Reflecting on Criticisms of Positive Psychology A Rebalancing Act
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The field of positive psychology has grown and spread quickly. Unsurprisingly, such rapid growth has led to some confusion about what, exactly, positive psychology is. Positive psychology has also attracted a number of critics who have questioned its necessity, validity, and relevance to non-Western cultures. This article presents these criticisms and responds to each of them. Instead of being seen as a separate field, the authors argue that positive psychology is best viewed as a rebalancing of psychology’s focus as a whole. The article examines the immediate and powerful impact that ideas and practices from positive psychology have had on individuals, schools, organizations, and nations. The authors suggest that such quick and ready acceptance of positive psychology’s core ideas and practices reflects the presence of a pre-existing imbalance within the field of psychology and calls for a more correct understanding of what is meant by a positive psychology. The article concludes by arguing that the study of flourishing should not be viewed as a new field of psychology. Instead, it should be seen as a complement to existing psychological theory and practice, with the result being a more holistic understanding of what it means to be human.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: Asia-Pacific International University reserve exclusive rights to publish, reproduce and distribute the manuscript and all contents therein.
References
Allik, J. (2013). Personality psychology in the first decade of the new millennium: A bibliometric portrait. European Journal of Personality, 27(1), 5–14.
Arnett, J. J. (2008). The neglected 95%: Why American psychology needs to become less American. American Psychologist, 63(7), 602–614.
Berry, J. W. (2013). Global psychology. South African Journal of Psychology, 43(4), 391–401.
Brief, A. P., Butcher, A. H., George, J. M., & Link, K. E. (1993). Integrating bottom-up and top-down theories of subjective well-being: The case of health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 646–653.
Busseri, M. A., & Sadava, S. W. (2011). A review of the tripartite structure of subjective well-being: Implications for conceptualization, operationalization, analysis, and synthesis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(3), 290–314.
Cabanas, E. (2016). Rekindling individualism, consuming emotions: Constructing “Psytizens” in the age of happiness. Culture & Psychology, 22(3), 467–480
Cabanas, E. (2018). Positive psychology and the legitimation of individualism. Theory & Psychology, 28(1), 3–19.
Christopher, J. C., & Hickinbottom, S. (2008). Positive psychology, ethnocentrism, and the disguised ideology of individualism. Theory & Psychology, 18(5), 563–589.
Donaldson, S. I., Lee, J. Y., & Donaldson, S. I. (2019). Evaluating positive psychology interventions at work: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4(3), 113–134.
Ehrenreich, B. (2009). Smile or die: How positive thinking fooled America and the world. Granta Books.
Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man's search for meaning. Simon and Schuster.
Frawley, A. (2015). Happiness research: A review of critiques. Sociology Compass, 9(1), 62–77.
Friedman, H. (2008). Humanistic and positive psychology: The methodological and epistemological divide. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36(2), 113–126.
Froh, J. J. (2004). The history of positive psychology: Truth be told. NYS Psychologist, 16(3), 18–20.
Gable, S. L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 103–110.
Gallagher, M. W., & Lopez, S. J. (2020). Strengthening positive psychology. In C. Snyder, S. Lopez, L. Edwards, & S. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology, (3rd ed.). https://www.oxfordhandbooks. com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199396511
Harzer, C., Weber, M., & Huebner, E. S. (2021). School as a positive learning and working environment. In C. Snyder, S. Lopez, L. Edwards, & S. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology, (3rd ed.). https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199396511
Hendriks, T., Warren, M. A., Schotanus-Dijkstra, M., Hassankhan, A., Graafsma, T., Bohlmeijer, E., & de Jong, J. (2019). How WEIRD are positive psychology interventions? A bibliometric analysis of randomized controlled trials on the science of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(4), 489–501.
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010a). Most people are not WEIRD. Nature, 466(7302), 29.
Jahoda, M. (1958). Current concepts of positive mental health. Basic Books.
Koenig, H., Koenig, H. G., King, D., & Carson, V. B. (2012). Handbook of religion and health. OUP USA.
Kudva, K., El Hayek, S., Gupta, A., Kurokawa, S., Bangshan, L., Armas‐Villavicencio, M., Oishi, K., Mishra, S., Tiensuntisook, S., & Sartorius, N. (2020). Stigma in mental illness: Perspective from eight Asian nations. Asia‐Pacific Psychiatry, Article e12380. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/appy.12380
Lambert, L., Passmore, H. A., & Joshanloo, M. (2019). A positive psychology intervention program in a culturally-diverse university: Boosting happiness and reducing fear. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(4), 1141–1162.
Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2021). Positive workplaces. In C. Snyder, S. Lopez, L. Edwards, & S. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology, (3rd ed.). https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/ oxfordhb/9780199396511.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199396511
Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A new approach to getting the life you want. Penguin.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Layous, K. (2013). How do simple positive activities increase well-being? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(1), 57–62.
