Introduction to Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology emerged at the beginning of the new millennium as a movement within psychology aimed at enhancing human strengths such as creativity joy flow responsibility and optimal performance and achievement. Most study of human behaviour has focused mainly on what goes wrong in human affairs: aggression mental disease failure and so on. While it is essential to study and contain such pathologies it is equally important to understand those aspects of human experience that make life worth living. Positive psychologists seek “to find and nurture genius and talent” and “to make normal life more fulfilling” rather than merely treating mental illness. Positive psychology is primarily concerned with using the psychological theory research and intervention techniques to understand the positive adaptive creative and emotionally fulfilling aspects of human behaviour. The “positive” branch complements with no intention to replace or ignore the traditional areas of psychology. By adding an important emphasis to use the scientific method to study and determine positive human development this area of psychology fits well with the investigation of how human development can falter. Using strategies from positive psychology teachers coaches therapists and employers can motivate others and help individuals understand and develop their personal strengths. It is expected that the book will provide a fund of rich experiences to the students and teachers. Contents: • Cognitive Strategies: Algorhythms and Heuristics • Decision-Making • Creative Thinking and Problem–Solving • Language and Thought • Historical Antecedents of Motivation from Mechanism to Cognition • Cognitive Bases of Motivation: Intrinsic Motivation Attribution Competence • Measurement of Motives: Issues and Techniques • Cross–Cultural Perspectives of Motivation: Achievement Aggression • Components of Emotion: Physiological Expressive and Cognitive • Neural Mechanism of Emotion: Central and Peripheral • Stress and Coping: Reactions to Stress Outcomes of Stress • Theories of Intelligence: Cattell Jensen Sternberg Goleman • Creativity: Views of Torrance Getzels Guilford