POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: CURRENT STATE, CRITIQUE AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the key points of positive psychology,
as well as its critique and challenges for the future. Positive psychology is a
movement that began in USA in 1998 by initiative of Martin Seligman, at that
time president of APA. It grew from the recognition of an imbalance in
psychology, trying to shift its empirical focus from mental illness end the
negative effects of environmental stressors, to conditions and processes that
contribute to the optimal functioning of individuals, groups, and institutions.
This new science of human strengths is focused on three levels: subjective
experience (well-being, satisfaction, optimism, happiness, hope), positive
individual traits (capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skills,
aesthetic sensibility, wisdom, perseverance), and positive institutions that move
individuals toward better citizenship (by developing responsibility, altruism,
tolerance, work ethic). The main tasks of positive psychology are: to understand
what makes life worth living, to build factors that allow individuals and
communities to flourish, to prevent psychological disorders and distress, and
to apply its principles in personal growth, workplace, education and therapy.
Key points of positive psychology are elaborated, as well as the critique
(mostly objections made by Lazarus) of the theory and the methods used by
its proponents. Furthermore, some challenges for the future have been discussed:
defining the positivity, the calculus of well-being, the development of positivity,
heritability of positive experience and traits, enjoyment versus pleasure,
collective well-being, authenticity versus derivation of positive traits, buffering,
positive psychology as descriptive or prescriptive science, and realism versus
optimism.