Justice, civility, purpose, strong families,
  democracy
• These support positive emotions

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Optimism and Pessimism

• Is your explanatory style optimistic or
  pessimistic?
• Explanations people make for a variety of events
• Habits of explanations (style), not just a single
  explanation about a single event
• Stems from your view of your place in the world

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Three Dimensions to Optimism

• Permanence
• Stable versus Unstable
• Are bad/good events temporary or permanent?
• Pervasiveness
• Global versus Specific
• Are failures/successes specific or global?
• Personalization
• Internal versus External
• Are failures/successes or bad/good events due to
  self or others?

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Interventions

• Philanthropic Activity
• The Gratitude Letter
• Best Possible Selves
• Disputing Beliefs
• Three Good Things
• Signature Strengths

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Philanthropic Activity

• Pleasurable versus Philanthropic
• Pleasurable momentary state of strong emotions
• Philanthropic gratifying, last longer than
  pleasure, guided by our strengths and virtues
• Philanthropic activities
• Spontaneous kindness
• Total engagement, loss of self-consciousness
• Draw on personal strengths
• Gratifying, not pleasurable
• Authentic Happiness Martin Seligman

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The Gratitude Letter

• Write and deliver a letter of gratitude to a
  person who has never been thanked
• One week after completing this exercise
• Individuals were happier (based on Steen
  Happiness Index) and less depressed (based on
  Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression
  Scale)
• Maintained levels for one month
• Positive Psychology Progress Empirical
  Validation of Interventions Martin Seligman,
  Tracy Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher
  Peterson

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Best Possible Selves

• Imagining self in the future
• Everything has gone well
• Succeeded at accomplishing life goals
• Realization of life dreams
• Helps guide current decisions, may help
  prioritize life
• Produced an increase in immediate positive affect
  for those practicing it once and a stronger
  positive mood for those practicing it for a few
  weeks
• How to Increase and Sustain Positive Emotion
  The Effects of Expressing Gratitude and
  Visualizing Best Possible Selves Kennon
  Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky

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Disputing Beliefs

• ABCDE Technique
• A activating event (bad)
• B belief (irrational, negative thought,
  pessimistic)
• C consequence (feel depressed)
• D dispute
• E effect
• Dispute
• Argue with oneself
• Check for evidence that disproves pessimistic
  belief
• Look at all possible reasons, all possible
  explanations that are changeable, specific, and
  non-personal
• Learned Optimism Martin Seligman

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Three Good Things

• Write down three good things that happened that
  day and provide a causal explanation for each
• Alternative perspective to pessimism
• After completing this exercise for one week
• Increased happiness and decreased depressive
  symptoms at one month, three months and six
  months following the intervention
• Positive Psychology Progress Empirical
  Validation of Interventions Martin Seligman,
  Tracy Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher
  Peterson

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Signature Strengths

• Use a strength model as opposed to a deficit
  model
• 24 signature strengths with six core virtues
• Wisdom and knowledge, courage, love and humanity,
  justice, temperance, spirituality and
  transcendence
• Endorsed by many cultures correlations around
  .80
• Using signature strengths in a new and different
  way for one week
• Increased happiness and decreased depressive
  symptoms for six months
• www.authentichappiness.com
• Positive Psychology Progress Empirical
  Validation of Interventions Martin Seligman,
  Tracy Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher
  Peterson

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Possible Applications to Students

• Courses
• Ice-breaker at a retreat
• Advising, career counseling, or personal
  counseling appointment
• Leadership training
• Student organizations
• Residence and Greek Life

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Examples

• Baylor University
• Understanding strengths and respecting
  differences when dealing with roommates
• Texas A M
• Using strengths to define leadership style when
  advising student organizations
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Explanatory Style
• ABCDE Technique
• Signature Strengths
• Whats Right with You Helping Students Find and
  Use Their Personal Strengths Frank Shushok Jr.
  and Eileen Hulme

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• Questions?