What is Positive psychology?

What is positive psychology?
Positive psychology is the study of those virtues and qualities that enable people, groups and institutions to thrive and be successful. In short, it is a study of what makes life worth living. This branch of psychology has come to the fore in just under 5 years. The aim of positive psychology is to make the average person more successful by nurturing the innate talent in them. As a part of this quest, the practitioners of positive psychology undertake and promote research, education and training in positive psychology.

The basis of positive psychology is the belief that every individual wants to lead a fulfilling and happy life by nurturing what is best within themselves and increasing fruitful experiences at work, love and social gatherings.
At the core of positive psychology lie three main concerns:
• Positive emotions
• Affirmative individual behaviors
• Constructive institutions
The first of these is positive emotions. An important part of positive psychology is to understand the feelings of happiness humans feel within themselves. Happiness, according to positive psychologists, is important because this alone can contribute to highly successful individuals. People who are happy are more productive, are better at converting opportunities, are generally more successful and are also constructive in spreading happiness. So, in order to understand the basis of positive emotions, positive psychology studies how individuals can create happiness in the present and faith in a successful future. However, in doing so, positive psychology does not deny the importance of the distressing and negative aspects of life. Positive psychologists agree that human nature is filled with strife, selfishness and negativities. They only seek to explore the other side of the coin.

Positive individual behaviors are what contribute to feelings of happiness. So, they are an important part of positive psychology. Some of the most common individual behaviors studied by positive psychology include the capacity to feel happiness, courage, strength, convictions, ambitions, creativity, self-knowledge and self-control. Positive psychology also seeks to understand and encourage the existence of social institutions that foster cooperation, social justice, leadership, teamwork and tolerance.
In a nutshell, the objectives of positive psychology are

• To foster primary institutions that help children to flourish and succeed
• To foster a culture in workplaces that enhance productivity and success
• To set up communities that improve cooperation
• To encourage a state of mind that is conducive to all things positive.

Positive psychology has immense importance in our social and cultural life. This kind of a science helps psychologists understand why individuals and groups break down and why people are unable to achieve the kind of success they dream of. It also seeks to learn why negative events have a deeper impact on our psyche than positive events. By doing this, it seeks to understand how positive events can become more powerful. In this way, positive psychology teaches people to uplift the quality of their lives. In this regard, it is to be noted that for most people, happiness is accidental. They do not think that it can be created. Nor do they see the importance of happiness.But positive psychology shows that we can make our own choices and these choices can alter the quality of our life.

By Gardner Wilkinson
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