ERIC Number: EJ733577
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0003-066X
EISSN: N/A
Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions
Seligman, Martin E. P.; Steen, Tracy A.; Park, Nansook; Peterson, Christopher
American Psychologist, v60 n5 p410-421 Jul-Aug 2005
Positive psychology has flourished in the last 5 years. The authors review recent developments in the field, including books, meetings, courses, and conferences. They also discuss the newly created classification of character strengths and virtues, a positive complement to the various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (e. g., American Psychiatric Association, 1994), and present some cross-cultural findings that suggest a surprising ubiquity of strengths and virtues. Finally, the authors focus on psychological interventions that increase individual happiness. In a 6-group, random-assignment, placebo-controlled Internet study, the authors tested 5 purported happiness interventions and 1 plausible control exercise. They found that 3 of the interventions lastingly increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms. Positive interventions can supplement traditional interventions that relieve suffering and may someday be the practical legacy of positive psychology.
Descriptors: Intervention, Psychological Patterns, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Mental Disorders, Outcomes of Treatment, Cross Cultural Studies, Internet, Classification, Cognitive Psychology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A