What is positivist, or positive psychology?

Positive psychology is a study that focuses on the positive emotions and reactions of human beings. Thus, it can also be considered as the study of happiness. Positive psychology seeks to understand how ordinary people can become increasingly happy and satisfied in front of their own lives.

This branch of psychology seeks to study lighter and healthier elements of each person, seeking to strengthen aspects such as resilience, gratitude, optimism and confidence, without having as sources of study anguish, illness and psychological suffering. If you are interested and want to know more about positive psychology, check out this article to the end!

Meaning of positivist psychology

Positivist or positive psychology is a scientific movement with scholars from around the world who seek to prove that man can be happier and have a better life. To better understand this theme, we list, in the next topics, important aspects of positive psychology. Check out more details below!

Definition of positive psychology

To better understand the definition of positive psychology, it is possible to state that it is the study of what makes life worthwhile. It is a branch of psychology that seeks to give more attention to positive and optimistic aspects of a human life.

Thus, it is as interested in building the best things in life as it is in giving attention to solving problems and conflicts. With that, it seeks to focus on making the lives of normal people happier rather than on curing pathologies.

Origin of positive psychology

Positive psychology emerged through a researcher named Martin Seligman. Having a wide experience in psychology, Seligman sought to deepen the studies, giving attention to aspects of well-being or happiness, that is, giving focus on positive aspects of human existence, such as virtue.

Records indicate that the movement that started positive psychology was born between the years 1997 and 1998, when studies began to be disseminated around the world. Seligman was frustrated with the focus that psychology gave to negative aspects, such as mental illness, abnormal psychology, trauma, suffering and pain, and little focus on aspects such as happiness, well-being, strengths and prosperity. This was theenough to motivate him to further his studies and give birth to positive psychology.

The creator Martin Seligman

Being known as the "father of positive psychology", Martin Seligman, besides being a psychologist, is also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, having an experience of over 30 years in clinical practice. He was also the president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and has received several awards for his scientific contribution to Positive Psychology.

He gained prominence as the creator of positive psychology, thanks to the release of research and content such as the article "Positivie Psychology: an introduction", which was written in partnership with the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This was considered one of the landmark articles in the history of Positive Psychology, as it cites the need for an approach centered on human virtues.

Purpose of positive psychology

The objective of positive psychology is to contribute so that well-being is not only in people's heads. In other words, to understand that human beings, in order to have well-being, need to feel good, see meaning in the things they do, have good relationships and personal accomplishments.

Thus, the main goal is to help people achieve subjective well-being or the famous happiness. With that, this concept suggests that, although every human being experiences difficult situations, the focus to reach happiness should be on building positive emotion, engagement, meaning in life, positive fulfillment and positive interpersonal relationships.

How positive psychology works

The focus of positive psychology is to build and improve qualities, identifying what makes the person happy, used to treat psychological disorders and always trying to bring the good side of things. The practical part happens from the recognition and exercise of emotions, individual characteristics and positive institutions - that is, the three pillars to achieve a morefull.

Now, talking about these three pillars, the exercise of emotions is nothing more than the experience of good feelings such as joy and hope. The second pillar, the individual characteristics, is one of the points that positive psychology works more, where it seeks to strengthen or develop a more altruistic, optimistic, resilient vision and more.

The last pillar, that of institutions, can be adapted to improve people's quality of life, provided that they maintain healthy activities in their circle of acquaintances.

The importance of positive psychology

Taking into account that depression is a disease that is increasingly present in people's lives, positive psychology has an important role to help prevent it. Unlike traditional psychology, this seeks to focus on the good things to improve what is wrong.

This field of psychology seeks to reduce human suffering, promoting happiness. In addition to promoting satisfaction and optimism, Positive Psychology suggests the practice of healthier behaviors, helping to prevent pathologies related to conduct. Thus, those who seek to join the movement have greater chances of obtaining a physical and emotional health on time.

Happiness for positive psychology

There are several definitions for the term "happiness". Within positive psychology, it is called subjective well-being, that is, it refers to what the individual thinks and feels about his or her own life. The positive psychology model is based on five elements that stimulate well-being. Check out what these elements are in the next topics!

Positive emotion factor

The positive emotion factor is directly related to the production of the so-called happiness hormones (dopamine and oxytocin). These are released by our body when we experience feelings of peace, comfort, gratitude, satisfaction, welcome, pleasure, inspiration, hope, curiosity or love.

These emotions play a very important role for our mind. They help us understand what kind of situation is good for us, and they are also emotions that can multiply. To realize this, remember how a person who feels gratitude or happiness can transmit these feelings to those around him.

