Positive Psychology: Keys To Achieving Happiness And Our Best Version

The positive psychology It is undoubtedly one of the currents of this human science that has the most impact on our daily lives. Martin Seligman, its creator, argued that positivism in psychology was the best way to focus on our strengths instead of our weaknesses. In this way, applied positive psychology allows us to build rather than repair our environment and our interior. What induces instead of taking you towards “normality” to become the best version of yourself.

What is positive psychology?

The positive psychology It is a recent approach in psychology that scientifically studies the basis of happiness and well-being, focusing on the strengths, capabilities and virtues of human beings such as optimism, motivation, joy, etc. The purpose of positive psychology is to develop a healthy, full and conscious life, thus preventing certain mental health pathologies.

“Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life more worth living”

Jordan Peterson, psychologist

Traditionally, psychology has focused on diseases such as depression, anxiety and other pathologies and their treatment but has not considered aspects such as resilience, introspection, self-esteem, personal growth, emotional intelligence, etc. Instead, the positive psychology adds these terms to complement those traditional areas and offer other perspectives on human development. In short, this is positive psychology in the words of the creators of this modern term, Martin Seligman and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, who defined it this way in the magazine American Psychologist:

“Positive psychology is the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing at multiple levels that includes the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life.”

Objectives of positive psychology

Use the positive psychology It is the best way to have a strong impact on the lives of the people who turn to it. In this way, Seligman’s positive psychology has the following objectives.

1. Develop strengths: In the positive psychology It does not focus on trying to get rid of the weaknesses in us. On the contrary, positive psychology creates more strengths around our abilities and allows us to stand out because of it.
2. Set clear goals: The key to being the best version of yourself is to keep in mind what your true goals are and strive to achieve them. Therefore, in a positive therapy One of the objectives is to know what we really want in our life.
3. Cultivate gratitude: We would not be what we are if it were not for everything we have accomplished and achieved so far. In this way, the Seligman’s authentic happiness It lies in trying to be grateful for what we have and are.
4. Foster healthy relationships: Our environment determines the person we are. Thus, positive psychology It allows us to cultivate and generate better relationships with others.
5. Maintain optimism: Martin Seligman and positive psychology It focuses mainly on trying to be optimistic and see the good side of what happens to us. Therefore, being optimistic and fighting against pessimism is another key to positive psychology.
6. Be in the present: Another of the objectives of the positive psychology and Martin Seligman, is precisely being in the here and now. Being in the present helps us live more pleasant experiences and is therefore synonymous with being positive about events.

These are some of the objectives of positive psychology by Martin Seligman Although it is obvious that it is difficult to maintain positivism in psychology, the reality is that cultivating these attitudes will allow us to enjoy life better. In this way, the psychology of happiness or positive psychology is capable of helping us achieve our goals.

Positive psychology techniques

The positive psychology techniques They are not intended to avoid problems but rather to try to make the person see them in a different way. This psychological area aims to help change the perspective of reality, adapting to it, managing one’s strengths to achieve greater well-being. These types of methods are applied in the field of psychology but also in education and work, since positive psychology in the workplace can promote motivation and productivity, thus avoiding possible sick leave.

The positive psychology strategies They often focus through psychotherapy on preventing other pathologies such as stress by promoting positive emotions that act as a barrier to them. Self-reinforcement, enhancing positive emotions and reformulating recurring negative thoughts, promoting resilience adaptation to change, constant learning and setting goals are some of the techniques used in this type of therapy.

Many of the positive psychology techniques are based on the approach that the father of this current, Martin Seligman, has developed and which we explain later. Furthermore, you can always learn this positivity of psychology through our courses or with the help of a mental health professional.

The conquest of well-being: origins

Although origins of positive psychology As such they are relatively modern, some small hints of their principles can be found in classics such as Aristotle with the eudaimonia or the philosophy of the search for human well-being and in other authors who are part of the current of humanistic psychology such as Abraham Maslow or Carl Rogers. We even find references in the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman when in the 90s he began to investigate the field of so-called hedonistic psychology, linked to the experiences that make life pleasant or unpleasant, based on illusion and judgments. However, the beginning of the study of happiness is recent.

