Find Happiness with Positive Psychology Studies

Personal Growth – How to be Happy with Practical Psychology Research

Jul 20, 2009

Utilize the resources cited in this article to gain a sound understanding of the principles for happiness and well-being resulting from positive psychology studies.

The recent emergence of positive psychology — the study of human well-being — is good news for everyone actively engaged in personal growth. Positive psychology studies provide practical psychology advice on how to be happy. To find happiness and other aspects of well-being based on positive psychology studies results, utilize the resources described in this article.

A landmark book which essentially founded the positive psychology movement is Authentic Happiness (Free Press, 2002) by Dr. Martin Seligman. Seligman is a past-president of the American Psychology Association who launched the positive psychology movement with his acceptance speech.

Seligman set the direction for positive psychology studies, including a vision to make resulting research findings readily available to the general public.

Consistent with this direction, Authentic Happiness offers several self assessments, including the powerful VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire and many others. Readers will find the section on happiness with findings offering tips for creating happier feelings an especially valuable tool for personal growth and development.

Christopher Peterson, a prominent leader in the field of positive psychology, produced A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford University Press, 2006). Dr. Seligman describes this book as "the definitive textbook in positive psychology...it's fun to read and it's authoritative." This book is easily read by the layman, offering practical psychology suggestions based on sound research studies.

A Primer in Positive Psychology is filled with useful exercises as well as lists of articles and books for further reference, movies, web sites, and popular songs that embody positive psychology principles.

British positive psychology lecturer and researcher Alex Linley's book, Average to A+ (CAPP Press, Coventry England, 2008), is devoted to one of the major principles resulting from psychology studies: each person has a few signature strengths, which when used yield exceptional results.

What is a Signature Strength?

Linley describes signature strengths this way: "A strength is a pre-existing capacity for a particular way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is authentic and energising to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance."

Not only do people perform at a very high level when using their strengths, they are also happier, more creative, and more fulfilled by their activities. Linley offers several processes for uncovering one's signature strengths and fully utilizing the strengths in everyday activities.

Israeli positive psychology researcher Tal Ben-Shahar's book Happier (McGraw Hill, 2007) is focused on the topic of happiness and how one can become happier in daily life without professional help. Happier combines findings from psychology studies with descriptions of his own personal experiences to provide real-life examples for managing the process of becoming happier.

The International Positive Psychology Association

The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) is a rich resource for both the general public and professional psychology community. IPPA's mission statement confirms positive psychology's commitments:

Fulfilling the latter mission, an IPPA membership ($50/year general public, $30/year students) provides easily understood articles and presentations on recent research findings and practical psychology applications. Membership includes free access to quarterly teleconferences with leading positive psychology researchers.

Online Self Assessments

Personal growth and development plans should begin with an honest assessment of current reality. A wide range of validated self assessments are provided free of charge at the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center website.

After a brief enrollment process (no charge, no credit card required) you will have access to several self assessments which each take a few minutes to complete. Immediate results are displayed and stored for future reference. The questionnaires can be re-taken allowing you to gauge personal growth and development over time.

Personal Growth and Happiness with Positive Psychology Studies

The resources summarized above provide a firm foundation on the field of positive psychology and how to apply it to finding happiness and well-being.

The copyright of the article Find Happiness with Positive Psychology Studies in Personal Development is owned by Jerry Lopper. Permission to republish Find Happiness with Positive Psychology Studies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.