Engagement factor

Within the positive psychology framework, energy, dedication and integration are the three main elements that are used to measure the engagement factor. How a person feels engaged and the factors that cause them to be engaged with some activity are taken into consideration.

Two very important factors are trust in the environment and satisfaction with the activity you propose to do, whether it is a job, a relationship or some leisure activity. These end up stimulating the engagement and delivery to the moment.

Factor of meaning in life

Known as the fact of purpose or meaning in life, this is fundamental and has been studied by positive psychology. It is one of the responsible factors when we talk about motivation in life.

For positive psychology, there is a correlation between people finding meaning in the jobs they do and the high performance delivered by them.

Positive realization factor

The positive achievement factor takes into account the accomplishments achieved by the person, whether professional or personal. This factor is important for the individual to enjoy the feeling of achievement, helping to propel him/her to new challenges. In addition, it often generates the feeling of very great capacity.

Positive psychology takes this factor as being important, because it is in this factor that the human being can experience feelings such as autonomy and evolution. Often, it is through achievements that an individual can feel more motivated in the face of life's obstacles. With this, the pleasure in life becomes greater.

Factor in positive relationships

Every human being needs to make connections with other people. It is something primordial to achieve well-being in life. The human being that does not relate tends to feel isolated, increasing the feelings opposite to well-being.

Thus, positive psychology reinforces that the healthier and more trusting the bonds established in relationships, the better their impact on happiness and individual fulfillment will be. Therefore, according to the positive relationships factor, relating to other people is important for achieving well-being in life.

Benefits of positive psychology

Those who propose to join the positive psychology movement can find several benefits to improve the way they relate to their own lives. Check out the next topics for some benefits!

Change of perspective

A relatively small change in a person's perspective can lead to very significant changes in the way they lead their life. Filling yourself with more optimistic views is a very simple action that can give you a more positive outlook on life.

On this side, balance is very important, because you can not always take life from the perspective of the positive. Positive psychology is not intended to make you only see the bright side of things, but rather seek to maximize the potential for happiness in many behaviors embedded in everyday life.

That is, to help you change your perspective on facts that you often cannot see because you are immersed in conflicts, confusions or demotivating feelings.

Money is not the source of happiness

Some people put their source of happiness entirely in money. This can be a big mistake, since depending on something material to feel happy about life can create many frustrations.

Of course money is important for meeting some basic human needs, but pinning all your happiness on it can be a mistake. So focusing less on getting rich is likely to make you happier.

Ideal use of money

Knowing how to use money for activities that increase your well-being is fundamental to achieve a more balanced and full life. Many people get lost because they end up using money to acquire material goods in excess.

Thus, spending money on experiences that provide a greater boost to happiness will increase your connection to life. Using your resources to create positive experiences, such as a trip, for example, can generate greater satisfaction. Also, spending money on other people ultimately results in greater happiness.

Gratitude

Creating the habit of feeling grateful for what you already have or have achieved will help you feel more fulfilled every day. This is an action that contributes to the achievement of a healthier and fuller life. Feeling grateful is an exercise that helps you connect with the achievements of your path.

What's more, gratitude can reduce a multitude of toxic emotions like envy, resentment, frustration, and regret. It effectively increases happiness and helps cope with depression-that is, according to positive psychology, the more we seek to develop gratitude, the happier we will be.

Stimulation of affections

For positivist psychology, seeking to develop more stimuli that provide you with habits that promote affection will help you acquire more well-being for your life and for the people around you.

By encouraging more forms of affection, you end up producing more oxytocin hormones, known as love hormones. These can help you be more confident and empathetic, increasing your morality. In other words, giving more hugs, or encouraging other forms of physical affection can help you boost your overall well-being and that of others.

Positive mood

During positive psychology, trying to cultivate a positive mood can do you a lot of good throughout your life. Of course, life is made of moments when our happiness is put to the test, but getting into the habit of cultivating a positive mood will help you see your journey in a more optimistic way.

This is an important habit for you to improve your relationship with the world and your fellow beings. It is true that sometimes you will need to make an effort to feel more positive, but by practicing this throughout your life, you will realize how much building a more positive mood can contribute to your happiness.

Contagion of happiness

Many times, you have arrived in an environment where the energy was low and when a person with your own positive and contagious energy arrived, the environment had its energy changed. This is a sign that happiness is very contagious.

Seeking in your relationships to have a higher frequency with happier people will help you to be infected by their energy. In this way, those who seek to live with happy people are more likely to experience happiness.

Doing good is good

Doing good for people makes human beings much better. We end up living better and lighter lives. After all, when you try to make other people feel good, that energy tends to come back to you. An act of kindness can generate several changes, triggering several positive emotions.

However, it is very important to remember the following: people who seek to perform acts of kindness for others not only receive a boost in well-being, but are also much more accepted by other people. This, in turn, increases self-esteem and the pleasure of building new relationships.