In an article about Positive psychology in perspective published in the magazine Roles of the psychologist of the General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists, psychologist Carmelo Vázquez states:

“Psychology has very recently begun to accept subjective well-being as a relevant object of study and to directly address, as an academic programmatic duty, the exploration of human strengths and the factors that contribute to the happiness of human beings.”

And it was not until the end of the 20th century when the formal origin of positive psychology occurred with the inaugural conference by the psychologist and writer Martin Seligman for his presidential term of the American Psychological Association. From there, this trend grew and in 2002 the first international conference of this trend took place.

Positive Psychology by Martin Seligman

The father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman first dedicated much of his career to developing the theory of learned helplessness (1967) and the scientific study of depression Later, he decided that psychology should not only focus on addressing problems and seeking treatments but also should study from a scientific point of view everything that causes happiness and well-being in people.

Human potential sparked his curiosity and he investigated the optimal performance of people with a focus on the genuine strengths and talents that human beings possess. As a result, there appeared Seligman’s positive psychology and included in his book true happiness his theory of happiness specified in three ways:

• The pleasant life which pursues positive emotions such as joy, pleasure, gratitude, hope or serenity in different temporal moments of the person’s past, present and future.
• The committed life which consists of a state of flow or ability to flowflow) in which to carry out satisfactory activities applying personal strengths to achieve objectives.
• The meaningful life which means going beyond oneself and including a meaning of life transcendent for others and for society.

Subsequently, Seligman He expanded his proposal on happiness to the well-being of people and, to this end, he developed the PERMA model This Seligman model of positive psychology is an acronym that refers to five characteristics in English that individuals who manifest a high level of well-being possess: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning or meaning ( meaning) and achievements (accomplishment). For the five aspects of the PERMA model to be carried out successfully, discovering and training each person’s skills and strengths is an essential process.

1. Positive emotions: Positive emotions such as love, pleasure, gratitude, harmony, serenity, the desire to learn, the urge to progress, inspiration, pride, etc. They bring us well-being. It is about enhancing them taking into account the strengths that each person has to obtain more resources to deal with the negative emotions
2. Commitment: When talking about commitment, Seligman’s positive psychology refers to finding harmony between the activities we do and our talents, achieving a high level of compatibility between them. With this, an activation state called flow state or flow. The person who discovered this phenomenon as an optimal experience that promotes enjoyment was the psychologist and professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi another of the fathers of positive psychology.
3. Relations: It is about betting on relationships that foster our personal growth and enhance our common strengths. People need social relationships and to feel integrated with people who make them grow through trust, active listening support, sense of humor… It’s about growing those positive links
4. Sense: Another point that Seligman’s PERMA model and the positivism in psychology, is the need to find meaning in life, that is, a motive or purpose that transcends ourselves and that involves the society that surrounds us. According to the author, achieving this meaning helps improve well-being.
5. Achievements: The projection of goals or objectives has a high impact on people’s motivation and creativity. Both aspects aligned with the strengths have a great probability of success in achieving these achievements and, in addition, will allow the improvement of skills, which in turn will provide an improvement in well-being.

In short, the PERMA model of Martin Seligman in positive psychology It is concluded that people’s fulfillment is linked to personal talents and this causes a feeling of well-being and self-efficacy. By fulfilling these aspects fully and naturally (not forced) you can achieve a complete state of well-being.

Criticism and other perspectives

Since its appearance, the criticisms of positive psychology They have been constant. The psychologist Carmelo Vázquez already stated in 2006 that it was risky to find out the future of this area and that perhaps it could end up dissolving into the general science of psychology. In fact, one of the criticisms of positive psychology alludes to the fact that its techniques are already part of the practice of general psychology in methods such as conflict resolution, for example, and that they hardly contribute anything new.

This current has numerous voices that judge its theory and application. On the one hand, some authors criticize the lack of scientific rigor in the dissemination of its characteristics and effects and on the other, they debate the meaning of pessimism and how it can help in some therapies with certain pathologies. At the European Institute of Positive Psychology they also refute some criticisms such as