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History of Positive Psychology

"Before World War II, psychology had three distinct missions: curing mental illness, making
the lives of all people more productive and fulfilling, and identifying and nurturing high
talent," wrote Seligman and Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi in 2000.

Shortly after WWII, the primary focus of psychology shifted to the first priority: treating
abnormal behavior and mental illness. In the 1950s, humanist thinkers like Carl Rogers, Erich
Fromm, and Abraham Maslow helped renew interest in the other two areas by developing
theories that focused on happiness and the positive aspects of human nature.

Here are a few more significant dates in the history of positive psychology:

 1998: Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological Association and

positive psychology became the theme of his term. Today, Seligman is widely viewed
as the father of contemporary positive psychology.
 2002: The first International Conference on Positive Psychology was held.
 2006: Harvard's course on positive psychology became the university's most popular
class.
 2009: The first World Congress on Positive Psychology took place in Philadelphia
and featured talks by Seligman and Philip Zimbardo.

Other important figures in positive psychology have included:

 Albert Bandura
 C.R. Snyder
 Carol Dweck
 Christopher Peterson
 Daniel Gilbert
 Kennon Sheldon

The Four Waves of Psychology

To understand the roots of positive psychology, we have to revisit the three waves of
psychology that came before that. After all, it was not until recently that the field of
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psychology began expanding its research criteria to study what makes people thrive, instead
of what makes people sick.

The following three sections offer a brief summary of Western psychologies waves, or
movements, before introducing the fourth-wave that brings us to positive psychology.

 The 1st Wave: The Disease Model

During the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th, psychology was
concerned with curing mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and human complexes of
various kinds (inferiority, power, Electra, Oedipus, etc.). The attempt of psychologists to cure
these ailments was quite natural and laudable, and the work of early psychologists, such as
Sigmund Freud, Adler, and Carl Jung was indeed very effective. (Note: It must be added here
that of these pioneers, the big 3 of Vienna as they were called, Carl Jung was perhaps the
earliest psychologist to recognize, and be troubled by, psychology’s negative focus).

Over time, this disease focus pushed psychology towards the dark recesses of the human
mind and away from the deeper well-springs of human energy and potential. As later
highlighted by Martin Seligman, in his 2008 TED talk on Positive Psychology, the negative
focus of psychology at that time resulted in three major drawbacks for the field:

1. Psychologists became victimologists and pathologizers (they forgot that people make
choices and have responsibility);
2. They forgot about improving normal lives and high talent (the mission to make
relatively untroubled people happier, more fulfilled, more productive), and;
3. In their rush to repair the damage, it never occurred to them to develop interventions
to make people happier.

 The 2nd Wave: Behaviorism

B. F. Skinner of Harvard University was the originator, along with John B. Watson and Ivan
Pavlov, of the behavioral approach in psychology. Skinner believed that free will was an
illusion, and human behavior was largely dependent on the consequences of our previous
actions. If a particular behavior attracted the right type of reinforcement it had a high
probability of being repeated, and if, on the other hand, the behavior resulted in punishment it
had a good chance of not being repeated (Schacter & Daniel, 2011). Skinner believed that
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given the right structure of rewards and punishments, human behavior could be totally
modified in an almost mechanical sense.

This theory undoubtedly has a lot of merits, particularly the idea of operant conditioning—
the influencing and eliciting desired behavior, through a well-conceived reward system.
However, the manipulation of behavior that such a properly structured reward system
allows is open to gross abuse by autocrats and dictators in terms of oppressing their subjects.
And not just in society at large, but in the workplace as well. Staddon and Chomksy were
among Skinner’s major critics (Staddon, J., 1995; Chomsky, Noam 1959). Furthermore,
Skinner’s total rejection of free will is still disturbing. It goes against all that human history
stands for—the ultimate, and the enduring triumph of the human spirit against overwhelming
odds.

Criticisms of his theory notwithstanding, Skinner stands tall as a brilliant psychologist

and prolific writer. With 21 books and 180 articles to his credit, he was voted the most
influential psychologist of the 20th century in a 2002 survey (Steven et. al, 2002).

 The 3rd Wave: Humanistic Psychology

This wave is known for its two major strands of thought – existentialist psychology (Soren
Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre) and humanistic psychology (Abraham Maslow and Carl
Rogers). According to Sartre, every human being is responsible for working out his identity
and his life’s meaning through the interaction between himself and his surroundings. No one
else can do it for him, least of all a non-existent God. For this reason, meaning is something
truly unique to each person – separate and independent (Jean-Paul Sartre, 1946). One cannot
quarrel with this strand of thought, particularly the responsibility of the individual for his own
destiny, but the underlying atheism is dampening. What about people who cannot find their
identity and their life’s meaning on their own?