Maddux, J. E. (2020). Foreword. In C. Snyder, S. Lopez, L. Edwards, & S. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology (pp. xxi-xxiii). Oxford University Press.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper & Row, Publishers.
May, R. (1958). Contributions of existential psychotherapy. In R. May, E. Angel, & H. F. Ellenberger (Eds.), Existence: A new dimension in psychiatry and psychology (pp. 37–91). Basic Books/Hachette Book Group. https://doi.org/10.1037/11321-002
Michaelson, J., Abdallah, S., Steuer, N., Thompson, S., Marks, N., Aked, J., Cordon, C., & Potts, R. (2009). National accounts of well-being: Bringing real wealth onto the balance sheet. New Economics Foundation. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47529285_National_Accounts_of_Well-Being_Bringing_Real_ Wealth_onto_the_Balance_Sheet
Nandy, A. (2013). Regimes of narcissism, regimes of despair. Oxford University Press.
Oades, L. G., Robinson, P., Green, S., & Spence, G. B. (2014). Towards a positive university. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(6), 432–439. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.634828
Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2007). Methodological issues in positive psychology and the assessment of character strengths. In A. D. Ong & M. H. M. van Dulmen (Eds.), Oxford handbook of methods in positive psychology (pp. 292–305). Oxford University Press.
Parks, A. C., Della Porta, M. D., Pierce, R. S., Zilca, R., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2012). Pursuing happiness in everyday life: The characteristics and behaviors of online happiness seekers. Emotion, 12(6), 1222–1234.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008). The satisfaction with life scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(2), 137–152.
Quaglia, J. T., Brown, K. W., Lindsay, E. K., Creswell, J. D., & Goodman, R. J. (2015). From conceptualization to operationalization of mindfulness. In K. W. Brown, J. D. Creswell, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 151–170). The Guilford Press.
Rashid, T. (2015). Positive psychotherapy: A strength-based approach. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 25–40.
Richardson, F. C., & Guignon, C. B. (2008). Positive psychology and philosophy of social science. Theory & Psychology, 18(5), 605–627.
Robbins, B. D. (2008). What is the good life? Positive psychology and the renaissance of humanistic psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36(2), 96–112.
Røysamb, E., Harris, J. R., Magnus, P., Vittersø, J., & Tambs, K. (2002). Subjective well-being. Sex-specific effects of genetic and environmental factors. Personality and Individual Differences, 32(2), 211–223.
Santos, H. C., Varnum, M. E., & Grossmann, I. (2017). Global increases in individualism. Psychological Science, 28(9), 1228–1239.
Schui, G., & Krampen, G. (2010). Bibliometric analyses on the emergence and present growth of positive psychology. Applied Psychology, 2(1), 52–64
Schwarz, N., Knäuper, B., Oyserman, D., & Stich, C. (2008). The psychology of asking questions. In E. de. Leeuw, J. Hox, & D. Dillman (Eds.), International handbook of survey methodology (pp. 18–34). Routledge.
Seligman, M. (1998). Building human strength: Psychology’s forgotten mission. APA Monitor, 29(1).
Seligman, M. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Adler, A. (2018). Positive education. In J. F. Helliwell, R. Layard, & J. Sachs (Eds.), Global happiness policy report: 2018 (pp. 52–73). Global Happiness Council.
Seligman, M., & Czikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5
Seligman, M. E., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293–311.
Seligman, M. E., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61(8), 774–788.
Snyder, C. R., Lopez, S. J., Edwards, L. M., & Marques, S. C. (Eds.). (2020). The Oxford handbook of positive psychology. Oxford University Press.
Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1991). A terror management theory of social behavior: The psychological functions of self-esteem and cultural worldviews. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 24(C), 93–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60328-7
Thornicroft, G., Brohan, E., Rose, D., Sartorius, N., Leese, M., & Group, I. S. (2009). Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: A cross-sectional survey. The Lancet, 373(9661), 408–415.
Waterman, A. S. (2013). The humanistic psychology–positive psychology divide: Contrasts in philosophical foundations. American Psychologist, 68(3), 124–133.
Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75–90.
Williams, N., Horrell, L., Edmiston, D., & Brady, M. (2018). The impact of positive psychology on higher education. The William & Mary Educational Review, 5(1), Article 12.
Wong, P. T. (2019). Second wave positive psychology’s (PP 2.0) contribution to counselling psychology. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 32(3–4), 275–284.
Wood, A. M., Davidson, A. T., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Harrington, S., & Joseph, S. (2020). Applications of positive psychology 5. In C. Snyder, S. Lopez, L. Edwards, & S. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology (3rd ed.). https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.001. 0001/oxfordhb-9780199396511
Wood, A. M., & Johnson, J. (Eds.). (2016). The Wiley handbook of positive clinical psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Yaden, D. B., Claydon, J., Bathgate, M., Platt, B., & Santos, L. R. (2021) Teaching well-being at scale: An intervention study. PloS One, 16(4), Article e0249193. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249193