5.2 Positive Psychology
- Syllabus
- 2025
- Topic
- 5.2
- Level
- —
Learning objectives
5.2A—Explain how positive psychology approaches the study of behavior and mental processesExplain how positive psychology approaches the study of behavior and mental processes.• Positive psychology seeks to identify factors that lead to well-being, resilience, positive emotions, and psychological health.5.2B—Explain how positive subjective experiences apply to behavior and mental processesExplain how positive subjective experiences apply to behavior and mental processes.• Expressing gratitude, a positive subjective experience, increases subjective well-being.• People who exercise their signature strengths or virtues report higher levels of positive objective experiences such as happiness and subjective well-being. A classification of character strengths has been developed around 6 categories of virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.• Posttraumatic growth, a positive subjective experience, may result after the experience of trauma or stress.
Positive Psychology Studies What Supports Flourishing
Positive psychology seeks to identify factors associated with healthy and constructive functioning. Its targets include well-being, resilience, positive emotions, and psychological health.
| Target | Research focus |
|---|---|
| Well-being | How positively a person experiences and evaluates life |
| Resilience | Positive adaptation or recovery when facing difficulty |
| Positive emotions | Pleasant emotional experiences and their relationships with behavior and thought |
| Psychological health | Healthy mental functioning, not only the absence of symptoms |
A study that asks which experiences or practices relate to resilience or subjective well-being uses a positive-psychology approach. The approach still requires systematic evidence; calling an experience 'positive' does not establish that it causes the same benefit for everyone.
Positive psychology does not deny stress, trauma, or psychological disorders. It changes the research question toward factors that may support positive functioning.
Positive Experiences Can Support Well-Being and Growth
| Positive-psychology idea | CED relationship |
|---|---|
| Expressing gratitude | Increases subjective well-being |
| Exercising signature strengths or virtues | People report greater happiness and subjective well-being |
| Posttraumatic growth | Positive growth may occur after trauma or stress |
A classification of character strengths groups virtues into six categories: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. A signature strength is a strength especially characteristic of the individual; applying it is the experience linked with the reported outcome, not merely knowing the category name.
Posttraumatic growth means a positive change may emerge after trauma or stress. The word 'may' is essential: growth is a possible outcome, can coexist with distress, and should not be assumed from the fact that trauma occurred.
Subjective well-being is the person's experienced or reported well-being; it is not identical to an externally measured life condition. Positive experiences are associated with beneficial outcomes but do not make negative emotion or difficulty disappear.