Uncontrollable anxiety would be inevitable, particularly in the absence of faith in a

supernatural being, an idea rejected by existentialism. This anxiety is recognized in
psychotherapy as “existential anxiety” and has been of major therapeutic concern of many
leading psychologists, particularly Victor Frankl, the originator of logo-therapy. There is a
considerable divergence of views on the question of “What is life’s meaning?” and, clearly,
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each individual needs to work it out for themselves, with their own unique experience and
surroundings.

The humanistic movement was about adding a holistic dimension to psychology. Humanistic
psychologists believed that our behavior is determined by our perception of the world around
us and its meanings, that we are not simply the product of our environment or biochemistry,
and that we are internally influenced and motivated to fulfill our human potential.

Humanistic psychology emphasizes the inherent human drive towards self-actualization, the

process of realizing and expressing one’s own capabilities and creativity. This approach rose
to prominence in the mid-20th century in response to the limitations of the disease model in
fulfilling the human desire for actualization and a life of meaning (Benjafield, 2010).

The 5 basic principles or postulates of humanistic psychology are:

 Human beings, as human, supersede the sum of their parts. They cannot be reduced to
components;
 Human beings have their existence in a uniquely human context, as well as in a
cosmic ecology;
 Human beings are aware and are aware of being aware – i.e. they are conscious.
Human consciousness always includes an awareness of oneself in the context of other
people;
 Human beings have the ability to make choices and therefore have responsibility;
 Human beings are intentional—they aim at goals, are aware that they cause future
events, and seek meaning, value, and creativity.

It is hard to miss the significant foundation that the humanistic approach has provided for
positive psychology.

The 4th Wave: Positive Psychology

As already pointed out earlier in this article, positive psychology is psychology with a
positive orientation, concerned with authentic happiness and a good life.
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Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow maintained that psychology itself does not have
an accurate understanding of the human potential and that the field tends not to raise the
proverbial bar high enough with respect to maximum attainment.

While the previous waves of psychology focused on human flaws, overcoming deficiencies,
avoiding pain, and escape from unhappiness, positive psychology focuses on well-being,
contentment, excitement, cheerfulness, the pursuit of happiness, and meaning in life. The
humanistic movement wanted to look at what drives us to want to grow and achieve
fulfillment. However, even though their conceptual ideas of human nature did influence the
development of positive psychology, they are separate. While the humanistic approach used
more qualitative methods, positive psychology is developing a more scientific epistemology
of understanding human beings.

The 5 Founding Fathers: Developing Positive Psychology

In 1998, Martin Seligman was elected President of the American Psychological

Association and it was then that Positive Psychology became the theme of his term as
president. He is widely seen as the father of contemporary positive psychology. However,
while most people see Seligman as the face of Positive Psychology,  he didn’t start the field
alone and was not the first ‘positive psychologist.’ There have been many influencers which
have contributed to this new era of psychology.

 1) William James

James was a philosopher, physician, and psychologist, and he was the first educator to offer a
psychology course in the United States. He argued that in order to thoroughly study a
person’s optimal functioning, one has to take in how they personally experience something,
otherwise known as their subjective experience. He also saw the importance of combining
both positivistic and phonological methodology, which is what many now refer to as ‘radical
empiricism’ because he was interested in what was objective and observable.

Despite this, many consider James to be America’s “first positive psychologist” (Froh, 2004)
because of his deep interest in the subjectivity of a person and because he believed that
“objectivity is based on intense subjectivity” (2004).
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 2) Abraham Maslow

While the entire 3rd Wave of Humanistic Psychology played a vital role in providing Positive
Psychology with foundational concepts, there was no greater influence from the approach
then Abraham Maslow. In fact, the term “positive psychology” was first coined by Maslow,
in his 1954 book “Motivation and Personality.” Maslow did not like how psychology
concerned itself mostly with disorder and dysfunction, arguing that it did not have an
accurate understanding of human potential. He emphasized how psychology successfully
shows our negative side by revealing much about our illnesses and shortcomings, but not
enough of our virtues or aspirations (Maslow, 1954, p. 354).

 3) Martin Seligman

Seligman is an American Psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. He is famous

for his experiments and theory of learned helplessness, as well as for being the founder of
Positive Psychology. His work in learned helplessness and pessimistic attitudes garnered an
interest in optimism, which led to his work with Christopher Peterson to create a positive side
to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). In their research, they
looked at different cultures over time to create a list of virtues that are highly valued and
included it in their Character Strengths and Virtues section in the DSM: wisdom/knowledge,
courage, transcendence, justice, humanity, and temperance. In 1996, he was elected President
of the American Psychological Association and the central theme he chose for his term as
president was positive psychology. He wanted mental health to be more than just the
“absence of illness” and ushered a new era that focused on what makes people feel happy and
fulfilled. Today he is the director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of
Pennsylvania.