Volunteering

For positive psychology, distributing food to homeless people, collecting warm clothes and winter clothes for people in need, giving online classes to low-income students, and donating blood are some actions that make a big difference for those who are benefited.

According to science, those who seek to acquire charitable habits are also greatly favored, with a generous "dose" of happiness that the nervous system itself begins to produce. Seeking to develop a volunteer work in a cause that you believe in will help you improve your well-being. This type of satisfaction with life can even help reduce symptoms of depression.

Positive emotions

The positive psychology perspective focuses on enhancing the positive emotions of a human being. Cultivating these emotions, a lot of the time, will help you boost your performance during life.

So, no matter where you cultivate these emotions, whether at work or in personal projects, they will work as if they were a propulsive engine. Often, when a person or a work team has this habit, these emotions end up having a cascading effect, spreading throughout the environment where the person is and increasing motivation to face tasks.

The impact of small actions

Often, when thinking about providing happiness to a person or environment, this is assimilated to having to do big actions or a lot of effort. Looking from the perspective that small actions during everyday life can generate big impacts will help you not to belittle some minor attitudes.

Taking into account that small actions can have a big impact on our relationship with happiness, having more beneficial actions, both to the environment you are in and with people, can make it even easier. So it doesn't take much to encourage any environment by doing what you can to make a place happier and more positive.

More successes

Who doesn't feel more confident in life when they achieve success in something they set out to do. By nature, when success is achieved it helps in personal motivation and increases the search for new challenges.

Developing the optic of valuing internal positive aspects, can greatly help the search for new achievements. Besides benefiting from the positive emotions generated when something is achieved, success can feed new victories, thus increasing the possibility of the feeling of happiness and satisfaction.

Toxic Positivity

A very important finding from positive psychology research is that trying to force people who are by nature not optimistic to only think positively can do more harm than good.

Thus, toxic positivity consists of imposing on ourselves, or on other people, a falsely positive attitude. In other words, generalizing a happy and optimistic state in any situation, silencing negative emotions. Unrealistic optimism is very harmful, along with intense pessimism. Thus, the search for balance enters as being a fundamental role for our well-being.

How positive psychology can help a professional environment

Try to adopt positive psychology in a professional environment can bring some benefits, such as: greater productivity, both individual and collective, greater engagement with the tasks, ability to develop problems and conflicts, among others. Check out, in the next topics, more details about how psychology can help you in a professional environment!

Environment conducive to innovation

Companies that adopt the discipline of positive psychology end up building a favorable environment for innovation, increasing the possibility of getting new talent and providing an environment for self-development.

Thus, trying to leave aside very rigid rules and more achievable goals, companies end up opening more space so that employees can think beyond, that is, have more space to find different solutions to solve problems. Thus, great innovations end up appearing within the company.

Self-Development

Maintaining an optimistic posture, encouraged by positive psychology, shows that every action taken within a professional environment is important. Taking into account that mistakes are part of self-development and that skills can be acquired or improved, this increases the chances of creating an environment that encourages self-development.

By creating a collective awareness that each person has great responsibilities regarding their behavior and the results of their own work, the optimistic posture also ends up favoring the process of self-development, contributing to the professional well-being of the employee.

More assertive decisions

By investing in self-knowledge and accountability, employees make more assertive decisions due to the degree of human sensitivity developed. As a result, they get along better with their coworkers, increasing the level of collaboration and even having an impact on individual and team performance.

Organizational climate

Positive psychology ends up helping to improve the organizational climate, that is, it creates an environment where the professional feels greater satisfaction in being at work. This is a fundamental point for a company, because, many times, people spend more time at work than at home.

Thus, creating a favorable organizational climate for employees helps a lot in the search for new talents, since high performance professionals are usually very disputed in the market. As a differential, they take into account a place where they feel good to work.

Promoting a healthy environment

When a company seeks to focus on positive aspects, it contributes to the emergence of a healthier environment for everyone. With this, it ends up contributing to the prevention of diseases, frequent absences of its employees, drops in productivity and rework.

Therefore, by promoting a healthy environment, the company can have great results in aspects of the company's economy.

Is positivist psychology the same thing as positive thinking?

While some terms of "positive thoughts" may be used within positive psychology, it is interesting to understand that they are not the same thing.

Positive thinking is seeking to look at things through a single point of view. Positive psychology, on the other hand, tends to focus attention on optimism, noting that while there are many benefits to positive thinking, there are actually times in life when more realistic thinking becomes more advantageous.

Thus, this strand of psychology is dedicated to studying the exercise of a positive mental state, leading to a more pleasurable, engaged and meaningful life.