 4) Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi

Czikszentmihalyi was born in Hungary in 1934, and like many other people of that time, he
was deeply affected by the Second World War. He was stripped from his family and friends
as a child and was put in an Italian prison and it was there he had his first idea of working
with flow and optimal experience. He had an affinity for painting, noting that the act of
creating was sometimes more important than the finished work itself. This led to his
fascination with what he called the flow state, and he made it his life’s work to scientifically
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identify the different methods through which one could achieve such a state.
Czikszentmihalyi’s studies gained much popular interested. Today he is considered one of the
founders of positive psychology.

 5) Christopher Peterson

Christopher Peterson was the professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan and the
former chair of the Clinical Psychology department. He was the co-author of Character
Strengths and Virtues with Seligman and is noted for his work in the study of optimism,
hope, character, and well-being.

 Influential Positive Psychology Researchers

The following positive psychology researchers deserve a special mention.

1. Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory originated from his social-cognitive theory. It relates to

a person’s perception of their ability to reach a goal and the belief that one is capable of
performing it in a certain way in order to reach them. This concept has been of great
impotence and use in positive psychology.

2. Donald Clifton

Seligman stated that Clifton followed a similar path that he did when he came up with
Strengths-based psychology. He studied successful individuals and wanted to know what they
did right to achieve top performance. His work gave employees solid recommendations on
how to find a fulfilling career that is suitable for them. He was honored in 2002 by the
American Psychological Association with a Presidential Commendation as the Father
of Strengths-based Psychology and he has been called the “grandfather of Positive
Psychology” (Snyder, Lopez, & Pedrotti, 2015, p. 66).

3. Deci and Ryan

The theory of human motivation known as Self-Determination Theory was developed in 2000
by Edward L. Deci, professor in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences at the
University of Rochester, New York, and Richard M. Ryan, clinical psychologist
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and Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian
Catholic University in Sydney, Australia. Their grounding work on Self-Determination
Theory updated the hierarchy of needs originally identified by Abraham Maslow and found
that human motivation is founded in three major needs: autonomy, competence, and
relatedness (connecting to other people).

4. Ed Diener
Dr. Ed Diener, aka “Dr. Happiness”, is a leading researcher in PP who coined the term
“Subjective well-being” as the aspect of happiness that can be measured scientifically. His
argument that there is a strong genetic component to happiness has led to a huge amount of
data studying the internal and external conditions of happiness and how one can change it.
Diener even researched the relationship between income and well-being, as well as cultural
influences on well-being. His publications have been cited over 98,000 times and his
fundamental research on the subject is what earned him his nickname. He has worked with
researchers Daniel Kahneman and Martin Seligman and is a senior scientist for The Gallup
Organization.

5. Carol Dweck

Dweck conducted research on the notion of growth vs. fixed mindset. It has been used with
parents, teams, students, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. It is a positive psychology tool
that is used widely and praised highly, bringing people more interest to the world of positive
psychology.

6. Barbara Fredrickson
World-renowned author and researcher, Fredrickson made her first contribution to positive
psychology research with her theory on positive emotions, The Broaden and Build Theory,
which proposes that positive emotions are able to broaden people’s minds, resulting in
resources for experiencing well-being and resilience in times of adversity. Since then
Fredrickson has done extensive research and produced 2 books. Fredrickson currently acts as
the Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Traits of Happy People

Dr. David Myers, author of Pursuit of Happiness, identified a number of qualities shared by
many people who tend to be happy. From that research, eight concrete characteristics of
happy people have emerged.

1. Happy people like themselves. They see themselves as emotionally and physically

healthy. They believe they are more ethical and intelligent. They believe they are less
prejudiced and better able to get along with people.

2. Happy people feel a sense of personal control. They feel empowered. Because of

that, they tend do better at work and school and cope better with stress.

3. Happy people are optimistic. They expect good things to happen. They feel upbeat.
The glass is half full. They try to make sense of events in an optimistic and positive
way.

4. Happy people are extroverted. We do not know if happiness makes people more
extroverted or if extroversion causes happiness, but statistically, they correlate.

5. Happy people have close relationships. That shows up most obviously in surveys,

which tell us that married people are usually happier than unmarried people. But it’s
not a question of marriage; close, trusting relationships of any kind tend to help
people be happy more readily than they would be without.

6. Happy people have a spiritual foundation. Spirituality is a belief system that

focuses on intangible elements that add meaning and vitality to life’s experiences.
Whether that is a belief in God, a dedicated prayer life or communing with nature
doesn’t matter. Studies show highly spiritual people are twice as happy as people who
are not.

7. Happy people tend to have balanced lives. The time in their lives dedicated to work,
play and spirituality is sufficient for each. They make time for reflection and
relaxation.

8. Happy people are creative. They look at problems from as many viewpoints as

possible and find creative ways of handling those problems. They follow sparks of
interest. They don’t let life become sedentary. They keep producing new ideas and
learning new things.